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Here's the headline at the Associated Press's 12:49 p.m. report today on Steven Slater's plea bargain: "Attendant who slid on chute to fame pleads guilty." Earlier headlines had used the word "famous" (example here: "JetBlue attendant in famous meltdown pleads guilty"). For those who still care about what words mean, the primary meaning of "famous" is "having a widespread reputation, usually…

On Sunday, I examined the causes of the nation's toxic political atmosphere and amongst other things accused the press of fanning the fires of discontent. Two days later, an ABC News/Yahoo News poll reported by Michael Calderone found 63 percent of Americans believe the mainstream media are more interested in encouraging political division than cooperation between the Parties:

On Sunday's 60 Minutes, CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl fretted over the possible expansion of Israeli settlements near an important archeological site in Jerusalem: "So archeology is being used as a political tool....indoctrination, almost." She claimed that "organizations that move Jewish settlers into Arab areas have infiltrated" the surrounding Arab neighborhood. Stahl described the dig…

Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday conceded that big Republican gains are on the way for November 2 and pushed guest John McCain on how the newly elected Tea Party candidates will "cooperate" with Barack Obama. The ABC co-host allowed, "...[Republicans] are going to pick up Senate seats. Likely could take control of the House. Definitely going to pick up seats. What…

Exploring the question, "Why Are Democrats Down in Pennsylvania?" Newsweek's Ben Adler determined the answer was fairly simple: not enough stimulus spending to benefit the rural areas of the Keystone State, which he says is "sometimes called 'Pennsyltucky'" by virtue of its being largely "white, rural, blue-collar, and poor":

Paper happy to name names of those who might be involved, but relies on anonymous leaks in 40 percent of stories.

Howard Kurtz on Tuesday did something rather noteworthy two weeks before Election Day: he scolded the media's coverage of the Tea Party while at the same time bashed press members for excessively praising Barack Obama during the run-up to the previous elections. This rare appearance of honesty about journalism's pathetic performance in the past three years makes "How the Media Blew the…

As NewsBusters reported Thursday, a UCLA graduate student has published a study debunking the myth that the Tea Party is racist. On Monday, Gretchen Carlson invited the study's author on "Fox & Friends" to do what every news outlet ought to, namely, tell the truth about what the movement that is radically changing the political landscape is really all about (video follows with transcript…

CBS reporter Lesley Stahl was very confused on Monday's "Morning Joe". She just couldn't figure out why there are so many women involved with the Tea Party. Stahl received a basic civics lesson from two unlikely personalities: columnist Mike Barnicle, and Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the New York Times Book Review and author of "The Death of Conservatism". Tanenhaus noted that economic issues…

On the front of the New York Times Sunday Week in Review, Managing Editor Jill Abramson tried to link anonymous pro-Republican donors of the 2010 election cycle to  illegal campaign donations made to Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign: “Return of the Secret Donors -- In 2010, corporate cash, anonymous contributions and other echoes of Watergate.” Enforcing the link, the top half of the…

After layoffs cost him his job as a media reporter for socialist editor and author Greg Mitchell at Editor & Publisher magazine, Joe Strupp landed at Media Matters for America, where he can ask the liberal media elite why on Earth any of them would ever appear on that unethical Republican swamp known as Fox News (or Fox affiliates on Sundays). In this case, Strupp went looking for former…

 On Monday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann mocked Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, tagging her as "Worst Person in the World," for her recent declaration in an interview with World Net Daily that she would like to dine with Jesus Christ, Ann Coulter and a number of other historical and public figures. In addition to cracking that Coulter would accuse Jesus of…

The White House's wish almost came true last week. It was hoping most of us and even the mainstream media would miss the release of the Congressional Budget Office's preliminary report on the 2010 federal fiscal year. And most did. The Wall Street Journal, however, exposed why the White House was being so secretive about its results: The CBO concluded that federal government spending has…

In August, Ed Schultz reportedly erupted in the MSNBC newsroom over being excluded from the network's election night promos.  According to the NY Post, network honchos threatened to fire Schultz if he pulled a similar stunt again. Could there be some kiss-and-make-up going on at 30 Rock?  Of all the MSNBC personages, the network apparently selected Schultz first to have his own spot in…