archives :: media
Pythonesque
From a 12 June Time—sorry, TIME—magazine press release: TIME has obtained the first documented look inside the highly classified realm of military interrogations since the Gitmo Camp at Guantanamo Bay opened. The document is a secret 84-page interrogation log that... [read more]
the empire strikes back (II)
The title of the last post was intended to refer to the legacy media, which—as Martin Peretz of The New Republic describes—is busily circling the wagons in the wake of the Newsweek flushing fiasco (more here). It was also a... [read more]
the empire strikes back
Newsweek is offering another mea culpa. As most of you know, we have unequivocally retracted our story. In the light of the Pentagon's denials and our source's changing position on the allegation, the only responsible course was to say that... [read more]
shameless
Newsweek is admitting to starting an international political firestorm, which got actual people killed, caused civil disturbances, endangered the lives of American troops and significantly set back US efforts in the war on terror because they ran a story from... [read more]
portents
Sometime in the early 1990s a friend of mine suffered a freak accident. While at dinner with friends, he choked on some food, and for whatever reason, it could not be dislodged. The shock triggered a heart attack. In the... [read more]
hell freezes
And the British left catches chill. As Syria pulls out of Lebanon, and the winds of change blow through the Middle East, this is the difficult question that opponents of the Iraq war are having to face. More: Orrin Judd's... [read more]
codependent enabling
[Repost from 072804. Many bloggers still seem unaware of the link generator, so a bit more publicity won't hurt.] Like any honest reactionary, I loathe the New York Times. —John Derbyshire Unlike Mr. Derbyshire, I'm too young to be a... [read more]
bag 'em
I won't go quite as far as does Shackleford; certainly I do not regard the incident as "murder". Nonetheless, Sites' eagerness to get his scoop has already spawned repercussions, and the progaganda mills of the Arab world are just getting started. [read more]
context and subtext
That's Mark Steyn (who else?) in London's Sunday Telegraph—proving once again that the British press is nothing if not unrestrained. But perhaps our own should be so honest. Consider this NYT column from the same day: Can History Save the Democrats? [read more]
an antidote (bump)
It isn't the politics these troops espouse that is at issue; it's the pastry-addled rat bastard and enemy collaborator who is undermining their morale with the most insidious work of utter mendacity since the heyday of Leni Riefenstahl. [read more]
high noon
If—and I do stress if—this is another example of legacy media smoke-and-mirror tactics, it would not be the first time in recent memory that polls were massaged. [read more]
humoring the proles
Glenn Reynolds has a link-rich roundup of reactions to John Kerry's terrorism-as-nuisance gaffe. Even if you don't usually follow links, do not miss Rudy Giuliani's response—if the Senator seems strangely unable to sit down at this Wednesday's debate, the Mayor... [read more]
business as usual
Last week Michelle Malkin posted a summary of the Democratic scheme of the moment: claims that the Bush administration is (secretly, of course) planning to reinstate the draft. There is not a shred of evidence to support this accusation—well, except... [read more]
it ain't over
A most revealing bit of Dan Rather's non-apology apology this evening: “He did not come to us; we went to him and asked him for the documents.” I could try to write a substantive post on all this tonight, but... [read more]
the anchorman's lament
A few thoughts on Dan Rather's auto-immolation. Point the First: Not even the rank and file at CBS believe that the memos are genuine. Sure, my support for that claim might be a little thin (what with the unnamed sources... [read more]
a perfect storm
Though I'm not one for weblog triumphalism, it's safe to conclude that Dan Rather would not be feeling quite as "shell-shocked" in the wee hours of this morning had not certain bloggers spent a few hours doing what CBS News' vaunted investigators failed to even attempt. [read more]
fables of the deconstruction
Marx famously called religion "the opiate of the people." After the revolution, when the proletariat has cast off all false consciousness, religion will fall away with the other burdens imposed by caste and class. But humanity will always have its gods [read more]
just a small clarification II
Today New York Times op-ed columnist William Safire takes on the media—including his own paper—over last week's reporting of the 9/11 Commission's interim report. With something resembling a wet noodle, that is. “Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie” went the Times... [read more]
just a small clarification
The New York Times, 17 June: The bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks further called into question on Wednesday one of President Bush's rationales for the war with Iraq, and again put him on the defensive over an... [read more]
enough already, III
Yesterday the Weekly Standard offered up a quick compare-and-contrast of the coverage of President Reagan's passing, as provided by the NYT and WaPo. It's about what one would expect; but one note in passing caught my eye. The picture of... [read more]
enough already, II
At first, I intended this post to be primarily about Wretchard's latest offering at The Belmont Club. But then I went searching for a news link to serve as an introduction. And found this, from Sunday's WaPo (registration required). President... [read more]
enough already
Let's begin by stipulating a few things. The actions of those few soldiers (and possibly civilians) at Abu Ghraib were moronic, sadistic, and wrong. All implicated should, and will, be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Even if the total number... [read more]
malice, part III; or the banality of evil
The news of late has me in a funk, though if one knows where to look it is far from all bad. But the narrative filtered through our mainline press is nothing if not consistent: the deceivers and fools of... [read more]
the anti-Beeb
Now playing at National Review Online: It's DerbRadio! John Derbyshire is one of my favorite NROniks—British expat (now naturalized US citizen), curmudgeon, mathematics writer, onetime Bruce Lee movie extra, and constant source of irritation for Andrew Sullivan. And he's got... [read more]
1+1=?
[Guest blogger Doug Heinz checks in from the Left Coast] There is an old proverb says, “You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink.” And apparently the lede of a Reuters story can answer... [read more]
on many fronts
But time waits for no man, and right now there is oh so much happening, both in Iraq and in the broader war. The links below should keep you busy for a while. [read more]
selling a lemon
The NYT continues its descent into self-parody. Mr. Kerry, one of the Senate's experts in foreign affairs, exudes maturity and depth. He can discuss virtually any issue of security or international affairs with authority. What his critics see as an... [read more]
reliable sources?
This morning I caught part of Howard Kurtz' weekly media watch talkfest on CNN. It's too early to find an official transcript, but from the e-mail I sent to Kurtz shortly thereafter you should be able to pick up the... [read more]
malice redux
Two months ago I wrote a rather heated commentary on the mainstream media, politics, and the war. Taken as a whole, I stand by that post. And now it's high time for a sequel. [read more]
"Sullivan Flip Watch"
At the end of the SotU last night, my wife turned and said, “You may want to steer clear of Andrew Sullivan's site for the next month or so.” Later in the evening I found this on the blog of... [read more]
journalistic quagmire
So we should conclude that Iraq is worse than Vietnam, right? More than four times worse? Well, not quite: a few paragraphs down the author deigns to provide a little context. [read more]
malice
It is almost no longer newsworthy when a Democratic candidate or spokesmouth makes the most audacious—and in some cases libelous—claims against the administration. Last week (on NPR, natch) Howard Dean reported the "theory" that the Saudi government may have given President Bush fair warning of the 9/11 attacks... [read more]
Hayes revisited
Slate—of all places—has two pieces today relevant to the Stephen Hayes article on possible Iraq-al Qaeda links that I referenced here. First is a Jack Shafer analysis of the press coverage (or rather the relative lack thereof): Many a reporter... [read more]
