Media Matters has an amusing compilation of Fox News reactions to $4 a gallon gasoline in 2008, when George W. Bush was in office, and its reactions today, when Barack Obama is.
2008:
2012:
Back then, gas prices were based on global supply and demand issues at Fox, but now you’d think Obama single-handedly fixes prices.
It’s incredibly dishonest to talk about how gas prices have doubled under Obama, while not mentioning how they went even higher under Bush. Obama came in during the worst months of a financial crisis and depression when demand had fallen off a cliff, oil prices had collapsed, and people were pricing in Armageddon.
That’s the definition of cherry-picking.
Meantime, oil and gas production have skyrocketed under Obama’s watch. That’s not because of him either, but you won’t hear those numbers and Obama mentioned in the same breath on Fox.
— Here’s a good post by Edward Benson, a programmer at MIT on a nonjournalist’s view of last week’s National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting conference. Here’s a snippet (emphasis is his):
The need for computer science as a liberal arts requirement. If ever I haveeen a good argument for computer science as a liberal arts requirement, going to NICAR was it. It was amazing and energizing to see the extent to which computers are enabling better reporting and storytelling. In some cases, surprising to see how programming has become an essential tool for some areas of reporting. In today’s world, knowing how to program better equips you to make sense of the information around you and communicate your findings to others.
The need for computer scientists to grok liberal arts. On the other hand, we as computer scientists need to be delivering tools — serious data crunching tools, visualization tools, curation tools, scraping tools — that are built for use by people who spend their days thinking about things other than computers. Because I want my local reporters to spend their days fact checking the good stories, not brushing up on Python.
— Speaking of Bloomberg weirdness, Chris Roush reports the company has a new terminal feature for its employees: A timer to clock their smoke breaks, lunches, and the like:
Whatever they do, they’ll be asked to time those breaks, according to the function on the Bloomberg terminal. It is not required that they use the function, but editor in chief Matthew Winkler suggested it “to encourage punctuality.”
That reminds me of a passage from Dean Starkman’s Matthew Winkler piece a few years back on paranoia in the Bloomberg newsroom:
Some reporters believe their movements are monitored to the extent that when they fail to touch their keyboard for fifteen minutes, a dot next to their name in the Bloomberg computer system shifts from green (meaning, basically, “logged in and active”) to yellow (for “idle”). This is technically true but in fact the dot system applies to all Bloomberg users, including customers. Winkler himself didn’t know the actual meaning of the yellow light when I asked him about it. Czelusniak says Bloomberg’s system is designed to allow staffers to get touch with each other quickly and to know, for instance, whether it’s worth messaging someone knowing they may not be at their desk.
That’s not because of him either, but you won’t hear those numbers and Obama mentioned in the same breath on Fox.
Especially if you don’t even bother to look for it.
Oil and gas production has increased during the Obama administration, though the trend began during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The increase has reversed a decline that began in 1986, and the agency projects that by 2020 oil production will reach a level not seen since 1994.
#1 Posted by Mike H, CJR on Wed 7 Mar 2012 at 10:49 AM
sorry, Mike,
AP wire copy on the website doesn't count
#2 Posted by Ryan Chittum, CJR on Wed 7 Mar 2012 at 12:08 PM
The only possible cause of the $4/gallon price of gas now versus $1/gallon in
March 2003:
The worldwide oil cartel of OPEC and its allies is the prime cause of the high
price of gas. The US government is unfortunately helping OPEC.
As the ongoing occupying power in Iraq, the US government directs and assists
all policies of the Iraq government, including its membership in OPEC.
The US government is apparently enforcing the cartel oil production quotas
in order to squeeze supply with the resulting skyrocketed oil prices. The US
has even kept the Iraqi oil production at its pre-invasion 2003 level instead of
increasing it.
Gasoline was $1 a gallon in early 2003 with no recession. It can be there again
to the benefit of the American public.
1. The OPEC oil cartel did not work well before 2003 because there were always
"cheaters" among their membership. The price of oil was about $20 a barrel.
2. The only power on earth able to enforce production quotas on OPEC and its
oil-producing allies is the U. S. government. The US govt got that legitimacy
in March 2003 when it occupied Iraq, including its membership in OPEC. An
occupying power takes over ALL policy functions of the occupied country.
3. Ever since March 2003 the oil production quotas have been enforced. In Iraq
the production today is about the same as in Hussein's day. Prices have
consequently skyrocketed four to six times.
4. The cartel prices have stayed up in the face of the worst recession since
the Great Depression.
5. The why: The US govt unfortunately is open to doing favors for powerful
financial special interests over the public's interest. Both the Bush and Obama
administrations have actively pursued the interest of Big Oil in American and
other firms/countries. They really don't care about the average person in the
U.S. or other countries.
6. The public has not been allowed to see any of the occupation policy
documents in Iraq. Time for the media to dig into those policy documents.
Sincerely,
Carl Olson
P. O. Box 6102
Woodland Hills, CA 91365
818-223-8080
#3 Posted by Carl Olson, CJR on Wed 7 Mar 2012 at 02:50 PM