Author Archive
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Politics
Bloomberg to Press: Write What You’re Told
January 18, 2007 03:44 PMYou're mayor of New York City. It's the day before your annual "State of the City" address. You want certain aspects of your speech to be teased in the next morning's papers, but you don't want a bunch of outside... Continue reading
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Behind the News
The Perils of Compassion Fatigue
January 17, 2007 12:46 PMThe fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is swiftly approaching. According to a recent Pentagon assessment, attacks against American and Iraqi targets averaged almost 960 a week this past summer and fall. The death toll for U.S.... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Have Video, Will Air It
January 10, 2007 12:00 PMHey, TV news producers and reporters: Absurd amateur video footage does not a news story make. All three networks (plus cable) recently aired a "story" -- we'll call it, for now, TiggerGate -- that has left us... Continue reading
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Behind the News
We Report (What Pat Robertson Says God Told Him), You Decide
January 3, 2007 05:12 PMFor cable news, it was a gift from the gods (or, rather from God, via televangelist Pat Robertson) -- an eye-grabbing "story" for cable anchors to reference all day today, handy for filling minute after minute of air time, summarized... Continue reading
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Campaign Desk
Newsweek Ignores Its Own Poll, Launches ‘08 Race
December 20, 2006 12:47 PMIn the thick of Jonathan Alter’s Newsweek cover story this week -- headline, “The Race Is On. Obama & Hillary Are Already Squaring Off Over 2008. But is America Ready For Either One?” -- comes this paragraph (emphasis ours):... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Jesus Christ, Cover Star
December 14, 2006 01:35 PMIt's that time of year again for the newsweeklies: Christ-as-Cover-Boy time. Jesus, of course, is as reliably evergreen a cover subject as they come -- ever-mysterious, ever-controversial -- and one that, naturally, pops up annually on newsstands... Continue reading
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Politics
“Boomlets” Abound at New York Mag
December 6, 2006 01:10 PMThis week, New York magazine's John Heilemann reports on what he dubs the "[Michael] Bloomberg 2008 boomlet," contributing to said boomlet with a cover story pronouncing that Bloomberg is "serious" about a presidential run in '08 (he sure looks... Continue reading
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The Audit
“Bad News” Media Strike Again
November 28, 2006 04:48 PMChris Matthews’ end-of-program, seated-upon-a-stool Sunday musings on NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show (recent quote: “Celebrity, celebrity, it's crawling all over me … I don't care. I do not care that Tom Cruise jumps up and down on Oprah's couch”). Andy... Continue reading
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Behind the News
More Evidence That Non-Stop News Is Win-Win
November 22, 2006 03:46 PMIt's the day before Thanksgiving, which means that cable news channels are running a continuous loop of generally useless day-before-Thanksgiving travel reports, all of which can be summarized -- as they can every year - pretty much as follows: Driving?... Continue reading
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The Audit
“Envy Malaise” Grips Awestruck Journalists
November 22, 2006 12:00 PMWith Thanksgiving nigh, let us take a break from the journo-scolding for a moment to give thanks for something that American journalism is doing well of late: allocating resources to examining the ways in which the bottom of the top... Continue reading
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Behind the News
A Fistfight (or Two) a Day
November 16, 2006 05:17 PMA week after the midterms and it's back to business on cable news -- the business of beat-downs, that is. It's a fistfight a day on CNN, which has "covered" (i.e., run incessant video footage of, coupled... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Why Are These Two Men Still Talking?
November 7, 2006 03:40 PMAs predicted back on October 25, we had not then seen the last of McAuliffe v. Mehlman (in which television news producers invite the former head of the Democratic National Committee -- Terry McAuliffe --and the current head of... Continue reading
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Behind the News
A Day’s Worth of BotchedJokeGate Coverage on CNN
November 3, 2006 12:19 PMThe sheer volume of coverage devoted this week to Sen. John Kerry's "botched joke" has been stunning, even to our jaded eyes. To maintain our sanity, we'll break off a small chunk of the problem and focus... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Friedman’s French Friend Stages Intervention
November 1, 2006 02:49 PMThomas L. Friedman is frustrated. And Friedman's frustration festers throughout his New York Times column today -- titled, we kid you not, "The Taxi Driver." Who can blame him? There he was, doing his usual thing, having... Continue reading
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The Audit
Some Jerk Discovers Nice People in Offices
October 26, 2006 04:36 PMLast week, the Christian Science Monitor's Marilyn Gardner broke the news (and it came as news to us) that, "At Work, 'Nice' is On the Rise." (Seems it also came as news -- or at least seemed newsworthy --... Continue reading
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Politics
Crossfire on the Today Show Plaza
October 25, 2006 03:52 PMFor producers of television news shows everywhere: Exhibit A for Why Not to Invite the Heads of the Republican and Democratic National Committees (Or Their Equivalents) On Your Show to "Talk" About the Upcoming Election/s (in the form... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Wired Scribe Tells How He Busted A MySpace Sex Offender
October 20, 2006 02:18 PMKevin Poulsen is a senior editor at Wired News where he has covered MySpace, computer security, and blogging, among other topics. Poulsen joined Wired News in May 2005 after five years as the editorial director of SecurityFocus, a Web-based... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Al Roker Sure Loves His “Man Candy”
October 18, 2006 01:55 PMMany a television newsman has had a signature phrase, whether it's a unique sign-off or a particular expression that viewers come to associate with him. Could Al Roker's be ..."man candy?" Yesterday, Roker, of NBC's Today... Continue reading
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Behind the News
How Do You Photograph the Amish? Let Us Count the Ways
October 12, 2006 04:30 PMLast week, as details of the murders at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania were still unfolding, a CJR Daily reader wrote to us wondering whether "all the photogs flocking to the scene know" that the Amish believe that... Continue reading
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Behind the News
Who Are the Amish? Daily News Shows; Post Calls
October 3, 2006 03:26 PMDoes it matter? Does it really matter for readers if a reporter, covering a side-bar-type story to a main news event, actually goes to the scene, talks to involved parties, observes the setting with her own eyes -- versus phoning... Continue reading
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