"What Are You Doing? Are You Out of Your Damned Mind?"

Hurricane Isaac Destroys Melissa Harris-Perry Home

"Hours after Hurricane Isaac hammered its way through New Orleans on the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Melissa Harris-Perry tweeted that her new home had been destroyed by the storm," Rebecca Shapiro reported for the Huffington Post.

"Harris-Perry and her husband closed on the purchase of what one could fondly describe as a 'fixer-upper' (the house lacked all four walls) just last month. She excitedly announced that she and her family planned to restore the New Orleans property that was destroyed and abandoned during Katrina.

"On her Sunday MSNBC show, Harris-Perry acknowledged the anniversary of Katrina by giving viewers a tour of what she called her 'extreme home makeover.' Harris-Perry described the ripped-apart home as a safety concern and the 'site of crime' in the neighborhood. . . ."

The Times-Picayune reported Wednesday night, "Though downgraded from a hurricane status this afternoon, Isaac continues to drop heavy rains between 7 and 14 inches along its path — with isolated accumulations of up to 20 inches — and has sustained wins of 60 mph . . . "

Disconnect Between GOP and Latino Journalists

"The Republicans wanted to talk about the economy. The press wanted to talk about immigration," Bryan Llenas wrote from Tampa Tuesday for Fox News Latino.

"In the first Republican National Convention daily briefing for Latino press, the RNC and campaign of presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney stressed the need to revitalize the economy.

"But members of the Spanish-language media pressed the issue of immigration, and tried to challenge Texas Rep. Francisco 'Quico' Canseco and [former] New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu — the two surrogates who appeared on behalf of the RNC — on the GOP's push for strict enforcement.

"Canseco and Sununu spoke of the 'American Dream,' a 'bankrupt economy,' and the confidence that Romney can offer 'laws,' enduring solutions to the immigration system that would improve programs involving guest workers and visas.

"Their focus, to be sure, was unmistakably the economy.

"But members of the press wanted to focus on undocumented youth, what they characterized as the harsh immigration rhetoric by GOP candidates, and a Republican party platform that recently incorporated calls for tough enforcement of immigration laws.

"For critics, the bilingual press conference on a rainy Monday epitomized the 'disconnect' and divide between Romney and Latinos."

"We Built It" Speaker Received $2 Million in SBA Loans

"The Republican National Convention opened by smacking President Obama with the theme 'We Built it,' " columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote Tuesday for the New York Times.

"To pound that message, Republicans turned to a Delaware businesswoman, Sher Valenzuela, who is also a candidate for lieutenant governor. Valenzuela and her husband built an upholstery business that now employs dozens of workers.

"Valenzuela presumably was picked to speak so that she could thunder at Obama for disdaining capitalism.

"Oops. It turns out that Valenzuela relied not only on her entrepreneurial skills but also on — yes, government help. Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, documented $2 million in loans from the Small Business Administration for Valenzuela's company, plus $15 million in government contracts (mostly noncompetitive ones). . . "

• A. Peter Bailey, TriceEdneyWire.com: A Race About Race: Get Whose Country Back?
  
  
• Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: Going nuts in Tampa, and CNN has a major fail.
  
  
• Marcus Feldman, Media Matters for America: NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Exposes Discredited Fox Narrative
  
  
• Caitlin Ginley, Media Matters for America: Fox Skirts Issue Of RNC Speaker Receiving Millions In Aid For Small Business
  
  
• Merrill Knox, TVNewser: Jorge Ramos on the Univision-ABC News Channel: 'Either we do it, or somebody else is going to do it'
  
  
• La Opinión: Jorge Ramos to GOP: Where Is the Party of Reagan?
  
  
• Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: Paul Ryan in a Word: 'Conservative,' 'Intelligent'
  
  
• Jeff Poor, Daily Caller: MSNBC abandons GOP convention during every speech by a minority
  
  
• Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone: Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital
  
  
• Joseph Torres, Free Press: Presidential Debate Commission Turns Blind Eye Toward Race
  
  
• Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista: Boehner's remarks about black and Latino voters serve to disenfranchise voters of color
  
  
• Marisa Treviño, Latina Lista: "Isolated incidents" widening the gap between GOP and Americans of color
  
  

Syracuse, Harrisburg Papers to Cut Back Print Editions

"Newhouse Newspapers, which earlier this spring announced that it would stop printing a daily paper at The New Orleans Times-Picayune and its Alabama newspapers, said it would end the daily distribution of two more of its newspapers, The Post-Standard in Syracuse, and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.," Christine Haughney reported Tuesday for the New York Times.

"The papers will merge their content with local news Web sites and deliver the printed newspaper only three days a week.

"Starting in January, The Post-Standard will publish on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Syracuse Media Group, the company formed to oversee The Post-Standard, is still considering whether to publish a newspaper that it would not deliver to homes and businesses on the other four days."

"The news prompted more than 100 comments by readers on the Web site Syracuse.com who expressed their concerns about life without a daily newspaper."

• Kai Ryssdal, "Marketplace," Public Radio International: Facing Isaac, Times-Picayune looks to digital to cover hurricanes

Journalists Shift in the Way They Cover Colombia

"Here are two headlines from two decades apart: A headline 20 years ago in the Milwaukee Journal — Who's in charge: Colombia or Escobar? A July 2012 headline in USA Today — Colombia gets its first W hotel," Justin D. Martin reported Wednesday for Columbia Journalism Review.

"For many years Colombia was a byword for drugs and dysfunction. Today it signifies a country that has fought through terrorism and years of warfare, a country once known for merciless militias that is, while not [guerrilla]-free, a frequent topic of brighter discussions.

" 'Global media have shifted significantly in the way they cover Colombia,' Michael LaRosa and German Mejia wrote in a 2012 history of the country. 'Stories focusing on tourism, restaurants, Colombian tennis stars, and positive reviews of literary works…suggest the US media's perception of the Andean nation is evolving away from the myopic, one-dimensional view that marked earlier portrayals of the country.'

"And as for domestic journalists and their perceptions: It's easier for reporters to focus on a country's positives when they aren't being murdered. For years, Colombia was a country in which a journalist would get dead every couple of months. Cesar Gaviria, the country's president from 1990-1994, has seen acquaintances, as well as his sister, killed for political reasons. Before he won the Colombian presidency in 1990, three other candidates were murdered, one of which was his colleague. Yet he gives much credit to his nation's journalists for reporting through the risks. In Colombia, Gaviria told me in his Bogotá office in August, 'Journalists take all the risks. Many have been killed, but this country has not been intimidated. . . .' "

• Monica Campbell, Committee to Protect Journalists: Venezuela's private media wither under Chávez assault
  
  
• Committee to Protect Journalists: Colombian Supreme Court drops suit against columnist
  
  
• Committee to Protect Journalists: In Venezuela, a media landscape transformed

Ethiopia Frees Editor Arrested After Premier's Death

"The International Press Institute (IPI) on Tuesday welcomed the news that charges against Ethiopian editor Temesgen Desalegn have been withdrawn, and called for Ethiopia to reform its stance toward the media and free all journalists who are currently in jail for their criticism of official policies, and cease its harassment of Feteh newspaper," Naomi Hunt reported for the Vienna-based press freedom organization on Tuesday.

"Prosecutors sent a letter to the 16th Criminal Bench of the Federal High Court saying that charges against Desalegn had been dropped to allow time to further investigate, the Ethiopian Reporter said. IPI was told that the journalist had been released from Kality Prison.

"Temesgen Desalegn, editor of the critical weekly newspaper Feteh, was arrested last week just after the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was officially announced, according to reports. He was charged with inciting the public to overthrow the constitutional order, defaming the state, and spreading false rumours to incite the public against the government, a legal expert in Ethiopia told IPI.

". . . With the passing of strong-arm leader Meles Zenawi, who ruled Ethiopia for over twenty years, Ethiopia has an opportunity to review policies that crushed human rights and democratic principles as much as they promoted economic development."

"Gentleman's Agreement" Ends, NAHJ Enters L.A.

Pilar Marrero of La Opinion, Art Marroquin of the Daily Breeze, sports broadcaster and new KPCC host A Martinez, Edwin Tamara of Associated Press, Victoria Infante of Huffington Post, Agustin Duran of latinocalifornia.com and Kris Fortin of eastsidestreetsblog.org were among those who met last Thursday to form the first Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reported Tuesday for Los Angeles public television station KCET.

Ruben Vives, whose stories helped the Los Angeles Times win this year's Pulitzer Prize for public service, was the featured guest.

". . . The SAG-AFTRA union co-sponsored the mixer. Union representative Ray Bradford said . . . there was a gentleman's agreement between the NAHJ and the older, California-based Latino journalist group," the California Chicano News Media Association, which preceded the formation of NAHJ. "And so while NAHJ prospered around the country building chapters across the country we as NAHJ needed to support CCNMA's continued growth in Southern California,' he said.

"During the 2000s CCNMA's activity in L.A. tapered off.

" 'I think it would be wrong for us to depend on one organization, bring on two, bring on three, as long as we all have a unified mission of equality and respect, and quality journalism bring it on," Bradford said.' "

In reporting on the development, Kevin Roderick of LAObserved included this curious paragraph:

"Now the two groups can contend to see which survives, if either. Or is the idea of ethnicity-based professional organizations fading, especially among younger and more digitally oriented journalists?"