For Whom the Newspaper Tolls

Having spent three years working for the Philadelphia Daily News (and having learned more about journalism from its former editor Zach Stalberg than just about anyone), I read about the paper’s sale today with hope. I have to admit my heart sank a little when I saw that the lead owner is one of Read More

Boom in Obituaries Thrills Morbid Subculture

Every time a person keels over and dies, one presumes it’s a tragic event. But to a peculiar subset of the population, the passing of a human life is cause for excitement, even morbid glee. These are the obituary writers, and their odd subculture is the focus of The Dead Beat. Author Marilyn Johnson journeys Read More

Sharpton Probe?

We don’t quite know what to make of this vaguely sourced Philadelphia Daily News story, which leads with the news that “The Rev. Al Sharpton is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.”

In the next breath, the story tells us that it’s not the Philadelphia corruption investigation in which Sharpton briefly figured as Read More