ON FRESH AIR Republican pollster Frank Luntz advises politicians on the language they should use to win elections and promote their policies. Although he works on one side of the aisle, he says that what he does is essentially non-partisan, seeking clarity and simplicity in language. His critics disagree, and have accused him of using language that misrepresents policies to “sell” them to the public. Frank Luntz is the author of Words that Work. RADIO TIMES Should Philadelphia eliminate its onerous business privilege tax? We’ll debate this with BRETT MANDEL, executive director of Philadelphia Forward, which calls for eliminating the […]
PULP FICTION: Local Noir Lit Geeks Celebrate Legacy Of Philadelphia’s Forgotten BARTON FINK
Though [David] Goodis enjoyed early success, he spent the last decades of his life in relative seclusion, living at his parents’ house in East Oak Lane, helping to care for Herbert, his schizophrenic brother. Since his death in early 1967, the author’s name and work have grown increasingly obscure. After his second novel, 1946’s Dark Passage, was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, Goodis was given a lucrative contract as a scriptwriter by Warner Bros., and installed in William Faulkner’s former office in Hollywood. The 1947 film version, with Humphrey Bogart as a wanted fugitive hunting for his wife’s killer, […]
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The truth you seek is here.
OFFICE SPACE: 34 Ad Reps Given Pink Slips
NEW YORK Less than a week after about 70 newsroom employees were laid off at the Philadelphia Inquirer, at least 34 advertising positions – including 16 part-timers – are being cut today at Philadelphia Newspapers, which handles business operations for the Inquirer and Daily News.Henry Holcomb, president of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, said the affected employees were being informed Monday morning one by one, with union representatives sitting in on the meetings with management. “We have just gotten word and they are in the process of informing them now,” Holcomb said about the impacted employees, who are among […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos on today’s Fresh Air.
BUZZ BITCHSLAP: Bissinger Calls On Columnists Grogan And Smith To Do The Right Thing And Pull Golden Parachutes For The Good Of The Inquirer
FROM THE BLINQ COMMENTS SECTION: Given what is happening at the Inquirer, I hope that columnists Stephen A. Smith and John Grogan do what is right and take voluntary buyouts given they have both hit the jackpot in other realms and could care less about what they write for the paper. They both mail their columns in now. Smith is preoccupied with his ESPN show and is apprently never in the city he allegedly covers. Grogan is mired in the gooey syrup that made Marley and Me such a hit and has never shown any knowledge of the region whatsoever.Neither […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
ON TODAY’S FRESH AIR ?A Scanner Darkly,? the film based on the novel by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick ? about drug addiction, paranoia, government surveillance and corporate greed ? is now out on DVD. On the next Fresh Air, we hear from RICHARD LINKLATER, who wrote and directed it. THE WORLD CAFE Formed in 2000 from the ashes of the outstanding Minneapolis band Lifter Puller, The Hold Steady might just be the best bar band in America. With its riff-heavy mixture of classic rock and Craig Finn’s lyrically dense storytelling, the group crafts intricately detailed musical universes that […]
National Association Of Black Journalists Questions Preponderance of Minorities On THE LIST
The Philadelphia Inquirer began informing the 71 newsroom employees Tuesday night that they would be let go as of Jan. 17, 2007. Early reports indicate that as many as 14-16 black journalists were among those laid off, or as much as 22.5 percent of the overall layoffs. According to the 2006 ASNE newsroom census, approximately 11.3 percent of the Inquirer?s newsroom staff is African American. ?This takes the Inquirer in the wrong direction,? said NABJ President Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines. ?While we recognize that economic realities are forcing industry executives to make […]
Cover Wars: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?
Well, well, well. The bitch is back. Not sure what we mean by that, but it sure sounds like a badass opening. First a few words about our boy Jeff Fusco — hardest working family man in show business, great big grizzly of a man, but a real Gentle Ben. Always a gentleman and a scholar. He always gets The Shot, too. Although for reasons that elude us, PW elected NOT to use one for this week’s The Year In Photos cover. Why the hell didn’t they use that Obama money shot and plug into the zeitgeist for a second? […]
Company Gives List To Guild, Guild Names Names
What follows is a list of the 71 Guild members at the Philadelphia Inquirer who have been notified that they will be laid off. This list was created by the Company and sent to the Guild on January 3rd. Guild representatives are in the process of comparing the Company’s information on hire dates and job categories with the Guild’s records and will also meet with Company representatives on Friday to discuss bumping rights and other layoff related issues.
NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FROM ROLLING STONE After the screening, Borat returns to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to shower and transform back into Sacha Baron Cohen: mild-mannered Londoner, fiance of actress Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), reluctant sometime resident of Los Angeles. I wait outside the restaurant Asiate for him to appear. I’d met Baron Cohen once before, three years ago, when he was recording his first series of Da Ali G Show for HBO, interviewing a panel of leading scientists as pseudo hip-hop youth talk-show host Ali G. (“Let’s talk about when technology goes horribly wrong: Could there be another Nintendo 64?”) At the […]
GUILD MEMO: 71 Inquirer Employees Given Pink Slips
By now you know the very sad news that the Company laid off 71 of our colleagues from the Philadelphia Inquirer newsroom earlier today.The Company met with most of the victims of its layoff. Those who were laid off also met with consultants who described their pension and health benefits as well as a job counseling service hired by the company. In the immediate future the Guild is seeking more people who will volunteer to be laid off. Volunteers who are accepted by the Company are entitled to full severance, accrued vacation and personal and holiday time. Their health coverage […]