Latest Blogs
WaPo's Booth Hails 'Half-Century of Revolution' in Cuba
Filing his January 1 story from Santiago, Cuba, Washington Post foreign service staffer William Booth paid homage to the 50-year mark of the Castro revolution, pinning blame on "mostly hostile U.S. presidents" and a "decades-long trade and travel embargo" for the big 5-0 being celebrated as a "low-key event that was far removed from the triumphant displays and mass rallies of [Cuba's] socialist…
January 2nd, 2009 1:14 PM
CBS: Sarah Palin ‘Launched an Offensive’ Against Media
On Friday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez described Sarah Palin’s recent attempts to set the record straight about her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy this way: "Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has launched an offensive against the news media, again." In contrast, on Tuesday’s broadcast, fill-in co-host Chris Wragge was concerned about Barack Obama being in the media spotlight: "Coming up,…
January 2nd, 2009 1:10 PM
Navarrette: I Like Blago’s Chutzpah
Looking for a column loaded with racism, hyperbole, praise for a man embroiled in scandal, and an obvious disregard for the integrity of a Senate seat? Then you're in luck if you've read Ruben Navarrette's latest efforts. Completely dropping the ball on why some people are apprehensive about any appointment that Rod Blagojevich could make for the vacant Senate seat, Ruben litters his article…
January 2nd, 2009 12:32 PM
CNN's Bittermann Awarded French Legion of Honor
Stop me if you've heard this one: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a biased CNN journalist walk into a bar...CNN's Jim Bittermann has been admitted into the French Legion of Honor, one of just 13 foreign nationals, including two other Americans, "Howard Mamoian, a World War II paratrooper, and John Morris, a news photographer," CNN.com is reporting.Bittermann, who also teaches journalism…
January 2nd, 2009 12:20 PM
Dear WSJ: You Were Right About Antitrust
Can 'antitrustinistas' prove mergers have harmed the public?
January 2nd, 2009 11:08 AM
'Che' Director: English the Language of 'Imperialists
The director of the movie "Che" which will be released later this month is disingenuously claiming that he has no political axe to grind. In a CNN interview, director Steven Soderbergh absurdly stated that he only wanted to present the "facts" about Che Guevara's life:Steven Soderbergh made certain his new movie, "Che," about the life of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, couldn't be attacked…
January 2nd, 2009 10:05 AM
Cincinnati Enquirer Botches Coverage of 'Ecumenical' Gaza Press Confer
The Cincinnati Enquirer's coverage (photo is from that coverage) of a local press conference and demonstration relating to the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Israel and Gaza has been atrocious. I suspect that the Enquirer is not unique in its egregious journalistic failures. The two stories involved, both by Rebecca Goodman, are (original Cincinnati reference HT to Atlas Shrugs):-- Dec. 31 -- "Area…
January 2nd, 2009 9:50 AM
NPR Commentator Says Rev. Wright Remarks Were Top 'Nontroversy' of
National Public Radio's Morning Edition celebrated the end of 2008 on New Year’s Eve with black commentator (and Huffington Post contributor) John Ridley listing the top "non-troversies" of 2008, which he defined as "what seemed monumental then, in retrospect has all the significance of a Dennis Kucinich stump speech." Ridley’s top "non-troversy" was Reverend Wright’s sermon clips about America…
January 2nd, 2009 9:03 AM
GMA Suggests Independence From US More Important To Cubans Than Freedo
Fidel will someday disappear, but MSM nostalgia for the Cuban revolution is forever. Good Morning America devoted a segment today to celebrations in Havana marking the 50th anniversary of Castro's dictatorship. The thrust of Jim Avila's report was that, yeah, there are those who "complain" about that oppression stuff, but the key is that Cuba is free from los Yanquis!JIM AVILA: It is Raul…
January 2nd, 2009 8:29 AM
Early Show Fails on Facebook Fiasco
CBS host Maggie Rodriguez does not acknowledge personal responsibility in breastfeeding photos controversy.
January 2nd, 2009 12:00 AM
AFP Says Cubans Fleeing Island for US, Merely 'Depart' Not Defect
Apparently, for Agence France-Presse, desperate Cubans who flee the Castro brothers’ island prison don’t escape or defect, they merely “depart.” It wasn’t merely a poorly-chosen headline stating, “Two top players depart Cuba in a bid to play in US." The whitewash was mirrored in the December 29 article, and the bias wasn’t confined to careful language manipulation. AFP also minimized the…
January 1st, 2009 11:22 PM
Can Media Be Legally Liable For Worsening Economic Crisis
If exaggerated reports of global economic distress act to further dampen consumer confidence and actually worsen the situation, can press outlets be held legally liable?Such was espoused by a corporate lawyer Thursday in response to a poll that found 77 percent of Americans "think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people's minds."As reported by…
January 1st, 2009 11:00 PM
Media Columnist: Deregulation Needed For Journalism's Survival
Ever since the financial services industry totally melted down in September, anti-free market media have pointed an accusatory finger at deregulation as the primary cause of bank, brokerage firm, and insurance company failures.Yet, as press outlets across the fruited plain deal with declining revenues and layoffs, some believe a looser anti-trust environment could be the solution.Even more…
January 1st, 2009 10:19 PM