It’s Not Too Late! Murdoch wants a more “business-friendly“ finance channel. Despite reports this morning that News Corp. has secured enough support from the Greedy Bastards Bloc of Dow Jones’ controlling Bancroft family, this fight is by no means over. The vote amongst the trustees is going to be close and the players could still [...]
Monthly Archives: July 2007
Jul 30
First Amendment Repealed For Students
A report in the Chronicle of Higher Education states that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the former editors of the student newspaper at Kansas State University in a First Amendment case: “The students asserted that the university had violated their First Amendment rights by removing their faculty adviser from the newspaper staff [...]
Jul 29
C-SPAN Supports Shooting Michael Moore
This Sunday, C-SPAN is airing an interview with Kevin Leffler, the director of a film called “Shooting Michael Moore.” According to C-SPAN: Mr. Leffler says he knew Michael Moore as a young adult and attended high school with him in Michigan. In his film, Mr. Leffler examines Michael Moore’s work while utilizing some of Moore’s [...]
Jul 27
TVNewser Turning Into Drudge?
People who are in the television news business, or are interested in following the inside machinations of the media, have come to rely on a spunky little site called TVNewser. Recently, its founder, a college student at the time, Brian Stelter, graduated and was hired by the New York Times. Well, it’s only been a [...]
Jul 27
Random O’Reilly Ramblings
The Fester: “This [raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy] would result in assets being moved offshore to places like Curacao, which (sic) ironically far left financier George Soros has a base.” I’m sure O’Reilly just forgot to mention the U.S. companies based offshore like Accenture, Tyco, Transocean, etc. And it probably just slipped his [...]
Jul 27
Republicans Are Afraid Of YouTube
News Corpse readers are aware that I was not impressed with the Democratic debate co-sponsored by CNN and YouTube (see The Two Hour YouTube Commercial On CNN and We Report. CNN/YouTube Decides). But my objections were based on execution, not on YouTube or the introduction of citizen participation in the electoral process. Despite it’s shortcomings, [...]
Jul 27
The Not Issuing Orders Guy
After having endured years of the comedy stylings of a bumbling War President who variously describes himself the Decider Guy or the Commander Guy, the circle has finally closed around an alter ego that is a far more believable persona for our little chameleon. Aboard Air Force One, the President’s press secretary, Tony Snow, presided [...]
Jul 26
Fox Attacks! O’Reilly Cracks
Over the past few days (years, really), Bill O’Reilly has been exhibiting the classic symptoms of a persecuted paranoiac. His utterly irrational fixation on what he calls the “vicious hate site,” DailyKos, is a hauntingly disturbing window into his deranged soul. Video from FoxAttacks. It began with an attack on JetBlue for daring [...]
Jul 23
The Two Hour YouTube Commercial On CNN
Now that the first ever YouTube debate is completed, can we please promise not to have any more? If you separate out the candidate’s answers and overlay the questions in text, the debate was no better or worse than any other debate. The participation of YouTube added nothing positive to the format or the content. [...]
Jul 23
The Next American Fuhrer
Befitting a nation that prides itself on its entrepreneurial creativity, the United States is preparing the way for a uniquely American innovation in governance: a democratically elected dictator. And neither politicians, nor judges, nor journalists, are rising to oppose the coming tyranny. This ominous prophecy of political thralldom is not a product of party or [...]
Jul 21
Enlisting Madison Avenue Or Drafting Joseph Goebbels?
The Washington Post has published an article describing the Rand Corporation’s new study: Enlisting Madison Avenue: The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation. [PDF] The conclusions of this study, which was commissioned (for $400,000) by the Pentagon, are both frighteningly obvious and just plain frightening. Their most profound observation appears to [...]
Jul 20
News Corp’s Editorial Board: A Rogues Gallery
Defenders of journalistic integrity are nervously gnawing at their fingertips now that the Dow Jones board has recommended accepting Rupert Murdoch’s offer to purchase their souls. All that remains now is for the Bancrofts to meet and then reveal their decision. They can still block the sale. Observers say that it is too close to [...]
Jul 19
Is Bill O’Reilly Lying About JetBlue?
In yesterday’s Talking Points Memo, Bill O’Reilly harangued David Barger, the CEO of JetBlue, for being a sponsor of the YearlyKos convention. He had his producer stalk Barger and ask questions that implied that the DailyKos website was a hate-filled enterprise. O’Reilly even compared it to the KKK and the Nazis. In today’s TPM, O’Reilly [...]
Jul 19
The Vanishing Intelligence Trick
When the White House declassified its latest National Intelligence Estimate, it released it into a whirlwind of spin that could have taken out a small mid-western town. The document itself said of Al Qaeda that: “Their intent to attack the U.S. is undiminished, and they continue to adapt and improve their capabilities.” Fran Townsend, the [...]
Jul 18
Happy Birthday, News Corpse
To celebrate this happy day We wish you well in every way Your bestest days are yet to be They can’t be worse than the past three A war is raging without end Amidst a global warming trend Millions don’t receive healthcare But corporations get welfare Our President lies to all of us And ditches [...]
Jul 16
Statistics, Damned Statistics, And Lies
As another small measure of the dishonesty of Fox News, note this report on the release of a new presidential approval poll. The Rasmussen daily tracking poll was cited this evening by Fox anchor and managing editor Brit Hume. Hume’s characterization of the poll, complete with a graphic to illustrate the point, was that Bush [...]
Jul 16
Moyers On Impeachment
Last Friday, the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS presented a discussion of impeachment that was breathtakingly persuasive. Here is part 1 of the program. heathr234 has the rest of the program on YouTube. Watch the whole thing. It is conveniently broken up into five parts, so take as much time as you need – but [...]
Jul 16
Murdoch Hitman Shot Down By New York Times
Family boss Rupert Murdoch recently dispatched his PR Enforcer, Gary Ginsberg, to deliver a message to the New York Times. Murdoch was irked by a series of articles that exposed the way he and News Corp manipulated the media and politicians on behalf of his business interests. Unfortunately for Murdoch, his messenger was ambushed by [...]
Jul 15
Chatting With Mr. Bush
When George W. Bush wants to assure himself that he’s exposed to a well-rounded assortment of views, he boldly reaches out to a diverse assembly of independent media professionals. He did so last Friday by calling in a group of pundits that would surely stimulate a healthy debate. Invited to this exclusive affair were: Fred [...]
