SNL: The Situation Room--David Petraeus

Wolf Blizter (Jason Sudeikis) attempts to provide his viewers with the most complete coverage of the unfolding Petraeus scandal

As I have done here on several other occasions, I like to share Saturday Night Live's takes on journalism, specifically the cable news channels.  This past weekend, they highlighted the Cable News Network-- and its venerable news anchor Wolf Blitzer--about their coverage of the current scandal surrounding former CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell.  One of the more interesting side stories to emerge has been the activities of a 37-year old Tampa socialite Jill Kelley, who initially tipped off the FBI about harassing emails from an anonymous woman (later determined to be Broadwell) and that investigation turned up evidence of an affair between the writer and her subject.

Here was SNL's take on how CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer might try to unearth additional information about Kelley:

A "Quintuple Threat" Journalist

[NOTE: for a change of pace from politics, I am posting an article I wrote about a local reporter for my Newswriting and Reporting class this past spring.  I recently met her again at the Romney event in Kettering in late October and asked if I could share it with the world--she graciously agreed.  Please bear in mind that it was written over six months ago and some items may not reflect their current statuses.]


A “Quintuple Threat” Journalist

May 1, 2012

Amelia Robinson—reporter, columnist, online aggregator, mentor and union official

One of the first indicators about how deeply involved a journalist is within their local community is the level of difficulty trying to arrange an interview with them.  Such was the case when I initially contacted Amelia Robinson, beat reporter and weekly columnist for The Dayton Daily News.  The ‘30-something’ graduate of Ohio University’s prestigious E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and 12-year employee of  Ohio’s fifth most-read newspaper took nearly two full days to respond to my initial request and several more to coordinate a face-to-face early morning meeting at a downtown coffee shop last Friday.  Our 45-minute session addressed her activities, her unique personality, and her professional and personal goals that helped explain her delay.

BTS: Romney Relief Rally

[NOTE: I usually do these features in sequential order based on the events I cover; however, since this one has attracted so much attention in the press, I decided to put it ahead of the two Obama-related events I attended in late September and just over a week ago.]

The original Dayton Daily News ad for the Romney "victory rally" (that eventually turned into a "storm relief event")

If you are a regular visitor here, you would know that I have been focusing my live reporting almost exclusively on political events.  Since there were no Democratic primaries in Ohio this year, I visited several Republican campaign rallies leading up to the state's primary on "Super Tuesday" back in March (I was able to attend events for three of the four serious contenders, with Ron Paul being the only exception, as well as seeing Herman Cain right before he suspended his campaign in early December).  Once President Obama started his own reelection drive back in May, I covered two of his Ohio rallies as well as one by Vice President Biden right down the road from me at Wright State University.  I took a pass at the joint Romney/Ryan event out at the Dayton International Airport (the same location I went to when Air Force One brought the president to the area last week) and, as I wrote earlier, I regretted that decision.  When I saw the ad for a "victory rally" in neighboring Kettering earlier this week, I was not going to let another opportunity slip away again.