December 8, 2003

WAPO Admits Turkey Story Was a Turkey

The Washington Post's ombudsman asks Was This Turkey a Story? and agrees it was:

One or two readers e-mailed to thank Allen for staying on top of all the details of what one reader called "staged" events. But far more readers said this was a form of "chicken" rather than turkey, as in: "This has got to be one of the most insipid, petty, chicken-[expletive] articles that I have ever seen. What is going on with your newspaper?" Another said it was "sad," and a Navy officer wrote to say that it was "a cheap shot," and that there are always "staged" turkeys for such mass feedings to add a "homey" touch when you have to feed hundreds from steam tables....

As a reader, I found the story confusing. I'm all for revealing everything any White House does to use imagery as a form of governance. Allen points out that this administration has had to deal with issues small (the turkey) and large (the missing weapons of mass destruction) with respect to credibility. He reports the turkey photo episode "as a small sign of the many ways the White House maximized the impact of the 21/2-hour stop at the Baghdad airport." But the story also reports officials saying they didn't know the decorative turkey was there or that Bush would pick it up, and that the bird was placed there to adorn the table and not in anticipation of the secret trip.

On balance, I applaud Allen's attention to detail. But I don't think the story made the case that this was "a small sign of the many ways the White House maximized the impact" of the trip. Maybe it was planned, maybe not. It would have been better just to record the known details of the saga and let the reader figure out whether it meant anything.

Which is an in-house ombudsman's way of saying, "Just the facts, Allen."

Posted by Vanderleun at December 8, 2003 9:45 AM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

This topic is one we will tackle later in this article, but it refers to making sure that your application and the dock aren't fighting it out for supremacy of the screen.

Posted by: Sampson at January 12, 2004 3:31 PM

Adhere to Layout Guidelines. Did you leave 12 pixels between your push buttons? Does the positioning of your pop-up menus make sense, and when do you use a pop-up versus a scrolling list? Are you using the right types of buttons for the proper functions?

Posted by: Meredith at January 12, 2004 3:31 PM

So far in these articles, I have only dipped a toe or two into Aqua's pool. I have covered basic aspects of building an Aqua-compliant application, including the building of photo-illustrative/3D application icons. Now it's time to address other components of our Mac OS X application.

Posted by: Juliana at January 12, 2004 3:31 PM

This topic is one we will tackle later in this article, but it refers to making sure that your application and the dock aren't fighting it out for supremacy of the screen.

Posted by: Jocosa at January 12, 2004 3:32 PM

Adopt Sheets. I really like the use of Sheets in OS X. The use of Sheets lets me know which window my dialogue belongs to without hijacking my system.

Posted by: Goughe at January 12, 2004 3:32 PM

If an application is designed well, the reward for users is that they will learn it faster, accomplish their daily tasks more easily, and have fewer questions for the help desk. As a developer of a well-designed application, your returns on that investment are more upgrade revenue, reduced tech support, better reviews, less documentation, and higher customer satisfaction. The rewards of building a good-looking Aqua application are worth taking the extra time.

Posted by: Gilbert at January 12, 2004 3:32 PM

To help you become a good Aqua citizen, Apple has created a few guidelines. I've put together a brief overview of them, and we'll be tackling many of them in the months to come.

Posted by: Judith at January 12, 2004 3:32 PM

To help you become a good Aqua citizen, Apple has created a few guidelines. I've put together a brief overview of them, and we'll be tackling many of them in the months to come.

Posted by: Michael at January 12, 2004 3:33 PM

Other examples of these animations might be to show the status of an FTP transfer, the progress of media being digitized, or an updated time signature. And don't forget that users may want to have some control over this, so give them plenty of options, including the ability to turn these functions off.

Posted by: Warham at January 12, 2004 3:33 PM

By building an application that takes advantage of Aqua's many facets, you help ensure that your application will not only look good, but have a chance of becoming a raging success. After a new user clicks on the icon of your program, the first thing he or she sees is the application interface. I know that when I review a product, I am very critical of its visual design. I usually have a short time to learn the new software, so design and ease of use are very important. Aside from those who marvel at the beauty of the command line, most users tend to react the same way.

Posted by: Digory at January 12, 2004 3:33 PM