NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: MANHATTAN UP CLOSE;Daily News Missed by Old Haunts
Date: 25 February 1996
By Anthony Ramirez
Anthony Ramirez
The steel-case letters above the time-and-temperature sign still read "Daily News." But no reporters write about "Mob Bigs" from East 42d Street anymore. And they don't order take-out lunch from the Lantern, or buy flowers from the Alisan Florist, or unwind with a mug at Donahue's Bar and Restaurant, "home of the coldest draft beer in New York City." Last May, The Daily News moved out of its landmark Art Deco skyscraper, taking its last 500 employees two miles across town to a modern skyscraper on 33d Street and Tenth Avenue, facing a windy expanse of auto repair shops and the John D. Caemmerer West Side Storage Yard Complex, where the Long Island Rail Road keeps some of its trains.
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Taking In the Sites;That Other Mouse, Now on the Web
Date: 26 February 1996
By Laurie Flynn
Laurie Flynn
Media conglomerates sometimes move at the speed of glaciers, so it is no surprise that some major media companies are only now putting up Web sites. But in at least a few cases, it appears the delay has enabled the latecomers to learn lessons from earlier media sites and allowed them to take advantage of the latest eye-catching (and ear-grabbing) Web technology. The most recent of these is the Walt Disney Company site, a cross between a family magazine of animation, games and activities and a promotional brochure with more hype than a TV commercial for Disneyland. But its clever use of a newspaper metaphor for navigation and its inclusion of more than 200 video files, 434 audio files and thousands of photos of familiar Disney characters may make it a site worth visiting for children and adults alike.
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MEDIA: PRESS;An Internet service is denied access to the Capitol.
Date: 26 February 1996
Michael Wines
Michael Wines
A Washington reporter is as easily identifiable these days as the Washington Monument: look for the yellow tag on a neck chain, symbol of membership in the House and Senate press galleries. More than a ticket to working space in the Capitol, it is a badge of reportorial respectability, an entree to a business club -- albeit one with heaps of rancid overcoats and Government-issue sofas -- run by working journalists, for working journalists. Last month Vigdor Schreibman pounded on the clubhouse door and was refused admission. Gallery officials said he had failed to meet the qualification of being a working journalist that is required of all members. That is not unheard of; other applicants have failed to meet the same standard.
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Editorial Notebook: The Fallows Fallacy;A Plan for Turning Reporters Into Lackeys
Date: 25 February 1996
By Howell Raines
Howell Raines
It is always interesting to observe what journalists are reading on the campaign trail. "Primary Colors" is the required light reading, and this year's entry in the self-flagellation category is "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy," by James Fallows. Not since the publication of "Feeding Frenzy" by Larry Sabato in 1991 has there been a book more packed with bad advice for the serious journalist. Let it be stipulated, however, that Mr. Fallows is dead right on a couple of points. The taking of huge corporate lecture fees by reporters is, as Tom Brokaw says, "white collar crime." Mr. Fallows is also right that "The McLaughlin Group" and the other shout-shows have undermined public confidence in all journalists.
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NANA AND THE ANCHORMEN
Date: 25 February 1996
Thank you for Emily Yoffe's "Nana and the Anchormen" (Lives, Feb. 4). Yoffe made her point with wit and truth. However, she should be delighted that her grandmother is so engaged. Someone should show her grandmother how to send E-mail. Then she could communicate with like-minded people who are also watching the news.
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C.I.A. Should Use Whatever Cover It Needs
Date: 26 February 1996
To the Editor: Re Frank Smyth's Op-Ed "spy story" and his objections to a proposal to let Central Intelligence Agents pose as journalists: Mr. Smyth tried to have it both ways. By entering Iraq illegally in 1991, he was acting as a clandestine intelligence officer -- albeit for The Village Voice and CBS News Radio, not the C.I.A.
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NANA AND THE ANCHORMEN
Date: 25 February 1996
I'd like to second Yoffe's call for a C-chip to block out CNN and C-Span from information overloaders like her grandmother. But why stop there? Some suggestions: a W-chip to block out the Weather Channel (equally addicting, and the cause of far too much concern in my household); an S-chip for ESPN and other sports programs (leaving only those that do not inspire yelling at the screen: figure skating, for instance).
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World News Briefs;Russian Forces to Leave Republic of Ingushetia
Date: 26 February 1996
AP
Russian officials promised today to withdraw their troops from Ingushetia, a tiny republic that borders the separatist region of Chechnya, Ingush officials said. Fighting has spread to Ingushetia in recent days, with Russian troops advancing on areas where they suspect Chechen rebels are hiding.
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