Categories
News, Spin

City editor Ray Hobbs

Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004. Colleague Ray Hobbs of Little Rock died Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004. He wasn’t old, just 53, but had hepatitis C. [Link to obit has expired.] Here are two recollections of Ray. 1. In 1982, maybe 1983, I was working at a suburban Dallas daily (Irving Daily […]

Categories
The Course of Words

Dupe duplicative dupe

Doop a dupe a doop Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004. The Berkeley Breathed “Opus” panel for Sunday 8/8/04 looked very familiar (His syndicate does not allow open online access). So I walked from the paper on the dining table to my home office (the north side of the sunporch I have […]

Categories
News, Spin

Kerry’s gonna win

Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Friday, Aug. 6, 2004: After conducting all the research that’s necessary — licked my right index finger and held it up — I finally can make a prediction on the presidential race: Kerry will win in a landslide. I know the polls still show neck-and-neck, with less-than-expected bounce for Kerry […]

Categories
News, Spin

Being baited

Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004. Newspapers are suffering because they’ve lost both anger and humor, Jimmy Breslin said in a Poynter interview in late July. My slight spin would be that we’re trying too hard to be nice. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette colleague Jennifer Hansen wrote a few Wednesdays ago (no free hyperlink […]

Categories
News, Spin

Separation of church, press

Constitutional separation of church and press Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Monday, July 26, 2004: I want to toss an endorsement to the defense of the First Baptist Church of Springdale and its senior pastor, Ronnie Floyd. An self-proclaimed do-gooder group is trying to sic the IRS against them, citing church-state separation, because Floyd in […]

Categories
News, Spin

Agora sweater

Looking good in an agora sweater Copyright 2004 Ben S. Pollock Monday, July 19, 2004: I raised a somewhat complex question in my previous essay. I’ve thought more, and I have a rough answer. The nature of a Web log such as Brick, however, is that it puts the newest material first. It’s Jeopardy: Here’s […]