Monthly Archive

January 2006

• Politics

  Handicapping the State of the Union Address In advance of the president's speech, the press produced endless (and pointless) State of the Union preview pieces.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 31, 2006 06:05 PM

• The Audit

  Fortune Pumps Oil Fears, Rich Sources Get Richer A Fortune correspondent warns readers to be "Be very afraid" of $262/barrel oil.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 31, 2006 05:36 PM

• Behind the News

  On Oprah, Frey, Henri-Levy and Unreal Reality Shows With Oprah flaying James Frey alive on nationwide TV late last week, "truthiness" is in the air.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 31, 2006 11:54 AM Comments (3)

• Behind the News

  With Echo Company of the Second Marine Division FALLUJAH, IRAQ - The "media tent" at Camp Fallujah may be nothing more than a couple of dusty bunk beds with muddy pillows, but the chow isn't half bad.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 30, 2006 05:27 PM

• Behind the News

  The Crimson Whips the Big Boys Harvard's student newspaper gets the real story about the resignation of the school's Dean of the Faculty - and beats the AP and Boston Globe.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 30, 2006 04:09 PM

• Behind the News

  The Woodruff Story: Snark Takes a Rest, Anger Doesn’t Bloggers debate the press coverage of the attack on ABC's anchor and cameraman and the impact their injuries might have on the network.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 30, 2006 11:59 AM

• The Audit

  Time Turns Ford to Fluff, But the Story’s Pretty Good It's a tough time for automakers. Ditto for newsweeklies. But when a reporter from Time sat down with an executive from Ford Motor Co., the results were surprisingly ... not so grim.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 28, 2006 01:58 PM

• Behind the News, The Water Cooler

  Alastair Macdonald on Iraqi Journalists Finally Freed Reuters' Iraq bureau chief discusses the U.S. military's months-long detention of three Iraqi journalists, and their release earlier this month.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 27, 2006 05:33 PM

• Politics

  AP Spots Another U.S. Politician in Europe! Those pesky Associated Press correspondents who trail American politicians around Europe, eager for a non-scoop about the 2008 presidential race, are up to their old tricks.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 27, 2006 04:47 PM

• Behind the News

  A Dwindling Corps in a Volatile, Battered City BAGHDAD, IRAQ - As media outlets pull out of Iraq, the journalists that remain are a hardened bunch, angry at their inability to move around - and becoming increasingly isolated.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 27, 2006 12:36 PM

• The Audit

  News Corp. Has a Problem, Fox News Keeps Mum In the recently announced merger of the WB and UPN networks, News Corp. appears to be the loser - and Fox News isn't reporting it.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 26, 2006 04:48 PM

• Politics

  Left Heaps Scorn on Times, Right Heaps Same on Stein Bloggers mock the New York Times for calling for a filibuster of Samuel Alito and attack a Los Angeles Times columnist for writing that he doesn't support the troops.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 26, 2006 02:59 PM Comments (1)

• Politics

  Couric Leads With Chin, Then With Butt Katie Couric conspicuously failed to explain to her audience the specifics of the Abramoff scandal in a segment this morning -- and then changed the subject to the human anatomy.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 26, 2006 01:54 PM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  The Orange County Register Gets It Right A riveting examination of a decades-old murder reminds us that newspapers, if they're willing to devote the time and resources, can still bring us gripping narratives.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 26, 2006 11:11 AM

• The Audit

  Yahoo! Throws In the Towel - Or Not Is Yahoo! conceding the Internet search market to Google? Bloggers argue over the meaning of a quote from the Yahoo! CFO.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 25, 2006 03:11 PM

• Behind the News

  “The Party’s Pretty Much Over” BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Chivalry and black-framed glasses may fly in New York City, but it's a different game in Baghdad.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 25, 2006 12:52 PM

• The Audit

  Financial Journo Watches Stock Ticker - and Needs a Tissue The financial press often seems to cater to the short-term trading community at the expense of comprehensive reporting.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 24, 2006 04:02 PM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  Osama’s Return, Bush’s ‘Third Term,’ And One Long History Lesson The nation's magazines take a look at the latest tape from Osama bin Laden, next week's State of the Union address, and a president not named Bush.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 24, 2006 03:39 PM Comments (2)

• Politics

  Time Pulls a Big Tease On Us The magazine gets a look at some photos of Jack Abramoff with President Bush – but do the pictures confirm the sort of relationship the White House has denied?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 24, 2006 10:43 AM Comments (3)

• Behind the News

  The Jill Carroll Watch Three days after her kidnappers' stated deadline for her execution passed, all is quiet on the Jill Carroll front.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 23, 2006 02:36 PM Comments (1)

• The Audit

  ABC Probes Porn Industry, Fails to Satisfy The network takes a look at the shady industry's revenues, but gets cold feet when it comes to giving any answers.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 20, 2006 05:40 PM

• Behind the News, The Water Cooler

  George Solomon on ESPN, Redskins Fans and Petitions "I don't remember Edward R. Murrow ever saying 'Boo-yah!' in one of his commentaries or in one of his reports. You know, let's talk about Joe McCarthy ... Boo-yah!"

  By Felix Gillette

  January 20, 2006 05:16 PM

• Politics

  Asking the Wrong Questions About Abramoff Why doesn't the press seem very interested in looking into Jack Abramoff's contacts with the White House?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 20, 2006 03:59 PM Comments (2)

• Behind the News

  Getting Out of Baghdad Is As Hard As Getting In BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- For reporters, Iraq turns out to be a very small world

  By Paul McLeary

  January 20, 2006 11:11 AM

• Politics

  Thudding Mallet Attacks Velvet Hammer How many times does the president have to deny that Laura Bush is running for office before the AP decides it might not actually be a story?

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 19, 2006 05:07 PM

• The Audit

  Marriage Boosts Income, Says Media Because Someone Said It On a slow news day, reporting on the results of some scientific study or another - no matter how silly - can make for quick, easy filler.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 19, 2006 04:04 PM

• Politics

  Waiting for CNN to Burst Into Flames Like poking a stick into a beehive, CNN's announcement that it had hired conservative radio host Glenn Beck to host a show had bloggers riled up.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 19, 2006 02:14 PM Comments (1)

• Politics

  Reports on Wiretapping Suits Leave Us on Hold What, exactly, are the motivations of the plaintiffs in a case against the federal government over the NSA's domestic wiretapping program?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 19, 2006 11:50 AM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  Neil Cavuto Doesn’t Look Any Better from Iraq BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Camp Stryker is a place where travel plans go to die

  By Paul McLeary

  January 19, 2006 10:49 AM

• The Audit

  Who Needs a Brochure When We Have the New York Times? In an article about two new obesity drugs, the paper omits a crucial detail about one of its sources.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 18, 2006 04:57 PM

• Behind the News

  Press Takes a Pass on CAFTA The Central American Free Trade Agreement, the most important trade agreement of Bush's presidency, is well behind schedule. So why isn't the press paying attention?

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 18, 2006 03:49 PM

• Politics

  Coverage of Al’s Speech Gets Gore’d While the White House rallied to criticize Al Gore for his remarks attacking the administration, bloggers rallied to criticize the media's coverage of the speech.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 18, 2006 02:49 PM Comments (5)

• Behind the News

  Further Adventures in (Attempted) Embedding "I hate how the media is covering this war," a Kellogg Brown & Root contractor at the Kuwait airport snarled when he found out I was a journalist.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 18, 2006 11:49 AM

• The Audit

  Times to Expose “Bloggers With Fingers” The paper invents a non-trend: business travelers who don't blog!

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 18, 2006 11:03 AM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  Dispatches from Iraq All the entries in Paul McLeary's series

  By Paul McLeary

  January 17, 2006 01:41 PM

• Behind the News

  Lunching with Huey, Skiing with Bode and Riding a Wholphin Kurt Anderson ponders the future of magazines while Time and Newsweek cover a skier-turned-author and a new DVD magazine falls short.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 17, 2006 01:34 PM

• Behind the News

  Kuwait, Coffee, and C-130’s CJR Daily’s correspondent, on his way to Baghdad, gets a military-sanctioned tour of Kuwait City - including plenty of Starbucks franchises.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 17, 2006 11:25 AM Comments (2)

• Politics

  Bloggers Read Ralph the Riot Act While some conservatives are casting Ralph Reed out over his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, bloggers are welcoming him into their warm embrace.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 16, 2006 02:16 PM Comments (1)

• Politics

  Reporter Spots Hanging Curve Ball, Hits Home Run When the White House announced Thursday that the federal deficit would top $400 billion, only one reporter remembered his history - and cut through the spin.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 13, 2006 05:27 PM

• The Audit

  Mysterious Company Remains a Mystery Despite all that has been written about the Lincoln Group and its PR contracts with the Pentagon, we still don't know much about the company.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 13, 2006 04:59 PM Comments (2)

• Behind the News, The Water Cooler

  Gabriel Sherman on Getting Thin-Skinned Journalists to Talk The New York Observer reporter talks about cracking the New York Times and Conde Nast, and getting linked by Romenesko.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 13, 2006 04:30 PM

• Behind the News

  And Now, a Few Golden Oldies from 1998! The Washington Times reprints another paper's 7-year-old editorial to make a point about the Iraq war. So what, exactly, was the Times itself publishing on that same day?

  By Felix Gillette

  January 12, 2006 12:39 PM

• Politics

  Saved by the Sobs Bloggers want to know: Were Martha-Ann Bomgardner's tears during her Supreme Court nominee-husband's confirmation hearings for real, or staged for effect?

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 12, 2006 12:06 PM

• The Audit

  New York Times Covers Chrysler Corporation - With Praise and Love The paper's breathless account of Chrysler's publicity stunt explains why fewer corporations are buying newspaper advertising - why pay when you can get it for free?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 11, 2006 04:57 PM

• Politics

  On Alito, Blogging from the Right and White-on-White Magazine Mastheads The Alito nomination may fall low on the public's list of priorities, but it's tip-top on the list of many a blogger this week, proving once again that bloggers are not like regular people.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 11, 2006 12:56 PM

• Behind the News

  Facing Subpoenas, Reporters Medicate Selves The New York-named weeklies have some scary news for members of the media, and a Time reporter decides to practice "performance-enhanced journalism."

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 10, 2006 02:54 PM

• The Audit

  Sometimes There’s a Fine Line Between Malfeasance and Myth A former top executive at Wal-Mart apparently fabricated widely reported allegations of an anti-union program at the company. Did the media create the perception that his allegations were true?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 10, 2006 12:59 PM

• Behind the News

  Times Dogged About Dog Days Coverage While the paper has been beaten on some big scoops lately, it dominated what was undoubtedly the biggest story out of D.C. last week - the publication of a former blogger's first novel.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 9, 2006 06:36 PM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  Down the Rabbit Hole For the most part the story of the West Virginia mining tragedy is not a political one, so comments about press performance are, for once, not filtered through a political prism. What results is a revelation.

  By Steve Lovelady

  January 9, 2006 03:17 PM

• Behind the News

  To Be Or Not to Be: Does It Even Matter? Who is JT Leroy? A critically acclaimed young fiction writer noted for his "stark portrayal of child prostitution and drug use" -- or a cruel composite hoax?

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 9, 2006 03:07 PM

• The Audit

  Woe, Woe Is Pfizer, Says the Journal The paper reports that the pharmaceutical giant is in trouble. But the evidence that the Journal presents doesn't back that up.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 7, 2006 03:48 PM

• Politics, The Water Cooler

  Franklin Foer on the Blogosphere’s War on the Media The New Republic writer discusses why liberal bloggers are helping destroy the credibility of media outlets, and questions about the new management of the Wall Street Journal.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 6, 2006 05:50 PM Comments (8)

• Politics

  Surprise - Palestinians Revile Sharon Stories about "the Arab street" don't tell us anything we don't already know.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 6, 2006 05:25 PM Comments (3)

• Behind the News

  Anonymice Plague the Shallow, the Vacuous and the Vain, Too Three anonymous sources who claimed an enemy of Paris Hilton "went berserk" and is "losing her looks" turn out to be - surprise! - Hilton herself.

  By Felix Gillette

  January 6, 2006 12:30 PM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  “World News Tonight” Fails to Implode, Critics Disappointed Media watchers ponder whether "kiddos" Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff have the requisite "gravitas" to carry ABC's flagship newscast, which they began hosting Tuesday.

  By Liz Cox Barrett

  January 6, 2006 10:44 AM

• Behind the News

  “If Your Mother Says She Loves You, Check It Out” If there's one lesson to be learned from press coverage of the Sago Mine tragedy, it's that the faster a news outlet admits fault, the better.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 5, 2006 03:42 PM

• Politics

  Is the NSA Wiretapping Reporters? Andrea Mitchell asks some curious questions that suggest at least one journalist may have been caught up in a recently disclosed domestic eavesdropping program.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 5, 2006 12:48 PM Comments (1)

• The Audit

  Two Thumbs Down For Coverage of the Movie Industry Members of the media have greatly exaggerated rumors of Hollywood's impending demise.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 4, 2006 05:33 PM

• Behind the News

  How the Press Got the Sago Story Wrong Media outlets relied on unconfirmed rumor in reporting a happy ending to what turned out to be a tragedy. Is printing guesswork standard operating procedure at our nation's newspapers?

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 4, 2006 01:59 PM Comments (3)

• Behind the News

  Bill O’Reilly and Microsoft: Both 60 Percent Crap David Letterman takes on Bill O'Reilly and Microsoft takes down Chinese bloggers.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 4, 2006 12:39 PM Comments (1)

• The Audit

  The Journal Provides Yet Another Senseless Survey The new year brings us the annual crop of silly stories making flawed predictions about the state of the economy during the next 12 months.

  By Edward B. Colby

  January 4, 2006 10:46 AM

• Politics

  Torture, Spying, Bureaucratic Dystopia - They’re Not Just for Newsrooms Any More! A must-read report on the realities on the ground in Iraq, arguments about democracy in the Middle East, and a look at John Bolton's tenure as ambassador to the U.N.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 3, 2006 01:06 PM Comments (1)

• The Audit

  One Old House Tells a Sad, but Good, Story It is not easy to humanize something as abstract as the real estate market, but the New York Times managed to do exactly that.

  By Gal Beckerman

  January 2, 2006 05:11 PM Comments (1)

• Behind the News

  Calame Wants Answers, Bloggers Want More On Sunday, the New York Times' public editor came out swinging over the paper's handling of its wiretapping story, and bloggers were quick to add their own opinions.

  By Paul McLeary

  January 2, 2006 02:13 PM Comments (1)

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