Ricks is entitled to his opinion, of course. However it's important to notice that Ricks' claim that MSNBC is "just like Fox, but not as good at it" isn't backed up by any rational explanation as to why that might be so. Frankly it makes Ricks look mighty clueless.
Many people of all stripes have noticed that the "FOX News" channel, and Rupert Murdoch's media empire in general works like an arm of the GOP. It's common knowledge. There's a lot of corroborating evidence to back up Ricks' claim about FOX, but not about MSNBC. Just having former GOP boss Michael Steele as a major contributor makes MSNBC a lot closer to "fair and balanced" than FOX has ever attempted to be.
There is some data here w.r.t. the election campaign which I came across recently. One dimension (as noticed by some conservative outlets/bloggers):
Ricks is entitled to his opinion, of course. However it's important to notice that Ricks' claim that MSNBC is "just like Fox, but not as good at it" isn't backed up by any rational explanation as to why that might be so. Frankly it makes Ricks look mighty clueless.
Many people of all stripes have noticed that the "FOX News" channel, and Rupert Murdoch's media empire in general works like an arm of the GOP. It's common knowledge. There's a lot of corroborating evidence to back up Ricks' claim about FOX, but not about MSNBC. Just having former GOP boss Michael Steele as a major contributor makes MSNBC a lot closer to "fair and balanced" than FOX has ever attempted to be.
An Associated Press report by a journalist with a reputation for speculative and misleading coverage of Iran’s nuclear program claims that a shoddy Iranian diagram, leaked by “a country critical of Iran’s atomic program” suggests the Islamic Republic is working on a nuclear weapon.
“The diagram was leaked by officials from a country critical of Iran’s atomic program to bolster their arguments that Iran’s nuclear program must be halted before it produces a weapon,” reports George Jahn. “The officials provided the diagram only on condition that they and their country not be named.”
Jahn provides anonymity to the leakers of the diagram, who even he admits are biased against Iran, not in order to protect them from punishment but to protect them from being held accountable to public scrutiny.
The diagram is proof of nothing except that Iranian nuclear scientists may be doing nuclear work and possess knowledge of the processes.
(...)
The IAEA and Israeli officials have openly acknowledged in recent weeks that Iran has been diverting significant portions of its enriched uranium for use in medical research for cancer treatment, a process that is irreversible and demonstrates Iran’s credibility in its consistent statements that its enrichment of uranium is not for weapons but for peaceful purposes.
The debate about a nuclear threat from Iran is mostly fabricated. Western leaders don’t much care about weapons proliferation per se: the real concern, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says, is allowing Iran to enter a “zone of immunity” wherein it can deter attack or invasion. The US and Israel, according to this thinking, must be able to bomb Iran without concern for retaliation.
Obama has refused to launch a military strike on Iran’s non-existent weapons program, but he has given in to Israeli pressure to impose economic warfare on Iran. After extremely severe economic sanctions on Iran’s oil and banking sectors, Iranian civilians are being subjected to high unemployment, rampant inflation and food shortages, and even dramatically less access to vital pharmaceuticals and medical treatment. Some estimate the sanctions could end up killing tens of thousands of Iranians.
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative.
BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned on Saturday, just two months into the job, after the state-funded broadcaster put out a program denounced by the corporation's chairman as shoddy journalism.
'tis the season for people falling on their sword...
BBC Director General George Entwistle resigned on Saturday, just two months into the job, after the state-funded broadcaster put out a program denounced by the corporation's chairman as shoddy journalism.
'tis the season for people falling on their sword...
Barbara Starr, CNN's Pentagon reporter (more accurately known as: the Pentagon's reporter at CNN), has an exciting exclusive today. Exclusively relying upon "three senior officials" in the Obama administration (all anonymous, needless to say), she claims that "two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed US Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week," while "the drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait . . . engaged in routine maritime surveillance." The drone was not hit, but, says CNN, "the incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes."
First things first: let us pause for a moment to extend our thoughts and prayers to this US drone. Although it was not physically injured, being shot at by the Iranians - while it was doing nothing other than peacefully minding its own business - must have been a very traumatic experience. I think I speak on behalf of everyone, regardless of political views, when I say that we all wish this brave hero a speedy recovery and hope it is back in full health soon, protecting our freedom. (...)
On the CNN homepage right now that word shows up 3 times with links to three separate articles. Given the balance of events right now, I'd hardly call that burying the lead. Sorry if your conspiracy vendetta isn't getting the traction you want right now.
(...) Apparently, the insurgent groups just aren't very media savvy, according to Mullah Yahya, a former high-ranking Afghan Information Ministry official, who spoke with The Daily Beast's Sami Yousafzai. “First of all, attempting to kill a 14-year-old girl is a low act,” he said. “Second, claiming responsibility for it is a sign that the Taliban are not aware of the media’s importance. I have seen more anger against the religious elements in the past week than in all my 40 years of life.” So here's to you, Pakistani press. You've defied the all-too-common media trap of false equivalence.
Seen a man standing over a dead dog By the highway in a ditch Lookin' down kind of troubled, pokin' that dog with a stick Got his car door flung open Out on Highway 61 Like if he stands there long enough That dog'd up and run . . .
Numerous commentators (including me) were complimentary of the performance of Martha Raddatz as the moderator of Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate. She was assertive, asked mostly substantive questions, and covered substantial ground in 90 minutes. That's all true enough, but the questions she asked reveal something significant about American journalism in general and especially its pretense of objectivity. (...)
Although embassies are considered sovereign soil of the nation that uses them, by treaty it's the responsibility of the nation that contains these embassies. While it's quite a stretch, the fact of the matter is that, through a very long chain of command, President Obama is ultimately the boss of the US Secret Service, whose uniformed division protects the embassies in conjunction with the DC Metro Police. President Obama has no control over the DC Metro Police. Besides, no embassies in Washington DC were attacked on 9-11.
