Mainstream Media

Hashing out New Media/Old Media Roles

By Marc Comtois | January 4, 2009 |

Justin explained in his Newsmakers appearance one potential method by which the “old media”, newspapers (like the ProJo) in particular, could recalibrate and take advantage of the forum that bloggers provide (basically for free). To summarize, let the MSM focus on collecting news and the blogs deal with the discussion of the news . Glenn…

Feeding the Watchdog

By Justin Katz | January 2, 2009 |

And here, beginning in Connecticut, comes the reasoning that many suspected would arise for a mainstream media bailout: “I truly believe that no democracy can remain healthy without an equally healthy press,” said Fiedler, now dean of Boston University’s College of Communication. “Thus it is in democracy’s interest to support the press in the same…

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Run for Office

By Justin Katz | January 1, 2009 |

Is it me, or is the continued media harassment of the Palin clan beginning to seem like a more general warning: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says her future son-in-law is not a high school dropout as the press is reporting. … Palin said some media outlets also are erroneously reporting that her 18-year-old daughter, Bristol,…

Keeping an Eye on Content

By Justin Katz | December 30, 2008 |

Dan Yorke took the opportunity of the seasonal downtime on his radio show to turn back to an op-ed by Tim Giago published in the Providence Journal a couple of weeks ago: About 14 years ago I attended a convention of the National Newspaper Association in New York. The publishers of all of the major…

Pro-Obama Media Bias

By Monique Chartier | December 29, 2008 |

In response to assertions by commenters under Justin’s post “All The Difference from D to R” that no bias exists in the press, below are two studies conducted just before the election which demonstrate otherwise. An MSNBC article of October 31 cites the Center for Media and Public Affairs. Comments made by sources, voters, reporters…

All The Difference from D to R

By Justin Katz | December 29, 2008 |

Michelle Malkin marks an early example of the can’t-make-this-stuff-up media bias that conservatives will no doubt make a regular pastime of spotting over the next few years: Sighed smitten reporter Eli Zaslow, “The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball…

Insertion of a Legacy

By Justin Katz | December 5, 2008 |

I may be reading too much into this, but it strikes me as odd that some versions of this AP report of good news in Iraq contain Obama’s name, but none (that I’ve found) contain Bush’s: Attacks fell in November to their lowest monthly level since the Iraq war began in 2003, a top U.S.…

ProJo Administers Both Pink Slip and Red Pen

By Monique Chartier | December 2, 2008 |

In an exclusive at Not For Nothing, Ian Donnis has learned not only the identity of the editorial writer laid off at the Providence Journal – David A. Mittell, Jr. – but that the ProJo refused to print his last column, which was critical of how newspapers have been operated in recent years. At what…

The Scars of Top Marks

By Justin Katz | December 1, 2008 |

Yeah, I get that the top-of-page story on today’s Rhode Island section is more of a departing profile than report on the state’s conservation efforts — even if the title is “Federal conservationist gives Rhode Island Top Marks” — but a word about the costs of some of what Roylene Rides at the Door applauds…

The Shackles of PCism

By Justin Katz | November 17, 2008 |

Here’s a jarring line from a story about the ongoing battle between reporters and the corrupt in Russia (emphasis added): “Beketov has lost a leg and is still in a coma, but that is not all — threatening calls were also made to the hospital where he was taken,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Violence against…