Monthly Archives: October 2008

Most Quoted – Though Not Here

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

The most quoted intellectual in the entire world, Noam Chomsky, happens to live in the United States–but in order to have his say about the upcoming U.S. presidential election he must go to a non-corporate Canadian outlet (Real News, 10/20/08), … Continue reading →

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Big Media vs. Enfranchisement

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Anthony DiMaggio finds (ZNet, 10/19/08) "the massive attention surrounding ACORN" as much evidence of "media racism as it is their class prejudice": In danger of losing its eight year hold on the Presidency, the Republican Party has become increasingly desperate … Continue reading →

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Iraq Reports as 'Sick Jokes'

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Disgusted that "the three participants in the third U.S. presidential debate last week pretended Iraq didn't exist," David Swanson tells OpEd News readers (10/18/08) of the residents of a devastated Baghdad "are "managing major rallies of tens of thousands of … Continue reading →

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The Real Victory Margin

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

As campaign reporters run wild with spurious accounts of vote fraud by left-wing bogeyman ACORN, Rolling Stone has published (10/30/08) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s and Greg Palast's most recent warning of the real ballot threat: The new registrations thrown out, … Continue reading →

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Center-Right Country, Update

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Peter Hart

It should be noted that Jon Meacham's Newsweek cover story–dissected here–is matched in the magazine by a "Counterpoint" from columnist Jonathan Alter. It's instructive to see the arguments side by side; Meacham argues for a center-right America (more right than … Continue reading →

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NYT & Iran's Iraq 'Meddling'

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Peter Hart

There is plenty one could say about the New York Times' October 19 report on allegations of Iranian training of Iraq insurgents. The Times points out up front that the information is derived from "accounts given to American interrogators by … Continue reading →

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Protests and Public Opinion in Iraq

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Peter Hart

On Sunday, the New York Times and Washington Post labeled protests against a possible U.S./Iraqi security agreement as primarly the work of followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr; the Post's headline was "Sadr Loyalists Protest Proposed U.S. Presence," while the Times … Continue reading →

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Fox, Beyond Parody

Posted on 10/20/2008 by Peter Hart

What happens after your credulous reporting helps sell the public argument on the case for the Iraq invasion, and your name becomes more or less synonymous with the broad media failures on the war? You get hired by Fox News, … Continue reading →

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Center-Right Country? Center-Right Media

Posted on 10/19/2008 by Jim Naureckas

"America remains a center-right nationâ┚¬”a fact that a President Obama would forget at his peril," Newsweek declares above a piece by Jon Meacham for the October 27 issue of the magazine. As Rick Perlstein observes in a dissenting passage in … Continue reading →

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John Stossel Once Again on Thin Ice

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Jim Naureckas

ABC's John Stossel is known for his far-fetched logic, but in his special last night he may have outdone himself. In John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics (10/17/08), he shouted instructions to ice skaters through a bullhorn to demonstrate–well, … Continue reading →

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The Hazards of Reporting on Palin Rallies

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Jim Naureckas

Via TPM, we read about a reporter (Capital Beat, 10/16/08) who got knocked down at a Sarah Palin rally in North Carolina because he tried to interview an Obama supporter. This seems like the natural progression from the earlier report … Continue reading →

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Immigration as a 'Women's Issue'

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

First-time film director Michelle Garcia discovers (Women In Media & News, 10/13/08) how sexism affects media images of such underreported issues as the U.S. government "denying passports to Mexican-American–CITIZENS–whose birth were attended to by midwives": [WIMN editor Jennifer L. Pozner] … Continue reading →

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Media Bail Out on Debate

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Economist Dean Baker takes issue (Beat the Press, 10/16/08) with the moment in Thursday's presidential debate in which Senator McCain blamed the housing market meltdown on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's lending practices. While Fannie and Freddie, as huge actors … Continue reading →

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Schieffer's Debate: 'Cut, Cut, Cut!'

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Proclaiming that, when moderating the last U.S. presidential debate, CBS's "Bob Schieffer lived up to his reputation," activist David Swanson (Media With Conscience, 10/15/08) says "this debate was another awful one, and intentionally so. Dumb questions on dumb topics." Some … Continue reading →

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Corporate Media's Corporate Debates

Posted on 10/18/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Billing the current debates as "a political sham," David Rosen describes (Eureka Street, 10/08/08) how the media blockbusters–the first debates' audience was "more than the number of Americans who watched the opening night of the Beijing Olympics"–"not only exclude legitimate … Continue reading →

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