Friday, June 19, 2009

ABC Updates

There is a ton of media criticism out there to which I have little original to add.  Suffice to say there is very little justification for ABC’s decision to essentially hand the newsroom and the network over to the Obama administration.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

O’Reilly Fights Porn ... By Airing Porn

I saw the segment and my jaw dropped - glad HuffPo caught the hypocrisy...

Washington Post Drops Dan Froomkin, Obama Critic

Progressive bloggers are livid. Kos (on Twitter): “WaPo says Froomkin had “run its course”, unlike Broder (‘66), Cohen (‘76), Krauthammer (‘85), and Will (‘79). Those guys are totally fresh.”

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Bi-Partisan Repudiation of the Left

Over the past decade, there’s been a pathological need by Democratic leaders to seek the approval of the likes of David Brooks and Andrew Sullivan while secretly getting satisfaction out of angering progressive activists, due primarily to the stubborn conviction that it makes them more electable. Correspondingly, many traditional media figures identify with Obama and what they see as ’pragmatic’, ‘reasonable’ Democrats. They remain more intimidated by Drudge than by Huffington or Hamsher, still happier to mock the “far left” than the right. The unintended consequence of all this is the acquiescing by the media and Democrats to the rightwing message machine’s repudiation of liberals. Feeling unfettered and unencumbered, liberal-bashers like Limbaugh, O’Reilly and others spew their hate, which in turn fuels rightwing extremism.

How Much Do We Hear About World Hunger?

I posted an article on UN Dispatch with a title that speaks for itself: World’s Hungry Top 1 Billion, 4 Million New Hungry People a Week. One of the things we’ll be exploring on CTN are the editorial judgments that determine the kind of information the American public receives and the prioritization of certain news stories over others. The story above will likely get little attention, but one would think it deserves proportionally more than some other issues and events. What do you think?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

“Is Iran the end of the MSM?” No.

Online communication tools won’t obviate the need for traditional media outlets, no matter that those outlets are going through a painful metamorphosis. I want my news from both sources, working in tandem. If anything, the Iran story is an example of the complex interrelationship that keeps the media on their toes and mobilizes the online community - together they’re providing a more multi-dimensional picture of events than ever before.

Bill O’Reilly, Joan Walsh, and the Tiller Murder

C&L looks behind the bluster...

Apparent MSNBC Email Promotes “Male Enhancement”

MSNBC’s First Read is a must read for politically obsessive news consumers everywhere. But this morning readers of First Read got a little extra surprise when they opened their email. A notice under the subject heading “Nothing makes a man manlier than a few extra inches in his pants” appears to have inadvertently gone out to MSNBC’s First Read distribution list. In addition to promoting MSNBC political director Chuck Todd’s expert analysis, the email also advises readers that “every extra inch of meat in your pants equals every positive feature of your character.”

Obama Administration Fighting to Block Access to Names of White House Visitors

Athenae has the angle: “I look forward to howls of Republican outrage over this. You know, all along during arguments with wingnuts they kept assuming this was all Bush Derangement Syndrome, that the only reason anybody wanted to know anything was to mess with Bush. Well, now it’s turned back around….”

ABC/White House Merge

… Well, according to Drudge anyway, and the facts he lays out in his story are distressing, if not terribly surprising ...