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This Issue from John Kuczaj:
• Daniel Pepper: Real or Urban Myth?
• Musings
Daniel Pepper: Real or Urban Myth?
Last Thursday the Sun-Times ran a piece that originally ran in the London Daily Telegraph on the previous Sunday. Written by "a 23-year-old Jewish-American photographer living in Islington, north London" who went to Iraq to be a human shield, it chronicled Pepper's conversion from anti-war to pro-get-rid-of-Saddam during his time as a shield.
Nice story, but is it true?
I was skeptical from the start, even though I am Pro "Kill Saddam & his sons." It just seems like slick propaganda conveniently presented at a time the anti-war protesters were getting increased press coverage. Does Daniel Pepper exist? What does he look like? What else has he ever written? What are his credentials? All those questions & more spun through my mind, but could not be answered.
I'm pretty good at sniffing out urban legends when I get forwarded e-mails. This Daniel Pepper thing really smells rank to me. The fact that it's being picked up & linked by a ton of web sites makes me even more suspicious. Maybe it's real, but I need some verification before I swallow the story. I wonder if there's anyone at the Sun-Times who has experience tracking down urban legends?
Musing
Mark Suppelsa started at Channel 32 a few weeks ago. Initially, he was covering the war in Iraq beat, with Walter & Robin tossing to him for the updates at the top and end of the newscast. Mark created this "news capsule" style while at Channel 5. Walter and the meat puppet start off with the top story, then kick it to Mark, who recaps the day's events in sort-of a bullet-point style. He gives details & video when necessary, breaking down some of the confusing points, finally ending with a bunch of short info bursts that wouldn't make the cut on a normal anchor read. It's an excellent packet of information on the war.
I happened to turn to CNN late last Thursday night and Aaron Brown killed some time by showing off some newspaper front pages from the early Friday editions. He came upon the Sun-Times, which had a huge picture of Baghdad burning in the night. Of course, while that was nice, Brown pointed out the eccentric way the Sun-Times displays the weather on page one. For that Friday is was "Relentless" and Brown admitted he had no clue what it meant. He also explained that while the blurb wasn't at all helpful, it made people pay 35 cents to find the weather on page two. This is of course, false. It's just plain useless and John Dodge needs to realize that it used to be cute, now it's annoying-just like the Osbournes. For the record, "Relentless" meant cloudy with showers & thunderstorms with highs in the 50's. Yeah, sounds Relentless to me.
Judie Garcia is back on the air!!! The top 10 Chicago news babe / former Channel 7 reporter is now reporting for Channel 9, most likely on a per diem basis. I'm happy to see her on the air again, and pleased to see Channel 9 making upgrades to their on-air talent.
Also back on the air is Bloomberg reporter Anupy Singla, seen on Channel 9's Morning Zoo & Midday News. Anupy is back from maternity leave, and I bet the guys at the CBOT are quite pleased to see Anupy back. Subbing for Anupy while Anupy was away first was the very, very, very attractive Deborah Kostroun, who did the reports from New York. Then, Julie Moran took over at the CBOT . What's the deal with all the hottie financial reporters popping up? No complaints here-the prospect of Deborah Kostroun doing "On the Money" reports for WGN kept me tuned in, then when they switched to Julie Moran, I didn't tune in as often. Oh, well. Anupy's back and Anupy fans have to be glad to see Anupy once again. In case you haven't realized it yet, I like saying her name-it makes me smile. Anupy. Oh, and I found out something interesting--yet a tad disturbing to me--about her while searching thru the Google groups search engine-her father arranged her marriage. Weird.
A couple of omissions I'd like to correct regarding my rant about Steve Neal. First, I'd like to point out that his name appeared on Scott Fawell's list of political favors from George Ryan. Second, If anyone doubted my recollection of events regarding Ald. Tom Allen & the Home Depot at Dunning, I've got a copy of the Feb 12th Lerner Times in which two community activists (John Videckis & Joyce Swider) recount that Allen attended a Jan 21 town hall meeting regarding his Home Depot proposal, then after he was met with community resistance, he changed his position in a letter received on Feb 4.
Just clearing the air, for what it's worth.
If anyone had any doubt about Jay Mariotti and his ever-changing absolute views, the front page of the March 9th Sun-Times out an end to that. Mariotti repeatedly ripped into Kordell Stewart in several columns, calling him an awful Quarterback that the Bears should not bother with because he'd be out of football in a couple years. The March 9th headline?
"Mariotti: Kordell Stewart could suit Bears"
Simply Amazing.
Remember folks, read Jay Merryman every week in the Chicago Red Face.
Much was written during spring training about a heated feud between the Minnesota Twins & the White Sox. It didn't seem like any of the sportswriters could figure out when the feud started. That's an easy one. A couple years ago, as they were rebuilding their team, several Twins players took exception to the nickname given them by White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Harrelson has--for many years--called them the "Twinkies" and the players finally viewed it as the insult it's supposed to be.
That's how the feud really got started.
Peter Arnett deserved to be fired, and not just because he's a dick. Two reasons: 1. A war reporter in the field should never give opinion, or they compromise their impartiality. 2. Peter Arnett wasn't reporting about the war, he was reporting about Peter Arnett. He's full of his own celebrity, much worse than Geraldo is. Both are useless.
Wednesday night on Channel 32's late news, after reading a story about Demon Dogs having to move because of CTA renovations, Robin Robinson suggested they make a compromise deal with the CTA and sell hot dogs on the trains. Anyone who rides the "L" knows that eating & drinking have been banned on the CTA for many years. Maybe she was confusing the buffet she has when she's in R. Kelly's limo, cruising the high schools.
There was something oddly similar with the Red Streak & RedEye covers on Tuesday & Wednesday, no? On Tuesday, the big story was Mayor Daley destroying Meigs Field. Both papers used similar bold type with white border effect and both papers used Marvel Comic titles "X-Man" and "X-Factor". For future X-titles, expect: X-Force, Weapon-X, Soldier-X, Agent-X or Mutant-X. Hopefully in 4 years, we'll be seeing headlines of "X-Mayor".
On Wednesday, both papers ran the photo of the rescued POW. Coincidence, or not?
IN THE CURRENT CHICAGO RED FACE:
- Daley to Bensenville: Prepare for "Shock & Awe"
- COMPLETE COVERAGE! WAR ON IRAQ
- Show Me the Cruise-Missile
- Chairman, Joint Chiefs, outraged over "Twin Towers" Snub
- IRWIN CUPPINET: Cup's Cupboard
- Poland admits special forces sent to Persian Gulf, accidentally invade Iran
- Blackhawks apologize for Anti-Canadian feelings at United Center
- JAY MERRYMAN: Cubs are the Cancer, I'm the Cure
- Cool Again: Devo
Check it out at: www.chicagoredface.com.
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