Open Thread

NB Staff

'Che' Director: English the Language of 'Imperialists

The director of the movie "Che" which will be released later this month is disingenuously claiming that he has no political axe to grind. In a CNN interview, director Steven Soderbergh absurdly stated that he only wanted to present the "facts" about Che Guevara's life:Steven Soderbergh made certain his new movie, "Che," about the life of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, couldn't be attacked…
P.J. Gladnick

Cincinnati Enquirer Botches Coverage of 'Ecumenical' Gaza Press Confer

The Cincinnati Enquirer's coverage (photo is from that coverage) of a local press conference and demonstration relating to the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Israel and Gaza has been atrocious. I suspect that the Enquirer is not unique in its egregious journalistic failures. The two stories involved, both by Rebecca Goodman, are (original Cincinnati reference HT to Atlas Shrugs):-- Dec. 31 -- "Area…
Tom Blumer

NPR Commentator Says Rev. Wright Remarks Were Top 'Nontroversy' of

National Public Radio's Morning Edition celebrated the end of 2008 on New Year’s Eve with black commentator (and Huffington Post contributor) John Ridley listing the top "non-troversies" of 2008, which he defined as "what seemed monumental then, in retrospect has all the significance of a Dennis Kucinich stump speech." Ridley’s top "non-troversy" was Reverend Wright’s sermon clips about America…
Tim Graham

GMA Suggests Independence From US More Important To Cubans Than Freedo

Fidel will someday disappear, but MSM nostalgia for the Cuban revolution is forever.  Good Morning America devoted a segment today to celebrations in Havana marking the 50th anniversary of Castro's dictatorship.  The thrust of Jim Avila's report was that, yeah, there are those who "complain" about that oppression stuff, but the key is that Cuba is free from los Yanquis!JIM AVILA: It is Raul…
Mark Finkelstein

Early Show Fails on Facebook Fiasco

CBS host Maggie Rodriguez does not acknowledge personal responsibility in breastfeeding photos controversy.
Erin Brown

AFP Says Cubans Fleeing Island for US, Merely 'Depart' Not Defect

Apparently, for Agence France-Presse, desperate Cubans who flee the Castro brothers’ island prison don’t escape or defect, they merely “depart.”    It wasn’t merely a poorly-chosen headline stating, “Two top players depart Cuba in a bid to play in US." The whitewash was mirrored in the December 29 article, and the bias wasn’t confined to careful language manipulation.  AFP also minimized the…
Lynn Davidson

Can Media Be Legally Liable For Worsening Economic Crisis

If exaggerated reports of global economic distress act to further dampen consumer confidence and actually worsen the situation, can press outlets be held legally liable?Such was espoused by a corporate lawyer Thursday in response to a poll that found 77 percent of Americans "think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people's minds."As reported by…
Noel Sheppard

Media Columnist: Deregulation Needed For Journalism's Survival

Ever since the financial services industry totally melted down in September, anti-free market media have pointed an accusatory finger at deregulation as the primary cause of bank, brokerage firm, and insurance company failures.Yet, as press outlets across the fruited plain deal with declining revenues and layoffs, some believe a looser anti-trust environment could be the solution.Even more…
Noel Sheppard

Globaloney Update: A Tale of Two 'Realities

From June: 'No ice at the North Pole,' to January: 'Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979' No pairing of any two stories better illustrates the child-like alarmism of global warming religionists than these two stories. The first from June of 2008 claims that all the ice at the North Pole has melted and will be gone for the first time ever, while the second shows that by January of 2009 the…
Warner Todd Huston

Do Bailouts Prove Reagan's Point Re: Government's Economic View

Ronald Reagan once said:Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.  Is there no finer example of this concept than our government's hundred year relationship with the American auto industry?Before you answer, consider the following Wall Street Journal editorial published…
Noel Sheppard

2009: The Year of the Newspaper Bailout

Michelle Malkin called it, as did several NewsBusters commenters. Their prediction was that newspapers on the brink would be asking for government bailouts.It came to pass in late November that seven Connecticut legislators asked the state's Department of Economic and Community Development for help in keeping the New Britain Herald and the Bristol Press afloat. A JPEG of the full letter with…
Tom Blumer

Viral Video: 'One Year in 40 Seconds

If you hadn't seen this yet, below is the video by Norwegian photographer Eirik Solheim that has captivated Internet users the world over:Update: Another fabulous video called "The Sky in Motion" below the fold:
Noel Sheppard

ABC News Shocker: The 'All Time Dumb Quotes' Are All From Republicans

Looks like ABC News is starting out 2009 with a partisan bang. On its main page, ABC News is hosting a slide show featuring what it is calling the "All Time Dumb Quotes." Now, these are not all strictly political dumb quotes, to be sure. They also have the empty headed Christina Aguilera, that sharp as a tack Jessica Simpson and other denizens of the Hollywood Mensa club among the 16 featured…
Warner Todd Huston