CNN host Erin Burnett wonders whether it's time to come up with some new laws in the wake of the Boston bombing, since the old ones seem to give Dzhokhar Tsarnaev too many rights.
Apr
23
2013
George W. Bush Is a Swell Guy, Just Ask His Friends
By 16 Comments
The opening of the George W. Bush library is generating coverage about the state of the Bush legacy. But if the journalists who were far too generous in their coverage of Bush's presidency are the same ones writing about how that presidency should be viewed now, he's in safe hands.
Apr
22
2013
Al Neuharth's Front-Page Sexism
By 9 Comments
Seeing a photograph of USA Today founder Al Neuharth above the fold in the edition of his newspaper that reported his death calls to mind a rather famous story about Neuharth's outburst at a 1983 USA Today editorial meeting.
Apr
22
2013
Don't Quote Me by Name, But My Friends the Koch Brothers Respect the Hell Out of Press Freedom
By 12 Comments
The New York Times finds anonymous sources to assure us that the Koch brothers are not trying to buy the Tribune newspapers in order to "destroy the other side." But Mother Jones finds an actual person who explains how the Kochs actually treat media outlets whose reporting they don't like.
Apr
19
2013
FAIR TV: Boston Bombing, Defining Terrorism, Social Security 'Bravery'
By 3 Comments
Covering the media's rush to misjudgment on the Boston Marathon attack, which acts of terrorism are called "terrorism," and PBS's "debate" over Social Security–in which both sides call Obama "brave" for trying to cut benefits.
Apr
19
2013
Democrats Can't Blame Guns for '94 Losses
By 2 Comments
There are perhaps plenty of lessons in the (most recent) Senate failure to pass even modest new restrictions/regulations on gun ownership. But one lesson needs to be resisted: The idea that passing a more expansive gun control law in 1994 came back to bite Democrats in the midterm elections.
Apr
19
2013
Bill O'Reilly Gets Angry Because He Proved David Sirota's Point
By 8 Comments
O'Reilly was outraged by Sirota's point that the government's response would be very different–more costly, potentially more violent–if the perpetrators fit a certain profile. This is ironic, because O'Reilly had, the night of the attacks, basically made Sirota's point.
Apr
17
2013
Thatcher Lifted Millions–Says Who?
By 11 Comments
New York Times reporter John Burns admires Margaret Thatcher's legacy. But when he claims she lifted millions to prosperity, does he have any evidence?
Apr
17
2013
Al-Qaeda Pressure Cookers?
By 5 Comments
Are the pressure cooker bombs used in Boston really a link to Al Qaeda? No. But some reporters are trying to make that connection.
Apr
17
2013
Steve Emerson Gets It Wrong–Again
By 9 Comments
Why was the "Saudi national," a young man who was injured at the Boston Marathon bombing, considered a suspect? Enter "terrorism expert" Steve Emerson, who continues to make the media rounds despite a checkered history.
Apr
16
2013
USA Today: Venezuelans Voted for High Unemployment and Food Shortages
By 18 Comments
If USA Today is presenting an objective record of the Chavez years, how on Earth did he win so many elections? By that score, Venezuela must also have an especially ill-informed populace–or maybe Venezuelans know a different reality.
Apr
15
2013
Authoritarian Allies & the Myth of U.S. 'Leverage'
By 3 Comments
The record of the U.S. government's support for authoritarian, corrupt and/or murderous regimes is not really up for debate. The only question is whether one believes that the U.S. extends such support despite a deep-seated preference for democratic rule and human rights.
Apr
15
2013
Cutting Social Security on PBS–From Left to Right
By 15 Comments
On the PBS NewsHour (4/12/13), the left/right debating duo of Mark Shields and David Brooks took up the issue of Social Security and "chained CPI"–and found that they didn't have a lot to debate on the virtues of Barack Obama's benefits-cutting plan.
