Media

Sarah Palin, FOXey Lady

by John Stauber — January 11, 2010 - 4:43pm

Mark Greenbaum of the Christian Science Monitor looks at Sarah Palin's new job being a celebrity pundit on Fox News Channel: "Palin is a true, Hollywood-type celebrity with a bestselling book and millions of adoring fans. She may have designs on the presidency, but she evidently wants to soak up the perks and adulation of her celebrity first, and she has done that with gusto. ...

Main Source: 
Christian Science Monitor, January 11, 2010

Wash Post Called Out for Outsourcing "News" to the Fiscal Times

by Anne Landman — January 7, 2010 - 12:44pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Media, Propaganda

    • A conspicuously biased news article printed in the Washington Post on December 31, 2009 is raising the eyebrows of public policy experts, bloggers, media watchdogs other news outlets alike. Sign our petition to tell the Post no more fake news!

    Titled "Support grows for tackling nation's debt," the article discusses a proposal to create a government commission to examine America's growing debt. The new commission, according to the article, would be charged with exploring "how to rein in skyrocketing spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," but the article failed to mention other significant sources of government spending, like the $663 billion military budget.

    The story points to growing support for such a commission among political figures, but fails to mention the 40 or so prominent organizations that oppose the plan, including the NAACP, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AARP, Common Cause, the AFL-CIO, and the National Organization for Women (NOW). The article was not written by Post reporters, but was produced by a startup "news" organization called the Fiscal Times, whose byline describes it is an "independent news publication that reports on fiscal, budgetary, healthcare and international economic issues." But is it truly "independent"?

    Experts: Comcast's Acquisition of NBC May End Free TV

    by Anne Landman — December 29, 2009 - 4:05pm

    Increasingly, media moguls, national journalists and Wall Street experts are predicting that cable provider Comcast's acquisition of NBC will lead to the end of free broadcast television.

    Main Source: 
    San Fernando Valley Business Journal, December 29, 2009

    Murdoch Marches the Wall Street Journal to the Right

    by Bob Burton — December 14, 2009 - 1:57pm

    Two years after Rupert Murdoch won control of the Wall Street Journal, the paper's news pages have shifted to the right under the combined influence of Robert Thomson, the editor, and his deputy editor, Gerard Baker.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, December 13, 2009

    Exploiting the Exploiters' Hoax

    by Anne Landman — October 21, 2009 - 3:28pm

    Wasting no time, video game startup Heyzap.com in San Francisco has created a video game based on Colorado's "Balloon Boy" hoax that is circulating on the Web and through Twitter. In it, a young Falcon Heene clings to a tinfoil muffin-like balloon while flying through the air trying to shoot down things that get in his way, like UFOs, rainbows and birds.

    Main Source: 
    New York Daily News, October 20, 2009

    Another Reason to Worry: The Associated Press' New "Standard" for "News" Is Popularity

    by Lisa Graves — October 20, 2009 - 5:33pm

    The Associated Press, which is increasingly relied upon by traditional papers dealing with staff cutbacks and by new media news re-"broadcasters" such as Yahoo, is signaling a worrisome shift in what it considers "news." Here is an excerpt from the Columbia Journalism Review's recent story about the AP's strategy retreat at Lake Placid:

    “'[T]oo often,' [senior managing editor John] Daniszewski writes, 'we expend precious time and scarce resources on work that does not excite and does not get used'—going forward, AP journalists need to 'focus on what gets used a

    Main Source: 
    Columbia Journalism Review, October 16, 2009

    New York Times Admits Shutting Out Single-Payer

    by Anne Landman — October 14, 2009 - 1:28pm

    The media analysis group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) issued an action alert September 22 titled "NYT Slams Single-Payer" that described lopsided reporting in a New York Times article about "Medicare for all," a form of a single-payer health care system.

    Main Source: 
    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, October 13, 2009

    The Free News Tide That Threatens King Murdoch

    by Bob Burton — October 12, 2009 - 7:19pm

    In a King Canute-like speech to the World Media Summit in Beijing, Rupert Murdoch, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, took aim at Google and Yahoo.

    Main Source: 
    The Independent (UK), October 9, 2009

    New York Post Suspends Climate Skepticism ... For Just a Moment

    by Bob Burton — September 23, 2009 - 6:27am

    Ahead of a major United Nations conference in New York on climate change, the high-profile pranksters, the Yes Men, distributed 100,000 copies of a "special edition" of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post.

    Main Source: 
    CNN, September 22, 2009
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