Media

There are 262 posts filed in Media (this is page 21 of 27).

Raleigh #1 Best City in Businessweek.com ranking

Businessweek.com ranked Raleigh the #1 Best City in America. It’s just one more in a long list of accolades for my city.

I had to laugh when the article referenced Raleigh’s “attractive pedestrian mall” downtown, siting an obviously outdated city bio in Frommer’s. We got rid of that concrete abomination back in 2006.

Businessweek.com spent months working with data that would help us to identify the best cities in the U.S. We looked at a range of positive metrics around quality of life, counted up restaurants, evaluated school scores, and considered the number of colleges and pro sports teams. All these factors and more add up to a city that would seem to offer it all. When we began the process we had no idea which cities would come out on top. The winner? Raleigh, N.C.

via Which Is America’s Best City? – Businessweek.com.

Update 5:21 PM: Businessweek.com has since removed the reference to Raleigh’s defunct pedestrian mall. Now the only remaining questions are where are the 51 museums, 867 restaurants, and 110 bars cited in the story? Can anyone name them all? I think those stats might apply to a wider area than just Raleigh, though I’d be surprised if even the entire Triangle had 867 restaurants.

Quake “foreshock” quote censored by Washington Post?

This Washington Post story ran yesterday with this quote from USGS Director Marcia McNutt (according to the International Business Times):

Minutes after the quake, the director of the USGS, Marcia McNutt — who watched objects falling from the shelves in her office — cautioned that the shaking might not be over.

“What the concern is, of course, is that this is a foreshock. If it’s a foreshock, then the worst is yet to come,” McNutt told The Washington Post.

Curiously, today the Post’s version of the article has removed that quote and substituted a much more mundane one:

Minutes after the quake, Marcia McNutt, USGS director — who watched objects falling from the shelves in her office — concerned about aftershocks, cautioned that the shaking might not be over.

“When something like this happens, remember what to do in the case of a seismic event. Duck, get under something sturdy like a desk or a doorway, get away from falling glass. Make sure that you are not in the way of falling objects like pictures, bookshelves, books, anything that’s not firmly connected the wall.”

The Post has provided no explanation for the change in the quote.

via Virginia Earthquake 2011: USGS Warns it May be a Foreshock – International Business Times.

For your safe room, skip the duct tape

Sealings ... nothing more than sealings.


So my newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer, had a quickie feature in the Life section giving advice for preparing for a hurricane. Part of the story talked about safe rooms: a sturdy room in your home where you can ride out the storm:

SAFE ROOMS

A safe room is the best protection in a tornado. To build one using Federal Emergency Management Agency specifications, go to www.fema.gov and search “safe room.” Pre-fabricated rooms are available for less than $5,000. The National Storm Shelter Association ( www.nssa.cc) lists verified safe room vendors.

That’s all fine and good. We’ve got a “safe room” designated and the family has met there before during tornado warnings. However, the picture next to the article showed some genius taping the door of his safe room with duct tape. The caption reads: “Keep duct tape handy to seal a ‘safe room.'”
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Peace College Goes Co-Ed | New Raleigh

It’s clear that the New Raleigh blog has good taste in pictures. They followed the Raleigh Downtowner’s lead and illustrated it’s Peace College story with my public domain Wikipedia pic.

Peace College announced in a press release today that, beginning in the Fall 2012 semester, it will admit male students to its day undergraduate programs for the first time in its over a century and a half existence.

via Peace College Goes Co-Ed | New Raleigh.

City wants healthier New Bern Ave.

While I am happy to see that N&O’s Matt Garfield is shining a light on the city and community’s effort to spruce up the New Bern Avenue corridor, I’m disappointed he didn’t talk with one of the main forces behind the push: the East CAC. Nearly all of the proposed improvements are in the East CAC area, with the remaining portion in the Central CAC.

None are in the South Central CAC area.

As the city moves toward a makeover of New Bern Avenue, planners are eyeing possibilities to create a “spectacular and innovative gateway” they describe as a model for urban street design.

There’s talk of a 60-foot “super transit strip” with a sidewalk, bike path and gravel jogging path on the south side of the corridor.

Streams concealed in pipes could be exposed to serve as a natural feature winding through the area.

Neighbors dream of seeing the Longview Shopping Center, once home to a Winn-Dixie, redeveloped as a walkable urban village with a farmers’ market.

via City wants healthier New Bern Ave. – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

A little bird told me

It’s been said that the newsroom at the News and Observer has been so quiet lately that one can hear a bird chirp. That’s no surprise to anyone who works there because the latest addition to the newsroom is a bird.

Sources say a bird somehow found its way into the N&O’s cavernous press room and has spent the past few weeks flying around in a panic. The desperate bird has apparently rebuffed all efforts of N&O staffers to rescue it.

N&O staffers might be better off convincing the bird that calling a large, air-conditioned room home might not be so bad now that our outdoor temperatures are routinely topping 100 degrees!

Norway terrorism

By Johannes Grødem, Wikimedia Commons


I was working away yesterday when I got news that an explosion had rocked government buildings in Oslo, Norway. Later evidence pointed to it being a bomb, that a far-right Norwegian may be responsible, and that the same Norwegian is accused of a mass shooting at a summer camp soon afterward.

The first thing I noticed is that a mere 10 minutes after the bombing, I was seeing photos sent through Twitter from eyewitnesses on the scene. Putting the loss of the tragedy aside for a moment, it’s an amazing world we live in now where most everyone carries a camera and anyone can break news. It’s become my habit to turn to Twitter, Twitpic, and other direct-from-eyewitness sources whenever a big story is breaking. Nearly every one of these breaking news photos on Twitpic has comments from a media company or wire service, asking permission to run the photo. It’s obvious I’m not the only one who goes straight to these sources.
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Peace College to Become William Peace University

More of the public domain pictures I took of Raleigh landmarks for Wikipedia are turning up in the wild. Today, my photograph of Peace College was used to illustrate a story in Raleigh Downtowner magazine.

Raleigh — The Peace College Board of Trustees announced today that Peace College plans to become William Peace University.

“Becoming William Peace University reflects our growth as an institution and will deepen and broaden our ability to help our students succeed,” said Beth Cherry, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and a Peace alumna. “This will be such a wonderful opportunity for our students.”

via Peace College to Become William Peace University.

Compelling photograph

N&O photograph by Takaai Iwabu

I was sad to read in yesterday’s News and Observer about a fire at the Gorman Crossing apartment complex in Raleigh. Accompanying the story was a compelling photograph of one of the affected residents, Connie Starkey, being comforted by her father, Fred Starkey.

Connie’s grief screams out of the photo. Her face told me all I needed to know about what happened there – and how I should feel about it. Everyone who sees this photograph knows what this woman was feeling at that very instant. It’s a powerful image.

N&O photographer Takaaki Iwabu captured a masterful photograph. I believe it’s the best photograph I’ve seen in the News and Observer in months, if not years. It’s outstanding photojournalism.

As for Connie, I hope she’s able to recover from this tragedy.

Update 22 July: While Connie lost all of her possessions in the fire, at least her dog and one of her two cats survived. Hooray! See the NCSU Technician’s excellent photos of the efforts to save Starkey’s cat, Sissy.

Update 2: WTVD’s Anthony Wilson spoke with Connie a day after the fire.