Parts of the east coast were clobbered with more than two feet of snow. But is it a national story or a regional one? From live reporters standing waist-deep in fallen snow to the CNN Blizzardmobile driving around New York City during a statewide travel ban, we'll break down the coverage.
Talking Points Memo: “The best tweets mocking CNN anchor Don Lemon’s ridiculous‘Blizzardmobile’”
Erik Wemple, Washington Post: “NYC blizzard 2015: ‘Disaster,’ ‘crippling,’ ‘historic’”
Stephen Stirling, NJ Advance Media: “What is bombogenesis? The essential guide to N.J. blizzard terminology”
Kayla Gahagan, Al Jazeera America: “Shutdown prevents relief for SD ranchers ravaged by storm”
Indiana governor announces plans to launch state-run news agency
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence announced plans to launch "Just IN," a state-managed news agency that will cover news going on at the Indiana capital. Former Indianapolis Star reporter Bill McCreery wll lead a team of public relations professionals that will write stories and make them available to newsrooms across the state. Pence said Just IN will also break news occasionally, as the office will get notification of certain stories before other media is notified.
Tom LoBianco, Indianapolis Star: “Pence state-run news outlet will compete with media”
Jim Romenesko: “Former Indianapolis Star reporter to oversee governor’s new state-run news service”
Matt Tully, Indianapolis Star: “Tully: Mike Pence’s horrible idea”
Tom LoBianco, Indianapolis Star: "Gov. Pence clarifying state-run news plan"
Michael Calderone, Huffington Post: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seeks to reassure critics of controversial 'state-run news outlet'"
Obama’s YouTube Experiment
Instead of sitting down with traditional journalists immediately following last week's State of the Union address, President Obama granted interviews to several prolific YouTube vloggers. Did the experiment work?
Hank Green: “Holy s**t, I interviewed the president”
Amita Kelly, NPR: “5 surprises from President Obama’s YouTube interviews”
Steve Korancki, MSNBC: “President Obama’s YouTube interviews draw praise, scorn”
Kathy Ehrich Dowd, People: “That time YouTube stars interviewed President Obama and things got weird”
Chloe Summers, CNN: “YouTube stars interview Obama and things get weird”
Arit John, Bloomberg Politics: “It doesn’t matter what the media thinks of Obama’s YouTube interviews”
Rapper faces prison time
Brandon Duncan, a gangster rapper also known as Tiny Doo, is on trial in California. He's facing 25 years to life in prison in convicted of the criminal street gang conspiracy charges against him in nine shootings. Prosecutors concede Duncan had no direct involvement in any of the incidents -- but claim he profited off gang activity when he wrote rap songs about them and sold those albums.
Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN: “Rapper Tiny Doo facing long prison sentence over lyrics”
Alexander Nguyen, Times of San Diego: “Judge won’t let ‘Tiny Doo’ off hook in gang conspiracy case”
Christine A. Corcos, Media Law Prof Blog: “Rap artist faces prosecution for gang activity, prosecutors say his lyrics demonstrate conspiracy”
Cheryl K. Chumley, Washington Times: “Tiny Doo, a.k.a. Brandon Duncan, faces 25 years prison for violent rap lyrics”
Buzz surrounding the Super Bowl
The countdown to Sunday's Super Bowl is on! Face it, it's been on for weeks, with the controversy surrounding "DeflateGate." We'll talk about whether a story about the air pressure of footballs should still be top of mind 10 days after the conference championships. We'll also preview NBC's day-long telecast.
Erik Wemple, Washington Post: “More #Deflategate coverage, please”
Peter Kafka, Re/Code: “NFL, Google sign deal for YouTube video clips, search results”
Mike Shields, Wall Street Journal: “The NFL launches a YouTube channel – finally”
Dave Smith, Business Insider: “Everything you need to know about Google’s new deal with the NFL”
Jackson Connor, Huffington Post: “NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie to interview Obama before Super Bowl”
Catherine Taibi, Huffington Post: “Katie Couric returns to ‘Today’ to relive 1994 in new Super Bowl ad”
Kristina Monllos, AdWeek: "GoDaddy pulls Super Bowl ad after complaints about 'puppy mill' humor"
So long to SkyMall
At some point, we've all thumbed through the SkyMall magazine on some endless flight. Well, SkyMall has filed for bankruptcy, saying in-flight Wi-Fi now distracts travelers and keeps them from in-flight shopping.
Tiffany Kary, Bloomberg Business: “SkyMalllands in bankruptcy as in-flight shopping habits change”
Tom Corrigan, Wall Street Journal: “SkyMallfiles for bankruptcy”
Kristin Hare, Poynter: “5 things journalists actually could have used from SkyMall”
Rebecca R. Ruiz, New York Times: “Catalogs, after years of decline, are revamped for changing times”
