Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang

'It's like Fred Astaire used to say: give it size, give it style, and give it class. That's an incredible Bible to follow.'
--John Barry, music composer for several James Bond movies, on NPR's Fresh Air last week. He went on to say that the Italians had a nickname for Bond: Mr. Kiss-Kiss/Bang-Bang.

A Sensible-Sounding Fellow. I'm proud to be a new board member of the Cleveland chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, a group I've been otherwise affiliated with for some time. It's populated by some wonderful, serious professionals who care about the future of their craft and especially about how it impacts average citizens. And I'm even prouder to be associated with the group after I read this piece about the incoming national president, Irwin Gratz, an anchor for Maine public radio. He makes several important points about how journalism is becoming even more relevant even while becoming more complicated, and especially about the need of journalists to reach out to average citizens and engage them in a dialogue about journalism and public affairs. Stay tuned for news here on an interesting slate of upcoming SPJ programming that seeks to zero in on that very topic.