Journalism instructor, U of Alabama. Ex-Birmingham News sports and news editor. Amazing record of never having any wrong opinions (LOL).
Birmingham, AL
Joined January 2014
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Game time! Test your journalism knowledge and puzzle solving ability with an original, interactive, journalism-themed crossword on my blog. It’s a fun time filler but not a brain killer. tomarenberg.net/blog/2025/7/…
Kevin is exactly right about a diminished regular season.
I also can't wait to see playoff games shoehorned into the academic calendar. I presume that'll include airlifting title game players directly to their first spring semester class.
An ex-ESPN producer told CJR the network suppressed or softened stories about gambling.
Re-sharing my November 2025 blog post on why sports media business deals with gambling companies are a terrible idea. (And CJR interview link in first comment.)
tomarenberg.net/blog/2025/11…
According to social media, a WBHM show host has used "area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico" and "area south of Gulf Shores."
This is commendable, and also a comical reflection on the situation.
Another ridiculous infringement on news media freedom. Only this time it’s local.
A 2-minute blog post: tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
Tom Arenberg retweeted
"But whenever the government is part of a news outlet’s business structure – or ... uses government financial support such as tax credits ... it offers an avenue for politicians to meddle where they don’t belong. And eventually, they’ll do exactly that."
That maxim holds for whatever you'd care to replace 'news outlet' with and it's a pity, a crying shame, that it has taken our News Outlets being finally being meddled with for them to realize it.
I feel your pain on the compelled sillyspeak, but there was a scorpion on your back the whole time.
From a reader: "We live in a stupid time and we are governed by stupid and mean people. I will continue to support WBHM with my little monthly contribution because I enjoy news and interviews with smart, funny, creative people."
Another ridiculous infringement on news media freedom. Only this time it’s local.
A 2-minute blog post: tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
From a reader: 'The Gulf touches more coasts in America than Mexico. Just saying.'
From another: 'All this bull---- will get rectified when that idiot Trump is gone.'
Another ridiculous infringement on news media freedom. Only this time it’s local.
A 2-minute blog post: tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
Another ridiculous infringement on news media freedom. Only this time it’s local.
A 2-minute blog post: tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
UPDATE: Clancy’s defense attorney has asked the judge to investigate whether the holdout juror refused to follow the law on reasonable doubt, considered evidence from outside the trial and, relevant to this blog post, was not wholly truthful on his pre-trial juror questionnaire.
You’ve maybe had a good experience on jury duty, you’ve maybe had a bad one. But you didn’t go through what the news media did to a juror in the Lindsay Clancy case.
The latest blog post (2 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
From a blog reader: "It was outrageous. One of the sacred principles of jury service has been anonymity."
You’ve maybe had a good experience on jury duty, you’ve maybe had a bad one. But you didn’t go through what the news media did to a juror in the Lindsay Clancy case.
The latest blog post (2 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
Tom Arenberg retweeted
"Yet NBC 10 checked the public records on none of the other jurors."
Suggests crusading, not reporting, on the part of the outlet.
You’ve maybe had a good experience on jury duty, you’ve maybe had a bad one. But you didn’t go through what the news media did to a juror in the Lindsay Clancy case.
The latest blog post (2 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
You’ve maybe had a good experience on jury duty, you’ve maybe had a bad one. But you didn’t go through what the news media did to a juror in the Lindsay Clancy case.
The latest blog post (2 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
From a blog reader: 'Archibald’s gutsy column should be lauded. His track record couldn’t signal any other course. Journalists should always speak truth to power, even in these much riskier times. But you shouldn’t have to be a 2-time Pulitzer winner to be brave enough to do so!'
A bad AL(dot)com column pumping up Tommy Tuberville got called out from an unexpected place this week. It was wonderful.
The latest blog post (2.5 min, and with comments from AL(dot)com’s editor): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
A bad AL(dot)com column pumping up Tommy Tuberville got called out from an unexpected place this week. It was wonderful.
The latest blog post (2.5 min, and with comments from AL(dot)com’s editor): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/9/…
The Harvard Crimson reported last week that Harvard might address the problem of professors’ non-compliance with the new limit on A’s by changing ALL of a course’s A’s to A-minus. An even worse idea than the cap.
Re-sharing an Aug. 18 post on grade inflation in higher ed:
It shouldn’t be easy to get an A in college. But increasingly it is. There are right ways and wrong ways to fix this problem. Harvard's doing it wrong.
The latest blog post (3 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/8/…
Good story by AL.com's @ByCasagrande. UA, AU football players say they're not worried about CTE. But standard precautions have not proved to prevent it in some players.
al.com/sports/2026/08/new-ct…
From a blog reader: "Fantastic perspective. It really added to my understanding of the case and the verdict."
The New York Times does (mostly) great journalism. But as an Alabama libel case showed last week, it sure screwed up a Tuscaloosa crime and sports story.
The latest blog post (4 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/8/…
From a blog reader: 'Great breakdown of the arguments in the case. ...I remember the details not adding up from the local reporters who did ask the questions and didn’t jump to conclusions.'
The New York Times does (mostly) great journalism. But as an Alabama libel case showed last week, it sure screwed up a Tuscaloosa crime and sports story.
The latest blog post (4 min): tomarenberg.net/blog/2026/8/…