Reeves Wiedeman

My first foray into travel writing – I tried to make some D.C. suggestions you wouldn’t find in every travel guide.

I try not to dwell on the destruction of the journalism industry, but this map was pretty shocking to me. 15,000+ jobs lost in one year? Almost 50 in Alaska alone??

I agree with this assessment, though. Journalists talk about their own misery too much…so forget the above paragraph.

Make sure that perfect screenplay you’ve been working on isn’t on this list, which tabulates the best un-produced screenplays of the year as compiled by film execs. The top pick looks like a winner, but here’s my favorite:

EVERYTHING MUST GO by Dan Rush
“A relapsed alcoholic loses his job and his wife and decides to live on his front lawn while selling all of his belongings in a yard sale.”

I’ve got no major qualms with this list of Esquire’s self-proclaimed “7 Greatest Stories in the History of Esquire Magazine,” except one – it doesn’t include my favorite profile of all time.  That would be Tom Junod’s profile of Fred Rogers (apologies for the shoddy link, but the story isn’t Greatest enough to be posted by Esquire).

The New York Times

Here’s my early front-runner for next year’s Pulitzer Prize in news photography. Devastating. The Times story itself is excellent, and the rest of the photographs are equally heart-wrenching, but the Times blew this one up on its front page earlier today. They know a good thing when they have it.

Ed Note: This crop cuts off the right side. Sorry, I’m new to this blogging stuff – just click through and read the darn thing.

Tom Lake is one of my favorite narrative reporters out there, especially his daily work for the St. Pete Times. So I was pretty excited to see his byline in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. He’s got a lengthy story on a high school basketball game in the latest issue (the umpteenth with Michael Phelps on the cover). I have to say, I was a bit disappointed – the story feels a little too choppy to me, the way the game and background are juxtaposed throughout the whole thing.

That said, it’s worth a read and I’ve used similar techniques to probably far worse effect.

VCU is off the hook for improperly awarding a degree to former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe. A university report said outside political influence was involved, but its accrediting agency said VCU’s response had been sufficient.

A hurdle cleared in the ACLU’s fight for the free exchange of ideas, as the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ruled the government needs to provide a specific rationale for denying South African scholar Adam Habib a visa. Habib has been a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy, and was told his visa was denied for “engaging in terrorist activities.”

Kelvin Sampson gets 5 years probation – which presumes there’s a college team looking to hire him.