Culture/Society

Recent earthquake activity in Alaska provided “CBS Early Show” co-hosts with a ready-made metaphor for a segment on the personal lives of some of the those surrounding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. But their quake turned out to be barely a ripple. Hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez couldn’t contain their smirks as they introduced the piece. “There's been an earthquake rumbling outside…

Video Below FoldIt is always interesting to see the Democratic pot calling the Republican kettle black and here we have only the latest example of that with Obama's top advisor attacking former Vice President Dick Cheney for his outspoken position on the failures of the Obama administration's early efforts in office. But, as advisor David Axelrod was attacking Cheney, there doesn't seem to be any…

On Monday, the UK's Evening Standard, at its "This Is London" site, matter-of-factly noted the following in the final sentence of its report about President Obama's upcoming European trip (bold is mine):Accompanying the party will be a total of 500 officials including kitchen staff, 35 vehicles in all, four speech writers and 12 teleprompters.This more than vindicates yours truly's "President '…

Is it some sort of amazing, newsworthy revelation that teen romance is sometimes a rocky road? Is it news that family can be troublesome when it results in out-of-wedlock birth? The Associated Press seems to think it is, at least if one of those teens is Governor Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol. Do you care that punk Levi Johnston is bawling to the press that Governor Palin is supposedly a…

Ever notice the media love to report stories about people fighting the power, unless, of course, the power happens to be something the media favor? A March 31 New York Times article about Cuba's Havana Biennial art festival highlighted several artists whose political statements were in line with the anti-American, communist outlook of the island's regime, while ignoring prominent Cuban blogger…

Attention middle-aged women: keep your young sons at home because your best friend might just want to date them. That’s right. TV Land is set to premiere a new reality show on April 15 based on a 40-year old single mother of four who wants to find a younger man, “Bachelor” style. “The Cougar” will feature 20 single men vying to be the soul mate of a woman twice their age. The field will be…

“People are looking for something to criticize.” Yes, Barbara they are. And you were once among them.Barbara Walters took exception to complaints from some that the Obamas made a royal mess of British protocol when meeting the queen of England. However, just over a year ago, Walters herself sniffed at the Bush White House for sending her a Christmas card containing [gasp!] “Scripture.”On the…

If the recession has been as hard on Madison Avenue as on other sectors, a lot of marketing types are probably free to watch daytime TV. And if marketing’s your game, that’s time well-spent. You can surf the kiddy shows and learn from the true masters of your art: environmentalists.Their latest coup? Elmo, the most popular character on PBS’ “Sesame Street,” has gone “green.” Literally.The…

For The New York Times economic scene section for March 31, David Leonhardt came across with one of the most amazing admissions about Obama that I've ever seen in the Times. Namely that Barack Obama is just like Hitler. Now, many of you may be solemnly shaking your head in agreement, but in so doing you would be missing why the Times was comparing Obama to Hitler. You see, Leonhardt didn't mean…

With the G20 meeting in London, there have been raucous protests - clashes with police in riot gear, destruction of property at nearby banks and even the death of one man from a heart attack. And the media have gone out of their way to cover every sordid detail. To former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, the media's flag-to-flag coverage of the G20 protests are a glaring contrast to the…

For years now American TV audiences been constantly accosted with the overblown drama, feelings, and theatrics of people we don't care about. It is given the exalted genera title of "reality TV." Now Salon.com brings that drama queen sensationalism to journalism! Oh, joy. Enter Julie Limbaugh whining and complaining in the pages of Salon.com that her life is just oh, so hard because her cousin…

CNN correspondent Alina Cho loaded the regal language into her report on Wednesday’s American Morning about Europe’s “apparent love affair” with Michelle Obama. Besides the obligatory Jackie Kennedy references, Cho gave a preview of the first lady’s tea with Queen Elizabeth II: “On today’s schedule: tea with the queen, and insiders say the queen and America’s queen bee will be fast friends.” The…

On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez talked to biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, who defined four personality types and their compatibility with each other: "Well, it's all hormones -- yes, I mean, it's hormones, it's neurotransmitters, it's all kinds of chemicals and genes...I call them the explorer, the builder, the director, and the negotiator."…