My Inside Source ...

I repent of last week's declaration that I don't see any news being made at the Republican Convention in New York. A peaceful demonstration by 200,000 to 500,000 people is news. (David Adesnik at Oxblog is reasonably critical of the coverage of the demonstration by the Times and the Post.) Repentance is also in order because my #2 daughter has a press pass, is covering the convention for The Newstandard and, if there's news to report, she'll find it. Yes, I know the Newstandard is endorsed by Noam Chomsky. Yes, this is the daughter who did an internship with Soft Skull Press, when she was studying at the New School. Yes, that's the outfit that published the 2nd, revised edition of Michael Bellesiles's Arming America.

Let's just say that Amanda has a mind of her own and she's a steady presence on the alternate side of things. She is co-editor for politics of something called Clamor magazine (ah, that's with a"C"); webmaster for the Brooklyn Rail; and, since The Newstandard was revived in June, has published over 80 articles in it. Like others who've revived Newstandard, she had worked with Z Magazine. Earlier, her story for Pulse about the Bush administration's discouraging an FBI investigation into Osama bin Laden's terrorist activities won recognition from Sonoma State University's Project Censored. So, my inside source for news at the Republican convention is something of an outsider.

Update: Andrew Sullivan is back just in time to cover the convention story; and, at Mode for Caleb, G. K. Chesterton and Caleb McDaniel reflect on journalism's focus on the exceptional, when it is the usual that gets things done.