What Tim Dickinson called Hastings' "enthusiastic breaches of the conventions of access journalism" were what enabled him to report the unguarded assessments of the officers running the occupation of Afghanistan.
Jun
12
2013
Edward Snowden and the State-Identified Journalist
By 32 Comments
Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo (6/11/13) wrote about Edward Snowden yesterday in a way that helped make it clear why so many in the press seem upset that the former NSA consultant revealed the extent of U.S. spying programs aimed at the American public. "I'm a journalist," Marshall wrote. And back when I did national security reporting I tried to get leaks. So I don't think leaks are always wrong…. In fact, leaks are an absolutely critical safety valve against government wrongdoing and/or excessive secrecy. But officials who leak classified information are "breaking an oath and committing a crime," [...]
Jun
05
2013
Brian Williams Makes the Case for Putting NBC on Trial
By 15 Comments
NBC's Brian Williams called Bradley Manning "the man who may have put U.S. military secrets in the hands of Osama bin Laden." But giving classified information to the public is something that news outlets–including NBC News–routinely do, and each time they do it they too could be accused of "aiding the enemy."
May
31
2013
Two Churches Make an Anti-Gay Trend at USA Today
By 9 Comments
USA Today's front-page headline (5/31/13): Churches Sever Scout Sponsorship The online headline, over Bob Smietana's piece on the reaction of church groups that sponsor Boy Scout troops to the Scouts' announced plan to accept gay Scouts was longer but no less sweeping: Religious Regretfully Sever Scout Sponsorships That's bad news for the Scouts, since as the article points out, "about 70 percent of Scout troops are chartered by a faith-based group." Must be tough, losing seven out of 10 sponsors all at once. Except the article doesn't report what the headlines claim at all. The article quotes one church leader, [...]
May
29
2013
Good News, Everyone! (Except You Wage-Earners)
By 10 Comments
The Washington Post's Wonkblog has a hopeful headline (5/28/13): The Economy Is Holding Up Surprisingly Well in a Year of Austerity And a version of this piece landed on the front page of the Post's print edition, under the headline "Economy Shows Some Endurance." And here's the good news in a nutshell: Americans with higher incomes are wealthier thanks to the stock market's 16 percent rise so far in 2013. Middle-income earners, whose assets are disproportionately tied up in their homes, are becoming wealthier thanks to higher housing prices–up 10.2 percent in 20 major cities in the year that ended [...]
May
23
2013
Yes, You Can Be for Press Freedom and Still Think Journalists Ought to Do Their Jobs Well
By 7 Comments
The reality is that it is possible to both protest government intrusions on press freedom and to condemn bad journalism of the sort practiced by Jonathan Karl. It's important for protect journalism from official control for the same reason that it's important for media outlets to do a good job.
May
17
2013
You're to Blame for Factory Deaths. Well, You and Walmart
By 22 Comments
The New Yorker's James Surowiecki has figured out who's to blame for unsafe working conditions for garment workers: people who wear clothing: "The problem isn't so much evil factory owners as a system that's great at getting Western consumers what they want but leaves developing-world workers toiling in misery."
May
16
2013
The Supreme Court Is an Ass
By 7 Comments
From Free Press's helpful explainer of the AP phone records scandal, noting the legal background: Smith v. Maryland — In this 1979 decision, the Supreme Court found that people have no expectation of privacy when it comes to the numbers they call because they understand it has to be transmitted through a third party (telephone company). Thus, the [Digital Media Law Project] notes, "the government can obtain that information simply by issuing a subpoena to a telephone company or other third party." As Mr. Bumble says, "If the law supposes that, the law is a ass–a idiot." Everyone who wouldn't [...]
May
08
2013
Iron Man 3 and the Art of Missing the Point
By 11 Comments
Hollywood's latest superhero movie has a political message that's not particularly hard to decipher. Yet fail to decipher it New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis evidently did.
May
06
2013
Those Who Send Innocents to Prison Are Not Like Innocents Who Are Sent to Prison
By 11 Comments
It shouldn't be necessary to spell out, but apparently it is, that sending the Central Park Five to prison for a crime they hadn't committed was wrong because they hadn't committed the crime.
May
03
2013
Killing Civilians Is More Popular Than You'd Think–Especially Among Pundits
By 17 Comments
Where do Americans get the idea that it's OK to kill civilians? Could it be that they're listening to media pundits?
Apr
30
2013
An Invitation to a Live-Action Infomercial
By 7 Comments
I was invited to an event yesterday that was held specifically so that media companies can take money from companies who will pay for the chance to be mistaken for an expert.
Apr
26
2013
Reporting 'Says' Rather Than 'Says It Believes' Could Make a War of Difference
By 9 Comments
The front page of the New York Times had a very definitive headline on Syria and chemical weapons–but when you read the actual story, a much more ambiguous picture emerged.
