Rex Smith

About four in 10 Americans believe in ghosts, and half of those people say they’ve seen one. I’m not in their camp, but I’ve sometimes found myself wishing to bump into some of those who have left this side of the veil.

(Airs 01/19/24 @ 3 p.m. & 01/21/24 @ 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 Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, former Editor of the Saratogian and Adjunct Professor at the University, and Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ira talk about whether the media has overplayed coverage of the Iowa caucuses, a listener letter on whether a journalist needs to be experts, and much more.

In the men’s locker room at the rather posh club just up the street from our state capitol, you’ll find everything that a well-groomed male politician — or anybody who wants to look like one — might need after a workout and a shower: anti-perspirant and hair gel, packages of single-use toothbrushes pre-treated with minty toothpaste, a rack of disposable razors and, notably, a big canister of 8-inch combs soaking in aqua-blue disinfectant. But one day a while back, there were no combs to be found, which I casually mentioned to a longtime lobbyist who was shaving at the next sink.

(Airs 01/12/24 @ 3 p.m. & 01/14/24 @ 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, Barbara Lombardo, former Editor of the Saratogian and Adjunct Professor at the University, and WAMC News Director Ian Pickus. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Barbara, and Ian talk about the New York Public News Network, the media’s obsession with inflation, what journalists should do when politicians say misleading things, and much more.

Last week, in honor of the new year, I published a column laying out some good news – which I’ve tried to do regularly during my 40 or so years in the news business. Maybe it’s to sort of counter the perception that we folks in the media only care about bad news.

(Airs 01/05/24 @ 3 p.m. & 01/07/24 @ 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 Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association. Barbara Lombardo, former Editor of the Saratogian and Adjunct Professor at the University, and Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ira talk about how to fight burnout in the newsroom, how the media should cover the Jeffrey Epstein list, and much more.

Have you noticed that these days, everything seems to have to be so important? Like, there’s suddenly a lot of commentary saying that a “sea change” is at hand – as though every new year doesn’t bring change, or every new day, for that matter. But a respected economist for Bloomberg News wrote the other day that a “sea change” is afoot in interest rate forecasts, and a political analyst said the 2024 elections will produce a “sea change.” And the more I heard of that, the more familiar it sounded. So I checked, and, sure enough, a year ago, we were being told that 2023 would bring a “sea change” for China policy, higher education and the investment climate.

(Airs 12/29/23 @ 3 p.m. & 12/31/23 @ 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 Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association. Barbara Lombardo, former Editor of the Saratogian and Adjunct Professor at the University, and WAMC News Director Ian Pickus. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ian talk about the best and worst of the news media in 2023, a tribute to a local reporter, and much more.

I spent many years as a newspaper editor, and one of my favorite tasks during the last couple decades was picking the winning entry in our annual children’s holiday art contest – that is, a child’s drawing or painting which would become a sort of greeting card on our front page on Christmas Day. Of course, this being the United States of America, the task was soon invaded by politics. You may say that it was my own fault, because on one particular Christmas Eve a dozen or so years ago, I ordered up a tiny red caption atop a child’s sweet drawing of a Christmas tree. The caption said, “HAPPY HOLIDAYS.”

(Airs 12/22/23 @ 3 p.m. & 12/24/23 @ 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 Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association. Barbara Lombardo, former Editor of the Saratogian and Adjunct Professor at the University, and Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ira talk about how the media has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, some of the key stories in 2023, and much more.