MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By Bob Collins

bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

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.

What a logo says

Bob Collins February 23, 2012, 11:30 AM Feb 23, 2012

16

If you read the post I wrote earlier this week about Northfield’s Malt O Meal renaming itself MOM Brands, you probably can figure out that I think that the ‘branding’ business is a snake oil industry. Today, the journalism community is abuzz with another example of that.

In climate debate, science is no match for politics

Bob Collins February 23, 2012, 10:31 AM Feb 23, 2012

1

People will work hard to find evidence of that which they already believe, and work even harder to ignore that which might undermine their beliefs.

Secrets of the school board (5×8 – 2/23/12)

Bob Collins February 23, 2012, 7:29 AM Feb 23, 2012

12

The value of a right to know, upon further review of the racist Lin headline, money vs. morals in Texas, dispatches from the weak ice, and the value of collecting.

Time travel? Never mind

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 5:10 PM Feb 22, 2012

7

Never doubt Einstein.

Weighing the freedom to lie

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 3:49 PM Feb 22, 2012

6

Today’s arguments about whether it should be a crime to claim military service and honor when none exists could spawn a more interesting public debate than anything in the public arena over the last few weeks.

Are Dems keeping the birth control issue alive?

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 2:48 PM Feb 22, 2012

5

Democrats are the ones keeping birth control on the front-burner, Washington Post writer Melinda Henneberger writes this afternoon.

Appeals Court: Facebook photos aren’t harassment

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 11:42 AM Feb 22, 2012

The Minnesota Court of Appeals says a Chisago County man cannot sue a person who put pictures of him on a Facebook page.

Are young people still interested in journalism?

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 10:57 AM Feb 22, 2012

3

A reporter goes to a high school career fair and finds no one interested in what she does.

Making a state shutdown painless (5X8 – 2/22/12)

Bob Collins February 22, 2012, 7:05 AM Feb 22, 2012

18

Who should be pain free, where are the women in the birth control debate, the freedom to be a liar, winter the Minnesota way, a letter to your young self, and a murder most fowl in Minneapolis.

Why Michele Bachmann couldn’t run in the 4th

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 1:29 PM Feb 21, 2012

25

The Republican congresswoman would have had to significantly improve generally tepid Republican support for her in her new district.

Two pictures: The earthquakes

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 12:45 PM Feb 21, 2012

1

Few people talk about Haiti anymore, two years after its earthquake.

Does 13,000 matter?

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 11:54 AM Feb 21, 2012

6

Not much, experts say. So why do we care?

What’s in a name?

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 11:03 AM Feb 21, 2012

5

Goodbye, Malt O Meal. Hello, “MOM”

Eagle cam

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 10:32 AM Feb 21, 2012

2

As Cathy Wurzer pointed out this morning, the Decorah Eaglecam is back in action.

Cash for school? (5×8 – 2/21/12)

Bob Collins February 21, 2012, 7:07 AM Feb 21, 2012

11

Should kids be paid to go to school, staying together for the kids — and the state, racism and the hockey fan, does the Internet end on March 8th, and kids and ice fishing.