Month: February 2009

Stop bird porn now!

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So I found this at the Chicago News Bench blog.  The author is a little bit crazy in the “socially-conservative” sense, but it’s a nice little pic snapped near my house. Stopbirdporn.org is a real website.  I suggest checking it out. From their front page: “Adults, disguised as bird watchers mask their debauchery by taking … Read more

Layoffs can mean more than lost wages, says author

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On Wednesday, Louis Uchitelle, economic reporter for the New York Times, told an audience of nearly 90 faculty and students from the University of Illinois at Chicago that layoffs had gotten out of hand in the United States, and that the consequences of mass layoffs extended far beyond the corporate bottom line. Beyond the immediate … Read more

Beggar beats woman with crucifix

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The Sun-Times is reporting that a beggar beat a woman with a 12″ stone crucifix, after the woman refused to give the beggar any money. Pamela Johnson didn’t have cash for a woman seeking donations Saturday night, but the beggar had something for her: a beating. With a crucifix. Johnson, 50, of the 2200 block … Read more

Humans associate difficult-to-pronounce words as risky and exciting

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I suppose this result is unsuprising.  Novelty=risk=excitement, right? A group of students were given a list of made-up food additives and were asked to rate how harmful they were. The additives all contained twelve letters, with Magnalroxate being one of the easiest to pronounce and Hnegripitrom one of the hardest to pronounce. The students rated … Read more

What I’ve learned this week.

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Skype + Pamela Call Recording Software = Good. Transcribing recordings is the suck. I need a tripod.  Preferrably cheap, lightweight, and small. The Map Room is the second-best beer bar in Chicago. I practically took today off, so I’ve got to make up for it by busting out some serious work tomorrow. Plus, the planet … Read more

The bigger the lie…

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“When she tells me there are 22 caves in the Philippines guarded by 10,000 workers, guarding a treasure of trillions of pounds in precious gems and gold I do not believe her.” Neither do I.

U.S. Cellular Field and Wrigley Field hold nearly the same number of fans, but their economic impact couldn’t be more different

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U.S. Cellular Field and Wrigley Field hold nearly the same number of fans, but their economic impact couldn’t be more different.

Want to know the main problem with trying to do grad-school journalism?

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Here’s the thing — journalism is transactional.  You rely on other people to feed you information that you can use to write your stories.  In exchange, your sources get to draw attention to the things that they think are important. For instance, if you’re writing an article about a new business, you contact the business … Read more