Category Archives: Washington Post

Death Versus Disruption in Gaza

Posted on 03/13/2012 by Peter Hart

Coverage of Israel/Palestine often attempts to make an extraordinarily lopsided conflict seem somehow more "balanced." Take this line from the Washington Post (3/12/12) The fighting has killed 18 Gazans, all but two of them militants, and disrupted the lives of … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel/Palestine, War/Military, Washington Post | Tagged | 17 Comments

Satellite Intelligence: Iran 2012, Iraq 2003

Posted on 03/08/2012 by Peter Hart

The big news today looks and sounds familiar. Here's USA Today (3/8/12): Here's what that Associated Press piece is reporting: VIENNA — Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating … Continue reading →

Posted in AP, Iran, USA Today, Washington Post | 18 Comments

Rush and the Right: The 'Clown' GOP Leaders Fear

Posted on 03/05/2012 by Peter Hart

Rush Limbaugh's attack on Georgetown student Sandra Fluke–calling her, among other things, a "slut" for advocating for contraceptives coverage–has caused some stirrings on the right that are worth looking at. One outcome is the idea that Limbaugh's an outlier who … Continue reading →

Posted in ABC, Gender, Healthcare, Media Criticism, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments

How Breitbart Got Away With His Lies

Posted on 03/02/2012 by Peter Hart

Kudos to Paul Farhi of the Washington Post (3/2/12) for talking about the obvious deceptions and inaccuracies in right-wing publisher Andrew Breitbart's work: News organizations found, for example, that the ACORN videos–which purported to show a young Mr. Breitbart ally … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Criticism, NPR, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , , | 65 Comments

Media's Weird Ethics: Pretending to Be Someone Else Is Worse Than Facilitating Global Catastrophe

Posted on 02/22/2012 by Jim Naureckas

There's a popular verb in headlines about climate researcher Peter Gleick's admission that he used trickery to get damning documents out of the climate change-denialist group the Heartland Institute: "Activist Says He Lied to Obtain Climate Papers" (New York Times, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, New York Times, Time, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Money Rules Politics? Robert Samuelson Busts That 'Myth'

Posted on 02/21/2012 by Peter Hart

It's possible that someone could write a column arguing that efforts to restrict the influence of big money on our political system do more harm than good. Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson tried to pull it off on Monday (2/20/12), … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Security, Washington Post | Tagged | 9 Comments

Pentagon Budgets and Fuzzy Math

Posted on 01/27/2012 by Peter Hart

By the tone of some of the media coverage, you might have thought Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced a plan to slash military spending yesterday. On the front page of USA Today (1/27/12), under the headline "Panetta Backs Far Leaner … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, McClatchy, New York Times, PBS, USA Today, War/Military, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Japanese Nuclear Establishment vs. the Two-Thirds 'Minority'

Posted on 01/26/2012 by Jim Naureckas

There's a news article in the Washington Post today (1/26/12) that really captures that paper's view of the way the world works, and how it ought to work. Headlined "After Earthquake, Japan Can't Agree on the Future of Nuclear Power," … Continue reading →

Posted in Japan, Nuclear power, Washington Post | 12 Comments

Richard Cohen Wowed by Professor Gingrich

Posted on 01/24/2012 by Peter Hart

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen wrote a baffling column today (1/24/12) praising part of Newt Gingrich's political persona–not the bad stuff, but man"of big ideas," as he put it (italics his). Cohen gives one example: Out of nowhere, he has … Continue reading →

Posted in Barack Obama, Election, Washington Post | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

At WaPo, Editorial Page Can Make Up Iran Facts

Posted on 01/11/2012 by Peter Hart

Last month the group Just Foreign Policy alerted readers to a Washington Post feature that was headlined "Iran's Quest to Possess Nuclear Weapons." The Post changed the headline, and ombud Patrick Pexton weighed in with a column (12/7/11) saying that … Continue reading →

Posted in Iran, Washington Post | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Pundits and the Romney Pass

Posted on 01/10/2012 by Peter Hart

In theory, presidential campaigns are a valuable opportunity for journalists to evaluate candidates' positions on important issues so citizens can make an informed choice. Actual media coverage is different, of course. And it's striking how some media voices diminish the … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, New York Times, Washington Post | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

It's GOOD That Romney Has No Principles

Posted on 01/10/2012 by Jim Naureckas

We've been seeing a lot of this sort of thing lately–this time from Elizabeth Wurtzel on TheAtlantic.com (1/9/12): All the reasons Romney is disliked are all the reasons he would be an excellent president. Let's start by recognizing that principled … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Media Criticism, New York Times, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Iowans Frustrate Reporters With Their Multiple Opinions

Posted on 01/04/2012 by Peter Hart

The usual criticisms of the Iowa caucuses–that the votes of a small, demographically unrepresentative slice of America gobble up too much airtime–are basically correct. As David Sirota noted in Salon (1/3/12): The same journalism industry that pleads poverty to justify … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

WaPo and Keystone False Balance

Posted on 01/03/2012 by Peter Hart

Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel has a column in the Washington Post today (1/3/12) outlining the three important election issues to watch–and one of them is about how the press covers the process: Third, the media's obsession with false equivalence: … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Change, Election, Environment, Washington Post | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Ron Paul's Nutty Internet Worries

Posted on 01/03/2012 by Peter Hart

Washington Post reporter Nia-Malika Henderson reports today (1/3/12)that Republican candidate Ron Paul really says some weird things out on the campaign trail. His appearances start out normal… And then, for the next 45 minutes or so, he outlines a view … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Washington Post | Tagged , | 19 Comments