The Dumbing Down of Virtually Everything (Part III)

Here are some fascinating statistics, compiled by Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post: Here are the number of news segments that mention these stories: (from a search of the main news networks’ transcripts from May 1-June 20). ABC News: Downing Street Memo: 0 segments Natalee Holloway: 42 segments Michael Jackson: 121 segments CBS News: Downing […]

The Dumbing Down of Virtually Everything (Part II)

Every morning, my wife watches the Today show on NBC. Since our kitchen adjoins the family room, I can’t avoid seeing and hearing portions of the show as I make breakfast. My God, how much lower can network TV set the bar? Missing white women, Michael Jackson, celebrity chitchat, interviews with NBC reality show contestants […]

U.S. Students Say Press Freedoms Go Too Far

This is the kind of article that gets my blood up. Until I think about it. Then I sink into despair. Think it’s bad that 36% of the U.S. high school students in this survey think newspapers should get government approval of stories before publishing? I think it’s worse than that. I think 36% of […]

All Right, Who Took My Tinfoil Hat?

Articles in The Onion are fact-free, yet sometimes convey more truth than facts ever could. I wonder if this falls into that category. Other bloggers say Capitol Hill Blue can’t be trusted, but after reading about the Enron tapes, I’m starting to think “alternative” journalists like Mack White have a better handle on things than […]

News or Propaganda?

The first thing I read each morning at work is the online edition of the Early Bird, the daily collection of defense-related press clippings put out by the Department of Defense. If you read only the Wall Street Journal, say, or the Washington Post, you might think you’re getting objective, unbiased coverage of the news. […]