* “These next several weeks will teach us a lot. In some ways, we are field-testing the future.” That was Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of the Tampa Bay Times, responding to the question of whether the Times’ newly enacted policy of twice-a-week print deliveries complemented by daily digital versions is the publication pattern of the future for daily newspapers.
* “Parade” magazine’s annual “What People Earn” issue prompts an annual response. Yes, we are a market-demand economy, so there are gigantic disparities. But societal priorities are also reflected. Soberly, even obscenely, so. To wit: Dr. Robert Redfield, M.D., the virologist/director for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), pulls down $209,700 annually, whereas talk-show hosts Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh earn $93 million and $87 million, respectively. Is that part of American exceptionalism?
* The six-part Netflix series “The English Game” is worth watching–and bingeing. Kind of a soccer-history primer that arguably features Britain’s first professional player–the Scot, Fergus Suter. The game had been looking very much like rugby scrums until the Scots invented passing. The subplots, including the class divide, are reminiscent of Downton Abbey. Well done.