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Goodbye to 'Law & Order:' 20 Years of Attacking Businesses, Conservati
"Law & Order," the popular courtroom drama that concluded its 20th and final season May 24, is a primetime TV legend. But the show that boasted its stories were "ripped from the headlines" often provided its viewers a distorted reality in which businesspeople were mostly portrayed as villains. The Business & Media Institute examined "Law & Order," along with other television…
MRC Study: Media Double Standard on Gulf Coast Disasters
For more than a month, the American Gulf Coast has been threatened by a gigantic oil spill, caused by the April 21 explosion of a British Petroleum deepwater rig. Yet unlike five years ago — when the media were quick to put the onus on the Bush administration for its handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — for four weeks, ABC, CBS and NBC failed to scrutinize the administration’s…
Frum's Review of Rush Book Ignored New Liberal Quotes, For and Against
David Frum has responded on his own site Frum Forum to the NewsBusters post on his nasty Limbaugh book review in The Washington Post. For starters, he claimed that he focused on Limbaugh's ornate digs because this is "really the only news" in the Zev Chafets book. To claim there’s no news in here is to admit you skimmed it. I wish Frum had plopped in the Post this snippet from pages 139 and 140…
WaPo Praises D.C.'s Super-Size Condom Program
The Washington Post this week published a pair of articles promoting and praising the Washington, D.C., government for increasing the cost of its “free” condom program and making it easier for kids to get the prophylactics. The city is reportedly upgrading from Durex brand condoms to the more widely advertised Trojan brand. The decision was based on name recognition, not evidence that Trojans…
CNN's Cooper: It's 'Stunning' Obama Let Oil Leak Become 'Katrina in Sl
CNN's Anderson Cooper first defended the Obama administration's initial response to the Gulf oil leak and then criticized him from the left on Tuesday's AC360: "A month ago, it seemed like the federal government was on top of this. They were beating back claims...that this was Obama's Katrina." He later continued that "it doesn't seem like there's much pressure being applied to [BP], if it's…
Slate's Shafer Praises McGinniss's 'Stalking' of Sarah Palin
"It's called legwork, it's called immersion journalism, and it doesn't look pretty. But it should come as a surprise to only naive newspaper readers that every day journalists treat the subjects of investigations the way [Joe] McGinniss is treating Palin," Slate's Jack Shafer argued in a May 26 post subheadlined, "In defense of a journalist's stalking of a politician." Shafer wrote his post…
NYT Legal Reporter Defends Lefty Guantanamo Lawyers as Patriotic 'Civi
In Wednesday's "Bill Puts Scrutiny on Detainees' Lawyers," New York Times legal reporter Charlie Savage sank his teeth into a Republican proposal that would crack down on lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees suspected of taking actions to harm the military.A provision tucked into a defense bill before Congress would direct the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate any suspected misconduct…
WaPo Ombudsman: David Frum's Hostile Limbaugh Book Review Should Have
Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander responded online to yesterday’s NewsBusters post on Frum’s Tuesday Style section review of the new book Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One. Alexander wondered "Was Frum too biased to review book on Rush Limbaugh?" He suggested the problem wasn’t Frum’s anti-Limbaugh bias, but that the Post should have disclosed something to readers about Frum’s record of…
Former NYT Bureau Chief Wants Greek-style Riots in US - Media Silent
The New York Times's former Middle East Bureau Chief thinks violent revolt is a laudable response to economic woes, and that murder is at least acceptable in pursuit of a far-left agenda. The media so concerned with the potential for violence from conservative groups are completely silent."Here’s to the Greeks," wrote Chris Hedges at Truthdig.com. "They know what to do when corporations pillage…
James Carville Slams Obama on Oil Spill: 'We're About to Die Down Here
ABC political strategist, and prominent Democrat, James Carville appeared on Wednesday's Good Morning America to condemn Barack Obama's response to the oil spill. A very emotional Carville surprised host George Stephanopoulos, a friend and former colleague in the Clinton White House, by shouting, "And it just looks like he's not involved in this! Man, you have got to get down here and take…
NBC's 'Today' Gives 'Sex and the City 2' Star Platform to Promote Same
“Sex and the City 2” hits theaters May 27 and the media have been promoting the new film. NBC’s “The Today Show” joined in touting the movie by having star Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda Hobbes, on May 25. But the interview took a curious turn when Nixon was given a platform to support same-sex marriage in New York.Host Meredith Vieira was discussing a Hollywood Reporter review that…