Why Bother With Local TV News?

Regular commenter, “Jimmy”, is doing the heavy lifting today on the global warming topic so miserably bowdlerized by spin-crazed righties. (My dismissive, elitist position remains: “Let the fools rant on in their private echo chamber. They add nothing to the base of knowledge.” Earlier though, “Jimmy”, asked only half-facetiously what I was ever doing watching … Read more

"News War" Finale Tonight

A programming note to the media-wise. PBS’ “Frontline/World” concludes its series on the post 9/11 media with a segment on Al Jazeera and the role it plays in shaping opinion in the Middle East. (9 p.m. TPT 2). Here in the US, where Congressional neandertals made a patriotic show of re-naming French fries, we continue … Read more

The Onion Goes Video: Scary

With so much of the so-called mainstream electronic news media engaged in a bizarre process of self-marginalization, it comes as no great surprise — but genuine delight – that The Onion has decided to get into the 24-hour “fake news” business. Describing itself as, “faster, harder, scarier and all-knowing”, (“Scarier” than what? Fox News? Impossible!) … Read more

Greenwald Rips the Chris Matthews Gang.

I’m a fan of Glenn Greenwald, whose blog is now over at Salon.com. Although perhaps not terse and punchy enough for most attention spans, the guy has a sharp, discerning mind. And boy is he upset today. The clip he includes of Chris Matthews, a relentless TV presence capable of reducing any topic to the … Read more

Paul Douglas. The exception that proves the rule.

Commenter Dave disagrees with my view of KSTP’s global warming reporting. He notes that … “WCCO has had the exact opposite stance on global warming. They have jumped in and rarely show the other opinion. I’ve never seen you mention that. WCCO also has Paul Douglas, the man who proudly announced he purchased a Hybrid … Read more

Enough Is Enough

Last year Apple sold thirty-nine million iPods. Thirty-nine million. Not all in the United States, I grant you, but I have a hard time finding anyone between the ages of thirteen and thirty with a job or an indulgent parent who doesn’t own one. Riding a New York subway a couple of weeks ago, I … Read more

Thus Spaketh the Usual Suspects

My recent post on KSTP-TV’s news “package”, which included covering a one-man protest against the City of St. Louis Park’s showing of, “An Inconvenient Truth” followed by Al Gore’s appearance before House and Senate Committees discussing global climate change, brought out the usual suspects making the usual claims. There is this … “You are a … Read more

One More Sign of the Apocalypse

I won’t bore you with another of my tales of woe, but I can relate to this one. The Philadelphia Inquirer, formerly owned by Knight-Ridder, is whacking the media column written by Gail Shister and directing her toward more “pop culture television features”. This can’t be seen as anything other than, A. Some kind of … Read more

Note to Par: No One Pays for Readership

OK, it was funny that Par Ridder’s staff memo about graphics guru Monica Moses leaving the Star Tribune appeared on Jim Romenesko’s site before it was sent out to the paper’s employees. But hey, maybe we should see that as a concession to harsh reality. In a prolonged information vacuum, Ridder must know that his … Read more

KSTP-TV. It is All About the Balance.

So I’m watching “Lost” last night, the only network series I make an “appointment” to catch every week, what with all the time I’ve committed to blowing spit wads at Bill O’Reilly. Last night was a big episode. The back story to John Locke, who was crippled and wheel-chair bound until crashing on the island. … Read more