Editorials
525 results
Page 27
Death of a 'Mungerman'
They were big-time, in the best sense of the word
George Munger was a humble Penn football coach who produced arrogant teams. His bruising players grew up into genuinely gentle men just like himself. Bernie Lemonick epitomized the breed.
Editorials
4 minute read
Brian Williams and ‘encouraged memory’
Brian Williams channels Buffalo Bill
The NBC News anchor Brian Williams isn’t the first public figure to embellish the truth for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. Under the spell of “encouraged memory,” ordinary folks often become enablers for the myths that prominent people circulate about themselves.
Editorials
5 minute read
Defying the Nazis in Vichy France
They knew what they had to do
During World War II, Protestant villagers in south-central France rescued hundreds of Jews and other fugitives from the Nazis. Were they an exception in a predominantly Catholic and anti-Semitic country? I’m personally aware of at least one French Catholic community that engaged in similar wartime heroics.
Editorials
5 minute read
You read it here first
If you read BSR, who needs the Times?
In which Hillary Clinton and Dan Rottenberg prove more prescient than an eminent columnist at the New York Times.
Editorials
1 minute read
Who is a success? Who is a failure?
When you get to Heaven....
Was Marlon Brando a success or a failure? How about Winston Churchill or Joe Paterno? Sometimes a single deed can salvage a reputation — or destroy it.
Editorials
5 minute read
Uses and abuses of humor
Two Muslims walk into a bar…
I would defend to the death Charlie Hebdo's right to free expression. But let’s be clear about what we’re defending here. Poking fun at French Muslims, arguably France’s most despised and alienated minority, is not the stuff of Voltaire — more like Rush Limbaugh.
Editorials
5 minute read
‘Charlie Hebdo,’ the terrorists, and us
We'll show them!
Terrorists seem forever preoccupied with sending messages or teaching somebody a lesson. But violence rarely seems to convey the intended message. How, precisely, does their strategy differ from governments like ours?
Editorials
6 minute read
News stories I’d like to see
And now for something different
Wouldn’t it be nice if, once in a while, a news story about Dick Cheney, Vladimir Putin, or the Philadelphia Eagles surprised you?
Editorials
4 minute read
Campus rape and ‘Rolling Stone’
The reporter and the rape victim
A journalist’s duty is to look beyond questions of legal guilt or innocence to ask, “What really happened here?” A rape victim’s testimony might not stand up in court, but if she is the victim, how can she be ignored?
Editorials
6 minute read
‘Chinatown’: Bill Cosby’s distant mirror
Bill Cosby, meet Noah Cross
How could major league journalists swallow the narrative spun by Bill Cosby, his lawyers, and his PR handlers? You may find the answer not in journalism but in art — specifically, in Roman Polanski’s classic 1974 film Chinatown.
Editorials
5 minute read