In this edition: journalists & their political spouses; Glenn Beck makes an ass of himself again; unusual amount of BS from the RWCM/MSM this week (too much to detail here, just read the report!); Ed Henry has been eating his Wheaties lately; journalists in war zones; are Iraqi interpreters trustworthy?; the fate of newsweeklies; ratings; and so much more...
Thoughts, and Then, the News
Well, he said he was wrong and is addressing it. Ben Smith on his mistake re: Edwards campaign I think one of the reasons why people have such disdain for someone like Judith Miller is that she has no regrets or remorse about her bad reporting. She hasn’t apologized or appeared to have learned her lesson...
... Also getting the Edwards story wrong? Reuters, and anyone who repeated the Politico report (more oopsies here). Also, I’m with Hal Boedeker on MSNBC’s coverage, which included Dr. Healy, who gave us insight on cancer and various treatments.
Now for the news:
Look Here!
We know that reporters often rely on talking points and "questions you ought to ask" stuff from think tanks and that sort of thing. Well, we hope they’re taking a gander at what TPM Muckraker and TPM have been churning out. Jay Carney gave it a shoutout on This Week on 3/19. We know that the beltway media types watch those Sunday Talkers, so they all should be aware of it now if they weren’t back when TPM pushed the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond thing. It’s a must read, and reporters could probably get good ideas for stories off of TPM stuff.
Well, I guess this is where TPM, ePluribusMedia, and others picks up the slack
Disturbing trend: Less investigative reporting over the last few years.
Conflict of Interest
Some prominent journalists have mates who work for a presidential candidate
Romenesko’s Ombud Roundup
Here.
NYDN’s Embarrassing Article
Filled with obvious mistakes.
The Glenn Beck Is A Douchebag Item(s) of the Week
Damn you, Jon Stewart, for your Novak’s a Douchebag of Liberty thing. I never used douchebag until that bit. Beck v. Olbermann
NYT Writer/Editors Acting Like Glenn Beck Item of the Week
Mark Liebovich & Patrick Healy
For Mr. Gore, who calls himself a "recovering politician," returning to Capitol Hill is akin to a recovering alcoholic returning to a neighborhood bar.
RWCM Watch
- Does CNN blur the boundaries of opinion and news by allowing its journalists appear on Lou Dobbs?
- Paul Begala on Faux News
- Mike Allen... in the tank for the GOP?
- Irresponsible CNN Headline on Oregon Creationism Firing
- Richard Cohen should do some research before he writes a column
- OK, what is Michael Kinsley smoking?
- Denver Daily News drinks the kool-aid on Iraq... the same stuff Neil Cavuto is drinking
- WaPo editorial board acting wanker-ific on attorney purge
- FNC Covering 4th Anniversary of Iraq A Lot Less Often Than CNN or MSNBC
- Bill O’Reilly should avoid calling people frauds.
- Kerry catches Wallace in a lie. Fox News edits it out. beachmom watched so you didn’t have to.
- Clinton’s not-so-suspicious ‘purge’ and the BS the right spews.
- Fox News booker’s email tells us the obvious
- Joe Klein column that’s just more ridiculous than usual. In the second to last paragraph, Klein talks about Giuliani, Gingrich, McCain and Romney. I wouldn’t describe any of them as moderate (Giuliani’s as far to the right as anyone on the war in Iraq and there’s nothing moderate about his governing style either), nor would I describe any of them as politicians who talk like liberals. Romney constantly uses MA as a punchline. All of them support Bush on the war in Iraq. I don’t know what "live like liberals" mean, but in context, it sounds like getting a divorce is ‘liberal.’ And I think we all know that there are a lot of center-lefties who aren’t divorced. I can name a few, and some of them are running for president as Democrats. (Apparently, after I’d written about this, Greg Sargent comes along with something better.)
- AP’s irresponsible story on Plame testimony. Fox News’ Brit Hume wouldn’t know the facts on Plame if it hit him in the face.
- NYT reporter didn’t tell the whole story on Obama & his pastor, according to the pastor.
- Mark Halperin is out as pol. dir. for ABC News. Mcjoan takes us down memory lane.
- ex-OC Weekly chief starting new alternative paper with backing by GOP lawyers
- Memo to Martin Peretz. If you said something false about someone else, you should just apologize.
- Theory: The more powerful the president, the less aggressive the press. Ideally, the press should always be pretty aggressive, without stepping into territory where they create controversy where there is none.
Credit Where It’s Due
Media People & In the Field
News & Notes on Media orgs, Programming, Specials, etc.
Fifteen percent of stories on the network evening news in each of the last two years were reported by minorities, an all-time high that is more than double the level of 1990.
CBS's Byron Pitts led the 2006 field with 76 stories, followed by ABC's Pierre Thomas, NBC's Jim Maceda, and CBS's Randall Pinkston and Joie Chen, says a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs.
Women reported 28 percent of the pieces, just under the high-water mark of 29 percent set in 2002. ABC's Martha Raddatz was the most frequent female face, with 137 stories; CBS anchor Katie Couric had 103, and NBC's Andrea Mitchell, 85. Couric nearly lapped the field with reported or narrated pieces, even though the survey includes only four months of her "CBS Evening News" tenure.
State of the Media, Trends, Research Reports, Innovations
The Audience: Ratings, Circulation, & Ad Rates, etc.
Newsie’s Media News Report is a compilation of recent media news; it was formerly known as Media News Monday. If you have any media news to add, please do so. I don’t often post Media Matters stuff, because almost everyone already either links to or visits that site. Same with Greg Sargent’s The Horse’s Mouth at Talking Points Memo. I’ll post only if I’ve got something to add. For more RWCM watch & Media News: Penndit's News, Media News, and RWCM Watch Links. I get the advertising, public relations, targeting voters information, and media research from a variety of sources. Cross-posted at Penndit. For previous editions, search my diaries or Penndit.
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