Monthly Archives: November 2008

Right-Wing Media's 'Fairness' Bogeyman

Posted on 11/13/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

News Corpse blogger Mark Howard chronicles (11/12/08) how "pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc." are not just "on the wrong side of public opinion in the recently concluded election," but "are also losing listeners and viewers who … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fearing Obama's Popularity

Posted on 11/13/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Beneath the TPM Café headline "Excitement Is Not Hysteria" (11/11/08), critic William Hartung takes on a Washington Post op-ed that gets scary about those celebrations of Barack Obama's election: According to Anne Applebaum… the excitement around the world about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election | Leave a comment

'Obstacle One' to Universal Healthcare

Posted on 11/13/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

"A bizarre report from Julie Rovner [of All Things Considered] on healthcare reform and the recent election" catches the attention (11/11/08) of NPR Check's Mytwords, since, he notes, "as everyone knows the the voters who helped elect Obama president want … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Leave a comment

'If Anybody Still Wants to Talk About It, I Will'

Posted on 11/13/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

A current CNN interview of Sarah Palin gives the failed candidate yet more airtime in which she, in the words of In These Times editor Jarrett Dapier, "continues her campaign against Barack Obama and again calls forth the specter of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election | Leave a comment

Media to Obama: Forgive, Forget War Crimes

Posted on 11/13/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Writing on his Consortium News website (11/11/08), Robert Parry warns Barack Obama–who "is being told to forego investigations of George W. Bush's war crimes"–to "Beware the Lessons of '93" when "the last Democratic president got burned with similar advice." Parry … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, International, Politics | 1 Comment

Rupert Murdoch Did WHAT?!?!

Posted on 11/12/2008 by Peter Hart

The Wall Street Journal has named right-winger Gerard Baker (formerly at the Times of London) its new deputy editor-in-chief. This reaction I find somewhat puzzling: It would be one thing for Baker to move to the conservative editorial page, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

MSNBC's Profane Zealot

Posted on 11/11/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Hearing Joe Scarborough utter "the phrase 'fuck you' when discussing Obama's appointment of Rahm Emanuel" on MSNBC, Salon's Green Greenwald states (11/10/08, ad-viewing required) that he "couldn't care any less"–except that he just can't stomach the immense hypocrisy of "one … Continue reading →

Posted in First Amendment | 2 Comments

Bringing the People's Media to the People

Posted on 11/11/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Fresh off successes in mobilizing people to pressure the FCC to condemn Comcast censorship and wrest "white spaces" from corporate control, Free Press has a new Internet for Everyone project announcing (11/11/08) their Los Angeles Town Hall event to "Kick-Start … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Business | 1 Comment

Obama's 'Conservative' Plan to 'Soak the Rich'

Posted on 11/11/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

The Media Matters staff has more (11/7/08) on the prominent press fallacy of "a 'center-right' country": In a November 7 Washington Times column, [Heritage Foundation president Ed] Feulner claimed that Obama "campaigned on conservative themes throughout the fall," and that … Continue reading →

Posted in Election | 2 Comments

Ken Walsh vs. the Mystery Van

Posted on 11/11/2008 by Jim Naureckas

Award-winning U.S. News & World Report reporter Kenneth Walsh (11/10/08) joins in the media chorus urging Barack Obama and the Democrats to move to the right–for their own good, of course: The initial indications are that Obama will start in … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment

Embracing Obama, Despite His 'Bloodline'

Posted on 11/10/2008 by Jim Naureckas

Editor & Publisher's Greg Mitchell (11/8/08) notes conservative columnist Kathleen Parker's "misty-eyed" writing (11/7/08) about the Obama victory: "The little speck of difference that kept us imperceptibly apart had been dissolved in a lovely instant of national consensus that race … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Race | 4 Comments

What Will Fox News Do?

Posted on 11/10/2008 by Peter Hart

There's been a fair amount of speculation about what Fox News Channel will doin the new political climate.The online teaser for tonight's edition of the O'Reilly Factor gives us some sense of the, uhh, future: Monday, November 10: â┚¬Ã‚¢ The … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ignoring Reality to Analyze Politics

Posted on 11/10/2008 by Jim Naureckas

Joshua Holland (AlterNet, 11/10/08) offers "more evidence that much of the traditional media's analysis of American politics is utterly worthless, and should probably just be ignored out of hand": Only moments after the networks declared Barack Obama the winner of … Continue reading →

Posted in Barack Obama, Election, Polling | Leave a comment

The Peculiarities of Afghan Society

Posted on 11/10/2008 by Peter Hart

New reports of civilian casualties in Afghanistan (37 dead) were covered in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. The story provides a decent sense of thedeath toll, but near the end makes a rather bizarre point (see bold): Afghan weddings … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Post's Telepathic Journalism

Posted on 11/10/2008 by Gabriel Voiles

Economist Dean Baker catches (Beat the Press, 11/8/08) a Washington Post piece that "tells us how the people who designed the bank bailout were committed to the free market." But Baker is intrigued to note that, "interestingly, the key decisions … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy | Leave a comment