5 ms·
He Understood Not Only What We Did but What We Were Supposed to Do (1986)
- brianberns 12y agoThat's a very sweet story (sorry for the pun), but of course it's absolutely not what journalists are supposed to do.
- ProCynic 12y agoFuck that. Journalists are human beings and that _is_ what human beings are supposed to do.
- duaneb 12y agoHuman first, journalist second. Sheesh.
- crististm 12y agoI've read the other day the code of ethics for engineers. It said there that an engineer is supposed to put the public interest before his job.
- danso 12y agoI saw this story being passed around by newspaper journalists on Twitter...surprised to see it here. When I retweeted the link, someone on Twitter (also a newsman) said he thinks the story is made up: https://twitter.com/JohnRussell99/status/547814120679288832 https://twitter.com/JohnRussell99/status/547814120679288832 It's too late on Christmas Eve to do more investigating before bedtime, but I did find this interesting snippet while Googling around for Al Reck; this is his obituary: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19670419&id=hOBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dQEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6346,2581179 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19670419&id=h... > Al Reck, a real life city editor whose career reads like a Hollywood scenario, died yesterday. He was 69. His exploits in 43 years of newspaper work included deep sea diving to identify a crashed airplane and riding a rum-runner's boat to expose prohibition. He covered news, he made it, and found faster ways to report it...Mr. Reck was among the first to use planes in reporting news. He toured Latin America with Charles Lindbergh, found a missing group of scientists, and was present at a meeting in Havana that led to the formation of Pan American World Airways So I don't know if the OP is made up (I'll ask the objecting Twitterer tomorrow)...but it certainly doesn't sound like too outlandish of a story given the accomplishments credited to Mr. Reck in his obituary.
- rmason 12y agoWe think alike, I looked him up online as well. 1. WWI hero who was left for dead on the battlefield, captured and then escaped German captivity twice 2. Foreign correspondent 3. Worked for a Congressman which explains his D.C. connections 4. Rigged up a wireless set with car batteries and reported live from a Miami hurricane Sounded like he was a larger than life guy.
- PhasmaFelis 12y agoSeems like it'd be easy enough to verify, if someone in Oakland can go down to a local library and check the microfilm. http://oaklandtribunearchives.tumblr.com/help http://oaklandtribunearchives.tumblr.com/help
- mturmon 12y agoThe young columnist, Al Martinez, was a fixture of the LA Times for many years. He's in declining health now, and has retired from regular reporting. He remains an icon of LA journalism. His tone has become more serious, but also somewhat more playful, as the stakes have raised. Here is a nice recent piece of his: http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2014/08/always_leave_them_laughing.php http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2014/08/always_leave_them_l...
- lotsofmangos 12y agoI like that story. There's something of a koan about it.
- lukastsai 12y agoa more readable version: https://getscroll.com/r/52pqg https://getscroll.com/r/52pqg
- petesewsteven 12y agoI am completely touched. Sometimes, we need to pause to appreciate and see what really matters.