Category Archives: Media

When does ‘news judgment’ become censorship?

Posted on October 1, 2011 by

LEXINGTON, Mass. — Driving home from work on Friday,  my wife Kathy heard a warning on NPR for motorists to avoid Boston’s Financial District. The reason, she thought: Occupy Wall Street had come to Boston, beginning what are expected to be rolling … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, Media, media coverage, Occupy Boston, Occupy Wall Street, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

USA Today considers paying bonuses for pandering?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by

As Bob Dylan once wrote, you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.  And you don’t need a PhD in communication science to know readers will click a lot more often on your average … Continue reading →

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Al Jazeera: An extraordinary glimpse of a revolution

Posted on January 31, 2011 by

I’ve bookmarked Al Jazeera English on my laptop, and become quite addicted to its live stream of coverage from Egypt.  This is a revolution whose outcome remains uncertain.  It’s potentially the fall of the Berlin Wall. Only this time, the … Continue reading →

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Government of the well-heeled, by the well-heeled, and for the well-heeled

Posted on November 19, 2010 by

The story didn’t run on the front page. It didn’t even run above the fold deep inside the opinion page.  But Nicholas Kristof’s column about America’s government of the rich still found its way today to the top of  The … Continue reading →

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News media must share the blame for voters’ ignorance

Posted on October 29, 2010 by

This piece was published by CommonDreams.org A couple of interesting items on politicalwire.com today show how hopelessly ill-informed the electorate is. One is a Gallup Poll that says 37 percent of Americans believe Congress has accomplished less this year than in previous years, … Continue reading →

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Why Democrats will keep control of Congress in November

Posted on September 15, 2010 by

Not long ago, pundits told us the 2008 progressive revolution just might change the country’s political map for decades to come. Gosh, they got that wrong, didn’t they? I suspect the latest round of media predictions — that a Tea Party Revolution could sweep Republicans into … Continue reading →

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Americans are consuming more news, but in ideological silos, Pew report suggests

Posted on September 13, 2010 by

A new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press offers some solace for beleaguered journalists, but also some reasons for soul-searching. The good news is that Pew found Americans are spending more time following the … Continue reading →

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When sensationalism, not public service, rules the news

Posted on September 10, 2010 by

This post also appeared on Commondreams.org What’s wrong with this picture? A marginal Florida minister with a flock smaller than 50 rivets the nation’s attention with a threat to burn 50 Korans.  Attention to his bigotry builds slowly, from scant … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, media coverage, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Journalism by poll simply reflects conventional wisdom

Posted on September 3, 2010 by

This post appeared on CommonDreams.org. I teach my students that the best reporters zig when everyone else zags. They leave the panting pack behind to look to the corners of news, to listen to voices that are ignored, such as … Continue reading →

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Liberals should end their lethargy, fight against spread of bigotry

Posted on August 28, 2010 by

There is a great deal of hatred and bigotry in this country, but it does not define the country. The daily experience of most Americans is not a bitter experience and for all of our problems we are in a … Continue reading →

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