Andy Bechtel

Q&A with Rhiannon Root of The Washington Times Rhiannon Root is Universal Desk Afternoon Slot Editor at The Washington Times, a position she has held since 2017. A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she is one of the winners in the…

What does a slot editor do? When is the right time to write a headline with wordplay? @rhiannonroot.bsky.social has those answers and more. editdesk.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/q...

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b----' before shooting Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorn...

Follow-up reporting is a big deal. National media need to remember to keep up.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Is UNC football worse than failing a midterm? A student’s ESPN claim goes viral Junior Anna Yi’s quote delivered TikTok viral views and an on-air appearance during the Tar Heels’ loss to Clemson.

“I know you! You’re the midterm girl!” UNC junior Anna Yi is enjoying her moment on ESPN. (gift link) www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a...

In announcing new opinion section direction, Post brass said they were prioritizing personal liberties and free markets. Liberties are under assault, as are free markets. Where's the coverage?

If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.

Going through old school newspapers and finding all the cigarette ads is so bizarre as compared to what I'm used to.

The reference to the 82nd Airborne should be of interest to news organizations in NC.

The need to edit opinion pieces Opinion pieces such as columns, op-eds and movie reviews need editing just as news stories do. Two incidents in the past week serve as a reminder of that. First, The Wall Street Journal posted an o…

Flashback post: Yes, opinion writing needs copy editors too. I am disheartened to hear that @washingtonpost.com has eliminated them. editdesk.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/o...

With sadness, I can confirm. geneweingarten.substack.com/p/got-an-opi...

A black cat with yellow eyes and a streak of white fur on his head. He is rubbing his face on the corner of a laptop. A meeting of faculty is on the screen

Friday afternoon in academia: My cat Zazzle and I tuning into the UNC Faculty Council meeting.

UNC Completes Investigation, Reinstates Professor After 'No Basis' to Advocacy of Political Violence - Chapelboro.com After a week of tension and scrutiny surrounding a UNC faculty member and his placement on administrative leave to review potential advocacy of political violence, the university is reinstating him. U...

After a week of tension and scrutiny surrounding a UNC faculty member and his placement on administrative leave to review potential advocacy of political violence, the university is reinstating him.

Here's the latest on this developing story:

UNC CH Chapter & NC AAUP statement re Prof. Dwayne Dixon: @aaup.org

AAUP NC and UNC-Chapel Hill AAUP condemn the egregious violation of Professor Dwayne Dixon's First Amendment rights to free speech and free association, his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, and his academic freedom. 1/

PEN America warns of rise in books 'systematically removed from school libraries' A new report says that the number of books being challenged or removed from public schools across the country has risen exponentially in the past two years. A Clockwork Orange tops their list.

A new report says that the number of books being challenged or removed from public schools across the country has risen exponentially in the past two years. A Clockwork Orange tops their list.

IMO every publication and every publisher should have a clear statement about their generative AI policy. To dictate what is acceptable writer usage, yes, but also to declare their own usage (or lack thereof). Do they use it for slushreading, editing, illustration, correspondence?

Editor, most news staff of Carpenter Media’s Alaska newspapers resign due to censoring of story Article about a Charlie Kirk vigil referring to controversies involving him was altered after a GOP Alaska lawmaker complained to company management

The editor and most of the reporters at the Homer News, Peninsula Clarion, and the Juneau Empire resigned Monday after corporate management deleted content from a story about Charlie Kirk in response to a complaint from a Republican state lawmaker.
www.juneauindependent.com/post/editor-...

I hold many grudges against "Artificial Intelligence", but perhaps the biggest one is how confusing this era is for all us Weird Al Yankovic fans.

Headlines! 1993: End of the world is cancelled 1983: The 'end of the world' fails to begin on time 1973: End of the world fails to arrive; lawyer is happy 1960: End of the world fails; savings, job gone 1951: Cultists disband as end of the world fails to arrive 1945: End of the world prophesy fails 1936: Another forecast on end of the world fails come true 1925: End of the world fixture, fails to run to schedule 1919: End of the world fails to arrive on scheduled time 1909: End of the world fails to arrive

END OF THE WORLD FAILS AGAIN

Health and science reporters should lead the coverage of all these health-related conspiracy theories & newsroom leaders should keep their both-sides political reporters out of their way.

Easy to roll eyes at this but it highlights what a huge messaging failure that slogan was. If people agree with the principle but hate the catchphrase, your catchphrase sucks.

Typo averted: Indian food, not Indiana food.

How about a Mike Hogewood hologram?

My most Gen X complaint is that this question ignores our existence.

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Only way this could be better is as a Mascot Mashup

Herr Goebbels Angered By Anti-Nazi Wit Comedians Banned For Humorous Remarks on Leaders RERLIN, Feb. 4 (U.P. When Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels yesterday he called it "society rabble and intellectual shobs," for laughing at comedians who make Nazi leaders the butts of their jokes. Goebbels turned his anger upon nouncing that five German actors had been banned from the stage for publicly rediculing Nazi party and state functionaries. He denied that there was any lack of humor in Nazi Germany, but said that it must be kept "good- natured, decent and clean." "There is plenty of humor in Germany, more than enough," he said in a three and one-half column editorial in the Nazi party's newspaper Voelkischer Beobachter. "But we do not per- mit ourselves to be ridiculed." ner Finck, actor-author; Pete Sachse, vaudevilie comedian, and Helmut Buth, Wilhelm Meissner and Manfred Dlugi, the latter three members of a vaudeville combination known as "The Three Rulands." The five were said to have been warned re- peatedly to stop making jokes about the Nazis.

Thought I'd leave this here.

A line chart showing that 38% of webpages from 2013 were no longer accessible one decade later.

LINK ROT: 38% webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer available 10 years later.

Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website.

Many implications for knowledge 🧪

Editing tip: If you, by any means whatsoever, kill (end the life of) someone who has not asked to be killed, the word for that is not "euthanasia"; it is "murder"

(you can have debates about the case where the person has asked to be killed, but when they haven't asked, there's no ambiguity)

Penn State plans to 'wind down' WPSU after board committee rejects plan to transfer it to WHYY WPSU, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary of bringing public media to Pennsylvania, is slated to close soon, after a Penn State board of trustees committee voted Thursday against a proposal...

This is the first NPR/PBS station I've seen that's going out of business as a result of the federal rescission:
radio.wpsu.org/2025-09-11/p...

YouTube video by Rick Loves The 80’s HBO Intro (1983)

Maybe play this video on the phone. youtu.be/Gi01xi3FfxY?...

Every news organization needs to check on the status of vaccines in their area and publish the results.