Media Archives – This is True

The Core of the Educational Problem

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019Education, Media, Rant34 Comments

The Degradation of Education continues. Last night, after slapping my forehead when reading a news story, I Tweeted (and “Facebooked”), “Rolling my eyes at inept news reporters: It’s ‘strong-arm robbery,’ not ‘strong armed robbery,’ which means the armed robbery was strong. Example: http://bit.ly/2U4OG69.” A Facebook reader commented, “That would be the ineptitude of the editors, … Continue Reading

Podcast 009: The Headlines Lied

February 14, 2019November 26, 2018Death, Drugs/Alcohol, Major Headlines, Media, Podcasts, Rant10 Comments

In This Episode: There’s a lot of talk about accuracy in the media these days, up to and including frequent accusations that the mainstream press publishes “fake news.” The real “fake news” isn’t what you may think — and it starts even before you click.

Continue ReadingPodcast 009: The Headlines Lied

Online News: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

December 4, 2018June 4, 2018Media, Online Life, Technology, True Business10 Comments

Sometimes I Smile, Sometimes I Roll My Eyes: About the news business, that is. As a news commentary column, news is, of course, the road this publication drives on. Here’s what I mean.

Continue ReadingOnline News: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

A Very Bad Gamble

November 20, 2018November 27, 2017Crime, Media, Obliviots/Idiots, Rant9 Comments

I have a little bit to say about a story this week, so let me start with that story — from the 26 November 2017 issue:

Continue ReadingA Very Bad Gamble

Speaking for Others

June 14, 2017August 24, 2015Death, Media, Reader Feedback4 Comments

There is some great additional detail on a story from True’s 16 August 2015 issue. To start with, you need the story:

Continue ReadingSpeaking for Others

Facebook: What Are They Selling?

October 4, 2018April 3, 2015Media, Online Life20 Comments

To answer the very important question of the title, you need a little background, which is illustrated by a question from reader Steve in Texas:

Some time ago, I “Liked” the This is True Facebook page, but almost never see any posts. I figured you weren’t active until I went back to the page, and saw a ton of stuff I thought was great! How come I’m not seeing it regularly? I see most posts from my friends.

Continue ReadingFacebook: What Are They Selling?

Ethics Train Wreck

September 19, 2018August 13, 2012Media, Rant, Update36 Comments

Last week, my BS-o-Meter failed, and a fake story made it into This is True. It has happened a few times over the past 18 years of weekly columns, but luckily only a few times. Let’s start with the story, from True’s 5 August 2012 issue:

Continue ReadingEthics Train Wreck

Remembrance and Reconciliation

September 13, 2018May 30, 2011Major Headlines, Media, Photo, Terrorism27 Comments

There were a couple of stories I found earlier in the month, but decided to hold until the Memorial Day issue. And they get to be in the blog, since one of them has illustrations you need to see for the complete effect.

Continue ReadingRemembrance and Reconciliation

Avatar Movie Review

September 11, 2018December 21, 2009Away From Work, Media54 Comments

I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a movie review in True before, and I won’t be doing them that often, but I went to see Avatar this weekend, and I was very impressed.

Continue ReadingAvatar Movie Review

The Future of Newspapers

September 7, 2018August 17, 2009Media, Online Life, Rant, True Business33 Comments

When I started True back in 1994, there weren’t too many people online — especially compared to now. Once I quit my Day Job to pursue online publishing full time, I was constantly looking for peers — people to talk with that would understand what it was I was doing.

Continue ReadingThe Future of Newspapers

Civic Pride

September 6, 2018July 13, 2009Marketing, Media, Photo, Reader Feedback29 Comments

There were several cranky responses to a story in last week’s issue. Let’s start with the story, from the edition dated 5 July 2009:

Continue ReadingCivic Pride

The War on Kids

September 5, 2018May 11, 2009Major Headlines, Media, Rant, Zero Tolerance71 Comments

There will probably be two responses to the first story in this week’s issue: 1) I was too hard on the public library/librarian, and 2) I wasn’t hard enough on her. To be sure, my tagline was judging her based on the standards of the American Library Association.

Continue ReadingThe War on Kids

Weird News Video #41 — Not Weird Enough to Be True

September 5, 2018March 23, 2009Media, Video2 Comments

Episode #41: Truth is Stranger than Fiction Because Fiction Has to Make Sense — An Example — from True’s 15 March 2009 issue.

Continue ReadingWeird News Video #41 — Not Weird Enough to Be True

Twitter: Why You Should Care

September 5, 2018January 18, 2009Media, Online Life, Technology30 Comments

Chris in Washington asks:

Randy: you’ve mentioned Twitter a couple of times, and I see you have a link on TRUE’s home page to your Twitter page. I’ve looked at Twitter a couple of times, and I just don’t get it. Do people really care that their friends (or favorite celebrities) are “Waking up to face the day.” or “Eating a bologna sandwich for lunch.”? Why?

Continue ReadingTwitter: Why You Should Care

Expanding True’s Sources

September 5, 2018December 1, 2008Media, True Business25 Comments

A quick note about This is True’s story sources. When I started True, I wanted my stories to be from “mainstream, legitimate newspapers” — with an early addition being the weekly news magazines (like Time and Newsweek). I’ve always stayed away from broadcast sources, since I always want a printed version of a story to rely on.

Continue ReadingExpanding True’s Sources

Weird News Video #6 — Vatican Rag

September 4, 2018July 13, 2008Media, Religion, VideoLeave a comment

Episode #6: If At First You Don’t Succeed. From True’s 13 July 2008 issue.

Continue ReadingWeird News Video #6 — Vatican Rag

The Big Picture

September 1, 2018December 28, 2007Crime, Media, PhotoLeave a comment

Sometimes newspaper editors do their work mechanically, not paying any attention whatever to what they’re printing — even on the front page. And I have the photos to prove it. From True’s 23 December 2007 issue:

Continue ReadingThe Big Picture

The NFL’s Copyright: Round Two

August 31, 2018February 16, 2007Media, Online Life24 Comments

There’s an interesting update on the story and discussion last week about the NFL’s fight against churches — the NFL warned churches not to show the Super Bowl game to parishioners due to copyright restrictions.

Continue ReadingThe NFL’s Copyright: Round Two

Super Bowl vs. Churches — NFL Loses

August 31, 2018February 9, 2007Media, Religion, Special34 Comments

This week’s lead story brought a fair amount of mail from the Premium subscribers, many of whom were surprised by my take on the story. Here it is:

Continue ReadingSuper Bowl vs. Churches — NFL Loses

The Power of Collective Outrage

August 31, 2018November 20, 2006Celebrities, Media, Rant17 Comments

The following essay was included in True’s email editions for the week of 19 November 2006.

I had reserved this space tonight for a major rant. What makes one of my rants “major”? I was actually going to call for a boycott and a letter-writing campaign — I don’t recall ever doing that before. I wanted to show how collective outrage can make a difference. But you know what happened? Collective outrage grew on its own, quickly rising to a spontaneous chorus of “NO!” And the perpetrator listened.

Continue ReadingThe Power of Collective Outrage