The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

BREAKING: Cable TV News Airheads Screwed Up a Major Story, Again

So, I was working on this story: Chinese Student Lu Lingzi, 23, Identified as Third Victim Killed by Boston Marathon Bombing When a certain blonde woman on cable TV news began informing me (and you and a lot of other people) that a suspect in the Boston marathon bombing had been identified from video. And […]

Terrorism, Journalism and Other Crimes of ‘Workplace-Related Violence’

Still scrambling today to keep up with the latest developments in the Boston Marathon bombings. Last night I got to bed about 1 a.m., woke up about 8:15 a.m. and had my first story at ViralRead online shortly after 9 a.m., updating with the FBI press conference and new leads: UPDATE: ‘We Will Go to […]

When You Report Breaking News, Be Like Joe Friday: ‘Just the Facts, Ma’am’

#BOSTON UPDATE – WITNESS: ‘SOMEBODY’S LEG FLEW BY MY HEAD’ viralread.com/2013/04/15/bre…via @viralread — Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) April 15, 2013 People doing live breaking news on TV have to fill hours and hours of air time. We understand this. But do they understand this? Dear TV People: Do not emote. Do not tell us how to feel. […]

A Great First Sentence

One basic thing you learn as a journalist is that, once you’ve got the lead right, the rest of the story almost writes itself: If the news media hadn’t told you how brilliant Barack Obama was every day for  the last six years, you might have your doubts. Read the whole thing.

Harassment Is Not Journalism

Bill Schmalfeldt of Elk Ridge, Maryland, a.k.a. “Liberal Grouch” “If you’re so concerned about your safety, don’t come to Maryland.” — Jim Brewer, Howard County (Md.) Assistant State’s Attorney Bill Schmalfeldt has directed 20+ unsolicited hostile Tweets at me in past 2 hours; he’s now objecting to being called “cyberstalker.” — Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) […]

How Franklin Foer Fired Timothy Noah

First, some idiot kid name Olga asks Nate Thayer to write for free. Then Matthew Yglesias buys himself a million-dollar D.C. townhouse. Now, an award-winning liberal journalist gets the ax: On Thursday, New Republic columnist Timothy Noah received an email from editor Frank Foer asking him to meet at 2:30 pm on Friday. During the meeting, […]

So … This Is Now News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 13, 2013 New Media Site ViralRead.com Signs Robert Stacy McCain as Editor in Chief WASHINGTON, D.C. – Veteran journalist Robert Stacy McCain will be joining the staff of ViralRead.com as editor in chief, the New Media site’s publisher announced Wednesday. “While we’re quietly building out ViralRead for its official launch, I’m […]

Alexis C. Madrigal, Harvard ’04

“I remember walking down Barlett Street in the Mission and saying to myself, out loud, ‘I’m a writer. I’m a writer! I’M A WRITER!’ It was all I’d wanted to be since I was 16 years old. And I was making it.” — Alexis C. Madrigal, “A Day in the Life of a Digital Editor, […]

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