Fox TV's awkward Soy Jism moment

Commentator Rosanna Scotto milks the moment on live tv - and her Fox co-anchors don't quite know quite where to look. Gasps and giggles...."That's an option, too...." Uh-huh.

Time to go for Karen Tumulty, who shifts to WashPost

Washington insider, Karen Tumulty, is moving on from TIME mag. . She promises to keep slog-blogging in SWAMPLAND, on Time.com, despite her impending move back to the Washington Post. See her farewell post, plus a good discussion underway from her fans,trolls and miscellaneous wingnuts and moonbats. Click here for her personal note. Hat tip to Romenesko for the link.
I liked best the effusive comment form "paradox", prior to Karen's departure. She covered tumultuous times for Time, after all.

I will miss your blogging, mostly for its integrity. You always reported both sides of the story as honestly as possible and if you had an opinion in the matter you described that seperately. You took your stories much more seriously than your opinions. As G K Chesterton observed."The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly." May you continue to soar.

Good Luck and Godspeed

Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/04/09/a-personal-note-about-time/#ixzz0kflCVYKP

AP chief: Journalists need access to battlefront

Journalists need reasonable access to battlefields to provide the public a realistic view of what is happening in Afghanistan and other war zones, the top executive of The Associated Press said Thursday.

Tom Curley, president and CEO of the AP, said the coming months will tell whether the Obama administration's decision to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan "provides a true path forward or is just another turn in the bend of what so far seems to have been an aimless - and deadly - war."

Curley's speech kicked off a conference on war and journalism at the University of Kentucky. The conference, Covering Conflicts in a Modern World, continues through Saturday and features discussions on the role of media in foreign policy, military and media relations, media ethics in conflict reporting, war reporting and war in film. It is open to the public.


Pressure to reform Afghanistan's weak government and fight corruption have increased since President Barack Obama took office last year. Another 30,000 U.S. forces are heading to Afghanistan to try to oust a resurgent Taliban and secure large swaths of the country.

News organizations covering the conflict could not take credit for the latest changes in U.S. tactics, Curley said.

"But the fact is that war coverage by a free and independent media with reasonable access to the battlefield forces policy makers to deal with the reality of what is happening on the ground instead of what they want the public - or even Washington - to think," he said. "Nowhere is truth more at risk - or more elusive - than in today's wars."

News media had been reporting the chinks in the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan shortly after American forces drove the Taliban from power following the Sept. 11 attacks, Curley said. Soon afterward, the U.S. focus turned to Iraq.

"The repercussions of this can't be understated: While official reports were claiming a beaten-down Taliban, AP was reporting just the opposite," he said. "The U.S. administration already was looking to Iraq, of course, and didn't have the resources to devote to Afghanistan, which helps explain such official misinformation. It had to make Afghanistan a success to enable Iraq."

Journalists covering conflicts like the one in Afghanistan understand the risks they take to cover the story, Curley said. Late last year, AP photographer Emilio Morenatti lost his lower left leg when the Stryker vehicle he was riding in ran over a bomb. Two soldiers also were badly wounded.

"This relentless risk of harm separates war coverage from all other journalism we pursue everyday. AP spends more money on it per story than anything else we do," Curley said. "I am convinced ... that it is more important than anything else we do."

Read more here. Of course, if that Wikileaks video of their Iraqi photographer being shot from the air is anything to go by, Reuters would agree.

Intrepid Reporter busted for pot. Dateline - Weed, California!

What a rush to judgement!

WEED, SISKIYOU COUNTY -- Chronicle outdoors writer Tom Stienstra and his wife were arrested at their Northern California home on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale, and later released with no charges filed pending an investigation, officials said.

Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said deputies found "a sophisticated marijuana cultivation operation in the barn" at Stienstra's home in Weed, a small town 30 miles south of Yreka, when they searched it March 25.

Authorities seized 60 marijuana plants, 11.1 pounds of processed marijuana, scales, packaging materials and other paraphernalia from the barn and the home, Gravenkamp said.

They also found medical-marijuana recommendation papers for Stienstra, his wife, Stephani Cruickshank, and Cruickshank's son, who also lives at the home, Gravenkamp said.

Stienstra, 55, and Cruickshank, 54, were booked into county jail on suspicion of one felony count each of possession of drugs for sale. Also arrested on suspicion of the same crimes were Henry Warren Lincoln, 32, of Medford, Ore., and Nathan Jacob Koopman, 30, of Gazelle (Siskiyou County).

Stienstra posted $75,000 bail March 26 and was released. His wife and the other two suspects were released Monday after no charges were filed against them.

County Assistant District Attorney Christine Winte said, "The D.A. has decided not to file charges at this time" against any of the suspects.

She said her office intends to have Stienstra in court for a proceeding in the case, but she could not give a date.

"The whole thing is under review," Winte said.

Stienstra's and Cruickshank's lawyers said they were hopeful the matter will go no further.

"All I know is that charges were not filed," said Eric Bergstrom of Yreka, Stienstra's lawyer. "That's very good news."

Chronicle Editor and Executive Vice President Ward Bushee said Stienstra's job has not changed at the paper. Stienstra covers the outdoors for The Chronicle, has a program on radio station KCBS and has published several books on hiking and camping.

"There are no charges filed, and we know very little about the allegations against Tom and hope it is resolved quickly," Bushee said. "In the meantime, we will continue to publish his popular outdoor reports in the Sporting Green."

Read original file in the SF Chronicle. Hey bud, we can't help but notice the felicitous convergence of appropriate names in this copy, such as Bushee, Sporting Green, and Weed. But if there's a medical marijuana prescription involved, the problem may not be too prolonged.

Body of Viet-era cameraman Flynn mat have been found

Photojournalist missing in action for four decades in Cambodia may soon be laid to rest. Reader Supported News brings us the tale of Sean Flynn, the movie-star's son, via the LA Times.

Sean Flynn, son of Hollywood film legend Errol Flynn, and colleague Dana Stone were Vietnam War photojournalists. On a spring day in 1970 they headed down a dirt road towards a VC checkpoint on two red motorcycles. Forty years later, Sean Flynn's remains may have been found near the border.