Roughly Speaking

Look for a new episode of Roughly Speaking: Government Edition each week of the legislative session.

In this year-in-review episode of the Roughly Speaking podcast, our last of 2018, columnist Dan Rodricks speaks with Triffon G. ----Trif---- Alatzas, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Sun Media Group, about the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis and its aftermath. Alatzas talks about the day of the horror, the response of police, the community and other news organizations, and how the Capital recovered from the loss of four veteran journalists -- Wendi Winters, John McNamara, Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen -- and advertising assistant Rebecca Smith. Alatzas also talks about the move of the Sun's operations out of its long-time Calvert Street headquarters to Sun Park in Port Covington.

Dan chats with Baltimore Sun reporter Christina Tkacik about her ----good news---- story in the annual year-in-review package.

Dan chats with Christina Tkacik about her "good news" story in the annual year-in-review packa

How a huge media merger, primed for approval by the Federal Communications Commission and its Republican chairman, went wrong. Just a few months ago, Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in Hunt Valley, appeared ready to close a $3.9 billion deal for Tribune Media that would make Sinclair the most powerful broadcast group in the nation with more than 200 stations, a presence in New York and Los Angeles and a challenge to FOX News in the conservative media arena. But first the Sinclair-Tribune deal hit snags, then collapsed — even though the Trump administration supported the merger and the FCC chairman favored consolidation. In August, Tribune ended up suing Sinclair for $1 billion for breach of contract.On the show: Sun media critic David Zurawik elaborates on his review of Sinclair's year on the Z on TV blog, and in print this weekend.

Arrested 40 years ago at age 16 in the murder of a promising Johns Hopkins medical student, James Featherstone received a life sentence for his conviction. If not for a major ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals – known as the Unger ruling – Featherstone believes he would have died in prison. Since his unexpected release in 2014, he's managed to find work, but not the full-time job he seeks. He's been speaking to boys and young men in trouble with the law, hoping to save them from lives of crime and failure. And he's made friends with Carol Classen, the woman who was engaged to marry the man Featherstone was convicted of killing.In 1979, his first year as a columnist for The Baltimore Evening Sun, Dan Rodricks covered Featherstone's trial. Four years ago, he wrote about his release. And now, for this episode of Roughly Speaking, he visits him at his rowhouse in northeast Baltimore.

In the 19th Century, the Chesapeake Bay became a battleground over oysters as watermen from New England and New York invaded local waters to harvest the valuable shellfish for a growing international market. Maryland watermen picked up guns to fight off the dredge boats from up north, prompting the Maryland General Assembly to establish an Oyster Navy to try and keep the piece. But many men died in the long war, says Greg Bartles, historian of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, the forerunner of the oyster police.

Randall Gornowich, the Baltimore artist who created the famous 30-foot pink flamingo perched above Cafe Hon in Hampden, plans to enhance his creation with a big, green homage to the bird's ancient ancestor. Listen to this episode of Roughly Speaking to understand why there's a T-Rex lurking behind the flamingo when you visit Hampden for the holidays.

President Trump's support of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, against the CIA's conclusion that he ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, follows Trump's incessant criticisms of White House reporters and the American news media generally, calling it ----the enemy of the people.---- The Sun's media critic, David Zurawik, joins Dan for another conversation about Trump's war on the press and how journalists should be covering the 45th presidency.

David Zurawik joins Dan to discuss how journalists should be covering Trump.