Thursday, December 20, 2018

Does the Press Oversee the Public Welfare? -- Is LA Burning . . . Coal? -- Drones Attack London Airport -- Fairy Tales from Fergus Falls




The press acts as the agent of the public, gathering and compiling diffuse information in the public domain. The press also provides the public with the information it needs to exercise oversight of the government and with information concerning the public welfare . . .
by Deanna Paul & Tom Hanburger for the Washington Post


The press can gather stuff diffuse,
but what can be the final use
of facts and figures on a chart
if writers do not use their heart?

*********************

But nearly a fifth of L.A.’s electricity last year came from the Intermountain coal plant in Utah

The Saints do gladly give away
power to the town L.A.
All the coal smoke stays right here,
making Sunday School so drear.
Children cough and old folks gag;
our spirits soar, our bodies sag . . . 

****************************


LONDON—More than 100 flights at one of Europe’s busiest airports were grounded Thursday by drone operations that authorities say were a deliberate attempt to disrupt travel.
by Robert Wall for the Wall Street Journal

Your travel plans just might be blown
by a meandering drone.
Nobody does know
where one just might show;
the Holiday spirit has flown.

*********************************


In one article, about Fergus Falls, Minn., Mr. Relotius told of a coal plant employee named Neil Becker (who does not exist), related an anecdote about a restaurant employee (to whom he gave a fictional illness and a misnamed son) and described the view of a power plant from a cafe (whose few windows provide no such view), according to Michele Anderson and Jake Krohn, two residents of the town who, baffled by the claims, spent a year researching them.
by Alan Yuhas for the NYT

When writers start to fabricate
their stories just for more clickbait
their editors are shocked to learn
just how much fiction they can churn.
But if they're smart they will not grovel,
telling readers "It's a novel!" 


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