Mainstream Media

WPRO Shaking it Up

By Marc Comtois | February 16, 2011 |

Our corporate overlords are shaking up their lineup. Jeff Derderian at GoLocalProv broke the news:John DePetro who currently holds down the 6am till 10am slot is said to have a major deal in play that could include a nationally syndicated show down the line. Details of what that national show may be are not being…

ProJo Blames Conservatives in Congress for Complicated Taxes

By Marc Comtois | February 11, 2011 |

The ProJo Editors came out against tax fiddling and focused on a couple areas of “trouble” related to taxation and the implementation of President Obama’s health care program. They think that the 2.3% tax on medical devices is no big deal because the manufacturers of said devices make a lot of money now and will…

One Man’s Left-of-Center Is Another Man’s Far Left

By Justin Katz | February 3, 2011 |

Really, what could we say about RI House Speaker Gordon Fox’s appointment of Rep. Edith Ajello as Chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee that would surprise anybody or that would have any effect on anybody’s opinion? The state’s political leadership is zagging when it needs to zig, and she’s a strong indication of it. The labels…

The Journal‘s Us and Them

By Justin Katz | January 24, 2011 |

Did you happen to catch this front-page story in last Sunday’s Providence Journal? On Friday, three former governors and several professors of communications and political science offered varying opinions about whether Chafee had made the right decision, as well as some historical perspective on discourse — civil and otherwise — in American democracy. Not a…

Some Guy Named Chafee, On the Remedy to Bad Discussion

By Carroll Andrew Morse | January 14, 2011 |

Professor Zechariah Chafee ended Chapter 5 of Government and Mass Communications, the chapter on “Group Libel” and its possible remedies, with this passage…When wise men refuse to mention disagreeable facts, foolish and stupid men will have their say more than ever. The responsible leaders of the press ought frankly to face the facts of group…

Some Guy Named Chafee, on Relations Between Government and Mass Media

By Carroll Andrew Morse | January 13, 2011 |

For further examination of Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee’s decision to not allow state officials to participate in (certain aspects) of talk radio, let us turn towards a figure from another era, widely revered for his ideas on the subject of government and mass communication. The individual to whom I refer is the renowned First…

Day Late and a Dollar Short: ProJo & Harrop Decide Now is the time to Blame Tea Party and Conservatives for Tucson

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2011 |

After the meme has all but been destroyed, the ProJo editors and columnist Froma Harrop (one in the same?) have thrown in their lot with the “blame the right wing/tea party for Tucson” crowd. The editors: While there has been some menacing left-wing rhetoric (the left was particularly extreme in its attacks on George W.…

Timely Embargo Coverage of MA District Four Race by MA PBS

By Monique Chartier | January 8, 2011 |

In July, 2009, the dining room table told three college-aged PBS interviewers that I’m tired, and I think . . . it’d be nice to have some free time, not have to read a lot of stuff I don’t care about. One would have thought that the easy solution was for Congressman Frank to simply…

Cherry Kerr-y

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2010 |

It feels uncharitable, somehow, to respond seriously to this column by Bob Kerr, but then it would have to be uncharitable to read him seriously in the first place. Neil Diamond has just been named to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. What’s next — Sarah Palin on the short list for the National…

Truth-O-Meter, Pants on Fire

By Justin Katz | December 24, 2010 |

The Wall Street Journal doesn’t give PolitiFact a grade, but one suspects it wouldn’t even reach the level of “half true”: So the watchdog news outfit called PolitiFact has decided that its “lie of the year” is the phrase “a government takeover of health care.” Ordinarily, lies need verbs and we’d leave the media criticism…