Monthly Archives: January 2009

Open Dissent Is 'Bad Form' on MSNBC

Posted on 01/22/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Unable to simply air the reality of George W. Bush's immense unpopularity manifesting in a chorus of boos for his last public appearance as U.S. "president," MSBNC newscasters (YouTube.com, 1/20/08) chide inauguration attendees for "bad form"–before eventually finding a camera … Continue reading →

Posted in Election | 1 Comment

NYT's 'Anti-Consumerist' Bazillionaire

Posted on 01/22/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Just when even the ultimately acerbic political critic Matt Taibbi began (New York Press, 1/14/09) "to lose faith in America's ability to fall for absolutely anything," he notes New York Times pundit Thomas Friedman, "resident of a positively obscene 11,400-square-foot … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | 2 Comments

CNN's Handwriting Analysis

Posted on 01/21/2009 by Peter Hart

Wolf Blitzer and David Gergen, watching Obama sign official papers yesterday in the Oval Office: BLITZER: And if you've ever seen Barack Obama's signature, he is very precise when he writes, and it's — and if he writes, he scribbles … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged | 3 Comments

Howard Kurtz and the 'Liberal' Weeklies

Posted on 01/20/2009 by Peter Hart

On Monday (1/19/09), Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz took a look at the health of Time and Newsweek, and almost immediately rendered a political judgment: The rival editors are turning out weeklies that are smaller, more serious, more opinionated … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Pentagon Clears Pentagon

Posted on 01/20/2009 by Peter Hart

The Pentagon inspector general's report on the Pentagon Pundits scandal was released (to no one's surprise) late on Friday. Also unsurprising were its contents–the report basically concluded that there was no serious wrongdoing, not to mention no clear idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The 'Wide-Ranging Discourse' of All-White NPR

Posted on 01/19/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Finding it "more than ironic" and even "disturbing and more than a little sad," Norman Solomon (Creators Syndicate, 1/17/09) points out that "at the same time that the United States is inaugurating a new presidency that marks the crashing of … Continue reading →

Posted in Race | Tagged | 1 Comment

When Corporations Report on Corporations

Posted on 01/19/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Asking the deceptively simple question, "More Bank Bailouts: Who Gets the Money?", Beat the Press blogger Dean Baker has another telling example (1/18/09) of biases in media corporations' reportage on corporate economics: The Washington Post made reducing the pay of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy | Leave a comment

A Truly Alternative Paper: The War Crime Times

Posted on 01/19/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

In distinct contradiction to corporate media's see-no-evil focus on the next presidency, media activist Veterans for Peace continue driving for Bush administration accountability with a new mock newspaper bluntly titled War Crime Times. The publication–featuring such uncorporate headlines as "Obama … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Leave a comment

On Bush's 'Respect for the Media' He Deems Pliant

Posted on 01/19/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman relates how (1/13/09), at George W. Bush's last press conference, he was "professing what he called his 'respect' for journalists" by asserting that "always the relationship I have felt has been professional." Yet, Goodman tells us, … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism | Leave a comment

Corporate Piracy Pillaged the Tribune Co.

Posted on 01/17/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Comparing Tribune Co. raider Sam Zell to sea pirates of yore, longtime radio progressive Jim Hightower thinks (JimHightower.com, 1/18/09) Zell doesn't come out too well–"the difference between pirate captains of old and modern-day corporate bosses is that pirates had ethics": … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Business | Leave a comment

'Build Out a Better Internet for Everyone'

Posted on 01/17/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Recalling how "too often, government has tried to expand Internet access by giving public money to massive phone and cable companies" and only gotten "tax dollars squandered," to the point that "Americans now face few market choices, and pay high … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy | 1 Comment

Afghanistan According to Grand Rapids Media

Posted on 01/17/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Writing for a collective media criticism blog in Michigan (MediaMouse.org, 1/15/09), Jeff Smith states that, "if the U.S. public is ever going to hold the U.S. government accountable for its policy in Afghanistan, then we need to challenge how the … Continue reading →

Posted in International | 2 Comments

The 'Liberal' Belief in the Rule of Law

Posted on 01/17/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Excerpting a David Ignatius column (Washington Post, 1/15/09) that characterizes a strict Obama administration "focus on… getting things right in the future" as "the kind of realism that will disappoint liberal score-settlers," Glenn Greenwald's Salon commentary (1/15/09, ad-viewing required) describes … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments

Pardon Predictions

Posted on 01/16/2009 by Jim Naureckas

I don't know whether George W. Bush will issue a slew of pardons in his last weekend in the White House, but I would expect such pardons to receive less scrutiny than those issued by his predecessor. And if he … Continue reading →

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Still Getting the Simplest Gaza Facts Wrong

Posted on 01/16/2009 by Peter Hart

Two newspaper stories today provide a false account of the context of the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The Washington Post: Hamas and its allies have fired thousands of rockets into Israel in the past eight years. The pace accelerated after … Continue reading →

Posted in International | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment