With violence in Iraq escalating daily, the media has been struggling with how to characterize the conflict. The number of Iraqis killed this month is greater than at any other time since the days of the U.S. invasion 3 years ago. It is inescapable that the rotation of reciprical attacks constitutes a pattern that open [...]
Monthly Archives: November 2006
Nov 24
The Hippie Phobia Of Jonah Goldberg
For the life of me, I cannot understand how Jonah Goldberg finds anyone to publish his ignorant, unsubstantiated, diatribes. In yesterday’s column for the Los Angeles Times, Goldberg again demonstrates the shallowness of his knowledge and the laziness of his work habits. The article is titled, A Tradition of Common Sense, and attempts to convey [...]
Nov 22
The Shame Of The L. A. Times
An editorial in today’s Los Angeles Times argues that the O. J. Simpson mock-fession calamity is proof that media companies should be allowed to grow ever larger, unregulated, and unimpeded by the public interest. While this may be the most perversely distorted logic of the century, it is also appallingly insensitive and overtly self-serving. The [...]
Nov 21
Fox News Going For Even More Laughs
It’s inspiring to see that Fox News isn’t content to rest on their Laurels, or their Hardys either. Having already locked up some of the funniest names in news (O’Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, etc.), they are now preparing to test a Saturday night comedy program in the mold of The Daily Show. The Hollywood Reporter quotes [...]
Nov 20
Prodigal Journalism
The pain, the sorrow, the loss, that could have been avoided had these reporters done their job, is immeasurable. Better late than never? That’s a relative appraisal. When the Conventional Media lags behind the public, and the truth, the consequences can be serious, even fatal. The late revelations of some prodigal journalists can hardly be [...]
Nov 17
Open Season On Bloggers
As the Conventional Media strive to retain a sliver of stature, they are making all the wrong decisions. As the calendar peels off pages, the world adapts to the renewal of spirit that each season represents. This fall, like many before it, we will pull out our winter clothes, set back our clocks, wind up [...]
Nov 16
Proof That Crime Pays
Anyone seeking to realize the American Dream need look no further than the nearest Federal Court. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the best way to accumulate wealth and respect is through felonies and disgrace. Here are three recent examples. Time’s Person of the Year Panel Time Managing Editor, Richard Stengel, assembled a panel to [...]
Nov 15
Fox News: Not The End Of The World
A memo issued by Fox News Vice President, John Moody, is taking a sunny side of the street perspective on the mid-term elections. In doing so he provided further confirmation of his network’s bias and malignant dishonesty. Here are a few excerpts: “The elections and Rumsfeld’s resignation were a major event but not the end [...]
Nov 11
Why Should We Listen To Them?
There has been, and will be, a torrent of post-election analysis washing over the nation. Politicians and pundits will continue to sort out the complexities of last Tuesday’s results for us nimrods who were smart enough to produce the results but not smart enough to understand them. What I’d like to know is, why should [...]
Nov 07
The Last Straw At The Los Angeles Times
The Wall Street Journal (via L.A. Observed) just reported that the Los Angeles Times has fired its editor, Dean Baquet. The Times parent, Tribune Company, has been on a mission to eviscerate what remains of the paper by slashing personnel. A month ago they fired the publisher, Jeff Johnson, for refusing to go along with [...]
Nov 07
Murdoch On U. S. Deaths In Iraq
When the Godfather of tabloid propaganda speaks, people listen. So Rupert Murdoch is contributing his fair and balanced assessment of the human toll wrought by the war in Iraq: “The death toll, certainly of Americans there, by the terms of any previous war are quite minute.” For a billionaire media mogul to characterize the demise [...]
Nov 05
And The Winner Is…The Media
So long as we have corporate media monopolies married to political powerbrokers in government and on K Street, we will never have truly free elections. As the American electorate’s chest heaves with exhaustion, gasping for that second wind to propel it across the finish line of this year’s electoral marathon, the handicappers are already setting [...]
Nov 05
NBC CEO Challenges FCC
For all the faults, misdeeds, propaganda and monopolistic abuse of Big Media, either hell has frozen over or Bob Wright, chairman and CEO of NBC Universal, made a strong case against censorship in a Wall Street Journal editorial. A couple of years ago, Janet Jackson’s breast proved to be more powerful than any other media [...]
Nov 04
Media Matters: Top Election Falsehoods
For anyone interested in a compendium of the media’s failings in this election season, Media Matters has come through for you. Their article, “Top election falsehoods, myths, and talking points,” is a concise and useful compilation that vividly demonstrates the weaknesses in the conventional, corporate run press. Here is the list of shame. Click the [...]
Nov 02
Leave It To Blather
Leave It To Blather Who would have thought that after 50 years the Cleaver brothers would be looked back upon as media visionaries? But the insight and stark analysis preserved in this video unmistakably marks them as the intellectual peers of Minow, McLuhan, and Colbert. This archival footage was discovered inadvertently while desperately searching for [...]
Nov 01
Ann Coulter’s New Address: Folsom?
This is sweet… “Conservative columnist Ann Coulter has refused to cooperate in an investigation into whether she voted in the wrong precinct, so the case will probably be turned over to prosecutors, Palm Beach County’s elections chief said Wednesday.” This is a potential felony that carries a sentence of up to 5 years. Since people [...]
