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McClatchy was first, or nearly so, with a lot of details on background of man who allegedly murdered abortion provider on Sunday, interviewing people who knew him from his days in militia, Freeman, and other rightwing groups.
He then admits: “Sorry, I got a little carried away there. It’s lunchtime and I haven’t eaten in three to four hours.” -- Barbara Bedway The NYT’s Frank Bruni in his dining blog today called the choice of Blue Hill in NYC for President and Mrs. Obama's date night on Saturday "just a little too pat and controlled." Bruni wished the President--"often portrayed as someone almost joylessly disciplined and restrained around food"-- would have busted loose and gone for "something rich, messy, decadent, gluttonous: a plate of fatty lamb ribs at Resto; some pâtés and terrines at Bar Boulud; one of the offal dishes at Babbo; that killer bone-in New York strip at Minetta Tavern; the oyster pan roast at the John Dory . . .
A KC Star columnist quickly blogged that George Tiller's killers were "many." This has inspired quite a reaction at the blog. Read comments here.
Bob Woodward it turns out is currently working on a book about Obama having finished his 13-volume set on Bush. New Republic reports that the nervous White House has issued a new policy on getting an okay for interviews.
Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers today published a 5,000-plus-word send-off to Tom Weber, who, from summer newsroom intern to president, devoted his entire 42-year newspaper career to the E.W. Scripps group in southeastern Florida.
Marking Weber’s retirement today at age 65, the story notes that at 31, Weber was the chain’s youngest editor when appointed in 1975.
The Stuart, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach and Jupiter papers can thank Weber’s wife, Judy, for his heading to her native Florida -- and Editor & Publisher for the classified ad that sent him to his first boss, the late editor Ernest Lyons. -- Shawn Moynihan
The Huffington Post apparently drew the ire of MSNBC cartoonist Daryl Cagle, who spouted off about a Huff Post listing of "Ten Features That Are Dying with your Newspaper." Among them are, you guessed it, editorial cartoons. He called the piece by Jason Notte "ridiculous."
"This is typical of the Huffington Post’s attitude about the 'death of newspapers' as they crow about how they are the next new big thing in journalism," Cagle writes, "although they operate on round after round of venture financing, without a sustainable business model, stocked with content from volunteers." -- Joe Strupp
Fallen newspaper baron Conrad Black, AKA prisoner ##18330-4214, is asking the Supreme Court to release him from the federal pen in Florida, while it ponders his appeal of fraud and obstruction of justice convictions for enriching himself improperly while chairman of the Chicago Sun-Times parent formerly known as Hollinger International Inc.
It was a miracle the Supremes agreed to take his case, legal observers said then -- and it will be a sign of the End of Times if they let him out on bail, too. Jacob Frenkel, a former U.S. prosecutor who’s followed Black’s case closely, tells The Canadian Press: “You cannot fault Conrad Black for taking a shot. The fact is, he is in a situation where any option he has is worth trying, but this is one that is almost certain to be rejected." -- Mark Fitzgerald
Michael Golden, vice chairman of The New York Times Co. and chief operating officer of The New York Times Regional Media Group, was among those who attended the not-so-highly-publicized Newspaper Association of America-hosted meeting Thursday in Chicago. But Golden claims there was nothing secretive about it.
"The characterization in The Atlantic that this was a 'secret meeting' was inaccurate," Golden told E&P Friday. "If it were secret, there wouldn't have been a sign on the door saying 'NAA meeting.'"
Oh, is that all it takes? Read more, here. -- Joe Strupp
During a news conference, Paybarah asked how the mayor could justify his current campaign, in light of Bloomberg's comments that the city had turned a corner in the recession (part of the mayor's controversial decision to run for a third term).
Bloomberg interrupted Paybarah, saying, "Why don't you just get serious questions here?" After the conference, the mayor said to the reporter, "You're a disgrace." PolitickerNY.com later reported that Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser called to relay an apology from the mayor.
Watch the exchange, below. -- Shawn Moynihan
Publisher John Elchert of the Times-Observer in Warren, Pa., had to spend much of Thursday fielding calls from concerned readers after his paper ran a classified ad that appeared to call for the assassination of President Obama.
"It is unfortunate that it got past our classified people," he said. "My first call [Thursday] was to the police chief, and I believe his protocol is to contact the Secret Service." An apology also ran in today's paper.
The ad (seen above) stated: "May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley & Kennedy!" All four of those presidents, of course, were assassinated in office. Elchert said when the ad was taken, the staffer who took it "did not make the connection of what tied those presidents together." -- Joe Strupp
