Category Archives: Media criticism

Sometimes I Take a Great Notion to Jump in the River and Drown

Hurricane Irene had barely cleared New York City yesterday when the chattering classes burst forth, proclaiming loudly that we’d all been worried for nothing. The storm was overhyped. Why, there was hardly any damage to the Big Apple! This proved … Continue reading

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Leave it to the voters to decide who is a viable candidate: On the media’s non-coverage of Ron Paul

Kevin Drum and Jonathan Bernstein say essentially the same thing regarding the press deciding not to cover Ron Paul’s campaign, which I’d sum up as: It’s obvious Paul has no chance of being the next President, so the press is … Continue reading

Posted in crossposted on TADA, Elections and politics, Media criticism | Comments Off  

Humans Had a Nice Run

Our species accomplished a lot in the 200,000 years we were around. The Mona Lisa. Landing on the Moon. The Snuggie. But clearly, our time as masters of our domain is over; there is no question that today’s news represents … Continue reading

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Quote: Make It More Ethnic

I have been on sets before when a director says ‘can you make it more ethnic?’ I always say ‘can you demonstrate to me how you want it done?’ That usually ends it. –Yvette Nicole Brown Reading this article by … Continue reading

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Revise and Extend

So I think I’ve been unfair to Glenn Beck. “But Jeff,” you say, “Glenn Beck is rarely fair to other people. Why should you be fair to him?” Well, dear reader, it’s precisely because I’m not Glenn Beck, and I … Continue reading

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Thoughts on Political Speech in the wake of Arizona

There are just a few thoughts I have about all of this that I wanted to share. First, Sarah Palin. As Xeni Jardin says, “I try to avoid blogging about Sarah Palin, for the same reasons I’ve tried to avoid … Continue reading

Posted in Abortion & reproductive rights, Anti-Semitism, Conservative zaniness, right-wingers, etc., Elections and politics, Media criticism, Whatever | Comments Off  

Straight Flowing on a Boat in the Deep Blue Sea

Remember James O’Keefe III? Sure you do! He’s the guy who (didn’t actually) dress(ed) as a pimp and shot selectively-edited video in order to bring down ACORN, which thanks to a heavy assist from FOX and Andrew Breitbart, and the … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Fox News, Media criticism, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off  

The Controversy Over Park51 (Cordoba House) Was Manufactured by Fox

Or at least that’s what Frank Rich, citing Salon’s Justin Elliott, wrote in his August 22 op-ed column, “How Fox Betrayed Petraeus.” (You can find links if you click through to the whole column.) We owe thanks to Justin Elliott … Continue reading

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Guest Repost: Tansy Rayner Roberts–Joanna Russ's How to Suppress Women's Writing Is a Book that Must Not Be Forgotten

The following is a response to Joanna Russ’s How to Suppress Women’s Writing, reposted with permission from Tansy Rayner Roberts. Roberts is a Tasmanian writer with a fantasy trilogy called The Creature Court coming out from HarperVoyager starting June 2010, … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Fiction, literature, Media criticism | Comments Off  

Women and Men

So there’s an ad campaign out there that’s been slowly driving me…well, I’d say it’s driving me to drink, but actually, it’s doing quite the opposite. I guess it’s driving me to sobriety. The ad campaign is in support of … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Media criticism, Sexism hurts men | Comments Off