The national media watch group
Updated: 4 min 28 sec ago
2 hours 13 min ago
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz turns in a profile of Glenn Beck today (3/15/10) that includes a few interesting anecdotes. He reports that "Fox staffers note that veteran producer Gresham Striegel left the network after clashing with Beck and say the host has surrounded himself with loyalists" from his own radio company, and that "a vice president was assigned 'to help keep an eye on that program' and review its content in advance--a full-time job."
2 hours 14 min ago
New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has not had a chance yet to respond to questions about his commentary on the ACORN hoax (FAIR Action Alert, 3/11/10), instead devoting his Sunday column (3/14/10) to a discussion of political labeling. It included this question:
3 hours 49 min ago
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove is making the rounds to promote his new book Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight. He landed on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday (3/14/10), interviewed by Tom Brokaw. Brokaw asked him about his book's discussion of the Iraq War:
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 15:20
This week on CounterSpin: A new law in Utah says some women who miscarry should go to jail. You may have seen some coverage, but are journalists asking the right questions about the law's implications, and is there a bigger story here that's being missed? We'll hear from Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
Fri, 03/12/2010 - 13:14
The Los Angeles Times reports (3/12/10) on a new study of local news from the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism's Norman Lear Center.
Thu, 03/11/2010 - 14:26
Actual Washington Post headline today (3/11/10):
Rise in Washington Area Unemployment Seen as Good Sign for Economy's Recovery
Reporter V. Dion Hayes tries to explain:
Thu, 03/11/2010 - 12:47
Yesterday (3/10/10) there was a House floor debate on Rep. Dennis Kucinich's push to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
Thu, 03/11/2010 - 12:35
FAIR has a new Action Alert out pointing out that the New York Times has repeatedly published accounts of the right-wing anti-ACORN videos that credulously accepted assertions that have turned out to be false--for example, that one of the video-makers, James O'Keefe, went into ACORN offices dressed as a cartoon pimp.
Thu, 03/11/2010 - 12:00
Victor Davis Hanson notes that one reason for American exceptionalism may be that we did not inherit from England "a large underclass of only quasi-free people attached to barons as serfs." Sadly, a worse institution took root here, but never became part of the national psyche.
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:56
I don't know why it should surprise me that Glenn Beck doesn't know what he's talking about, but you'd think that if you had a furious grudge against someone who died 40 years before you were born, you would spend at least a little time finding out what exactly was wrong with that historical figure.
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 12:42
FAIR has a new Action Alert reacting to reports that PBS's replacement for the retiring Bill Moyers and the canceled Now series will be headed by Newsweek editor Jon "Center-Right Nation" Meacham.
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 18:21
The New York Times has a piece today (3/9/10) with the headline "Experts Urge Keeping Two Options for Terror Trials"--meaning both regular trials under the criminal justice system as well as newly established military tribunals. But who are these "experts," exactly?
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:51
If you're a politics buff, you probably remember the way National Journal's ratings were used in the 2004 and 2008 elections to establish that the Democratic candidate was the "most liberal voting record in the Senate"--first John Kerry (Extra! Update, 6/04), then Barack Obama (CounterSpin, 3/28/08).
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 16:56
Newsweek devotes several pieces this week to public schools. But the lead piece, "Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers," by Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert, lays out the magazine's skewed vision: Teacher unions protect the worst performers, while charter schools offer an easy solution.
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 16:41
Sometimes the words journalists choose are revealing. Take the lead of a story in the Washington Post today (3/9/10) about congressional debate on the Afghanistan War:
Liberals in the House, who have spent much of the past year complaining that other congressional Democrats and the White House are insufficiently progressive, will get a chance this week to vent about one of their biggest concerns: the war in Afghanistan.
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 17:32
Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the end of the historic British miners strike of 1984-85. The BBC has a special broadcast in commemoration, The Ballad of the Miners Strike, featuring the voices of miners.
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 14:58
The New York Times features an op-ed today (3/5/10) by Gen. Merrill McPeak, a retired Air Force chief of staff, arguing against allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 12:29
In a column headlined "A Word From the Wise" (3/3/10), New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman lets us know what Intel CEO Paul Otellini thinks is wrong with the U.S. economy. And there's a certain theme that runs through his critique:
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 16:07
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has always been a controversial figure--famously profane and short-tempered, and politically speaking a center-right Clinton Democrat. As of late, though, there's been a strange effort--particularly in the Washington Post--to present Emanuel as the confidant whose political advice Barack Obama has too often ignored and who offers a clear path to political rehabilitation.
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 15:23
Sasha Issenberg reports in the Boston Globe (3/2/10) that Fortune magazine Washington bureau chief and Fox News pundit Nina Easton advised Republican Mitt Romney on his recent book No Apology. Easton told the Globe that she "offered some writer's advice on things like structure and how to better tease out themes in his writing."
In these short videos, May First/People Link Co-Director Alfredo Lopez discusses some of the issues our organization has been grappling with and talking about: issues that we believe are of critical importance to both the Internet and the Progressive movement. Each of Alfredo's presentations is about 15 minutes long, using Flash format. Feel free to comment.
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