Afternoon Reading List 07.22.13.

Washington goes nuts over Nate Silver's switch to ESPN — After the news broke that NYT’s Nate Silver was leaving the NYT for ESPN and ABC News, TPM editor Josh Marshall wrote a short blog post Saturday about it for TPM’s editor’s blog, calling it a “massive blow for the Times.” Other than that, it was a pretty standard post about what he’ll be doing at his new workplace and what will happen to FiveThirtyEight, his blog that has essentially been leased to the Times since 2010. Apparently Marshall had more to say. On Sunday afternoon, he published another post that was mostly an excerpt from Sunday’s Playbook, pulled from Politico’s Mike Allen. Surrounding the lengthy excerpt were some of Marshall’s feelings on matter, including that he, “as a news consumer,” finds Silver’s new focus on weather, economics, and education more fascinating. He also confirms suspicions that Silver was getting bored of politics as an exclusive realm. Why you should read it: Marshall provides some insight into Silver’s move, but honestly most of the information comes from the Playbook excerpt, which has a lot of information in it and is worth a read itself. How realistic is "The Newsroom?" — Aaron Sorkin’s widely popular HBO show "The Newsroom", set two years in the past, follows the fictional ACN News Night team as it covers events that grabbed real headlines, such as Occupy, Troy Davis’ execution and Anwar Al-Awlaki‘s death by drone strike. The Atlantic’s Ashley Fetters compares the depiction of events in the second episode of the second season to real news coverage of the events. Fetters notes the similarity of the quick rise of coverage of the Occupy Wall Street rally in Zuccotti Park and ACN's coverage of Occupy on the show. Down to the day, Sorkin portrayed the coverage of the rally with accuracy. Fetters continues through more examples, including a scene where two control room operators watch decade-old footage of anchor Will McAvoy’s first shift as anchor on September 11, 2001, which lasted 16 hours. Fetter compares this with Peter Jennings’ roughly 17-hour shift that day. Why you should read it: Let’s be honest, you probably anxiously awaited season two and watched the second episode as soon as it came it out. And for those of you who don’t regularly watch it (or more accurately, just don’t admit to it), this may convince you to start. What Silver's move means to NYT, ESPN — Silver’s move from the Times to ESPN and ABC News has obviously seen an abundance of media attention. As Marshall’s blog posts and Allen’s Playbook give insight into the move and the events leading up to it, TNR’s Marc Tracy goes a step further and looks into the future. After laying out details about Silver’s rise from covering baseball to being a dominating figure at the NYT, Tracy looks at what the move means for the newspaper and Silver’s new home at ESPN. As for ESPN, many of their journalists frequently hop from writing for the web to TV appearances to writing for ESPN The Magazine. Silver will also work with ABC News, part of the Disney empire along with ESPN, during key political seasons. Tracy points to Silver’s earlier television appearances, which were fairly awkward, though training may make him less awkward on camera. Why you should read it: Silver’s move is a big deal. Tracy provides a glimpse into post-Silver NYT as well as a new era for ESPN, with the addition of not only Silver, but also Keith Olberman.

Fishbowl

Afternoon Reading List 07.22.13.

Austin Price

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Austin Price