Open Thread

NB Staff
December 9th, 2008 10:27 AM

'The New York Times Isn't Going Anywhere

Promise, or threat?  John Harwood declares "the New York Times isn't going anywhere."  The Times correspondent, who also toils for CNBC, made his unconditional claim on today's Morning Joe in response to Joe Scarborough's envisioning of a future in which major news organizations, including the Times, might disappear. Scarborough was concerned that the public would be deprived of the media's…
Mark Finkelstein
December 9th, 2008 10:25 AM

Jon Meacham, Newsweek Editor to Religious Right: Bring It On

Tim Graham
December 9th, 2008 8:57 AM

McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt Performs a 'Baghdad Bob

Remember Baghdad Bob? He was the Iraqi press spokesmen who caused much amusement in the West because of his unrealistically upbeat pronouncements when Iraq was invaded by the United States and its allies in 2003. Among Baghdad Bob's funnier announcements was his declaration that no Americans were in Baghdad at the same moment when American troops were patrolling the streets of that city just a…
P.J. Gladnick
December 9th, 2008 8:02 AM

Early Show's Misleading Graphic: 'Household Income Drops

This could go down as the most egregiously misleading graphic in morning show history.  Have a look at the screengrab. Reporting on census data being released today, the Early Show on CBS displayed a graphic, under the headline "Economic Crisis," reporting that in the first part of this decade--the early Bush years:Household income dropped 79%The poverty rate increased 70%Unemployment was up 71%…
Mark Finkelstein
December 9th, 2008 7:49 AM

David Gregory, 'Custodian' of NBC's Biases

Tim Graham
December 9th, 2008 7:28 AM

WaPo Wants Federal Gas Taxes Raised to... Stop Terrorism

The Washington Post is directing a December 8 plea to the incoming Obama administration. The Post wants to raise the federal gas tax so high that it will stop people from driving. The Post thinks this will serve our national security purposes and add more money to rebuild our nation's roads. Apparently, the Washington Post has the foolishly mistaken notion that federal gas tax receipts actually…
Warner Todd Huston
December 9th, 2008 4:39 AM

CNN Makes Case Shinseki Did Not Push for More Troops in Iraq

On Monday’s The Situation Room, CNN correspondent Jamie McIntyre conveyed a dissenting view of whether retired General Eric Shinseki, Barack Obama’s choice for Veterans Affairs Secretary, can accurately be described as having advised the Bush administration to send more troops to occupy Iraq. McIntyre: "But Shinseki has his critics, too, who say, in fact, he never stood up to Rumsfeld, never…
Brad Wilmouth
December 9th, 2008 2:12 AM

AP Reports Day Without A Gay Only One Way

In 'call in gay' story, AP ignores traditional marriage supporters; features event creators and lefty teachers eager to introduce gay issues to students.
Erin Brown
December 9th, 2008 12:00 AM

In Self-Congratulatory Excess Over MTP, NBC Frets Obama's 'Expectation

Brent Baker
December 8th, 2008 9:32 PM

Matthews Worries About Obama Cabinet: 'Why No Lefties

Looks like Chris Matthews is actually disappointed in Barack Obama, but only in the sense that he's worried Obama isn't moving to the left fast enough. Throughout Monday night's "Hardball," after reciting recent appointments like Robert Gates, Jim Jones and yes even Hillary Clinton, Matthews repeatedly asked his guests questions like: "What happened to the victory of change, and I hate to use the…
Geoffrey Dickens
December 8th, 2008 7:01 PM

MSNBC's Brewer: Pres. Bush Should Be Ashamed of EPA Ruling

Contessa Brewer has suggested that Pres. Bush should be ashamed of his administration's decision to exempt the chemical perchlorate from federal regulation.   Speaking with a Republican guest this afternoon, the MNSBC host analogized the decision to Bill Clinton's scandalous last-minute pardons.Did Brewer ever read the official EPA explanation of its ruling, or had she only looked at articles…
Mark Finkelstein
December 8th, 2008 6:25 PM

CBS Sides With Union In Chicago Factory Protest

At the top of Monday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith teased an upcoming story about a protest by laid off workers at a Chicago factory: "Fighting back, workers stage a protest after being laid off, refusing to leave their Chicago factory until their demands are met...We'll take you there live and hear what they're fighting for." Later, co-host Maggie Rodriguez interviewed Leah Fried of the…
Kyle Drennen
December 8th, 2008 5:34 PM

Krugman Admits He's Enjoying Opining More About the Financial Crisis T

If print is becoming journalism's dying backwater, Paul Krugman isn't showing it. In a Dec. 6 interview in Stockholm, Sweden, the Nobel Prize-winning New York Times columnist told the ironically named Adam Smith, editor-in-chief of Nobelprize.org, that he found himself more effective in his role at the Times lately He said he was more influential in shaping policy as a journalist than he would…
Jeff Poor
December 8th, 2008 5:34 PM