I've been up in Seattle for a few days, so I've missed some recent court action. I'm a little sad that I didn't get to see Marshall Home declare that Jonathan Rothschild was an agent of the Queen of England, but judging from what Gibson reported, the whole thing went on a little too long, anyway. (I felt the same watching Gone With the Wind when I saw it at the Fox a few summers back.)

Anyway, when I left town, my friend John C. Scott was still on the air, but then there was some kind of trouble and now, instead of John C.'s booming voice, I'm listening to an old episode of the Twilight Zone radio drama on KJLL.

I get the feeling that working at the station in recent months has been like being trapped in a dark corner of the Twilight Zone. My condolences to the whole bunch of them.

John C. and his son, Mark Ulm, do a great job of bringing a wide range of voices to create an ongoing community conversation on the airwaves. I hope they find a new home soon.

I can't lie, I'm a little jealous that a line of famous and/or influential people are lining up to support The Onion and their seemingly expensive campaign to win a Pulitzer Prize. Sure, we'd love a Pulitzer here at the Weekly, but we're not likely to get Tom Hanks to record a YouTube video on our behalf or a New York Times article on the quest. Then again, we also don't have a series of best-selling books or two TV shows, so maybe that helps. I'm not entirely sure what The Onion would earn a Pulitzer for ("Most Entertaining Infographics?"), but I'd rather they win one than the Star, so best of luck.

As of this morning, troubled radio station KJLL stopped broadcasting on its frequency, AM 1330.

As detailed in Media Watch in this week's issue of the Tucson Weekly, the station recently underwent a major management change. Dawn Avalon took over as vice president, and in short order three long-time employees concluded their associations with the station. One, former business manager Nicole Cox, has filed a lawsuit against the company, Hudson Communications.

Efforts to reach Avalon this morning have been unsuccessful. As of now, there is no indication when or if KJLL may resume broadcasting.

The Poynter Institute interviewed P.K. Weis about getting the chance to take the first published photos of Gabrielle Giffords since the Jan. 8 shooting.

Weis, who has known Giffords for more than a decade, said in a phone interview that he didn’t know what to expect when he arrived at the hospital.

“There were a lot of emotional highs and lows going into it, but once I saw her, all that melted away,” said Weis, a longtime photojournalist who was photo editor of the Tucson Citizen until the paper folded. “A lot had changed since [the shooting], so it was a pretty dramatic experience to walk in there and see her smiling and happy and enthusiastic and just absolutely full of life.”

Weis got to know her staffers well when he photographed Giffords during her 2010 campaign. Shortly after the shooting, he told Giffords’ staff that he would be willing to photograph her once she felt ready. Giffords’ press adviser Mark Kimble later called Weis and asked if they could take him up on his offer.

In this week's Rolling Stone, Keith Olbermann talks about leaving MSNBC and giving money to Arizona Democrats Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. You can read the entire interview here.

Why did you give money to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two other Democrats when you knew there was a rule against it?
People say, "Why did you think you could get away with donating to Democrats?" Nobody ever asks me why I donated to those three Democrats. I discovered from a friend of mine who knows Arizona politics really well that all three had spent a lot of money, and I mean a lot of money, protecting themselves from assassination threats. To me, as a small-d democrat, as a member of a democracy, it pissed me off. I thought, "I'm going to help defray their expenses." That's all it was.

Does it bother you that your departure from MSNBC came the same month as the shooting in Tucson? It seemed like the network felt they needed to tone things down.
Number one, I was the first guy to go on the air and say we should all tone things down. If the network felt that pressure, they were feeling it from me. Number two, I had begun to remove things from my office, the valuable stuff, and take them home in October.

Really? Were you worried they were going to lock you out?
No. There are just some things you don't want to have misplaced. They throw out a box by mistake, and suddenly a photo of Shoeless Joe Jackson at the 1919 World Series taken by a fan is gone forever. So I'd pick it up and put it in my bag and take it home. Members of my staff would go, "What happened to Shoeless Joe?" I'd say, "I'm just using him at home now."

So that far back...
Right, 2008 was the first time I thought, "Maybe I should take some of this stuff home."

The Arizona Daily Star has been running a slogan recently (one we've poked some fun with our own house ads) claiming that they're "First. Best. Anytime. Anywhere", which is the sort of statement that sounds it was stolen from a newscast, but hey, it's an admirable goal for a journalistic outlet. After all, in a field where there is so much competition being timely, accurate and willing to go the distance for a story, that's what has value.

However, seeing the story "Questions on Giffords' recovery leave Dems empty for Senate run" on the bottom half of the front page today, I have a question: Can you be a daily newspaper in Tucson, wanting to be "first" and "best" and continue to farm out stories about Gabrielle Giffords, her recovery, and her political future to the Associated Press?

There's nothing wrong with the article, by Kevin Freking, a political reporter based out of Washington, DC who covers the thirteen states of AP's West Desk, but for a newspaper whose very existence is based on having value to local readers and subscribers wouldn't it make some sense for a local reporter to provide insight into a local politican's recovery and how it affects a statewide race? Freking might be a great guy, but I'd hope someone on the Star's staff has a better perspective on Arizona politics than a guy assigned to cover thirteen states.

Obviously, there might be more to this, since I don't have any particular insight into the working of the Star's newsroom, but I'd like to think as a media consumer that readers of the Star deserve a little more of the "best" they claim to offer.

You'll see a lot of this mix-up on the Web today.

[The Political Carnival]

That new, $1.7 million dollar Scottsdale home may have really put a dent in Sarah Palin pocketbook!

Palin, who dined with Donald Trump last night, told Fox News (which pays her $1 million annually) that high gas prices might cause her to cut back on the buscapade she's currently on.

Talking Points Memo reports:

In an interview that aired last night with fellow Fox News employee Greta Van Susteren, Palin said that there are a few reasons she's refusing to give the media a schedule of where her bus is headed next.

"There's different reasons why we are not going to broadcast it to the whole world. One is security issues. Another is if the price of gas climbs much higher — right Todd — we are not going to be able to go too far," Palin said.

"In fact, one of the decals on the bus says 'Drill, Baby, Drill' over the gas tank to remind people when you are playing close to $5 a gallon you can't go too far in a rig like this," Palin said.

Yes, ordinary people: Sarah Palin feels your pain about high gas prices. That's why she's burning so much of it on your behalf.

Bill Buckmaster, the longtime anchor of KUAT-TV's Arizona Illustrated who stepped down last year, brings back his eponymous radio show after a one-month hiatus. Buckmaster is on a new station, KVOI 1030 AM, and a new time, noon to 1 p.m.

Today's guests include state Senate President Russell Pearce, who will comment on the recall effort against him, as well as Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, and former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General John Wickham.

• SAMANTHA SAIS
• Gary Knight, Newsweek photographer, lectures in the Magazine Photojournalism class at the UA School of Journalism.

Gary Knight, an international photojournalist and VII Photo Agency co-founder, is in Tucson to add his visual style, and those of his students, to the immigration discussion in the nation.

Knight, who is also the founding director of Tufts University Institute for Global Leadership Narrative and Documentary Practice Program, is in town to work with local members, students and alumni, of the National Association of Hispanic journalists - UA Student Chapter, the Society of Professional Journalists - UA Student Chapter, and the UA's Journalism Student Advisory Council.