In “The News About the Internet,” Michael Massing reports: “In an online chat with readers earlier this year, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller deplored the ‘diminishing supply of quality journalism’ at a time of ‘growing demand.’ By quality journalism, he said, he meant ‘the kind ‘that involves experienced reporters going places, bearing witness, digging into records, developing sources, checking and double-checking, back by editors who try to enforce high standards.’”
Month: July 2009
A black man in America…
Normally, I refrain from speaking on national issues, as others do it much better. But as a mixed-race (black/white) person with a university degree in African-American Studies, and a writer who has written about and spent a lifetime thinking about race relations, I feel compelled to comment on the recent arrest and media hoopla over […]
A letter to the White House
The president did a beautiful job of doing two out of three things last night regarding health care. First, he did a great job describing the problem—the human and economic impact of not correcting the dysfunctional health care system. He was also right to point out the gluttonous greed of the insurance industry…
Two views re Marriott mildew incidents
In response to a message from an informed source: “I suggest you all be careful before jumping to conclusions after watching the news segment on WGAL. They did a very poor job in reporting the facts accurately.” Another knowledgeable person writes: If that is the case THEN the spokesperson for the CC and the spokesperson for the Hotel should DEMAND an interview so the public knows what is going on. The word TRANSPARANCY is front row again…
ADA Celebration on Friday at the Fulton Bank Quadrant
I want to invite everyone to an excellent program that we have this Friday at the Fulton Bank Quadrant from 10:00AM to 4:00PM organized by the new Lancaster Ability Coalition which includes a number of Agencies/Providers assisting people with Disabilities. We are celebrating the ADA 19th Anniversary which includes a reading of a Proclamation issued […]
Library Administrator asks Commissioners to defend library funding
In the face of a potential 55% cut in State library funding, County Library Administrator Susan Hauer addressed the Commissioners at their Wednesday meeting, urging them to continue contacting their State government colleagues and to petition for sufficient Library funding. This request, Hauer said, comes during the PA Library Association’s “Call-In Week,” during which patrons are encouraged to call and encourage their local legislators to “keep library funding at the forefront in the state budget negotiations.”
An exchange on health care
INQUIRY FROM NEWSLANC TO A HEALTH CARE ACTIVIST: Can President Obama hold down the cost of universal coverage outside a single payer system? RESPONSE: He cannot do it. It is amazing to watch them go through all the effort they are to find a way to pay for a non-solution to the health care crisis. […]
COMMENTARY: Academics should know better
NewsLanc does not often critically comment on Letters to us or to the newspapers because we believe the public should have outlets to express their views so long as they are not unfair to others, even if their views seem to lack credence. But when a representative of Franklin & Marshall College writes a letter to the Intelligencer New Era entitled “Turning things around in city’s southeast” and mishandles statistical information in a manner that might cause a freshman to fail an exam, we feel we should speak out.
Imagined dialogue last night in the newsroom
Larry Alexander: “I guess we ought to do a story on the mold at our hotel Ray Shaw: “Are you crazy? We are already being forced to take five days off without pay and they laid off the staff and you want to write a negative story about the hotel?!” Larry: “But Ray, WGAL did […]
INTELLIGENCER NEW ERA
Along with WGAL.com, which broke the story, an article appeared headed “Leaks trigger mold in new city hotel” and reports: “Leaking pipes left more than water stains in the recently opened Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.” It continues: “Video that was shot before last month’s grand opening—obtained by WGAL from an unnamed source—shows water leaking from a pipe and areas of black and yellow mold growing on walls. News 8, which brought in a certified mold remediator to view the video, said their expert reported ‘extensive mold.'”
Sent to Convention Center Authority
“Why is it so difficult to post your meeting minutes? Why should someone have to do a right-to-know request to get information that should be readily available on your website?! This is, after all, the year 2009—not 1999! I am looking for meeting minutes from the first part of the year and am unable to […]
School Board considers expanding facility rentals
At the July 21 School District of Lancaster (SDoL) School Board meeting, Vice President and Facilities Committee Director Michael Rowen said that his committee was recently presented with a request from Lancaster’s Unitarian Universalist Church to rent the McCaskey East auditorium and cafeteria for a service. According to Rowen, this request sparked a significant and “on-going” discussion regarding the School’s parameters for rental use.
Chapter Twenty: To build or not to build?: New Mayor plays Hamlet
(Twentieth in a series) While the uncertainty of the convention center project did not affect the die-hard incumbent Republican Charlie Smthgall’s campaign for Mayor of Lancaster in 2005, it did influence his Democrat opponent, Rick Gray. Gray was a local defense and ACLU attorney with a reputation for representing the disreputable. The burly, goateed, bow-tied […]
“Super Bread” Colombian Bakery: Another well-kept secret
At 47 North Queen, the Super Bread Columbian Bakery sits right under the nose of Penn Square, but nevertheless, many art-walking, market-going, city-loving folks may never have realized that it’s there. This shop might fall out of notice for its marginal position, located on the eastern side of this first block of N Queen—the side that dimly boasts a Rite Aid and Rent-a-Center against the coffee shops and niche boutiques of its western counterpart…