Mainstream Media

A Battle of the Medias

By Justin Katz | January 15, 2010 |

I’m not entirely sure what it was, but I found hilarious Matt Allen’s tete-a-tete with Bill Rappleye about the latter’s performance during John Robitaille’s press conference announcing his GOP gubernatorial candidacy. Audio here. On the substance of the discussion, I sorta split the difference. On the one hand, Matt’s concern that Bill holds a personal…

ProJo Ideology Identified: Healthcarism

By Marc Comtois | January 13, 2010 |

With the ProJo editorial board’s endorsement of Martha Coakley for Senate, it’s become more apparent than ever that the ProJo editorial board has become a single-issue shill for health care reform at all costs. Most important to us is that she is the candidate most likely to carry on the work of the late Sen.…

What Good Are Judges’ Sales Pitches?

By Justin Katz | January 8, 2010 |

With the judiciary as important as it is, and with those who typically populate its benches being, by nature, somewhat less prominent, in the public eye, than politicians, the Providence Journal‘s series of profiles of the five people whom the Judicial Nominating Commission has passed along to Governor Carcieri as candidates to fill a state…

A Desperate Industry

By Justin Katz | January 7, 2010 |

Here’s an interesting tidbit, from the very last bullet paragraph, at the bottom of the page here: Times are tough for magazines and newspapers, and necessity still seems to be the mother of invention. The New York Times, in an apparent effort to increase readership and influence, has begun marketing aggressively to college students. This…

A New Year Begins…

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2010 |

… with the Providence Journal declaring itself part of the old, dead Rhode Island. Some of the paper’s journalists have been doing an admirable job of trying to cover Rhode Island as we all see it, but its list of “10 people to watch” in 2010 consists of: An arts entrepreneur A far left healthcare…

UPDATED: Is This News, Yet?

By Justin Katz | December 3, 2009 |

Just a quick note that the Climategate scandal has reached the level at which scientists are stepping down, and the only mention of the issue in our state’s environmentalism-besotted paper of record hasn’t been from its environment department, but in a letter to the editor. You know, it’s kind of like that scene in Men…

It’s Dying, but It’s Not What They Say It Is

By Justin Katz | December 2, 2009 |

Zooming the camera back from the Providence Journal’s reluctance to expose some questionable science behind the global climate change panic, John Nolte argues that the death throes of the mainstream media were self inflicted: A non-partisan, unbiased news media simply doesn’t exist anymore. All that remains of this once somewhat respectable profession are two kinds…

With Time, the Truth About Healthcare Is Coming Out

By Justin Katz | November 29, 2009 |

So, according to Rasmussen, public opinion on the Democrats’ healthcare plan is currently at 38% for, 56% against. The specifics are even less positive: Only 16% now believe passage of the plan will lead to lower health care costs. Nearly four times as many (60%) believe the plan will increase health care costs. Most (54%)…

Climazdat

By Justin Katz | November 26, 2009 |

In a sense, it oughtn’t be surprising, but it does seem as if the degree is notching up, and each step is shocking: Even some among the better informed among the folks with whom I interact on a daily basis (who are, to be sure, less well informed than even the most disengaged among readers…

Continued Advocacy

By Justin Katz | November 15, 2009 |

As expected, the Providence Journal Sunday edition marks the fourth out of the last five days that the gay-funeral/governor-veto story has landed on the front page, this time with the personal story, by Randal Edgar, of Mark Goldberg, one of the advocates for the legislation. Goldberg’s experience with the current law was terrible — so…