tagged w/ Media News
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Fox News' Sean Hannity responded to Jon Stewart Wednesday evening after the Daily Show host called out the network for using old footage from a larger September 12, 2009 "Tea Party' protest to illustrate a much smaller health care rally on Capitol Hill last week.
Speaking directly to the camera, Hannity said that it pained him to admit it, but Stewart was correct.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/12/hannity-jon-stewart-was-r_n_354887.htmlFox News' Sean Hannity responded to Jon Stewart Wednesday evening after the Daily... more
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Here's an excellent observation from Mediaite's Rachel Sklar, who reminds us that while the "big news to come out of Meet The Press this week has been author Jon Krakauer's assertion that General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was implicated in the cover-up about the death of Pat Tillman," that big news had already been more or less broken by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show:
Krakauer was on [The Daily Show] over a month ago. It's surprising that this one flew under the radar, given how many sharp-eyed journalists, bloggers and media-watchers tune into the Daily Show, and regularly report on the news it makes. But it can and does happen, and happened here. What this says about Krakauer, McChrystal and his book is no different than what was picked up from Meet The Press. But what this says about so-called 'fake' news is, keep your eye on it. People with important things to say make a point of trying to say them on the Daily Show. So don't fall asleep before the interview.
All of that is absolutely right, and it's worth pointing out that Stewart conducted his interview with a greater awareness of where the "news" is in an interview with Jon Krakauer. That meant that Daily Show viewers got an interview that began with the Pat Tillman story and went on for six probing minutes. Meanwhile, at Meet The Press, Krakauer sat on the set like window dressing, and the subject of Pat Tillman wasn't broached until the show's final sequence of questions. Why have him on then?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/daily-show-beat-meet-the_n_343923.htmlHere's an excellent observation from Mediaite's Rachel Sklar, who reminds us... more
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As we've previously discussed, Senator John McCain hates him some "net neutrality." And so, he's introducing the "Internet Freedom Act of 2009," that would give telecoms the "freedom" to turn the "internet" into a confounding and baffling ordeal that would suck, into infinity. Net neutrality, which McCain, inventor of the Blackberry, wants to do away with, would keep internet service providers from favoring some content packets over others. To borrow an example elucidated by Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin, net neutrality is what prevents Time Warner, a provider, from slowing or blocking access to MSNBC in favor of CNN.
What would life be like under the "Internet Freedom Act?" Well, one Reddit user created an image that depicts the "worst case scenario."As we've previously discussed, Senator John McCain hates him some "net... more
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Ugh. So, let me state up front that I personally find the entire "torture porn" genre of horror to be detestable and its popularity to be frankly baffling. I like to go to movies with my wife and just can't imagine a situation in which I'd say, "Sweetie, I think that this is what we should do with two hours of our lives!" That said, it's worth noting that the health care reform debate has gotten so zeitgeisty that the issue of insurance companies poring over applications for clerical errors in order to deny coverage has ended up forming the "lesson" upon which the makers of Saw VI have hung an entire, grisly set piece.
Basically, you see the initial set-up of one of these elaborate torture-game scenarios that the Saw series features. Peter Outerbridge plays William, an insurance company businessman, who, in the beginning of the movie, denies a customer a loan to get medical treatment, the customer dies as a result, William is taken prisoner and wakes up in the world of Saw, and is forced to undergo a series of harrowing, torture-porny choices, for justice, I guess.Ugh. So, let me state up front that I personally find the entire "torture... more
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The same media whining over criticisms of Fox was happy to be bullied and controlled by the Bush administration.
Hypocrisy is far too common a feature of our political culture to comprehensively chronicle, particularly when there is a change of party control and each side starts doing exactly that to which they spent the last several years vociferously objecting; see here for a vivid example of that dynamic, from a new Pew poll released today:
"The belief that the press should keep political leaders from doing things that should not be done often depends on who those political leaders are, or more specifically, which party controls the White House. Currently, in the midst of the Obama administration, two-thirds of Republicans (65%) support the so-called "watchdog role" for the press, compared with 55% of Democrats. But last year, while Bush was still in office, only 44% of Republicans felt it was good that press criticism keeps political leaders honest, and Democrats were much more pro watchdog (71% supported press criticism). This partisan pattern has existed since the question was first asked by Pew Research in 1985."
More @ linkThe same media whining over criticisms of Fox was happy to be bullied and controlled... more
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by Arianna Huffington
No matter what happens in the unfolding legal saga of the Heene family, the most appropriate response to the whole matter was that of Falcon Heene. He vomited. Twice. On national TV. Well, let me just say that Falcon speaks for me.
I had to stifle the same urge as I watched so much of the media devote so much of their resources to the story of the boy NOT in the balloon.
And, sure, I know that asking the media to have some sense of perspective on a story like this is like asking a dog not to bark. It's in their nature to give breathless, wall-to-wall coverage to these kinds of stories. But, even knowing this, I was shocked how little changed in the volume and tone of the coverage even after it was known the boy wasn't in the balloon. Even then, after we knew the balloon was empty, they kept running footage of the balloon, hour after hour.
As Bill Maher said on Real Time, "they're calling him Balloon Boy, which is so stupid, because the one thing we know about this kid, is that he was not in a balloon."
I find the media's obsession with these non-stories especially galling when they lead to endless agonizing over the welfare of a child -- agonizing that is sorely missing when there isn't a hot air balloon or inner tube in shark-infested waters involved.
So now that we know that Falcon is safe, how about repurposing some of that concern for, say:
-- the over 1.5 million children who are homeless.
-- the 42 percent of homeless children who are under the age of 6.
-- the one in six homeless children who suffers from an emotional problem.
It doesn't have to be wall-to-wall coverage, but how about some coverage of the 75 to 100 percent increase in the number of children who are newly homeless because of the foreclosure crisis? Or the 13 million American children living in poverty?
Not going to happen, you say? What if we built a giant balloon, put all 13 million of them in it, and just let it float away? Even better, let's just say that we did. It'll be a win-win-win. The news producers will have a giant balloon to shoot, the news anchors will have a fresh outlet for all that concern, and millions of kids in desperate need of some concern, attention, and time in the media spotlight will finally get it.by Arianna Huffington
No matter what happens in the unfolding legal saga of the... more
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McCain says that it's "the media that are the real boobs," and "the media that [has] a problem with my body." I don't think this premise is correct! I think that the "real boobs" here are the rapacious dicks that populate the internet and sent her vicious messages on Twitter. They use a "medium," but they are not "the media." McCain, elsewhere, complains that CNN offered a "special segment on [her] twitphoto drama," but am I missing something here? So did The Daily Beast, authored by Meghan McCain. And I don't know... it seems like Meghan McCain is judging Meghan McCain pretty harshly, saying it's "not the smartest thing I have ever done" and that she'll have "to be more judicious" in the future.
It's all so confusing, because the person who has the firmest hand on the way "the media" is dispensing with this saga is the one casting herself as its victim. Over at Double X, Noreen Malone opines (http://www.doublex.com/section/news-politics/meghan-mccains-15-minutes), "The problem is that she's trying to have it both ways."
t used to be, "say whatever you like about me, just spell my name right." Now it's "say whatever you like about me, just be sure to maximize the search engine optimization."McCain says that it's "the media that are the real boobs," and... more
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The U.S. military in eastern Afghanistan recently changed its media embed rules to ban pictures of troops killed in the war.
"Media will not be allowed to photograph or record video of U.S. personnel killed in action," says a ground rules document issued Sept. 15 by Regional Command East at Bagram Air Field.The U.S. military in eastern Afghanistan recently changed its media embed rules to ban... more
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Media Matters for America has obtained evidence that CNN contributor Alex Castellanos' political consulting firm, National Media, is the ad buyer for the insurance industry group America's Health Insurance Plan's (AHIP) new ad blitz attacking Democratic health reform plans. CNN has a responsibility to insure that Castellanos' obvious conflict of interest does not tarnish their future coverage of the health care debate.Media Matters for America has obtained evidence that CNN contributor Alex... more
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The "Vanguard" team is breaking convention and new stories with a breed of journalism. Young, aggressive and willing to go places few other people go, "Vanguard" is telling stories in a way that manhandles the stand up, scripted, bizarre cadence and dearth of content that has come to define so much of TV news. By pushing boundaries, borders and limits, "Vanguard" has been at the forefront of a series of original stories.The "Vanguard" team is breaking convention and new stories with a breed of... more
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Betsy McCaughey is a famous liar whom the media keep inviting on their programs to continue to lie about health care, instead of banishing her to some wilderness, where she belongs, to lie to woodland creatures. And so, today she ended up on Dylan Ratigan's Morning Meeting with Representative Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).
McCaughey did her best, though, defaulting to the secondary position of insisting that there wasn't enough tort reform in the bill. Ratigan was quick to point out that as a cost-containment measure, tort reform would be a spectacularly insignificant one: "Why would you start with tort reform when you have an aniti-trust exemption for insurance companies?" Weiner attempted to inject actual facts, noting that the CBO determined that eliminating 30 percent of all tort claims would yield marginal savings of .04 percent, because most of the states already cap tort claims.
And so, McCaughey just unleashed her SENIOR CITIZEN HEALTH CARE APOCALYPSE nonsense, accusing Weiner of being ignorant and telling Ratigan that he wasn't a "fair moderator," to which Ratigan replied, "Well, you're not a fair answerer." Ratigan gamely attempted to get McCaughey to reconcile how she'd continue to provide the current level of unsustainable funding to Medicare without updating the system to address its inefficiencies, to no avail.Betsy McCaughey is a famous liar whom the media keep inviting on their programs to... more
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Never mind all those questions about who will win the election: The more pressing concern for many viewers is whether Tina Fey will return to play Gov. Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live."
The guest appearance by the show's former cast member and head writer was by all accounts a virtuoso impersonation and a viral hit. But Fey stars in NBC's weekly prime-time comedy "30 Rock," and it's unclear if she'll be moonlighting on "SNL" to skewer the Republican vice presidential candidate, to whom she bears a much-remarked-upon resemblance.
Fey — and the will-she-or-won't-she suspense that preceded her appearance — helped make NBC's "Saturday Night Live" a ratings smash in its season kickoff (which was hosted by Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps).
Then the 5 1/2-minute segment pairing Fey with cast member Amy Poehler (as Sen. Hillary Clinton) also has become a global Internet sensation.
The voters, um, viewers seemed to have spoken. In preliminary numbers measuring the nation's major cities, the show's 34th-season premiere logged a 7.4 rating and 18 percent share of audience — the largest viewership for a "SNL" season debut since 2001, and up 64 percent from last year's opener, according to Nielsen Media Research.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Never mind all those questions about who will win the election: The... more
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From 'Advertising Age' - "Magazines have watched their newsstand sales fall all year as high gas prices reduced traffic through checkout lanes and slimmed the wallets of those who were there, but as next Monday's semiannual circulation roundup approaches, there is some good news too. Magazine subscriptions are, with just a few exceptions, embarrassingly cheap. And a tour of the business this week shows that those subscriptions are helping to hold the line on circulation at many magazines ..."
-I got an offer to subscribe to 'Entertainment Weekly' last week for just 10 bucks for about a year. Take advantage of those cheap sub offers while they last! From 'Advertising Age' - "Magazines have watched their newsstand sales... more
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