Barnicle: Blogging's Not Journalism—It's Therapy

My therapist told me to take two shots at Chris Matthews and call him in the morning . . . Mike Barnicle is back to looking down his nose at bloggers.  After Mika Brzezinski claimed on today's Morning Joe that "blogging isn't journalism," the former Boston Globe columnist declared that "95%, 99% of blogging isn't journalism. It's therapy for the blogger."The predicate was a provocative one. …

Anchorage Daily News Claims Own Anti-Palin Story Wasn't Paper's Fault

Remember when you were a kid and you and your best friend got caught doing something you two weren't supposed to be doing? Remember the first words blurted from your mouth was, "Well, it's HIS fault?" It's a common reaction for a kid trying to avoid the wrath of Mom that he knows is coming after getting caught for doing what he knew was wrong in the first place. Well in essence, this is what the…

New Scientist Names Liberal Wingnut a ‘Science Hero’ of

It would seem New Scientist magazine recently decided to sacrifice credibility in the field of research.  Journalistic research, anyway.  In their recent article titled, "Science heroes and villains of 2008," New Scientist has taken the liberty of naming some noteworthy individuals in the field.  As their opening salvo states (emphasis mine):  The collective brain of New Scientist has come up…

AP Reporter Takes Gratuitous Shot at Sarah Palin's Church in Wake of

There was a fire Friday at Wasilla Bible Church, where GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family are members. The fire did $1 million in damage. The photo at the right is among three that are in a slide show at Wasilla's local paper, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, whose story is here.The Washington Post has a short AP story at Page A02 (more on that shortly). The New York Times…

Palin, Jesus and Witches

Seven days before America elects a new leadership team, Newsweek is making a last-ditch attempt to portray GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin as a religious nut.In her article "Jesus and Witches," Newsweek Religion Editor Lisa Miller suggests Palin believes in witchcraft, thinks the world is coming to a fiery end in her lifetime, and may have a "special sense of destiny" fueled by her "…

AP Prober Chides Palin for Accepting 'Awesome Facial

AP Attacks Palin for Not Being in Alaska During Campaign

The AP is suddenly alarmed that no one is "running Alaska" while Palin is out on the stump with John McCain, so much so that they've published a piece wondering if Alaska is about to sink into the icy grip of the Alaskan tundra, or something, because Palin isn't there. One wonders if the AP is all upset that no one is in Congress representing certain districts of Illinois or Delaware with Obama…

AP Writer Spins on Troopergate; Ignores Obvious Bias in Legislative Pr

NYT Editors: Palin 'Petty,' McCain Guilty of 'Demonstrable Falsehoods

New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt evaluated two tough political stories in the Sunday Week in Review, one anti-McCain, the other anti-Palin. While he found the McCain piece fair, he faulted the anti-Palin piece. In both cases, Times reporters and editors rallied to the defense of the pieces, finding McCain guilty of "demonstrable falsehoods" and Palin of "sometimes petty, peremptory"…

NY Times: Obama Camp Relying on Media to 'Debunk' Palin

New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney's front-page story on Friday, "Obama Raises Level of Attack As Party Frets," tipped its hand on one part of Barack Obama campaign's strategy: Relying on turnout from its loyal supporters in the press. By every indication, Mr. Obama's aides underestimated the impact that Mr. McCain's choice of Ms. Palin would have on the race. Mr. Obama and his campaign have…

HuffPo 'Reporter' Has Not Corrected Week-Old Errors in 'McCain Didn't

I sent the e-mail that follows to Sam Stein of the Huffington Post on Saturday evening, and followed up by resending it on Sunday morning. I originally promised to call him out in public this morning if he did not respond, but other business matters intervened. I noted this morning that my call-out would occur this afternoon. Stein has still not responded, so here we are.…

NYT Still Denigrating Palin's Experience, Slides by Sexism Charges

Thursday's New York Times lead story by Elisabeth Bumiller and Michael Cooper covered Palin's rapturously received speech at the Republican Convention Wednesday night, "On Center Stage, Palin Electrifies Convention." After describing how she introduced herself to the "roaring crowd" in St. Paul, the Times threw in this dubious assertion:But the nomination was a sideshow to the evening's main…

Dr. Laurie Gregg, Democrat? Also a Democratic Operative

So how did Anchorage Daily News reporter Lisa Demer end up speaking with a California doctor and getting her allegedly expert opinion concerning the circumstances surrounding Sarah Palin's pregnancy and birth? Obviously, I don't know. But it's not like Dr. Laurie Gregg was a local phone call away. Here is what Dr. Gregg had to say about Palin's decision to fly home from Texas (full circumstances…

Omission Watch: Pro-Life Alaska Governor Has Down Syndrome Baby