By Arthur Alpert I was not born ancient. First I was a child, an American boy of the New York City variety, caught up in the great debate of my times – was Mays, Mantle or Snider the best center fielder ever – and lesser but still crucial sports topics. So naturally, I tackled the […]
Entries Tagged as 'New York Times'
How to Report Business News: The Pharmaceutical Industry
July 5th, 2016 · 2 Comments · business coverage, journalism, regulation, role of government
Tags:Arthur Alpert·Huffington Post·New York Times·pharmaceutical industry·Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America·PhRMA·Robert Pear·Steven Brill·The Miracle Industry Series
A Self-Made Trap: Pity for the Commissars, Part Two
May 8th, 2016 · No Comments · journalism, Koch brothers
By Arthur Alpert As I write Thursday, May 6, Albuquerque Journal editors ask a good question at the top of the front page, “Is the GOP ready to follow Trump? I have a better question –is the Albuquerque Journal ready to follow Trump? The Journal has spent the entire primary season, after all, clobbering Mr. […]
Tags:Arthur Alpert·Donald Trump·Hillary Clinton·Jeb Bush·Koch brothers·Matea Gold·Michael Coleman·Mike McIntire·New York Times·Scott Walker·Ted Cruz·Washington Post
More Lessons in Public Interest Journalism: The Fiduciary Rule
April 19th, 2016 · 1 Comment · financial coverage, journalism, labor, regulation, role of government
By Arthur Alpert As I was saying last time, seeing “Spotlight”, the Oscar winning film about the Boston Globe’s exposé of widespread abuse of children in the local Archdiocese, reminded me that many newspapers set themselves the goal of serving the public interest. But what is the public interest? Well, a commonsense definition might be […]
Tags:Arthur Alpert·Associated Press·Department of Labor·fiduciary rule·government regulation·Jared Bernstein·Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez·Mary Gordon·New York Times·public interest·Spotlight
Lessons in Public Interest Journalism from “Spotlight” and “The Big Short”
April 14th, 2016 · 1 Comment · economy, financial coverage, journalism, regulation
By Arthur Alpert I’m so old I prefer to see movies in movie houses, so when the 2016 Oscar winner, “Spotlight” and one of its competitors, “The Big Short” finally arrived at the dollar theater (which isn’t a buck anymore), I caught both of them in one week. “The Big Short” sought to turn Michael […]
Tags:Arthur Alpert·Binyamin Appelbaum·Boston Globe·Michael Lewis·Neel Kashkari·New York Times·Spotlight·The Big Short·too big to fail
National vs. Local
February 15th, 2016 · 1 Comment · budget policy, Congress, Fact Check, journalism, Washington
By Arthur Alpert About a week go I bumped into a former Albuquerque Journal reporter who said – I paraphrase – we’re essentially on target in our critiques of the daily but I write too often on national and global stories, not enough about the daily’s local coverage. My reaction to the “on target” was […]
Tags:Andrew Taylor·Arthur Alpert·Associated Press·cybersecurity·federal budget·food stamps·Jackie Calmes·Martin Crutsinger·Medicaid·Medicare·national debt·New York Times·Obama·Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar·Social Security·Steven Mufson·Washington Post
Tools of Misapprehension
July 30th, 2015 · No Comments · health care reform, journalism, role of government, social safety net, war and peace
By Arthur Alpert That the Albuquerque Journal makes most news decisions politically is so obvious it’s become (borderline) boring. Yet the skill with which the editors wield their tools to produce the paper’s daily misapprehension of reality still fascinates me, as does the relentlessness of the effort. By tools, I mean headlines, where stories run, […]
Tags:ALEC·Arthur Alpert·Jeb Bush·John Kasich·Julie Carr Smyth·Koch brothers·Mark Schlesinger·Medicaid·Medicare·Nancy Szokan·New York Times·Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar·Washington Post
Questionable Balance
April 14th, 2015 · 1 Comment · journalism
By Arthur Alpert As a sophisticated consumer of journalism, you know the dangers involved when news people or institutions seek balance. Most obviously, it implies there are two sides to a story. If only the world were that simple. And then there’s the problem of deciding what you want to balance. Years ago, when I […]
Tags:Arthur Alpert·Dan Boyd·George Will·Hillary Clinton·Jim Kuhhenn·New York Times·Susanna Martinez·Washington Post
How the Journal Played the Torture Report Story
December 14th, 2014 · 2 Comments · journalism, Washington
By Arthur Alpert We drown in facts even as we thirst for meaning. Meaning is born of context. Reporters and essayists provide it within their pieces by using history, comparisons and other explanatory material. (It’s not today’s subject but that required reportorial intervention is why “objectivity” doesn’t exist and why “just the facts, please” is […]
Tags:Arthur Alpert·CIA·Ellen Nakashima·John Brennan·John McCain·Mark Mazzetti·Matt Apuzzo·Michael Coleman·New York Times·torture report·Washington Post
Not Newsworthy at The Journal: Climate Change Protests, Departure of Google and Facebook from ALEC
September 24th, 2014 · 1 Comment · energy policy, environment, journalism
By Arthur Alpert Across the globe, demonstrators marched and chanted and some did civil disobedience to wake the rest of us to the ill effects of climate change. That was Sunday, Sept. 21. The New York Times’ story the next day, prominently displayed, was headlined “Taking a Call for Climate Change to the Streets”. The […]
Tags:ALEC·alternative energy·American Legislative Exchange Council·Amy Goodman·Arthur Alpert·climate change·Dominc Rushe·Emily Atkin·Eugene Robinson·New York Times·oil and gas industry·solar energy·The Guardian·Think Progress·Washington Post