Bob Collins
‘D’ is for decency, why weatherpeople can’t say ‘I told you so,’ Mr. Burns’ endorsement, Minneapolis crushes a law’s spirit, and a message everyone can approve of.
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
It’s almost impossible to hear the stories coming from New York and New Jersey and not think, ‘how would that go over if that happened here?’
It’s 1973 again out East. Today, gas lines are the norm as people try to find suddenly rare commodities in order to get from here to there.
How to get airline passengers to listen up
Hurricane Sandy proves that in the rush to the wireless world, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to keep a few things wired.
Shooting messengers, leaving no soldier behind, a tribute to institutional competence, mysteries at the foul line, and the junk we toss in the Mississippi.
How long is a reasonable period of time to accept waiting before the government forces move in to help you put your life back together?
Drawing a line in the hurricane
Theory: The proliferation of jack-o-lantern artistry has made the world a tougher place for kids who carve three triangles and something resembling a mouth into your basic pumpkin.
One thing we’ve learned after all these years of the journalism profession, old school is still cool. The still photographer is still the most fearless and respectable journalist.
In the aftermath of disaster, leaders call upon skills which seldom come up as issues in a campaign.
When people do their jobs, the mammogram debate, when the jocks step up, what hath the San Francisco Giants wrought, and those magnificent cameras in their flying machines.
This latest video from the Coast Guard, showing its rescue of most of the crew of the tall ship Bounty off the coast, is a stark reminder that there are people who get in helicopters, fly into a hurricane, hover 30 feet above pitching seas, and then jump into the ocean that threatens to swallow Read more →