News Media

Two different scales

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Narrative as Double-Standard

By Justin Katz | October 18, 2021 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about the Rhode Island political topics of the week.

Dan McKee cuts a ribbon

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Flustering McKee

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

John and Justin discuss ways in which the controversies of the day illustrate a surprising (and disappointing) tendency of the McKee administration.

A water drop and ripples

It’s unsettling to see journalists so credulous about YouTube bans.

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

The Associated Press takes YouTube’s framing completely for granted: YouTube is wiping vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories from its popular video-sharing platform. The ban on vaccine misinformation, announced in a blog post on Wednesday, comes as countries around the world continue to offer free immunizations for COVID-19 to a somewhat hesitant public. Public health officials…

A water drop and ripples

The mask narcing shows the media’s alignment.

By Justin Katz | October 12, 2021 |

Maybe it’s a small thing, and at least WJAR has somebody there, but it’s telling that Katie Davis would mix their failure to wear masks with the substance of this story: NOW: Group angry with @RIStatePolice and @GovDanMcKee deliver written complaints alleging brutality during protest outside McKee’s home to State Police HQ. None are masked…

Reporters taking notes

UPDATED: The RI news media would rather throw shade at John DePetro than inform Rhode Islanders.

By Justin Katz | October 9, 2021 |

Understanding that not everybody has a degree in journalism, let’s try a quick quiz. You’re a journalist with a mainstream news organization covering the Ocean State. A protest outside the governor’s house sees some modest action when two participants are arrested. One local freelance journalist captured the entire thing on camera and the video on his…

Pawtucket William Blackstone statue

WPRI promotes division, declaring a new holiday in solidarity with progressives.

By Justin Katz | October 8, 2021 |

Don’t bother looking on your calendar as you attempt to interpret this headline on an Eli Sherman article on WPRI: William Blackstone statue rally planned for Indigenous Peoples Day in Pawtucket By “Indigenous Peoples Day,” WPRI means Columbus Day.  It’s just that radicals looking to divide our nation have been insisting we change the name of…

Drone strike aftermath

The botched drone attack was much worse than a standard collateral damage incident.

By Anchor Rising | September 18, 2021 |

The details of the U.S. drone strike on a humanitarian worker in Afghanistan are horrific: The U.S. acknowledged reports of civilian casualties and said they may have been caused by secondary explosions. The family said when the 37-year-old Zemerai, alone in his car, pulled up to the house, he honked his horn. His 11-year-old son…

Masked Matryoshka dolls

Glocester gives hope that not every elected body in RI is happy to unload responsibility.

By Justin Katz | August 23, 2021 |

Dan McGowan reports for the Boston Globe that the Glocester School Committee is going to consider suing the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education over its implicit statewide mask mandate: Governor Dan McKee subsequently declared a new state of emergency related to Delta variant of the coronavirus, and issued an executive order requiring masks in…

News story image of Chatham, MA

Ideology is preventing us from getting the real story on COVID-19 variants and vaccination.

By Justin Katz | August 2, 2021 |

They say of the Soviet Union propaganda outlet, Pravda, that it contained some real news; one just had to know how to parse it and understand where news was being hidden. Such is the case with all of the mainstream news media outlets, these days.  You’ve probably seen the headlines about “74% of infections in Massachusetts…

Chess versus checkers

Nesi’s Non-Notes and O’Neil’s Telling Fears

By Justin Katz | July 10, 2021 |

Differences in where people draw their condemnation lines prove that something has changed and we’re on a very dangerous course.