Category Archives: Joel’s J School

Why not me?

Posted on January 18, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I just don’t get it. The geniuses who run the New York Times op-ed page. Why don’t they pick me? I don’t have any lucrative government contracts. Why, I don’t have any kind of government contract. I … Continue reading →

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Right to offend

Posted on January 16, 2010 by hro50ta1

 By Joel Thurtell When authors and cartoonists have to hide to protect themselves from threats of murder and mayhem from Muslim radicals, it seems like the biggest threat to free speech comes from Islam. But the real menace to our … Continue reading →

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The Ambassador and the Freepsters

Posted on January 10, 2010 by hro50ta1

A consortium of the U.S. and Canada, Ontario and Michigan, and Detroit and Windsor finally make Matty Moroun an offer he just can’t refuse for the Ambassador Bridge, which then becomes an international government operation; traffic backups increase exponentially.    … Continue reading →

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‘Inverse truth’ and the Times

Posted on January 8, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Luke Warm Professor of Mendacity, University of Munchausen First of all, I would like to remind all students enrolled in this class–Mendacity 101–that our primary purpose is to find subtle, even invisible and certainly inaudible, ways of misleading the … Continue reading →

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The greatest profession

Posted on December 18, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell What if you’re an elite newspaper and your lunch is being eaten by the very supermarket tabloids that normally bring a sneer of loathing to your collective editorial face? The very kinds of sources that sell damaging … Continue reading →

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Saving newspapers: A modest proposal

Posted on December 8, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I could make a fortune with this idea, except I got it from The New York Times. I’d have to kick something back to them, probably. For once, it might be worth it. It’s amazingly simple, … Continue reading →

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A newspaper vanishes

Posted on December 3, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I never saw a copy of the short-lived Detroit Daily Pres I gather it was distributed in some parts of the Detroit area. Maybe because I was in Canada most of last summer, I was slow … Continue reading →

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Moilin’ in the deadline sun

Posted on December 1, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Bud Yardline JOTR Sports Writer [paypal-donation] Ain’t that Luke Warm a cool hand with a column? Only one problem from this side of the press room: He may be a college prof, but he’s still full of you know … Continue reading →

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A reporter’s best friend: Extortion

Posted on November 30, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Luke Warm Professor of Mendacity, University of Munchausen [paypal-donation] There’s a scene in Richard Wright’s 1940 novel, Native Son, where a newspaper reporter lays down the lie that should be a tool in every journalist’s kit. I thought of this … Continue reading →

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Of pizzas, pools and prosecutors: or, how the ‘Free’ Press (once again) muzzled itself

Posted on November 29, 2009 by hro50ta1

The Wall Street Journal‘s revelation that my onetime employer, The Detroit [Self-Styled] Free Press, had invited advertisers to participate in the reporting and editing process came as no surprise to me. I worked at the Free Press 23 years if … Continue reading →

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