Archived Writing
Published: Thursday, March 4, 2010
"Strong history - and some coincidences - for today"
IT’S QUITE A STORY. The Head of State narrowly escapes a massive terrorist bomb, strategically placed right under him, amid a ceremonial gathering of all his nation’s top leaders (think State of the Union night in the Capitol Building). more >>
Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
"Healthcare: Cutting-edge with blunted instruments"
TODAY’S PRE-SCRIPTED WHITE HOUSE event, just across Pennsylvania Avenue in Blair House (pictured left), has repeatedly been labeled, in quaint old-media terms, the “televised healthcare summit”. more >>
Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010
"Unanswered, as ever: How long a war?"
A FAMILIAR FRISSON has thrilled through the nerves of America’s media since Operation Mashtarak (meaning “together”) opened up – the by now long–awaited offensive against southern Afghanistan's Taliban. more >>
Published: Thursday, February 11, 2010
"Media moment to marvel at - and now?"
THIS VERY MORNING TWENTY years ago a crescendo of media speculation climaxed in a media spectacle of historic significance. more >>
Published: Thursday, February 4, 2010
"Contrasting takes on a culture controversy "
I WAS LONG AGO INITIATED into membership of my tribe, a band that's ragged and leaderless, but often gung-ho. That would be the clan of Western journalists who were captured early in our careers by Africa - and our fascination with the continent remains enthusiastic, even obsessive. That much is often very clear in these columns of mine. more >>
- Thursday, January 28, 2010 "National accounting, overseas outlay"
- Thursday, January 21, 2010 "Reports aplenty - anyone reading them?"
- Thursday, January 14, 2010 "Television in weakness and in strength"
- Thursday, January 7, 2010 "Promoting security - or frenzied symbolism?"
- Thursday, December 31, 2009 "A bulletin for 2010"
- Thursday, December 24, 2009 "Bright light, out of a tiny screen"
- Thursday, December 17, 2009 "From the lesser areas, greater communication"
- Thursday, December 10, 2009 "Captaincy: In the public field, and unreported"
- Thursday, December 3, 2009 "Messaging for government, not for campaigning"
- Thursday, November 19, 2009 "Culture divide - or media manipulation?"
- Thursday, November 12, 2009 "Veterans’ diverse stories"
- Thursday, November 5, 2009 "Chat compromising facts - plus fakery for fun"
- Thursday, October 29, 2009 "Truths revealed, political and personal"
- Thursday, October 22, 2009 "The widening gyre - not much to hold"
- Thursday, October 15, 2009 "Afghan story sidebar - becoming more central?"
- Thursday, October 8, 2009 "To believe or not to believe"
- Thursday, October 1, 2009 "Let's hear it - for a resurgent medium"
- Thursday, September 24, 2009 "Cleaning house - under global scrutiny"
- Thursday, September 17, 2009 "And now … other news"
- Thursday, September 10, 2009 "Are these the tools to crack the echo-chamber?"
- Thursday, September 3, 2009 "Time to bury a defunct label?"
- Thursday, August 27, 2009 "Just how much reaches American ears?"
- Thursday, August 20, 2009 "Standing up for media's full democratic role "
- Thursday, August 13, 2009 "Reversing Web's trend, via an old model?"
- Thursday, August 6, 2009 "Quiet and subtle - the way to win "
- Thursday, July 30, 2009 "Message of speed, but to what end?"
- Thursday, July 23, 2009 "Commonplace bedrock for the sublime"
- Thursday, July 16, 2009 "A great advance – and a return to basics"
- Thursday, July 9, 2009 "The endless effort: Manipulate the Media!"
- Thursday, July 2, 2009 "Reporting the story’s end … but when?"
- Thursday, June 25, 2009 "Pen mightier than Sword? Try Pixels vs Pistols"
- Thursday, June 18, 2009 "Mini-messaging for major change"
- Thursday, June 11, 2009 "Contentious symbol"
- Thursday, June 4, 2009 "Restraint with the White House megaphone"
- Thursday, May 28, 2009 "Information’s long reach against wrongdoers "
- Thursday, May 21, 2009 "Counter-balancing baleful influences"
- Wednesday, May 13, 2009 "Emblems of senseless loss"
- Thursday, May 7, 2009 "Defying simplification"
- Thursday, April 30, 2009 "Hero-worship at 100 days, plus some disdain"
- Thursday, April 23, 2009 "Prizes, quite rightly, highlight real strengths"
- Thursday, April 16, 2009 "Joy in Medialand over one life saved"
- Thursday, April 9, 2009 "Stalking the giant"
- Thursday, April 2, 2009 "Unpromising projections"
- Thursday, March 26, 2009 "Downward dips in high performance"
- Thursday, March 19, 2009 "Strong messages amid uncertainty"
- Thursday, March 12, 2009 "Overturning expectations"
- Thursday, March 5, 2009 "Secrecy versus responsibility "
- Thursday, February 26, 2009 "President's precedents, across the water"
- Thursday, February 19, 2009 "Reporting Home, not-so-Sweet Home"
- Thursday, February 12, 2009 "Court reports – resonant messages"
- Thursday, February 5, 2009 "Tracking the tradition of transitional traps"
- Thursday, January 29, 2009 "Truth-telling's challenges"
- Thursday, January 22, 2009 "Day Three of the O-Watch"
- Thursday, January 15, 2009 "Out with the old, scrutinize the new"
- Thursday, January 8, 2009 "Spinning cynically as ever"
- Thursday, January 1, 2009 "Wildly varying perspectives"
- Thursday, December 25, 2008 "Expectations of the season"
- Thursday, December 18, 2008 "Offscreen, loose cannons at work "
- Thursday, December 11, 2008 "Counting the (under-reported) cost"
- Thursday, December 4, 2008 "Reporting on ruination"
- Thursday, November 27, 2008 "Sweet deals reported, sourness in reality"
- Thursday, November 20, 2008 "Filling blanks around the globe - humans first"
- Thursday, November 13, 2008 "Just what is to be remembered?"
- Thursday, November 6, 2008 "Choosing exactly the right words"
- Thursday, October 30, 2008 "Obvious truths – stated and otherwise"
- Thursday, October 23, 2008 "Uncovered: Color of money, with white highlights "
- Thursday, October 16, 2008 "Borrowed style, shared substance"
- Thursday, October 9, 2008 "Principles above public postures"
- Thursday, October 2, 2008 "The cost of cramming"
- Thursday, September 25, 2008 "Perceptions of the people"
- Thursday, September 18, 2008 "Paying attention, fully"
- Thursday, September 11, 2008 "Chronicles of hubris "
- Thursday, September 4, 2008 "Tracking evidence - though it can disappear"
- Thursday, August 28, 2008 "Too much coverage - and not enough"
- Thursday, August 21, 2008 "Words, words, words"
- Thursday, August 14, 2008 "Tied up in tackiness"
- Thursday, August 7, 2008 "Only a game ..."
- Thursday, July 31, 2008 "Evoking the aftermath"
- Thursday, July 24, 2008 "Regal, and cutting"
- Thursday, July 17, 2008 "Can we be more specific?"
- Thursday, July 10, 2008 "Tuning in tolerance"
- Thursday, July 3, 2008 "Attention deficit on Africa"
- Thursday, June 26, 2008 "Some speakable reactions to the unspeakable "
- Thursday, June 19, 2008 "Avoiding reality?"
- Thursday, June 12, 2008 "Faltering, but attention must still be paid"
- Thursday, June 5, 2008 "Macho media choices a clue to attitudes?"
- Thursday, May 29, 2008 "Bad old voting days – better, younger voting days?"
- Thursday, May 22, 2008 "Image-building in the blogging age"
- Thursday, May 15, 2008 "Difficult reporting"
- Thursday, May 8, 2008 "Hard knocks ... and really hard knocks"
- Thursday, May 1, 2008 "What's to write home about?"
- Thursday, April 24, 2008 "Welcome coverage, some less welcome - and some plain ridiculous"
- Thursday, April 17, 2008 "Food for thought - less for eating"
- Thursday, April 10, 2008 "Bringing it home"
- Thursday, April 3, 2008 "Mercy in media megaphoning"
- Thursday, March 27, 2008 "Planning for inevitable stories – and surprises"
- Thursday, March 20, 2008 "Making history – one way or another"
- Sunday, March 16, 2008 "Face-on for fuller disclosure"
- Thursday, March 6, 2008 "Numbers games – closing and opening up"
- Thursday, February 28, 2008 "Running against the clock "
- Thursday, February 21, 2008 "Surface detail, and deep substance"
- Thursday, February 14, 2008 "Managing, or mismanaging, a myth"
- Thursday, February 7, 2008 "Can we expect clarity?"
- Thursday, January 31, 2008 "Once flashy, now fallen stars of "security" "
- Thursday, January 24, 2008 "Vital information - to and from crowds"
- Thursday, January 17, 2008 "Future uncertain – laughs grim"
- Thursday, January 10, 2008 "Reversals, stunning and otherwise"
- Thursday, January 3, 2008 "Voices of experience"
- Thursday, December 27, 2007 "Seasonal nuts"
- Thursday, December 20, 2007 "Dueling differences - image and substance"
- Thursday, December 13, 2007 "Overseeing secrets "
- Thursday, December 6, 2007 "New news, but all-too-familiar"
- Thursday, November 29, 2007 "Chronicling the consequences"
- Thursday, November 22, 2007 "Thanks due to some, no thanks to others"
- Thursday, November 15, 2007 "Stars among the placards"
- Thursday, November 8, 2007 "A quota of quotable quotes"
- Thursday, November 1, 2007 "Rolling back distortions"
- Thursday, October 25, 2007 "Table Talk - what Churchill called "jaw-jaw""
- Thursday, October 18, 2007 "Pressure points for change"
- Thursday, October 11, 2007 "Super-rich, gifts and birthdays"
- Thursday, October 4, 2007 "Dispatches from the looking-foolish arena"
- Thursday, September 27, 2007 "Resounding horn-notes from history"
- Thursday, September 20, 2007 "Defining moments"
- Thursday, September 13, 2007 "Unsurprising paths of violence"
- Thursday, September 6, 2007 "The Report -- or What-You-Will"
- Thursday, August 30, 2007 "Complicity and recompense"
- Thursday, August 23, 2007 "Learning - from journalism?"
- Thursday, August 16, 2007 "No beating about this Bush"
- Thursday, August 9, 2007 "Lean Times, mean times "
- Thursday, August 2, 2007 "The GB Show"
- Thursday, July 26, 2007 "Stretching credulity"
- Thursday, July 19, 2007 "Unstoppable Big Brother?"
- Thursday, July 12, 2007 "Sound judgment?"
- Thursday, July 5, 2007 "Picturing advances in freedom"
- Thursday, June 21, 2007 "Tremors among the high-tech pinnacles"
- Thursday, June 14, 2007 "A sorry, sorry tale"
- Thursday, June 7, 2007 "Writing to influence"
- Thursday, May 31, 2007 "Thick-skinned, but sensitive communicators"
- Thursday, May 24, 2007 "Funny how things change"
- Thursday, May 17, 2007 "Kudos where it's due"
- Thursday, May 10, 2007 "Peace - and the price"
- Thursday, May 3, 2007 "Spinning the facts in play"
- Thursday, April 26, 2007 "Battling lies"
- Thursday, April 19, 2007 "How much (more?) do we know?"
- Thursday, April 12, 2007 "To be a people's tribune – a risky course"
- Thursday, April 5, 2007 "Truth vis-a-vis experience"
- Thursday, March 29, 2007 "A world LESS wired?"
- Thursday, March 22, 2007 "Community of interest?"
- Thursday, March 15, 2007 "At risk - and yet over-protected too?"
- Thursday, March 8, 2007 "Preserving the evidence – and often not"
- Thursday, March 1, 2007 "Authenticity - in some very varied forms"
- Thursday, February 22, 2007 "Joint web action for 2008"
- Thursday, February 15, 2007 "Amazing gracefulness"
- Thursday, February 8, 2007 "Inexact Justice?"
- Thursday, February 1, 2007 "A daunting, often tragic role: The Go-Between"
- Thursday, January 25, 2007 "Punchy messenger, from a punchy history"
- Thursday, January 18, 2007 "Paranoia a-plenty"
- Thursday, January 11, 2007 "For appearances' sake"
- Thursday, January 4, 2007 "Across the partisan divide?"
- Thursday, December 21, 2006 "Children’s stories at Christmas-time"
- Thursday, December 14, 2006 "Battling bigotry"
- Thursday, December 7, 2006 ""Realism" rears again - to a slap-down?"
- Thursday, November 30, 2006 "Diff'rent strokes ..."
- Thursday, November 23, 2006 "Decisions in a debacle"
- Thursday, November 16, 2006 "The heights of hype – and depths, too"
- Thursday, November 9, 2006 "When reality breaks through"
- Thursday, November 2, 2006 "Ten-year taboo-breaker broadens net"
- Thursday, October 26, 2006 ""Show-me" midwest media maelstrom"
- Thursday, October 19, 2006 "Big changes among the millions"
- Thursday, October 12, 2006 "Giving their all"
- Thursday, October 5, 2006 "Classy sitcom plot?"
- Thursday, September 28, 2006 "Regal reality"
- Thursday, September 21, 2006 "Uncovering another hidden cost of war"
- Thursday, September 14, 2006 "Media memorials – opportunism, or value?"
- Thursday, September 7, 2006 ""Live!" - Oh, and electronic too"
- Thursday, August 31, 2006 "Putting the record straight - even if belatedly"
- Thursday, August 24, 2006 "Consider the source(s)"
- Saturday, August 19, 2006 "The art of contradictory communication"
- Thursday, August 10, 2006 "The demons behind death and brutality"
- Thursday, August 3, 2006 "NOT running with the herd"
- Thursday, July 27, 2006 "An essential job – the "Explainer""
- Thursday, July 20, 2006 "Lebanon - war's global face"
- Thursday, July 13, 2006 "The W eye-test -- how reliable can it be?"
- Saturday, July 8, 2006 "Death calls for commemoration and communication"
- Thursday, June 29, 2006 "Vile and duplicitous - Can anything be done?"
- Thursday, June 22, 2006 "Long views of insurgency"
- Wednesday, June 14, 2006 "Managing the message means redefining the terms"
- Wednesday, June 7, 2006 "Reputations - rough, but real and principled"
- Friday, June 2, 2006 "Repulsive ideas - in some odd minds"
- Thursday, June 1, 2006 "Pictures - even mere lines - portray problems powerfully"
- Thursday, May 25, 2006 "The biz in showbiz shuns brave talent"
- Wednesday, May 24, 2006 "With friends like these..."
- Thursday, May 18, 2006 "Touchy-feely do-gooding? No, just business"
- Thursday, May 11, 2006 "Live, and unskippable! – The latest hard-sell"
- Thursday, May 4, 2006 "Mine, yours – or really theirs?"
- Monday, May 1, 2006 "Through a glass darkly - memory and journalism"
- Thursday, April 27, 2006 "Desperate for recognition"
- Saturday, April 15, 2006 "Taxman’s e-vote of confidence"
- Wednesday, April 12, 2006 "Unacknowledged masses, untapped market"
- Thursday, April 6, 2006 "Do no evil, but at least get a lobbyist"
- Thursday, March 30, 2006 "The perennial contest – Open vs. Not-so-open"
- Thursday, March 23, 2006 "Fast change – and those left behind"
- Thursday, March 16, 2006 "How are mighty fallen, as E-geeks rise!"
- Thursday, March 9, 2006 "Reversals of fortune"
- Thursday, March 2, 2006 "Following the E-money"
- Thursday, February 23, 2006 "How free a free market?"
- Thursday, February 16, 2006 "Web of lies"
- Thursday, February 9, 2006 "Traffic from tube to net"
- Thursday, February 2, 2006 "Reporters reporting risks to reporters"
- Thursday, January 26, 2006 "Scornful as ever, Rupert is sure of his future"
- Thursday, January 19, 2006 "TV to Web -- and back again"
- Thursday, January 12, 2006 "Tiny fees - big money"
- Thursday, January 5, 2006 "Ever ooooonward!"
- Thursday, December 15, 2005 am New York, "Strike strife"
- Friday, December 9, 2005 am New York, "Baghdad Bribes"
- Thursday, December 1, 2005 am New York, "Small ads, big panic"
- Friday, November 25, 2005 am New York, "Thanks to Mike"
- Thursday, November 17, 2005 am New York, "Listening changes"
- Thursday, November 10, 2005 am New York, "Rupert's rough time"
- Thursday, November 3, 2005 am New York, "Terminator switches"
- Thursday, October 27, 2005 am New York, "Fighting Google"
- Thursday, October 20, 2005 am New York, "Moral in Miller’s tale"
- Thursday, October 13, 2005 am New York, "Inaccessible horror"
- Thursday, October 6, 2005 am New York, "Friendless heroine?"
- Thursday, September 29, 2005 am New York, "War to last, whatever its name"
- Thursday, September 22, 2005 am New York, "Patchy revelations on Gitmo"
- Thursday, September 15, 2005 am New York, "Time for ethics"
- Thursday, September 8, 2005 am New York, "The big roll-back"
- Thursday, September 1, 2005 am New York, "Healing from horror"
- Thursday, August 25, 2005 am New York, "A women's war?"
- Thursday, August 18, 2005 am New York, "Missing pieces"
- Thursday, August 11, 2005 am New York, "History - and loss"
- Thursday, August 4, 2005 am New York, "Ultimate price"
- Thursday, July 28, 2005 am New York, "Watching the US"
- Thursday, July 21, 2005 am New York, "Trust them?"
- Thursday, July 14, 2005 am New York, "Bush brain on the block?"
- Thursday, July 7, 2005 am New York, "The job, and jail"
- Thursday, June 30, 2005 am New York, "Voices in danger"
- Thursday, June 23, 2005 am New York, "Slashing - and fighting back"
- Thursday, June 16, 2005 am New York, "White House "editor" gets oily job"
- Wednesday, June 8, 2005 am New York, "Blurring the Bush-Blair bickering"
- Friday, June 3, 2005 am New York, "Secret agents tell all"
- Thursday, May 26, 2005 am New York, "Hue and cry … and over-reaction"
- Thursday, May 19, 2005 am New York, "Arab television’s take on the world"
- Thursday, May 12, 2005 am New York, "Honor rises above dishonor"
- Thursday, May 5, 2005 am New York, "Aussie power, in UK and US"
- Thursday, April 28, 2005 am New York, "Soft peddling the Pope"
- Thursday, April 21, 2005 am New York, "Following the Code"
- Thursday, April 14, 2005 am New York, "NYT - Columbia trade-off? Unlikely"
- Thursday, April 7, 2005 am New York, "The Pope and his women"
- Thursday, March 31, 2005 am New York, "Authority vs journalists"
- Thursday, March 24, 2005 am New York, "Texan takeovers in Washington"
- Thursday, March 17, 2005 am New York, "War - poetry and pity"
- Thursday, March 10, 2005 am New York, "Reporters front-line casualties too"
- Thursday, March 3, 2005 am New York, "Combating Aids … Oppression … and Disrepute"
- Thursday, February 24, 2005 am New York, "Making quotes fit ideology"
- Thursday, February 17, 2005 am New York, "Bloggers claim another "victory""
- Thursday, February 10, 2005 am New York, "Voices - some flaky, one profound"
- Thursday, February 3, 2005 am New York, "Catastrophes compared"
- Thursday, January 27, 2005 am New York, "Who follows Powell?"
- Thursday, January 20, 2005 am New York, "Hail to the chief - in time of war"
- Thursday, January 13, 2005 am New York, "Reporters: sounding off, or finding out?"
- Thursday, January 6, 2005 am New York, "Vlogging the tsunami"
- Friday, December 24, 2004 am New York, "Truth-seeking, always"
- Friday, November 26, 2004 am New York, "The soldier's story"
- Thursday, November 18, 2004 am New York, "The meaning of "collateral""
- Thursday, November 11, 2004 am New York, "Pols perplexed by youth"
- Thursday, November 4, 2004 am New York, "Repeating mistakes"
- Thursday, October 28, 2004 am New York, "Covering the election, internet-style"
- Sunday, January 28, 2001 The New York Times, "An Unreliable Witness"