Category Archives: Media

UPDATED: Media’s Rotating Mandarins (Name The Nepotists)

Like viral DNA, members of the media-military-congressional-industrial complex replicate themselves. Thus, what’s interesting in the Mediaite non-story about the tedious Juan Williams and his son, who’re “blasting liberals for their ‘Uncle Tom’ treatment of black conservatives”—perennial, impotent whining in such circles—is the fact that son has successfully followed father’s path. Williams senior has, no doubt, greased the skids for sonny-boy.

Protectionism.

Many are the examples of major pundits or newsmen who’ve helped their spawn into the family business. Tim Russert’s son, Luke, is an example. I recall reading that the father of chubby Katie Pavlich, who is ubiquitous in Republican media, was a mover and shaker in same circles, but all evidence of that had been expunged. There are many others.

And it’s a slow news week.

UPDATE (3/30): NAME THE NEPOTISTS. At the Fox News family, “Peter Doocy, son and possible clone of host Steve Doocy,” is another beneficiary of nepotism. As is Juliet Huddy‘s brother, John Huddy, Jr. It’s all in the family at Fox.

Viva corruption in cable.

The Christie Innocence Project On Mad TV

Criminal Injustice, Ethics, Government, Media, Republicans

News reporting is obsolete on cable and network TV, for the most. It has given way to The Endless Event Coverage. That, and the ubiquitous dog, cat, baby rescue “human-interest” stories. Today, the big event—literally BIG; it blanketed the screen—was Chris Christie. “A Christie marathon” mocked broadcaster Mark Levin, who was commenting sarcastically about the New Jersey governor’s self-appointed exoneration committee in the matter of his administration’s intentional closing of the George Washington Bridge as political retribution.

I’ll call it the Christie Innocence Project.

It is, however, encouraging to note that no major online newspaper or magazine featured fatso front-and-center. Except for Mad TV, aka MSNBC:

… the internal review conducted by his lawyers, who rather predictably exonerated their client, has clearly given him new mojo. When asked at the presser how so-called Bridgegate might affect the 2016 race, Christie said, “The fact of the matter is that I had nothing to do with this. As I said from the beginning, and this report has supported exactly what I said. And in the long sweep of things, any voters, if they consider this issue at all, in considering my candidacy — if there ever is one at all — I’ve got a feeling it’ll be a small element of it, if any element at all.”
In acknowledging his plummeting poll numbers, Christie added, “But there’s nothing that’s permanent about that. …
…in facing down the press on Friday, Christie was clearly trying to move beyond Bridgegate and regain his stature with a national audience. Indeed, on Thursday, Christie gave his first television interview since the scandal blew up, declaring to ABC News that he doesn’t think the scandal hurt him in Iowa, which holds the important, first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.
“I think they love me in Iowa, too,” the governor said on World News with Diane Sawyer. “I’ve been there a lot. I think love me there too, especially because of the way I am. Not in spite of, especially because,” Christie added.
In continuing his media blitz, the governor has agreed to be interviewed by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. The Q&A will air Friday night. ”

Christie is insufferable—his slobbering, verbose style grates.

Where’s The Equal Division Of Labor Between Liars?

Democrats, Journalism, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Media, Republicans

Am I correct to suspect, from perusing its “truth-o-meter statements,” that PolitiFact.com has a preference for certain “truths” over others?

The site is the winner of the prize establishment bores and boors give themselves: The Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

Just look at the Pulitzer winners over the years in the Commentary category. To borrow from a Camile-Paglia description: “catty, third-rate, wannabe sorority queens; empty vessels,” all. One pleasure of reading online is that one never has to see anything written by people like Maureen Dowd, Kathleen Parker, Eugene Robinson, Thomas Friedman and Cynthia Tucker! “I ignore their hypertext like spam for penis extenders.”

Back to PolitFact. I would think that in the Demopublican confederacy of knaves, members of both parties would feature equally as liars, but are lie detectors biased too?

It doesn’t look like it from the latest statements PolitiFact.com has reviewed. I could be wrong, but practically everything bad said about Obamacare is marked as a false statement.

A Professor Who Doesn’t Pander

Economy, Education, English, Internet, Journalism, Media, Pseudoscience

Still a tad mild for my liking, but far better than any “critique” provided in mainstream media is Tyler Cowen’s assessment of Nate Silver’s “data-driven journalism.” In “Nate Silver’s 538 is up and running,” Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University, writes wryly:

… to me these are “tweener” pieces, too superficial for smart and informed readers, yet on topics which are too abstruse for the more casual readers. … Here is Silver’s introductory essay as to what they are about. It is too sprawling and evinces a greater affiliation to rigor with data analysis than to rigor with philosophy of science or for that matter rigor with rhetoric.

In Cowen we may have a rare professor who doesn’t pander to annoying Millennials.