"No Room for Error" in Face Time With Obama

Short Takes

• "A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday states that Fox News is the most trusted television news network in the United States, which might startle a few progressive and independent viewers who chafe at the network's heavy partisan spin,"Dylan Byers reported for Politico. "What the survey really reveals is that conservatives have fewer options when it comes to television news, and are therefore more united in their preferences. Yes, more respondents said they trusted Fox News than another network, but the total number — 29 percent — pales in comparison to the combined total of mainstream networks like CNN and the broadcast channels. . . ."
  
  
• "This clip of St. Louis news anchor April Simpson being referred to as 'the Hamburglar' on air went viral last week, partly due to comedian Kevin Hart sharing it on Facebook,"Tracy Clayton reported Monday for BuzzFeed. "The quip inspired a few memes passed around on social media, which the station's website also posted. The station, seeking to keep the viral momentum going, had someone dressed as The Hamburglar 'surprise' Simpson on air Monday. To make things even more awkward, they threw hamburgers at her. Fox 2 sure thought it was funny. A local McDonald's even got in on the act. But to many on social media, the gag seemed harassing, inappropriate, and disrespectful. . . ."
  
  
• "In honor of National Grammar Day 2015, American Journalism Review decided to offer self-help advice for reporters who increasingly are being asked to file stories without copy editors,"Jessica Eggert wrote Wednesday for ajr.org. Eggert also wrote, "Two major themes we heard are the need for reporters to educate themselves on the rules of editing and to explore ways to gain distance from their own words in order to spot mistakes and faulty language. . . ."
  
  
• "Fox News Channel has signed Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to a contributor role. King will be featured across FNC's programming, offering social and cultural commentary,"Brian Flood reported Friday for TVNewser. King, who writes pro-life commentary, is pastoral associate and director of African-American outreach for Priests for Life.


• Norman Parish of the Chicago Sun-Times took a buyout from the paper Thursday after nearly eight years as a reporter, night editor and deputy metro editor. As reported last week, black journalists Brian Jackson, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs, Francine Knowles and Monifa Thomas also accepted voluntary buyouts.
  
  
• "When terrorists attacked the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January and left 12 people dead, including its editor-in-chief and some of its acclaimed cartoonists, many artists from around the world responded to the tragedy with their own illustrations,Nu Yang wrote Wednesday for Editor & Publisher. "Creators Syndicate, based in Hermosa Beach, Calif., has put together a collection of these political cartoons. The book is being offered as a name-your-price download, and a minimum donation of $1 is suggested. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the families affected by the attack. The collection includes 31 high-resolution color cartoons by artists such as Mike Luckovich, Steve Breen, Michael Ramirez and Andy Marlette. . . ."
  
  
• In Wilmington, Del., "A prominent radio host on WGMD 92.7 FM, Jake Smith, said on air that 'as far as I'm concerned, not every Muslim is guilty, but every Muslim is suspect' of sympathizing with Islamic extremists,"James Fisher reported Friday for the News Journal. "When a caller to his show said Smith was 'a bigot.' Smith replied, 'you're a jackass.' He has not returned to WGMD's airwaves since. . . ."
  
  
• "In his address to a joint meeting of Congress this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, 'My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office that he holds.' Forgive me for believing the latter and not the former,"Jonathan Capehart wrote Friday for the Washington Post. "If the circumstances of how Netanyahu came to be in the well of the House two weeks before he stands for election were any more shady, they would constitute an eclipse. . . ." Capehart went on to list "the top six instances of rank disrespect toward President Obama" over his presidency.
  
  
• "In a rare and unprecedented season, there's been an influx of black gay characters in prime-time dramas on hit shows including Fox's 'Empire,' BET's 'Being Mary Jane' and OWN's 'The Haves & The Have Nots,'"Karu F. Daniels wrote Sunday for the Daily News in New York. Daniels also wrote, "these guys are essential to main storylines of each show, and depicted in non-stereotypical roles with their own eyebrow-raising story arcs. . . ."
  
  
• "When the City of Chicago closed the Woodlawn Adult Health Center in 2012, the Woodlawn Connection, a monthly newspaper founded by a client, folded after publishing 93 issues,"Frederick H. Lowe reported Sunday for North Star News Today. "'I wanted to publish 100 issues,'David Nero-Mailey, a former mental patient, who founded Woodlawn Connection in August 1997, told me during an interview at the Robust Coffee Lounge, across the street from the center. 'I published the newspaper to have a written record of the center and to let everyone know we were there.' . . ."
  
  
• "Charo Henríquez has made a move to New York City to take a job as Executive Editor of peopleenespanol.com. She reports to Editor-in-Chief Armando Correa,"Veronica Villafañe reported Monday for her Media Moves site. She also wrote, "Charo was previously Innovation Editor for Puerto Rico's at GFR Media, where she was responsible for digital strategy for the newly merged El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora, Puerto Rico's most visited news sites and largest paid circulation newspapers. . . ."
  
  
• "The first two months of 2015 have very disturbing for journalists in Honduras," Reporters without Borders said on Friday. "Five years after a 2009 coup d’état, it is still one of the western hemisphere's most dangerous countries for media personnel and respect for freedom of information continues to decline. The climate for news providers is extremely hostile. . . ."