Media

Joe Pollack’s 60-Year Career

Joe Pollack, St. Louis’ best known and often-feared critic of
theater, movies, restaurants, wine and journalism was still pounding
out columns and reviews up to the age of 81 when his heart couldn’t
keep up with his workaholic lifestyle.

He died March 9, 2012 of an apparent heart attack at his home in
Clayton. “My dear Joe has left us, far more quietly than was his
usual style,” said his wife, Ann Lemons Pollack, to readers of their
St. Louis Eats and Drinks website.

Media

Does law trump ethics in Konopacki’s cartoon?

Award-winning Political cartoonist Mike Konopacki has worked freelance at several newspapers across the Midwest. However, his job and his reputation are now in question. Konopacki was suspended from the Capital Times for six weeks and could potentially face a felony jail sentence after reproducing the letterhead of State Rep. Steve Nass and sending a phony press release to a Madison newspaper.

Konopacki created an exact replica of Rep. Nass’ letterhead and sent an extremely convincing press release to the Wisconsin Capitol Times. The phony press release requested that the Smithsonian Institute remove posters drawn from the protests at the Capitol in Madison.

Media

Illinois’ eavesdropping law under scrutiny as NATO summit nears

Some state lawmakers hope to amend Illinois’ strict eavesdropping law before this spring when Chicago will host the NATO summit, where thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets and possibly clash with police officers.

Unless the all-party consent law is amended before May, any person, whether a journalist or protester, caught recording a police officer on duty without consent would be charged with felony and could face up to 15 years in prison.

The proposed bill, led by State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, would amend the law to allow the recording of a police officer while on the job in a public setting – without the officer’s consent.

Media

“Pink Slime” the stuff hamburgers, hot dogs, and this week’s news are made of

The so-called “pink slime” can be found in hamburgers, tacos, hot dogs, and this week it was a primary ingredient in news stories. Similar to the larger discussion on the safety of this ground meat additive, it is debatable as to whether or not these news articles will have a positive or negative affect; or if they are just filler.

The media frenzy was triggered by a March 6 story on ABC News about an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding the purchase of 7 million pounds of ground meat containing pink slime. This meat is destined for school lunch rooms across the country.