EVERY WRITER NEEDS AN EDITOR. Some are fortunate to have good ones; others have bad ones, and many have none at all. If you are in the latter two categories, Dick Weiss can help.
Dick offers workshops and provides one-on-one coaching in person or by e-mail for journalists, freelance writers, students, communications professionals, and those who have simply got a story to tell.
Dick has 30 years experience as an award winning reporter, editor and writing coach, most of them at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit "About WeissWrite" for a bio and writing samples.
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #19
You've heard of the sensitive racial problem called "driving while black" when police officers unfairly focus their attention on African-American motorists. Now read New York Times reporter Solomon Moore's account of "reporting while black" in Charlotte, N.C. Moore went to Charlotte to learn more about the city's effort to crack down on gang violence. The problem is that it's tough for the police to distinguish between gang members and people like Moore. Moore also found that neighborhood residents treated him with little respect.
-- Dick Weiss
Laura Ingraham Pornified
Conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham decries the pornification of the media in her new bestselling book, "Power To the People." This is a topic about which liberals and conservatives could probably find some common ground. But as Ingraham makes the rounds on tv talk shows, producers run pictures of scantily clad stars while she makes her point. McGraw Milhaven and Dick Weiss discuss this and the shameful admission from the New York Times regarding the ad it sold MoveOn.ORG on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550 AM). Click the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #18
He is right more often than most columnists. He is on the cutting edge of the great issues of our time. But he may also be the least influential, least read scribe in the stable of New York Times columnists. In a provocative essay, T.A. Frank of Washington Monthly asks "Why Is Bob Herbert Boring?" His answer is interesting, incisive and says more about today's media audience and our times, than it does about Mr. Herbert, who should keep on keeping on.
-- Dick Weiss
Raspberries To The Post-Dispatch And AmerenUE; A Bow To USA Today
Both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and AmerenUE play in the gray areas between news and advertising.
The Post-Dispatch criticized AmerenUE and its mouthpiece, Karen Foss, for their infomercial on the utility's efforts to restore the damage it caused at Johnson's Shut-ins State Park. Only days later, the newspaper ran an ad that looked a whole lot like news content with a very small disclaimer at the top. Is this the pot screaming at the kettle? McGraw Milhaven and Dick Weiss discuss this and USA Today's 25th anniversary on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550 AM). Click the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #16 & 17
I enjoy watching football as much as anyone, but after reading these pieces in the New York Times and the Riverfront Times, I have to wonder why the government doesn't act to stop the slow-motion maiming that goes on in this sport. The Times looks at an epidemic of concussions among high school players and how little is done to protect these youngsters. This is in part because the players have been trained as gladiators and many will not report when they've gotten their bells rung. The Riverfront Times story isn't nearly so groundbreaking but it's timely. It looks at NFL players who suffered injuries to body and mind that led to impoverishment, early death and suicide. There's probably too much money and fan interest in this game to put a stop to it, but after reading these stories you have to wonder whether the players are paying too high a price -- no matter how many millions they make -- for our entertainment.
-- Dick Weiss
Catch A Predator Catches Flak
Have the folks who brought you Catch A Predator gone too far?
NBC's Catch A Predator has shined a light in a dark place. But should journalists be working so closely with police agencies and even managing their work? McGraw Milhaven and Dick Weiss discuss this and another round of buyouts at the Post-Dispatch on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550 AM).
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #15
Who would've thought that Silicon Valley would be leading the way with the re-introduction of a retro sport. The hot new game in offices there is Four Square... from our playground days. Read all about it in the San Francisco Chronicle.
-- Dick Weiss
Hitting Bottom
A food critic goes off the menu at St. Louis Magazine. Listen to or download the podcast.
A food critic for St. Louis Magazine makes an incredibly sexist comment about a hostess's bottom -- and to what end? McGraw Milhaven and Dick Weiss discuss on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550 AM). Also Dick's take on "Resurrecting the Champ," a movie based on a story written by McGraw's talented cousin and Pulitzer-prize winner J.R. Moehringer.
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #13 & 14
These articles discuss high tech and low tech ways to pass the time. The first story from the New York Times is a tone poem about people who enjoy watching the world from the windows of their apartments. Every once in a while something happens, an accident, a fight, but mostly they just watch. The other story from the Wall Street Journal is about a man who spends most of his days living a virtual life online. He even has an online wife much to the dismay of his real life wife. But he's not really cheating on her since he's never met his virtual wife in person... or is he? (If you have trouble accessing either of these stories through the links, send me an e-mail at weisswrite@gmail.com.)
-- Dick Weiss
Finding Your Footing In A Topsy-Turvy Media World
Newspapers staffs are shrinking. Journalists must consider buyouts or the prospect of layoffs. Free-lancers and college grads are wondering where to turn for their next assignment or job. And yet opportunities for modern communicators are expanding as more readers get comfortable with online media. Can journalists find their footing and tell great stories in this topsy-turvy media world? We think so.
On Aug. 23, the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Newspaper Guild sponsored a forum featuring a top career consultant, and former editors and reporters who have started their own businesses or found good jobs working in communications. Scroll down the page and click on the links to listen to or download their remarks.
