News Media

BLM t-shirt of Sayles St instigator.

The framing continues on the Sayles Street incident.

By Justin Katz | July 6, 2021 |

Here’s a curious sentence, highlighted in the following quotation from Jacqui Gomersall’s WPRI story on the latest Black Lives Matter RI PAC protest: The rally was organized by Black Lives Matter RI PAC following Tuesday’s incident on Sayles Street. Providence police are reviewing the police response to what they described as a neighborhood dispute between…

Viruses on a cell

Mainstream stories on Whitehouse’s beach club show the near-biological process of protecting leftist politicians.

By Justin Katz | July 1, 2021 |

Even just the headline of Alexander Bolton’s article on The Hill gives the game away:  “The weird story behind Sheldon Whitehouse’s beach club furor.” Take whatever side you want on Sheldon Whitehouse as a U.S. senator and his family membership in an exclusive Newport beach club, but the story isn’t weird.  It’s part of an established…

A card reading "truth" in the dirt.

Yes, manipulating you through language is their plan, in part through style guides.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

One of the best compliments I’ve ever received came from an openly socialist English professor concerning a short essay I’d written about Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”  I think he read the essay to the class and then said that if I kept writing that well I’d be certain to be locked up one…

Tucker Carlson reports NSA spying

Feds’ spying on Tucker Carlson should make us glad RI has no spy apparatus.

By Justin Katz | June 29, 2021 |

It should also make us value federalism more.  Moving power away from local hands and toward a central government that necessarily has spies and a military is a terrible idea.  The petty tyrants of your local government may be annoying and difficult to challenge, but they’re still easier to deal with than a tyrannical D.C.…

An underwater photo

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Growing Signs of Distrust

By Justin Katz | June 28, 2021 |

From a U.S. Senator to the news media to a local school committee, Rhode Islanders’ trust is slipping, but John DePetro and Justin Katz aren’t sure it’s enough to bring change.

Bailey's Beach from the sky

Let’s cut to the point on Sheldon Whitehouse’s elite beach club.

By Justin Katz | June 22, 2021 |

Conservatives and Republicans aren’t outraged at the nature of Bailey’s Beach Club or Sheldon Whitehouse’s membership in it.  They’re using the controversy to bring attention to the cartoonish hypocrisy of progressives and Democrats.  It’s really that simple, and everybody knows it. So, when Democrat activist Devin Driscoll lauds a Ted Nesi article on WPRI as…

Joe Biden's smile.

WPRI’s headline writer should do some reading on Pravda.

By Justin Katz | June 18, 2021 |

This NewsNation Now article by Leland Vittert, running on WPRI’s website wouldn’t ordinarily have merited comment, but the headline is enough to make you involuntarily spit out your coffee:  “Putin praised Biden, experts say that could mean he’s rattled.”  The article reinforces the propagandistic character of the headline: “He is focused,” Putin said. “He understands…

Cut roots on a wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Systemic Avoidance of Root Causes

By Justin Katz | June 14, 2021 |

This week, John and Justin discuss homelessness, gun crime, and the common theme that activists and politicians don’t want to touch the real problems behind them both.

A shush post at VisionLab

When Journalists Deride Requests for Public Access in Government

By Justin Katz | June 8, 2021 |

With their ideological bias, Rhode Island journalists don’t see themselves as aligned with those seeking public accountability regardless of worldview, but with the powerful seeking to impose their worldview on the powerless.

Colors in a bubble

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Blowing Progressive Bubbles in RI

By Justin Katz | June 7, 2021 |

This week, John and Justin discuss how Rhode Island media, politicians, and officials trip themselves and others up because they see the world from within bubbles.