It’s the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The media usually cannot resist anniversaries, particularly when there is powerful film footage to show, and this one is no exception. This CNN story on the anniversary is typical — a rehash of what happened, some hand-wringing about it, and plenty of retrospective blame being put on President [...]
Posts Tagged ‘News media’
Katrina’s Five-Year Anniversary
Posted in America, Politics, tagged Politics, America, News media, President Bush, New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana on August 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Prez And The Press
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, News media, Politics, President Bush, President Kennedy, President Obama, Press Conferences on March 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Some members of the press are raising questions about President Obama’s lack of formal, prime-time press conferences. Indeed, he has gone longer between such conferences than did President Bush before him. Most people probably will find this hard to believe, because President Obama seemingly has been all over the television screen since his inauguration. Most [...]
Home To Roost
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Congress, Health Care Reform, Healthcare Reform, Jack Cafferty, News media, Politics, President Obama on January 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The strong reactions, from some quarters, to the behind-closed-doors negotiations over the “health care reform” legislation are a good example of how politicians, in this media-saturated age of stored video and cell phone cameras, should be careful about the promises they make. During his presidential campaign, President Obama repeatedly told people that health care legislation [...]
Let’s Get Small
Posted in America, Politics, tagged Fox News, Hannity, Journalism, News media, Politics, President Obama, The O'Reilly Factor on October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I am a bit mystified by the White House’s decision to criticize Fox News, describe it as “not really a news organization,” and try to marginalize it. I understand that the Obama Administration does not like the coverage they are getting from Fox News and therefore is trying to impugn Fox’s credibility as a news-gathering [...]
Non-Journalism
Posted in America, tagged America, Chamber of Commerce, CNBC, Hoaxes, Journalism, News media, newspapers, Ohio State University School of Journalism, Reuters on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today still more members of the news media — in this case, Reuters and CNBC — fell for a hoax. On the basis of a dubious press release, they reported that the Chamber of Commerce had changed its position on climate change legislation. CNBC read the fake press release on the air, and Reuters reported [...]
The Budding Power Of New Journalism
Posted in America, College, Technology, tagged ACORN, America, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Hunter S. Thompson, Internet, Journalism, News media, Ohio State University School of Journalism, Technology, The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe on September 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Back in the 1970s, when I was a student at the Ohio State University School of Journalism, there was a lot of talk about the “new journalism.” At that time, “new journalism” referred to writers like Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson who wrote from uniquely personal perspectives and, in the case of Dr. Gonzo, [...]
Update On Journalistic Ethics
Posted in Reflections, tagged Journalism, journalistic ethics, News media, Washington Post on September 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve written before on the Washington Post‘s tremendously ill-conceived “salon” concept, where attendees would pay the Post to hobnob with D.C. movers and shakers on health care and other issues. After the uproar about obvious conflicts of interest, the Post bagged the concept, and now the marketing executive who was supposed to run the program [...]
Vexed About Vetting
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, New York Times, News media, Politics, Van Jones on September 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Van Jones, a top adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has resigned. The story of Jones’ resignation is interesting for at least two reasons. The first is that although Jones’ past statements and associations have been fodder for The Drudge Report and conservative radio talk-shows and websites for days, they have received [...]
You Give Law A Bad Name
Posted in America, Reflections, tagged law, modern culture, News media on August 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
As a lawyer, I dread this kind of news story. A disappointed graduate who doesn’t have a job sues her college for tuition payments, and it is covered as another weird news story, just like the stories about women who live with 125 cats or twins separated at birth who find each other after living [...]
Fear Of August (III)
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Budget Deficit, Congress, Health care, Health Care Reform, Keith Olbermann, News media, Politics, taxes on August 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I think UJ’s post below raises a fair question: how do we know whether anything we see on TV, or on Youtube, is real, as opposed to staged? My belief is that everyone should approach these kinds of things with a skeptical attitude, a willingness to listen to both sides, and the confidence to reach [...]
Walter Cronkite and “Go, Baby, Go!”
Posted in America, Science, tagged America, News media, Science, Space, the '60s, TV, Walter Cronkite on July 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Walter Cronkite was the news broadcaster of choice when I was a kid. Really, there was no choice, because it was no competition. Cronkite had all of the qualities that you would want in a television anchorman. He was avuncular, trustworthy, deep-voiced, and unflappable. Even bad news — and it seemed like there was a [...]
Journalistic Ethics (III)
Posted in Reflections, tagged Journalism, journalistic ethics, News media, Washington Post on July 12, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Washington Post is now falling all over itself in trying to explain the colossal blunder in its “salon” business concept, in which corporations would have paid $25,000 a pop to have drinks with Post, Obama Administration, and congressional insiders. This article tries to explain how the ethical lapse happened. I appreciate the Post‘s willingness [...]
More On The Media
Posted in Politics, tagged Journalism, News media, Politics, Sarah Palin on July 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This article tries to link the media’s treatment of Sarah Palin during last year’s election with a general demise of the news media. I’m a bit skeptical of such a broad brush argument, although I do think that the treatment of Governor Palin and her family has been appalling. I’ve written before on the death [...]
Whining
Posted in Politics, tagged bias, News media, President Obama on June 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »
There’s a lot of whining on the right about the favorable treatment President Obama receives from the press. This article reflects that perspective. I don’t think we need to scratch our head about this phenomenon, nor do I think it is attributable to some broad-based, outright political bias on the part of the news media. [...]
The View
Posted in Politics, TV, tagged News media, President Obama, The View, TV on March 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One morning
