Monday, September 14, 2009

Kurtz: “Public respect for the media has plunged to a new low”

Interesting: “Public respect for the media has plunged to a new low, with just 29 percent of Americans saying that news organizations generally get their facts straight. That figure is the lowest in more than two decades of surveys by the Pew Research Center, which also found just 26 percent saying news outlets are careful that their reporting is not politically biased. And 70 percent say news organizations try to cover up their mistakes. That amounts to a stunning vote of no confidence. The new wrinkle is that Democrats are increasingly unhappy with a profession long viewed as liberal, with 59 percent saying news reporting is often inaccurate, up from 43 percent two years ago.”

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Contrast FT Article on Goldman Sachs CEO’s ‘Contrition’ With Blogger’s Interpretation

One of the fundamental old/new media dynamics is the processing and reprocessing of news articles through the opinion filter of blogs. We take it for granted now, but a short decade ago, we had scant outlets for this kind of instant interpretation…

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Why Did MSM Ignore Van Jones Story?

Can’t be asked enough:

Monday, September 07, 2009

You Knew This Was Coming: Glenn Beck is a Terrorist

Good gracious it’s getting old ...

David Sirota: Van Jones’ Departure “A Serious Tragedy for the Progressive Movement”

Progressive activist Sirota expresses his dismay: “First and foremost, Jones was one of the only movement progressives in a policymaking position in the Obama White House. By that I mean, he was one of the only people in the White House who came out of grassroots movement work and not just political/partisan hack work, and one of the only movement progressives put in a policymaking job, and not ghettoized into a political/tactical job. Whenever I got sick to my stomach at the thought of Obama’s Team of Corporate Zombies - people like Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and Jim Messina - running the show, I was able to at least tell myself that hey, someone like Van Jones is at least in there somewhere fighting the good fight as he always has. No more - and that’s a damn shame…”

So How’s the Glenn Beck Boycott Going

Boy, doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that people were whispering that Glenn Beck was on the ropes; that his “vacation” was actually a cold splash of water from his media bosses who were feeling the heat from outraged advertisers? 

Not so much.

Friday, September 04, 2009

President Joe Scarborough?

Mike Allen and Jim VanDehei float some not-top-of-mind choices for the GOP presidential nomination in 2010. Among the list is MSNBC morning personality Joe Scarborough.

CBS and ABC Morning Shows Lead With Michael Jackson

More than two months after his death, the media continue to use every possible opportunity to make Michael Jackson their top story. This time it’s his long-delayed burial. It’s one thing to provide blanket coverage in the immediate aftermath of a pop icon’s passing, but reason dictates that after a few short days, the story should cease to crowd out more important news. It’s hard to fathom why two major networks are telling their millions of viewers that the TOP story today is Michael Jackson, not health care, not Afghanistan, not North Korea, not Iraq, not the economy, not education, not climate change, not violence against women, not human rights…...... but Michael Jackson.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Larry King Features Chris Brown - Why?

Flipping through cable news channels, I landed on Larry King talking to Chris Brown. It struck me that with the rampant violence against women in every corner of the world, there had to be 100 more important and more compelling stories of survival and heroism, of women who have been subjected to the worst abuse and survived with strength and dignity. Why give Brown’s P.R. team a platform for damage control and image rehabilitation? Why waste air time? Why not give attention to those who deserve it most? Why not raise awareness about the ongoing travesty described by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Gordon Brown...

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Cheney to Fox News: OK to Break the Law

Via Think Progress, here’s a clip that illustrates the mindset of the previous administration: