John McCain Cracks Me Up

Politico posted a story where Senator and Kick-ass war hero, tries sounding "hip" and "cool" by discussing tweets regarding Snooki and the Mike "the Situation" from the MTV show the Jersey Shore. Previously Snooki and Senator McCain discussed Obama taxing tanning beds in his healthcare reform.  Just another way twitter is making an impact in the political world.

 http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1105/mccain_talks_tweeting_with_snooki1.html

...And For My Next Trick I'll Make Hillary Clinton Disappear

  
This is the photo of the now famous situation room in which President Obama, along with his national security team except there is a stark difference between the top and bottom one: Clinton and another woman have been Photoshopped out due to a religious issue.  The paper who committed the act, Der Tzitung, has since appologized.

Al-Jazeera Wins Columbia Journalism Award

    If I had seen that headline a year ago, I would have thought that Al-Jazeera had reported on so many anti-American and anti-Israeli stories that Columbia President Lee Bollinger would be grovelling at their feet and couldn't resist. 
   However, Al-Jazeera truly brought the best coverage to the Revolutions all over the Middle East.  They consistently were able to get the stories in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia that other networks just could get, or cover as well.  Despite some of the things they have said in the past, i truly feel that they deserve being recognized by perhaps the best journalism school in the country.  In a time where soft news is the king of journalism they have truly done a great job. 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/05/al-jazeera-english-wins-columbia-universitys-journalism-prize/?test=latestnews

Bloomberg Covering Bloomberg

    The NY Times published an article recently about Henry Goldman who has the sometimes awkward job of working for and covering NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  "Mr. Goldman’s job is inherently problematic: cover the mayor too positively and risk looking like a shill; cover the mayor too negatively and risk the ire of the man who pays his salary," says the article. He came under fire when the news did a poor job of covering the fact that Bloomberg was all but absent during the huge blizzard in NYC this past winter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/21/nyregion/bloomberg-news-man-on-bloomberg-henry-goldman.html?_r=1&hpw

Journalists killed in Libya

Many of us have posted blogs about the lengths that journalists went to to capture the rebellion in Libya.  On Wednesday, it finally took the biggest toll.  Two journalists, including the director of the award winning documentary Restrepo, were killed, and two others were seriously injured in bombings by Quaddafi-loyal forces.
     These killings again raise the question of how far is too far to cover a story?  Although this is the first of the journalists killed in Libya, there have been close calls.  Early on in the fighting bombs landed about 100 yards away from journalists and one intervened in an altercation, not to mention the fact that they have been on the front lines covering the story just so we could read about it in the paper or watch it on TV.
    My condolences go out to the families.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/20/journalists-reportedly-killed-libya/?test=latestnews

China Bans Time-Travel!

     Ok maybe not time travel its self, being how hard it is ban something which isn't even possible yet.  China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, has put out a statement saying that movies and TV shows with time travel themes and plots "lack positive thoughts and meaning."
   
    Of course no government bans something so seemingly harmless just becuase they think its stupid, clearly there must be some ulterior motive for the ban.  China is notorious for controlling there media and htis is just anohter step they are taking.  News Corp Australian Papers reported that many people say that the "recent rash of TV time travel dramas focus too much on perceived happier times in the past for its citizens." 

   The happiness they see in the past may cause them to remember  a time when the Chinese government wasn't as repressive and may spark a revolt. 
If you don't believe me heres the article: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/04/14/china-bans-time-travel-tv-shows/?test=faces

Blogs About Israel

    We get it.  Everyone hates the Jews and Israel.  Its unnecessary for people to blog about every little anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic thing said in the Media.  Or even the pro-Israel things said.  We know who our friends and who our enemies in the media and in politics are.  Glen Beck supports Israel.  The NY Times generally doesn't.  The Itamar massacre was horrible.  Many More people died in the Tsunami and there were bigger reprucussions from it thats why it got more covereage.  Deal with it, not everyone cares about Israel nearly as much as we do so dont get your panties in a bunch if the Itamar massacre or the bus bombing doesn't get as much press as the impending nuclear meltdown in Japan or regime changes in many Middle Eastern countries.  I love Israel as much as the next YU student but we get it blog about something else.  

Twitter duel of the decade

   
 As  if there was any doubt of Twitters influence in the modern world, it has extended its reach into policy deliberation.  Senator Charles Shumer (D-NY) tweeted “Tks w/ @SpeakerBoehner were going well- serious budget cuts discussed until Tea Party forced him 2 move goalposts [Tea Party] is only obstacle 2 deal.”  Shortly after Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) tweeted right back “If @SenatorReid @ChuckSchumer force gov to partially shut down b/c they oppose sensible spending cuts, Americans will hold them accountable.”
   
    Both Shumer and Cantor want to avoid a government shutdown but they have different visions in mind for the spending cuts and tax increases involved that would avert that crisis.   I truly hope that both sides reach an agreement because my pay would be suspended and more importantly it would solidify what we already believe about congress: They are stubborn, incompetent fools who can't reach a solution on anything.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52173_Page2.html

Chaves to recieve journalism award?

    I was carousing the web for some blog worthy news when i came across this nugget: "Argentina's University of La Plata was giving [Hugo Chaves] its Rodolfo Walsh Prize on Tuesday 'for his unquestionable and authentic commitment' to giving people without a voice access to the airwaves and newspapers."  Surely you can't be serious (and dont call me Shirley).  Venezuela is a notoriously communist country that controls 99% of all the media outlets and forces anyone who disagrees with them off TV or Radio.  I pray for journalists everywhere that this was just an early April fools joke. 

Reporters in Combat Zone

   I have to give credit where credit is due to reporters in combat zones, focusing mainly on the conflict in Libya.  Journalists in Libya have gone above and beyond to get the best possible coverage of the ongoing conflict.  Reporters have had rockets land just a hundred feet away from them, been taken captive, and gotten in to heated, physical arguments with Quadaffi's minders.  I would just like to give praise to their journalistic integrity and willingness to be on the front lines to get a story, which is a beam of light in this modern day world of soft news.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/27/libya.woman.attack.cnn/index.html?hpt=Sbin

The Kill Team

    This is a follow up of sorts to an earlier blog post of mine in which I discussed the the power that the images of soldiers with bodies in Afghanistan can have.  Rolling Stone Magazine seems to have gone all out trying to slander the military and all soldiers, displaying them as evil corrupt killers. 
   
    Rolling Stone has an entire section devoted to the dimunitiion of the military.  Included at the link posted below, RS has many articles trying to prove military deviance and has also posted the pictures that they claim the Pentagon has "censored."  Obviously they were sensored.  They were about to be used as evidence in a high profile case, and are incredibly gruesome.  There was no cover up, just the military lookign out for its soldiers, knowing that there would be major backlash once they got released. 

    Also posted at the RS link are two videos that they claim show unjust killing in Afghanistan.  Over course everyone killed in the videos were combatants, but they try to empathize with the enemy of course. 

     Finally, RS has several articles, also posted at the link, tearing apart our war effort as well as the current and former leaders such as Generals Caldwell, Patreus, the Pentagon as a whole, and of course the article that RS braggingly claims changed history: the interview which wrongfully forced Gen. McChrystal to resign, changing the dynamic of the War in Afghanistan. 
Here is the link hopefully you will not be brainwashed by what they have to say:
  http://www.rollingstone.com/kill-team#FullStory

News Surge 2011

    The vice president of CNN International, Tony Maddox said “We’ve had a year’s worth of international breaking news, and we’re only halfway through March." From the uprisings all over the Middle East, to the tsunai that struck Japan its been a very large news year.  The New York Times says "television news coverage of foreign events this year is at the highest level since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 10 years ago..."  The amzing part of it is, is the fact that media outlets have been able to keep up with the daily turn out of events and have been able to report on scene. Technology has improved so much in the past decade that it has helped get interviews with people that would have been unreachable only a few short years ago. 
    
     The two outlets that have benefited most from all this has been Al-Jazeera and CNN.  With all of the chaos in Middle East Al-Jazeera was able to capture the stories unlike anyone else, bringing them to the forefront on Middle East covereage.  Even Americans and Jews who consider Al-Jazeera to be vehemently anti-semetic and anti-American have turned to them for the best possible covereage.
   
     CNN has also benefited from the surge in headlines recently, which has propelled them ahead of Fox News in ratings in the past few days.  CNN, who usually finishes second to perenial cable news power-house has surpassed Fox in terms of viewership due to their extraordinary coverage in international news.

    Although a conservative, i have conceeded that CNN and Al-Jazeera have done an excellent job covering these recent events.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/business/media/23msnbc.html?ref=television
 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/business/media/21press.html?ref=television

The Pentagon Papers part II

Most people believe that Pvt. Daniel Manning, who is currently being held in prison for sending classified documents and videos to wikileaks, is guilty.  However there is a very vocal minority who believes he is innocent.  The most prominent figure of the group is a man who found himself in the same situation exactly 40 years ago. Daniel Ellsberg, leaked the infamous "Pentagon Papers" to the New York Times which showed that many top government officials knew that the Vietnam War was unwinable.  Daniel Ellsberg said "I was Daniel Manning."  They have both been charged with similar crimes and Ellsberg has personally reached out to Manning's family.  However contrary to Ellsberg's belief there are some distinctions between the two, most notably the fact that Manning was in the army at the time he released the documents meaning he was bound by the Army's standard operating procedures and chain of command, which he did not follow to release classified data.  Ellsberg had already been out of the Marine Corps for years by the time he released the Pentagon Papers and was not bound by the same restricitions that Mannning was.  Also the media fought to get the pentagin papers released.  With Manning, that does not appear to be the case.   
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/19/wikileaks.ellsberg.manning/index.html?hpt=T2

The Power of Pictures

Recently in class we have discussed how pictures have a big impact on the way people see a story even more so than the words written in an article.  Two examples, one for the good and one for the bad have arisen recently.  After the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, President Obama said that he was "heartbroken" over the images of the devestation in Japan.  More than just having a purely emotional resonse, Obama said that it was the images that really drove him to send more aid to the ravaged country. 
          The second instance of the impact of pictures appeared in Der Spiegel.  The German magazine released photos of United States soldiers in incriminating photos that already have 5 soldiers on trial for murder and war crimes.  The photos of soldiers in the 5th Stryker Brigade show them posing and even smiling with dead Afghan civilians.  Its photos like those that pit the American people against the troops and the war in Afghanistan.  People tend to think that all soldiers must be evil thus making the war evil.  Of course both accusations are wrong, but pictures tend to tell a story that otherwise could never be comprehended.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/03/ap-german-news-group-publishes-afghan-killings-032111/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/14/politics/main20042900.shtml

The Emporer's (bloody) New Clothes

Recently in class we have discussed "soft" news in the media and there is one article/slideshow in particular that stands out as the epitome of soft news.  As Libyan soldiers begin killing their own civillians to keep Gaddafi's evil regime in power, Time Magazine has once again proven why it is plummeting into oblivion.  Time has published an article concerning Gaddafi's wardrobe.  Is that really important to point out in this time of crisis? And the editors of Time are wondering why they are becoming more and more irrelevant with every seemingly worthless article they publish.  See this gem of a slideshow right here: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2055860_2248097,00.html/?xid=yahoo-feat

Bloomberg on the move again

NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg is looking ahead to his post mayorial career in a big way. He has spoken to some of the country's top journalists to research a wide array of topics and see what the people of the world think...and to find out what he himself thinks on some issues that, even after changing political parties twice, is still undecided on.  When this project actually begins Bloomberg News will disseminate the information in columns and a couple of opinion articles by Bloomberg himself everyday.  What he plans to do with the information besides for simply publishing it has many people speculating...  Heres the article for anyone interested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/nyregion/01bloomberg.html?hp

Hiding behind Big Bird

As if PBS couldn't get pathetic enough, a group of Democratic congressmen held a press conference in which they tried to use characters from kids shows, who historically have pushed a liberal agenda, to gain sympathy to get a bill passed that would bring in more funding for PBS.  If you don't believe me that people would actually stoop so low as to pull off such a stunt like this here is the article from Politico:http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49651.html

Battleground: Radio

With television and all the instant news on the internet, who wouldv'e thought that in the 21st century some of the hottest debates over free speech and the media revolve around the radio?  Shortly after Obama was elected, and after the assassination attempt on Gabbrielle Giffords (which was blamed on the radical right wing) liberals have been calling for reinstatement of the Fairness doctrine which expired under President Truman.  Conservatives have called it a blatant attempt to silence right-wing talk show hosts who have dominated talk radio in the past 15 years.  Legistlation was introuduced by congressmen Mike Pence and Greg Walden pre-emptively to prevent the FCC from forcing talk shows from giving equal time to opposing views on issues.  Meanwhile on the otherside of the aisle, the new budget revealed no funding for National Public Radio angering Liberals.  This story should be closely followed because assuming there is no Fairness Doctrine and NPR goes off the air, Conservatives would have an even larger monopoly on talk radio.  But of course there is always the chance that momentum swings the other way and somehow the FD gets passed and NPR stays on the air, it would cause a stalemate on the radio waves giving Liberals a huge media advantage since they dominate TV, internet, and newspapers.

Catch-22 in Egypt

Unless you've been under a rock for the past two a half weeks, President Honsi Mubarak who after thirty years of rule, has been ousted from power in Egypt.  After a failed attempt to boot Ahmedinejad in Iran and a successful outing of Zine el-Albidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, the most populous country in the Middle East has prevailed in outing their dictator.  To the poeple of Egypt, Mubarak was a cruel dictator who ruled with an iron fist and needed to go since his election after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.  However to western style countries, most notably the United States and Israel, he was if not a staunch ally, at least some what of a friend in an otherwise hostile region.  Mubarak appeared to be one of the few Middle Eastern politicaian in favor of supporting Israel and now that he is gone it leaves big questions on Egypts stance toward Israel and America.  During the recent protests signs in Arabic could be seen that when translated, had statements such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".  Also, talks of perhaps the Islamic Brotherhood who even though claim to be toned down, have historically been against the state of Israel.  So even though the people of Egypt are happy to be free from the regin of Hosni Mubarak, what does that mean for Egypts relationship with America and Israel?