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Press abuse: 15 simple rules for politicians and their flacks
By Robert Mann There’s not a politician alive who gets everything he or she wants from the news media. And the same goes for reporters seeking information from public officials. Reporters never get...
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Longer than the 10 commandments, shorter than the NFL rulebook: 22 rules for...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia) By Robert Mann Whenever I hear about some press secretary cursing a young reporter, I think, “That’s a press secretary who was never a young reporter.” That’s one reason some...
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Some questions about Jindal’s big speech
Gov. Bobby Jindal (Photo credit: Wikipedia) By Robert Mann Gov. Bobby Jindal addresses the Louisiana Legislature Monday at noon and will, presumably, make a forceful pitch for his tax “reform” plan. In...
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School librarians and counselors optional?
(Photo credit: Pesky Library) By Robert Mann Perhaps all we really need to know about the misguided leadership of Louisiana’s elementary and secondary school system is that its superintendent and...
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Robert Mann will debut Sunday as a political columnist for NOLA.com | The...
Some news for regular readers of this blog from today’s NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune: Robert Mann, who holds the Manship chair in journalism at Louisiana State University and is an author, political...
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Louisiana government is making itself off limits to the public
By Robert Mann I tell my children we live in a democracy, but I’m deceiving them. Louisiana’s Constitution articulates a basic standard for democracy — and we aren’t meeting it. Under the heading,...
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The most powerful man in Louisiana and the power he wasted
By Robert Mann The Baton Rouge Advocate is out today with a puff piece about outgoing LSU President William Jenkins. LSU President William Jenkins It’s the kind of story that a significant leader...
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A Governor’s Enemies List
Purdue President Mitch Daniels. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) By Robert Mann Mitch Daniels says he respects academic freedom. Of course, the former Republican Indiana governor had to say that when he...
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Thin Skin: Jindal aide to bloggers and tweeters — shut your traps!
Free speech doesn’t mean careless talk^ – NARA – 535383 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) By Robert Mann I knew that Gov. Bobby Jindal and his staff were intolerant of dissent. Jindal has fired so many people...
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Jindal takes out the voucher trash
(Photo credit: Salim Virji) By Robert Mann In the P.R. business, it’s called “taking out the trash,” the tactic of limiting damaging press coverage by releasing embarrassing information on a Friday...
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Jindal should take his own advice on GOP’s Obamacare attacks
Gov. Bobby Jindal in a video by the Republican Governors Association. By Robert Mann Gov. Bobby Jindal is back with some more advice for his Republican Party: quit spending so much time criticizing...
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No one did it better than John Maginnis
By Robert Mann I don’t believe in reincarnation, but if I did, I would swear that John Maginnis had been a corrupt Louisiana state senator in a previous life. How else to explain how this legendary...
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Beware the crowdsmanship: Does the size of political rallies really mean much?
#481285442 / gettyimages.com By Robert Mann Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is drawing large crowds at rallies almost everywhere he goes. Nearly 10,000 in Wisconsin; 8,000 in Dallas; more than 7,000...
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Jindal wrong about law he says would have stopped Houser from buying gun
By Robert Mann Gov. Bobby Jindal said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that if Lafayette theater shooter John Russell Houser had been involuntarily committed in Louisiana, that...
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I worked for the governor of Louisiana during Katrina. Here are 5 things I...
I published a piece on Vox.com today about some of the lessons I learned from Hurricane Katrina while working for Gov. Kathleen Blanco. I thought I would share the link with you here:...
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Champion for Mississippi Coast, editor Stan Tiner retires
Stan Tiner, editor of the Biloxi Sun Herald, will retire at the end of August. (Photo by John Fitzhugh, courtesy of Sun Herald) By Robert Mann It was one of my luckiest days, but I didn’t know it yet....
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The modern press conference is a farce: What the Trump-Ramos dust-up says...
By Robert Mann When I heard that Donald Trump had booted Univision’s Jorge Ramos from a press conference on Tuesday in Dubuque, Iowa, I couldn’t wait to watch the indignant response of the other...
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Freagle: Groundbreaking Political Social Network to Debut in Louisiana Sept. 8
Freagle, a free political social network designed to connect voters and candidates to engage the way our founders intended, will debut in Louisiana on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Freagle.com will provide a...
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Some thoughts on the new Advocate/WWL governor’s race poll
A new Baton Rouge Advocate/WWL poll out on Sunday night shows each of his three challengers potentially defeating Sen. David Vitter in a November runoff scenario. As the Advocate’s Elizabeth Crisp...
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Journalistic malpractice: Thursday’s disgraceful Louisiana gubernatorial debate
Screenshot of the Louisiana gubernatorial debate on WDSU-TV on Thursday night in New Orleans. I have watched many unsatisfying political debates over the years, but I have never witnessed the kind of...
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