Dr. Spaulding

It was the death of Johns Hopkins on Christmas Eve in 1873. Here’s what happened: The Sun missed the story by a curious freak of chance. It was Christmas Eve, and every man who could possibly be spared had been given liberty. The counting room, or business office, had only a solitary occupant and the [...]

Are you allowed to end a sentence in a preposition? Use the passive voice? Or insert a comma before the and in a series? “You bloody well can,” said John E. McIntyre, The Sun’s night content production manager and author of the blog You Don’t Say. But, McIntyre advised, know who you are writing for [...]

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On May 17, 1837, The Sun published its first issue: In a letter to the reader on page two, The Sun proudly aligned itself with the penny papers popular in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The letter stated: We shall strive to render … a channel of useful information to every citizen in every department [...]

The tweet that leaked the story from Keith Urbahn, whose Twitter bio states, “Chief of Staff, Office of Donald Rumsfeld, Navy Reserve intel officer, and owner of two miniature dachshunds. Opinions are my own. Hot damn.” Links about Twitter: How the Bin Laden Announcement Leaked Out, by Towson alumni Brian Stelter for the NY Times [...]

I biked over to Little Italy Monday to catch one of the stops along William Donald Schaefer’s last tour of Baltimore. Here are a few of my favorite shots. Click to enlarge. Former Mayor Thomas J. D’Alesandro III holding one of the many African violets residents presented to the mayor. Schaefer aide Lainy LeBow-Sachs receiving [...]

I’ve been collecting links this week of journalists’ memories of working with Mayor Schaefer. Enjoy: Schaefer: Politics as performance art, by Dan Rodricks Remembering Schaefer, by David Ettlin David Simon on Schaefer: Always Real, on WYPR’s Maryland Morning Michael Olesker remembers Don Schaefer “He Kept the Town Alive” by Michael Olesker “My tormentor, my nemesis, [...]

Thanks to Lauren Slavin for writing about Julie Scharper’s visit to MCOM 407 on Feb. 15. And thanks to Julie Scharper for a great class!  –Dr. S. By Lauren Slavin If anyone knows how much “effort, blood, sweat and tears” go into reporting on the Baltimore City government, it’s Baltimore Sun reporter Julie Scharper. She [...]

Thanks to Michael Corelli for writing about Doug Donovan’s visit to MCOM 407 on Feb. 15. And thanks to Doug Donovan for visiting class.  –Dr. S. By Michael Corelli Are hyperlocal websites the future of journalism? Doug Donovan believes so and Patch’s steadily increasing readership can attest to that. Donovan, a regional editor for Patch.com [...]

Inside Charm City heard, and thanks to them we’ve got a real-life ethics case study to discuss. Earlier this week, Bryan Sears of Patch.com reported that KO Public Affairs, a public affairs strategy firm, helped a grassroots parents’ group set up a website and Facebook page advocating the use of speed cameras to encourage slower [...]