Mainstream Media
Sometimes the wisdom of allowing the Providence Journal Business section to indulge in “commentary” isn’t at all apparent. Edward Mazze, for example, did just fine, yesterday, until he transitioned from business and economic statistics to education with the following paragraph: Based on the number of elementary and secondary schools in a state with a little…
By the by, I want to thank Charles Bakst for including us in his “Toolbox for Political Junkies.” Ideological differences being what they are, he didn’t have to give us the even-handed plug. (N.B. — This post is not an excuse to bash Bakst in the comments.)
Wow, conventions are BORING. I’m serious, whether it’s Dem or GOP. It’s all about preaching to the converted and talking points galore for a media obsessed with reporting on the spins and the spins of spins–and even trying to spin themselves–as well as the imagery, the pomp, the aesthetics, the show, the production, the message.…
I’ve essentially been “off the grid” for a few days, and I know Justin has mentioned the WPRO ratings thing (and I offered a quick, tangential comment to that post), but what initially disappointed (and irked) me, and continues too, is this: “It’s embarrassing all the way around,” John DePetro, 44, said last night. “I…
There’s something strikingly inappropriate about the Providence Journal’s top-of-the-front-page headline for this story: Biden adds foreign policy expertise to Obama ticket It’s arguably a factual statement, but it carries the strong subtext of: “Readers can stop worrying about those questions of Obama’s inexperience on such matters.” Reading on, a separate area of concern arises (emphasis…
People apparently take radio show ratings seriously. I suppose that should be obvious, but especially on as anonymous a medium as radio waves transmitted indiscriminately over the air, I’ve never understood how anybody can state with confidence the number of listeners to any given show. That said, I’m a little bit surprised that the Arbitron…
As an active local blogger, departing Projo reporter Scott MacKay’s citation of the Projo’s decision to allow anonymous and largely-unmoderated commenting on the Projo’s news blogs as contributing to his decision to take his employer’s buyout offer, quoted by Ian Donnis at the Not for Nothing blog, naturally caught my eye. The two-deep quotes are…
Hm. Some are crediting NBC’s Olympic ratings success to the individual pursuits of swimmer Michael Phelps. There’s ratings data to back it up: For Phelps’ first gold medal – in the 400-meter individual medley – last Saturday night, NBC drew 24.4 million viewers; for his second gold, on Sunday, 33 million; Monday, 30.2 million; and…
… effective September 12, Turn to Ten reports. [H/T Ian Donnis at Not For Nothing.] The longtime political columnist for The Providence Journal is retiring. M. Charles Bakst is taking a buyout that was recently offered to a number of Journal employees. For the past 40 years, Bakst has written weekly and Sunday columns for…
In Saturday’s Projo, Bill Moyers attempted to take the Projo’s David Mittell to task for not getting his facts correct in a recent set of columns by Mittell about Moyers (I promise, after the block quote, there will be no more references in this post to the timeline of how and when Bill Moyers became…