Raleigh
One Paper Indivisible?
Two stories in today’s N&O point to where things are headed. A front-page story by Mark Johnson. Previously, he and other Charlotte Observer staffers were identified as “Charlotte Observer.” Today, he was identified as “staff writer.” The Business section said the McClatchy chain, which owns the N&O and Observer, will begin layoffs Monday. Already, Johnson…
Read MorePerdue in Peril?
It’s a sure sign of an anxious campaign when the manager releases internal polls. That’s what Zach Ambrose had to do this week for Bev Perdue after a WTVD poll showed her trailing. That came on the heels of the Carville-Greenberg poll. Perdue’s campaign released a memo from Garin-Hart-Yang, the campaign’s pollsters, showing Perdue ahead…
Read MoreUnfair to Criminals
Many a time I’ve given a reporter a quote that didn’t look so good in print. So I felt for Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin. The chair of the House committee on campaign finance law, she was expressing doubt about tougher penalties for crooked politicians in the N&O: “We also want to make sure we don’t…
Read MoreEdwards Vs. the N&O
The tension between John Edwards and The News & Observer goes back to the 1998 Senate race. During that campaign, John and Elizabeth – along with some of their Washington consultants and gung-ho young staffers – believed the N&O was treating them unfairly. They decided somebody should storm down to the paper’s offices, confront the…
Read MoreEdwards Vs. The Enquirer
John Edwards’ political career began after the death of his first child. Will it end after the birth of another child? A once-strong Edwards supporter posed that question the other day. She, like other supporters, is nervous about the “love child” story. Edwards said it’s “tabloid trash.” That’s not enough. If the story is not…
Read MoreCrime Breaks Out
Like gas prices nationally, crime could be the surprise issue in the North Carolina governor’s race this year. The rolling gang fight at Triangle Towne Center last weekend gives Raleigh residents pause. Charlotteans wonder what took us so long. Break-ins – thought to be gang-related – plague even the best neighborhoods there. Pat McCrory has…
Read MoreSatanists and Mammon
The Democratic Satanists in Durham are going on trial: According to the first hearing they’ve been “channeling demons” and, naturally, met through the Internet. For those who deny the occult, the defense attorney has a different explanation. He says there are no evil spirits on the loose in Durham – just a few people practicing…
Read MoreIs the N&O Too Sensitive?
A reader and N&O critic says the N&O posted two different quotes on its website after Keith Hempstead of Durham sued the paper for cutting its news pages. Last Thursday afternoon, Executive Editor John Drescher said on the site: “We’ve had some really good papers recently, and they’re worth more than the 36 cents a…
Read MoreThe Real Skinny
Picking up The News & Observer now is like running into an old friend who has been ravaged by cancer. It’s thin and sickly feeling. The editors promise us a lean and focused newspaper. I don’t want a lean newspaper; I want a fat one. And I don’t want focus; I want to stumble onto…
Read MoreThe School Board in a $36 Million Huff
The School Board’s shocked, just shocked. And mad. “Who on the Wake County Board of Commissioners,” growls one board member, “Wants the dubious honor of putting Wake County on a downward spiral?” What’s up? The Board asked the County Commissioners to almost double its budget over the next five years – and the Commissioners said…
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