Bozell & Graham Column: Richard Jewell and Badly Flawed News
Over the last few years, journalists have responded to accusations of “Fake News” with arrogant proclamations that they are the misunderstood Guardians of Truth and Providers of Fact. But not every news story is a perfectly baked slice of Facts or Truth. Sometimes, reporters merely recount what they heard, but what they were told was wrong. Take the smearing of Richard Jewell.
Ill Will to Men (and Women)
Apologies to Elton John, but in Washington and throughout so much of the country, can you feel the hate tonight? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked by reporter James Rosen if she hates President Trump. She responded with an “if looks could kill ” fire in her eyes and denounced Rosen for his question while claiming she doesn't hate Trump. Former Vice President Joe Biden verbally attacked and…
Media Give a Pass to Schiff Investigating a Reporter’s Phone Logs
What if reporter John Solomon were named….Jake Tapper? Or Wolf Blitzer? Or Maggie Haberman? Or Dana Milbank? This being a random group of names of journalists from CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Now pick one of those names (and there is a long list of potential other names that could be used) and substitute it for this mention of John Solomon in a recent Wall Street Journal …
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What ‘Bombshell’ Stars REALLY Think of Fox News, Conservatives
Charlize Theron has played it all, from post-apocalyptic warriors to Fast & Furious foes. Like most actors, Theron finds the humanity in her characters, no matter their sins. That proved daunting when she portrayed Aileen Wuornos, the woman who killed at least six men before dying via lethal injection in 2002. Theron won an Oscar for that performance, a role requiring her to dramatically…
Bozell & Graham Column: Feminists Exalt the Wonder of Abortion
A recent article in the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar featured British actress and model Jameela Jamil (now starring on NBC's The Good Place) interviewing/celebrating legendary feminist extremist Gloria Steinem. They discussed how abortions are a wonderful choice for women and pro-lifers are authoritarians, like Hitler.
The Disproportionate Trickle-Down of Bad Social Politics
This week, Paul Krugman of The New York Times posited a theory: Red states cause depression and suicide. In a column titled “America's Red State Death Trip,” Krugman wrote: “In 1990, today's red and blue states had almost the same life expectancy. Since then, however, life expectancy in Clinton states has risen more or less in line with other advanced countries, compared with almost no gain in…
Fraud in Higher Education
This year's education scandal saw parents shelling out megabucks to gain college admittance for their children. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 50 people with participating in a scheme to get their children into colleges by cheating on entrance exams or bribing athletic coaches. They paid William Singer, a college-prep professional, more than $25 million to bribe coaches and university…
Bozell & Graham Column: Censoring Social Media for 'Promoting Crime'
The other day, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki subjected herself to a hard-hitting interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS's 60 Minutes. Stahl lectured her for allowing “harmful” or “hurtful” speech to be posted on her platform, without any fact-checking. Welcome to the latest demonstration of the traditional “news” media mercilessly pounding away at social media for having the audacity to allow dissenting…
The Corruption of Bloomberg News
So The Wall Street Journal noted the problem this way: "Bloomberg No News. His reporters won’t investigate Democrats—but Trump is fair game." The editorial said, in part, this, bold print for emphasis supplied: “Mike Bloomberg joined the Democratic race for President on Sunday, creating a conundrum for his journalists at Bloomberg LP. Do they quit covering 2020? Do they stand on the principle of…
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Woke ‘Last Christmas’ Sinks as Another PC Debacle
Audiences paying to see Last Christmas got more than a yuletide romance. The film, starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding, toes a politically correct line. That includes broadsides against Brexit and clunky pleas for tolerance. Tolerance for the pro-Brexit movement, apparently, proved in short supply. Audiences were similarly scarce.
Bozell & Graham Column: ABC Broadcasts Pop Music From Hell
ABC aired the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 24, and the big surprise was that none of the featured pop stars launched into a political diatribe about the horrors of the Trump era. The shock factor was reserved for one of the most vicious assaults on God ever projected by Hollywood.
Journalists Preach Balance But Don’t Usually Practice It
Reporters are supposed to cover both sides of the story, where there are two sides to it. Journalists trumpeted this principle in defending a recent story in the Harvard Crimson that sought to quote both sides about an immigration controversy. But in the real world, this principle is often ignored. If a reporter doesn’t want to cover both sides of the story, she just pretends there aren’t really…
Gifts That Keep on Giving
Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to come earlier each year. Though the dates remain the same, the promotions from advertisers don't. Christmas decorations are appearing before Halloween. Merchants can't wait for Thanksgiving to end so they can promote “Black Friday,” itself beginning days and even weeks before the day after Thanksgiving.
Pete Buttigieg’s Big Mistake: Telling the Truth
This week, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has risen to the top of the heap in early Democratic presidential primary polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, came under serious sustained attack for the first time in his candidacy. Buttigieg's early candidacy gained credibility thanks to the moderation he displayed compared with other Democrats. He quickly lost steam when he tacked to the…
