Rex Smith

The other day I was talking with a guy who said that because he loved hockey he had put in almost 30 years as a referee for youth and adult amateur hockey games. But he gave it up recently, he said, because he couldn’t take the abuse: the people, especially parents, who would attack him verbally, even threaten him physically, because they didn’t like his calls.

(Airs 08/08/25 @ 3 p.m. & 08/10/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy and David talk about whether journalists can be neutral, the fact that you might realize crime has been going down for years because of how media cover it, and much more.

I grew up in the American West, and I still have some family out that way, which is how it happens that I found myself last week casting flies into a clear mountain stream – one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorites, in fact. I was hoping that I might fool a rainbow trout into believing that my little fly might be a delicious dinner.

(Airs 08/01/25 @ 3 p.m. & 08/03/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara and David talk about how journalists should deal with people who lie, why a banana should never be called an elongated yellow fruit, and much more.

(Airs 07/25/25 @ 3 p.m. & 07/27/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Ken Tingley, former Glens Falls Post-Star editor and current Substack columnist and playwright. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara and Ken talk about how journalism has changed over the years, and how that’s reflected in Ken Tingley’s play The Last American Newspaper, and much more.

(Airs 07/18/25 @ 3 p.m. & 07/20/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara and Ira talk about how the impact of funding cuts to public media, whether objectivity is worth pursuing as a journalistic norm, reporters asking double barreled questions, and much more.

(Airs 07/11/25 @ 3 p.m. & 07/13/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and former Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, and Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy and Barbara talk about how to cover a public official who holds a grudge against your news organization, coverage of the floods in Texas, the difficulty of finding journalists, and much more.

It was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who wrote, “The only constant in life is change.” People weren’t comfortable with change when he wrote that, some 2,600 years ago, and we’re still not. Sometimes for good reason.

(Airs 07/04/25 @ 3 p.m. & 07/06/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy and David talk about the $16 million dollar settlement involving CBS News and President Trump, how journalists could be prosecuted for reporting, and much more.

(Airs 06/27/25 @ 3 p.m. & 06/29/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara and David talk about whether media should have aired President Trump saying the F-word, Trump’s attack on CNN over information about the attack on Iran, more people turning off news alerts, and much more.