• Jamming

    Posted on December 16th, 2009

    Written by jnjqn

    Tags

    What a English!

    What a English!

    As a newspaper editor I come across all sorts of articles that mangle the English language to the point of unintelligibility. This is especially true in this political season when politicians’ rah-rah people try to put their names out to the public, and they often send press releases that heap praise on their bosses at the expense of grammar and, well, the truth. Words like “indefatigable,” “outstanding,” and even, “handsome” are employed to describe candidates who would normally be anything but, and the PR people do not seem to care that the press releases they churn out have little semblance to the truth. There’s nothing more I’d like to do than email these agents and quote Voltaire to them: “The adjective is the enemy of the noun.” Or Mark Twain: “When you catch an adjective, kill it.”

  • Jamming

    Posted on December 1st, 2009

    Written by jnjqn

    Tags

    You’ve found me!

    You’ve found me!

    If you’re looking for Third World, then you’re in the right place. My blog has been renamed JamBayan and is now located here (jambayan.net). I must thank my good friend Oliver “Blogie” Robillo (yes, that’s his nickname, and he acquired it long before the word “blog” ever came into existence) for giving me the impetus [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on November 10th, 2009

    Written by jnjqn

    Tags

    Reality Street

    Reality Street

    If you open the Google web page these days you’ll be greeted by Sesame Street characters pointing the way to your searches. Some get Cookie Monster or Big Bird, I get The Count (or Count Von Count, to be more formal). It’s a nod to the 40th anniversary of the children’s educational television series, and [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on November 9th, 2009

    Written by jnjqn

    Tags

    , , , , , ,

    Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!

    Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!

    Google is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street by featuring Sesame Street characters in its main page. Having grown up on a steady diet of Sesame Street back in the 70s (and well into the 80s), I appreciate this gesture from Google. Sesame Street has been one of the most influential forces on my [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 4th, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    Looking up

    MONTEREY, California — I’d like to believe that things can get better for Pinoy newspapers because we can move to the internet in ways that perhaps no US paper can. Here they have been overtaken by online rivals who have taken over much of the information dissemination duties. With internet penetration still relatively low in [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 4th, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    Perspective

    MONTEREY, California — It’s a matter of perspective, Laith Agha, one of the Monterey County Herald’s reporters, said as we drove back to the newsroom after making two unsuccessful attempts to find out more about a murder victim. I had gone with him to see how a US reporter works, and as it turned out, [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 2nd, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    Jamming in the dark

    Jamming in the dark

    SALINAS, California — Believe it or not, there was a rather long power outage here in Salinas on Tuesday night that lasted almost seven hours. Salinas, located northeast of Monterey, is where my older brother works on weekdays (he drives home to his family in Los Angeles on weekends), and since this is close to [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 2nd, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    No worries?

    MONTEREY, California — The average American journalist worries about job security, but most of them can avail themselves of packages that can help tide them over to the next job. They do not worry about getting killed, or being imprisoned for libel (it is a civil offense here, not criminal), or getting hit by a [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 2nd, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    Different issues

    MONTEREY, California – So how does a US newsroom work? I’m pretty sure there is a great variety, but the smaller ones are represented pretty much by the Monterey County Herald. “Small,” of course, is relative: the Herald has a daily circulation of 25,000 (and 35,000 for its Sunday issue) for a population of 150,000, [...]

  • Jamming

    Posted on October 2nd, 2008

    Written by jon joaquin

    Tags

    Dewhat?

    MONTEREY, California — On my second day in Monterey, Joe Livernois, the paper’s executive editor, took me to one of the “debates” the Herald is hosting for the purpose of choosing local candidates it will endorse in the November 4 elections. I found this unusual since not many Philippine papers endorse candidates, at least not [...]

  • Older Posts Yeah! There are more posts, check them out.

3 visitors online now
3 guests, 0 members
Max visitors today: 8 at 11:27 am GMT-8
This month: 10 at 09-01-2010 09:16 am GMT-8
This year: 49 at 02-10-2010 10:03 am GMT-8
All time: 49 at 02-10-2010 10:03 am GMT-8

I'm happy to use Increase Sociability.