Free Republic

The Astroworld promoter Scoremore told staff to call dead fans "smurfs," per a planning document. The document also instructs event staff members to never say "dead" or "deceased" over the radio. It added to "let event continue" in the presence of unconfirmed bomb or terrorism threats. Staff members at the rapper Travis Scott's Astroworld festival were told ahead of time to refer to any dead concertgoers as "smurfs," according to an event-planning document created by the concert organizers Scoremore. The Event Operations Plan for the two-day concert series at NRG Park in Houston instructed staff members to never use the...

Why We Write by: Malcolm A. Kline, January 25, 2008 In his commentary on the demise of the higher education beat on many newspapers, the head of the National Education Writers Association reveals that these writers and their editors may have become too close to their sources. “Coverage of elementary and secondary schools is closer to readers’ hearts, editors argue,” writes Richard Whitmire in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “Higher education, by contrast, generally operates better and involves lots of out-of-town students.” Evidently, at least the public relations...