Mainstream Media

Re: Bizarro Beauty Pageant World

By Justin Katz | May 12, 2009 |

What caught my eye about the Miss USA story that Marc mentioned earlier was this line from an unattributed Providence Journal “staff” report: Prejean created controversy when, during the live pageant broadcast, she gave her philosophy of marriage. Not “confronted.” Not even “caused.” “Created.” Out of the thin air of a perfectly benign question, Miss…

Giving Whitehouse an Easy Go

By Justin Katz | April 18, 2009 |

Although Arlene Violet subsequently whacked him with a great question about using stimulus money to suppress changes to teachers’ healthcare benefits, I’m very disappointed that the Newsmakers gang let Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse ramble on with this partisan mumbo-jumbo for three minutes: I think it’s sort of an ironic moment on this subject, and particularly to…

Re: The CNN Reporter Just Couldn’t Stand the Opposing Views

By Monique Chartier | April 18, 2009 |

Mark Steyn’s take. (Heaven knows we need a free press and nosy reporters. But that’s not license to be as stunningly misinformed as this woman.) Well, for a start, let’s say she’s missing the point. The guy was right. Taxes are a liberty issue. When she stands there and she says oh, but you’re going…

The CNN Reporter Just Couldn’t Stand the Opposing Views

By Justin Katz | April 17, 2009 |

In the seven years or so since Fox News came on the scene in a real big way, the back and forth about which station is conservative and which is liberal has become redundant, and it’s rare that examples are interesting, but an email from Our Country Deserves Better PAC highlights a telling scene. Here…

Don’t Let Them Convince You That It Was Something That It Wasn’t

By Justin Katz | April 16, 2009 |

This is a topic that I intend to consider from a couple of angles for some posts tomorrow, but it’s worth making the general suggestion that attempts by various folks to define yesterday’s tea party in Providence as something that it wasn’t, or in a light that doesn’t really apply, suggests that they just don’t…

Fitzpatrick Not for Censorship

By Justin Katz | April 3, 2009 |

Ed Fitzpatrick has emailed to correct my impression that he would prefer the Supreme Court to make a narrow ruling that bans Hillary: the Movie: “I am totally against banning this film.” I had read the “narrow ruling” sentence as suggesting one that would ensnare this movie without enabling the broad control that the cited…

The Sides Stay the Same on Abuse

By Justin Katz | April 2, 2009 |

The headline splash: “Catholic bishops warned in ’50s on abusive priests.” The story describes some correspondence from Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald, who founded the Servants of the Paraclete to assist clergy facing various personal difficulties with their vows, such as alcoholism, emotional issues, and (on the extreme end) abuse of children. In religious terms (“charity to…

Ed Fitzpatrick’s Pick-and-Choose Censorship

By Justin Katz | April 1, 2009 |

Most of us on the right have opposed campaign finance reform, as enacted, and it wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest that the issue cost McCain votes and good will for his bid for president. Folks on the left, particularly in the mainstream media, tend to have a sunnier view. Of course, media types tend to…

Justification for Being Upset?

By Justin Katz | March 31, 2009 |

In a comment to Harriet Lloyd’s Engaged Citizen piece decrying the lack of press coverage of Rhode Island Statewide Coalition’s recent meeting, an anonymous reader suggested: I don’t remember the Journal or any local papers covering any other special interest group’s “Annual Winter Meeting” either. Until that happens, I’m not sure you have much to…

A Step Towards State-Run Media in the US?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | March 24, 2009 |

This is a tad frightening…With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, [Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin] on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks… Cardin’s Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax…