Another bureau closes

Cox announced it is closing its DC bureau. Cox papers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dayton Daily News will keep their own Washington and international bureaus.

Jim Romesnesko has the memo.

Changes in political views?

The hear the left and right echo chambers tell it, Americans have been swinging wildly between the liberal or conservative philosophies.

A recent Pew Charitable Trust survey knocks that view on its head.

Seems the political leanings of the American public have changed little in the past two decades.

"Only about one-in-five Americans currently call themselves liberal
(21%), while 38% say they are conservative and 36% describe themselves
as moderate. This is virtually unchanged from recent years; when George
W. Bush was first elected president, 18% of Americans said they were
liberal, 36% were conservative and 38% considered themselves moderate."

And

"Still, ideological labels do not always predict opinions about key
policy issues. For example, about half of Americans who describe their
political views as conservative say that all (24%) or some (27%) of the
tax cuts passed under George W. Bush should be repealed. More than
four-in-ten conservatives (43%) say that abortion should be legal in
some or all cases. On the other hand, nearly half of self-described
liberals (49%) favor more offshore drilling for oil and gas in U.S.
waters."

It pays to see what the experts say before commenting on changes in the political landscape.

Holiday Story Idea: Worst gifts possble

There are always stories about what are the best and coolest items in the holiday buying guides. Boing Boing and Gizmodo each had a series of on worst gifts. (It's getting difficult to find them right now, but I will update this once I find them.)

And now a friend and very funny columnist Nury Vittachi in Hong Kong comments on the latest item from Asia for the spoiled "little emperors": Mobile Phones for 3 Year Olds.

So I wonder, how about some stories on odd things being offered as gifts or things NONE of us would ever like to get or give?

Comments welcomed.

How is this our fault?

One of my favorite blogs, Gizmodo, asked: Who is most to blame for the Walmart trampling incident?

The poll -- copied below -- shows all the usual suspects of local store managers, crazy shoppers, the security team and our materialistic society. But one of the options is "The media."

WTF?

How is it that every time something bad happens one of the choices for blame is "The Media?"

Are we held in such low regard that it is easy to blame us for just about anything?


Copy of survey:
Who is Most to Blame for the Walmart Trampling Incident?

• The Walmart managers at that store.
• The shoppers.
• The security company and its employees.
• The materialistic society we live in.
• The media
• Other

College students like Time -- new report

Thanks to Jim Romenesko for this...

College students say Time is their favorite magazine.

Along the way CNN.com hit the top 10 and Perez Hilton dropped off.

Story idea: Sex, students and religion

The New Yorker magazine of Nov. 3 (I get my copies late, thanks to the military mail service the US embassy uses) has a fascinating article about sex and religion.

Red Sex, Blue Sex

A fixture of most college stories is the attitude of students about sex. This article provides another look at the issue of pre-marital sex. An interesting look that could be used as the basis for a campus-based story.

Irony exists: Today in history

Today, 95 years ago, Ford Motor Company debuted the assembly line.

Ironically, today (12/1/08) is also the day the Big Three (or as they say in China: The Gang of Three) CEOs return to Washington asking for a bailout.

So how soon do we see the "dis-assembly" line kick in?

Anyone looking for an idea for a story or commentary?