The network best known for taking the phrase, “fair and balanced,” and draining it of all meaning is looking for more ways to upgrade their partisan message machine. The just published Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll (pdf) contains questions that might charitably be considered unconventional. More objectively, they could only be viewed as bizarre and manipulative. [...]
Monthly Archives: March 2007
Mar 29
The Blogs Bush Reads
The President spoke yesterday at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and defended his escalation plan for Iraq. As support for his argument that things are getting better, he cited bloggers with a surprisingly rosy view of life in Baghdad: “Displaced families are returning home, marketplaces are seeing more activity, stores that were long shuttered are [...]
Mar 29
DeadLines
Inhofe blocking Gore’s ‘Live Earth’ concert. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is vowing to stall Gore’s hotly anticipated Capitol concert to draw attention to global warming. Berkeley Woman’s Iraq Quest. Jane Stillwater is a 64-year-old Berkeley woman who left for Kuwait on Wednesday, hoping to embed with the U.S. military there and in Iraq as a [...]
Mar 28
National Review Sends Gonzales Packing
The latest out of touch, fringe-dwelling loons to hop aboard the dump Gonzales bandwagon is that bastion of socialist propaganda, the National Review. [For those of you who don't know the National Review, I was being facetious. They are caveman right wingers] Despite their place on the political spectrum, they actually provide some of the [...]
Mar 28
Responsibility: The President, The Congress, And Iraq
George W. Bush: “If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the front lines, the American people will know who to hold responsible.” America: “A majority in the March 23-25 poll favor a timetable for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq by fall 2008 (60% favor, 38% oppose).” That’s right…We’ll know [...]
Mar 27
Veto The Media, End The War
Last week the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that endorsed a timetable for removal of American troops from Iraq. This afternoon, the Senate followed suit with a similar measure. What has ensued in the press subsequently has been a torrent of opinion, delivered as fact, that the legislation was meaningless and would never [...]
Mar 27
Hunter: The Rise of the Booboisie
Writing at the DailyKos, Hunter has articulated an insightful and inspiring essay about the embarrassingly inadequate pundit class in American media. It really needs to be read in full, but here are a few choice excerpts: “What, and pardon my French, the flying baguette is going on in our media when large swaths of the [...]
Mar 26
Kurtz Watch: Disclosure And Hypocrisy
Howard Kurtz is engaged in a battle with himself over when full disclosure is dangerous or admirable. In his article for the Washington Post, he frets that there is too much incivility on the Internet. He cites recent episodes where comments at the Huffington Post (which were deleted) and at Little Green Footballs (which left [...]
Mar 23
Adult Behavior
In today’s White House press briefing, Tony Snow had some interesting comments regarding the testimony of Karl Rove and other Bush cronies and their involvement in GonzoGate: The Fired U.S. Attorneys Affair. Question: We spoke with the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Senate says there is no precedent for having an official [...]
Mar 23
Liberals Are The Mainstream
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released a new study that should put an end to the media fiction that liberals are some sort of fringe group that are out of touch with mainstream America. It should put an end to that, but will it? The report reveals that the public [...]
Mar 22
The Days Of Our Los Angeles Times
A couple of weeks ago the Los Angeles Times announced that they were going to invite guests to edit their opinion section, Current. My initial response was that it was a terrible idea that trivialized the tradition of commentary in journalism. That impression was affirmed when they revealed that film producer Brian Grazer would be [...]
Mar 21
The Howard Kurtz Confessional Column
“For those who wonder why I quoted two new and obscure bloggers as criticizing the speaker–along with David Frum, who kind of defended her–I often try to look for average bloggers in their pajamas.” With those rather unsettling words, Howard Kurtz attempts to justify what appears to be a prodigious deception. Click the link above [...]
Mar 18
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Infamy
The recent ceremony inducting new members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame served up its customary portion of controversy. While much of the entertainment press focused on the Van Halen soap opera pitting David Lee Roth against Sammy Hager, there was some more nuanced and poignant melodrama. Inductee Patti Smith had a mixed [...]
Mar 18
Lessons Of War Unlearned
The Washington Post thinks it’s time to “take stock” of America’s involvement in the war in Iraq. With tomorrow as the four year anniversary of the invasion, some might think that it’s long past time. Nevertheless, the Post is offering their ruminations in an editorial called, Lessons of War. It doesn’t take long for them [...]
Mar 17
Kurtz Watch: Alberto Gone-zales?
Howard Kurtz is weighing in on the chaos at the Justice Department where eight U. S. Attorneys were dismissed under suspiciously political circumstances. The controversy extends to various shifting explanations from Alberto Gonzales and connections that reach into the White House. Kurtz begins by conceding that the matter was “badly botched,” calling it a “fiasco,” [...]
Mar 16
If It’s Sunday, It’s Still Conservative
Media Matters has published a report that documents the conservative bias of some of the most prominent political programs on television. Their extensive research shows that… “During the 109th Congress (2005 and 2006), Republicans and conservatives held the advantage on every show, in every category measured. All four shows interviewed more Republicans and conservatives than [...]
Mar 16
Paparazzi Pursuing Peccant Politicians
From the folks who brought you Michael Richards ranting, Britney Spears flashing, and Princess Di crashing fatally in a Paris tunnel, get ready to dish the Washington dirt. TMZ.com is opening a branch in DC. I can hardly wait. No longer will the elite politicos be able to hide behind the grey walls of Congress. [...]
Mar 15
Let The Sunshine In
For those who may have missed it, this is Sunshine Week. What is Sunshine Week? “A national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.” In [...]
Mar 15
Alberto “Gonzo” Gonzales
Now this is a bad day. Newspapers calling for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales … so far: New York Times Sacremento Bee Washington Post Los Angeles Times Philadephia Inquirer Buffalo (N.Y.) News Florida Today Financial Times Louisville Courier-Journal San Francisco Chronicle Dallas Morning News Chicago Tribune In a nation ruled by swine, all [...]
Mar 14
The State Of The News Media 2007
The Project for Excellence in Journalism, an affiliate of the Pew Research Center, has released its annual report on the health and status of American journalism. It is a comprehensive look at some of the most signifcant measures of the media’s place in contemporary society, including major trends, audience, economics, and ownership. In the overview, [...]
