journalism

Networks Still Hosting Military Analysts Without Identifying Massive Conflicts Of Interest

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:34:11 -0500

by Laura Bassett

Major television networks continue to host retired generals as military analysts without alerting viewers to their extensive ties to defense contractors and the Pentagon.

Military strategy is a frequent topic on TV in the wake of President Obama's announcement that he will send more troops to Afghanistan now -- and start bringing them out by mid-2011. But few television viewers have any idea that some of what they're hearing originates from men who are literally profiting from the war.

Despite Incongruity, Corporate Media Love a Good War Speech

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:21:27 -0500

WASHINGTON - US media and leading opinion makers on Friday had largely positive views of Barack Obama's Nobel Peace award speech in Oslo, with conservatives especially delighted with his choice of words.

"We've said before ... that awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize after so short a time in office and so few concrete accomplishments was a mistake," wrote the Los Angeles Times in its newspaper editorial.

However the acceptance speech was "a blockbuster even by Obama's lofty standards."

Amy Goodman's Border Woes Have Americans in a Tizzy

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:13:40 -0500

by Rod Mickleburgh

VANCOUVER - The alleged hounding and 90-minute detention of U.S. broadcaster Amy Goodman by Canadian border guards demanding to know her views on the Olympics is making waves throughout the U.S., and none of it is good for Canada's reputation.

"I could see any country in the world doing this, except Canada," Lucy Dalglish, head of the Washington-based Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press, said yesterday. "I was stunned by what happened."

In Afghan Debate, Few Antiwar Op-Eds

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:24:26 -0500

by Steve Rendall

The Obama administration, having increased the number of troops in Afghanistan by 21,000 in March, is engaged in a contentious internal discussion about whether to send an additional 40,000 more. There is growing anger over Afghan civilian deaths, and July and August were the deadliest months for U.S. soldiers since the U.S. invaded in 2001 (AP, 8/28/09).

Bill Moyers Tells a Tale of Two Quagmires: Vietnam & Afghanistan

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:11:51 -0500

by John Nichols

Bill Moyers, who was at the side of President Lyndon Johnson at the time when disastrous decisions were being made to escalate the U.S. presence in the quagmire that was Vietnam, used his experience to speak Friday night to President Barack Obama about what could be an equally disastrous decision to escalate the U.S. presence in the quagmire that is Afghanistan.

Public Media and the Decommodification of News

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:53:41 -0500

by Jim Naureckas

There have been various proposals to "save journalism" from the crisis brought on by digitalization. But by and large these ideas have less to do with meeting the information needs of a democratic society than with preserving the profit potential of existing media outlets.

Lou Dobbs, Immigrant-Bashing Host, Eyes Next Move

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:56:32 -0500

by FAIR

TV host Lou Dobbs abruptly quit his CNN program yesterday, bringing a sudden end to a television program most notable for its remarkably one-sided presentation of immigration issues.

Denying Responsibility for the Wars One Cheers On

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:55:27 -0500

by Glenn Greenwald

David Brooks' column today perfectly illustrates what lies at the core of our political discourse: namely, self-loving tribalistic blindness laced with a pathological refusal to accept responsibility for one's actions. Brooks claims there is a unique evil that one finds in the "fringes of the Muslim world":

Renewing the News

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:13:11 -0500

by Naomi Wolf

NEW YORK - Last week, rumors from the world of print media were rife: a hundred reporters from The New York Times news desk to be bought out - or to lose their jobs if they refuse; steep cutbacks at British newspapers; staffs slashed at Condé Nast - eight respected editors axed at Glamour magazine. In the United States and elsewhere, there is a sense that the long-foreseen implosion of news publishing is accelerating, having reached a kind of critical mass.

Is This Tom Friedman's 'Walter Cronkite Moment' on Afghanistan?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:46:26 -0400

by Harvey Wasserman

The Iraq war's chief New York Times cheerleader has reversed field on Afghanistan. Does it mean there will be no escalation?

In early 1968, after the devastating Tet Offense, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite pronounced the Vietnam War unwinnable. Lyndon Johnson knew he had "lost middle America" and soon declined to run for a second term. The war dragged on for seven more hellish years. But the hearts and minds of the American public had been lost.