September 18, 2007

The Times spins for Nadia Abu al-Haj - my response

We wrote about the Nadia Abu al-Haj tenure case here. Solomonia has been following it more thoroughly, most recently here, and now the case has broken the surface of the mainstream media and been reported in the NY Times. I reposted a comprehensive fisking of that article here.

Solomonia also links to an excellent summary of the case which places it is the context of other troubling examples of - in the author's words - "the alarming downward spiral of intellectual integrity and academic standards at what was once considered an esteemed institution."

I just sent this email to the NY Times reporter, Karen Arenson:

Continue reading "The Times spins for Nadia Abu al-Haj - my response"

Judith | 09/18/07 at 01:37 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

The Times spins for Nadia al-Haj

We wrote about the Nadia Abu al-Haj tenure case here. Solomonia has been following it more thoroughly, most recently here. His commenter Joanne fisks the recent NY Times article:

This article in the Times is nothing but an accolade to Nadia Abu El-Haj.

It starts out by stating in a neutral manner that she “has critically examined the use of archaeology in Israel.”

Then it immediately goes into a description of her brilliant credentials: “The professor, Nadia Abu El-Haj, who is of Palestinian descent, has been at Barnard since 2002 and has won many awards and grants, including a Fulbright scholarship and fellowships at Harvard and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Barnard has already approved her for tenure...”

Continue reading "The Times spins for Nadia al-Haj"

Judith | 09/18/07 at 12:45 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 10, 2007

Polling the Surge

Ben in NYC says:

What is the damned point of asking opinions as to how well the Surge is going? What good is the opinion of the average American?

Thank God we never saw...

As you may have heard, Patton's 3rd Army has made slow but steady progress breaking out of the Hedgerow country in northeast France during "Operation Cobra." Do you feel the advance has been:

1) Not fast enough?
2) About right?
3) So fast it threatens to outrun the supply chain?
4) Headed into a German trap?

Continue reading "Polling the Surge"

Judith | 09/10/07 at 10:02 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 22, 2007

Thomas Lipscomb - 0, milbloggers - 1

Like almost everyone associated with the military who has read it, professional journalist Thomas Lipscomb thinksthe TNR "Scott Thomas" story stinks to high heaven. But according to the Democracy Project, he also perceives

lack of depth in the Weekly Standard’s skepticism. Lipscomb wonders where are any military veterans among these titans of journalism, who could directly and immediately see through the absurdity of the TNR piece and provide immediate truth.

For that matter, why not let their fingers do the walking, right to the Pentagon, and ask the operator to connect them with someone with military experience. Instead, days pass, until a blogger -- a Marine Reservist and a student at Columbia University in New York City, presently in Iraq interviewing the troops -- gets a Public Affairs officer in Iraq to reply courteously that the TNR piece is BS.

As Lipscomb says, this isn’t about politics; it’s Journalism 101.

Neither Lipscomb nor the Democracy Project apparently considered that the voluminous response to Michael Goldfarb's Weekly Standard blog was worth investigating. They could have done their own investigative reporting to find out how Goldfarb solicited the opinions of soldiers in the field and how he ran five posts on the topic, each time asking for more information from those who would be in the best position to know, here, here, here, here, and here.

Want some military veterans? Goldfarb also links to the following group blogs which are clearing houses for opinions and cameraderie by actual military personnel, many of whom have served in Iraq. They also investigated the story:

Continue reading "Thomas Lipscomb - 0, milbloggers - 1"

Judith | 07/22/07 at 12:02 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 15, 2007

The Surge of Facts

The hawkish blognocenti have been grumbling since the 2004 election about the Administration’s lackadaisiacal approach to explaining and promoting the Iraq War. Yes, Bush has often been eloquent and passionate in laying out the reasons and rationale for deposing Saddam and replacing the typical Middle East strongman regime with a representative government. And it’s not his fault that huge chunks of the mainstream media have been systematically misrepresenting everything he says while giving him as little air time as possible.

But instead of recognizing the necessity to go on the offensive, he has been content to defend his course as though there were no organized campaign to discredit it, and to let his advocates in the blogosphere take up the slack.

Some of us, watching the successful blitzkreig against the Administration’s immigration proposals, decided that the war deserved a similar effort, and it’s finally starting. Better late than never.

Tony Snow, on a conference call with bloggers right now:

We need a surge of facts. That’s one of the things we’re going to be working on. I’m going to be doing it from the podium.... So far we have had very few visuals to confirm what Americans want to believe. We have an amazing and heroic American military... The only way to change public opinion [on Iraq] is to present a fuller, more nuanced and more accurate picture.”

“We’re gonna present bad news too. You have to... But it’s a miracle anyone supports the war, based on the characterizations that have been painted.

Snow says he’s going to put up slides, video, and audio on new screens behind him during the daily press briefing. “We’re not gonna spin, but we’re going to provide real hard data.”

Tony, you guys have been doing that. The problem is not that you don’t do it. The problem is that you don’t do it repeatedly and pervasively. You put it out there and go on to the next bit of business, and while your attention is elsewhere, it gets buried under spin. You have to keep keep shoveling it out faster than they pile it up.

Meanwhile, a citizen-led effort akin to the immigration bill campaign is also getting underway, led by Vets for Freedom. This Tuesday July 17th, they launch the "Ten Weeks of Testimony" campaign, sending vets to lobby Congressmen in Washington DC. If you are not a vet and want to help, Call your senators! (If you are thinking of sending emails, the Win the War Campaign suggests using this article for talking points.)

If you are a vet and want to participate, read on. VfF will reimburse you for travel to Washington.

Continue reading "The Surge of Facts"

Judith | 07/15/07 at 06:40 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Another journalist murdered in Iraq

Another Iraqi journalist is murdered by good squads.

The murderous turmoil in Baghdad has reached a point where many families never know the killers of their loved ones, or their motives. Sunni insurgents? Shiite militias? Killers who mimic one or the other, while pursuing more private motives of greed, spite or revenge? Or, in Mr. Hassan’s case, the nature of his employment, which placed him doubly at risk: as an Iraqi journalist, and as an Iraqi working for Americans?

. . . . Mr. Hassan was the second member of The Times’s Iraqi news staff — a group that includes more than 30 journalists in Baghdad and across the country — to be shot and killed. A journalist the newspaper relied on in Basra, Fakher Haider, was taken from his home and killed in the fall of 2005, a murder for which some local officials blamed Shiite militiamen angered by aspects of his work. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, 110 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the American-led invasion in March 2003. The toll includes 88 Iraqis, including Mr. Hassan.

Last month CPJ held a panel discussion on this topic, which we recorded. It was co-sponsored by the Steven Vincent Foundation which donates funds to families of slain local journalists. (The Times says to send an email to foreign@nytimes.com with “fund for Khalid Hassan’s family” in the subject line, and the foreign desk will respond with more information.)

NYTimes correspondents reminisce about their young colleague. I was going to pull a few quotes but you have to read the whole thing - he sounds like a really neat guy. He loved American pop culture and Western technology. He had an expansive personality and a great sense of fun. He worked hard to support his mother and sisters. (Reading between the lines, it isn't hard to conclude that he saw the older correspondents he worked with as father figures.) And he exemplified the energy and loyalty and courage that characterizes so many of the stringers and fixers who work with our journalists, as shown in this anecdote:

Continue reading "Another journalist murdered in Iraq"

Judith | 07/15/07 at 09:59 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 09, 2007

Fixers on the Front Lines

Last week I attended a panel discussion (video below) on the accomplishments and plight of "fixers." These are natives of war-torn areas who help Western journalists by - in the words of one participant on the panel - finding hotel rooms, briefing them on the local customs, ethnic groups, and political situations, guiding them through unsafe neighborhoods, setting up interviews, translating during interviews, translating transcripts and articles, and much more. As George Packer said, "Without my fixer I would not have been able to get anything done in Iraq."

Fixers and "stringers" are controversial. The purpose of the panel was to raise awareness of the danger Iraqi journalists face at home: militias and insurgents target the along with doctors, judges, publishers, and anyone who contributes to a stable civil society in Iraq (and their relatives). The vast majority of journalists killed in Iraq have been locals. Although they can make a case for refugee status, our government has allowed few of them to repatriate to the US. Does the US have an obligation to help people whose work with our journalists put them and their families at risk? Especially now, as the NYTimes blithely admits that its advocated troop withdrawal will probably result in a bloodbath, how does the plight of those who sided with us fit into our national debate about immigration?

At the same time there have been cases of local journalists fabricating stories for Western journalists, as part of disinformation campaigns intended to give advantage to terrorist movements. In light of these, and the insidious nature of terrorist infiltration in general, how do we tell who is an honest journalist?

The panel only addressed the political refugee problem, which is real and serious. Most readers of this blog spend their time in ideological neighborhoods where George Soros (whose Open Society Institute funded this event) and Middle Eastern fixers merit suspicion, but viewing this panel will introduce you to brave and conscientious war correspondents who have risked death and exile to report honestly. And you can help resettle more Iraqis to the US.

Continue reading "Fixers on the Front Lines"

Judith | 07/09/07 at 12:12 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 30, 2007

Lisa Vincent on PBS

From Lisa Vincent, widow of the first blogger-journalist from the Iraq War, and the first slain in action, Steven Vincent:

On friday, May 4, Steven's translator Nour and I are going to be on PBS' "Now with David Brancaccio", which will air from 8:30 - 9:00 pm on the east coast; Everyone else, please check your local listings for the time and channel if you want to see it.

The show sent a team to the middle east to interview Nour on location, and came to my house to talk to me, so I think it will be an interesting program.

Nour was kidnapped and shot along with Vincent, and almost killed herself. She received medical treatment and has been living in an undisclosed location. A radio interview with Lisa and Nour last month, here.

PS Lisa adds: "thanks for the mention; i heard from the producers and they have decided to give the entire program over to the story, rather than only half."

Judith | 04/30/07 at 07:47 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 02, 2007

Video shows Michael Ware didn't heckle McCain

Re: the lastest Michael Ware story. So far video shows, and Ware insists, that he didn't heckle McCain during the press conference. The source of this story was a quote on Drudge from "an official at the press conference." What raised the credibility of this anonymous source was Ware's history as a journalist in Baghdad, which Kesher Talk and some other blogs took the opportunity to revisit by linking to our previous posts. Those do have corroborating video and statements.

Even as Ware defends his behavior on air, he engages in editorial remarks which are consistent with his previous public appearances. So we know Ware has a point of view and we know he isn't shy about showing it, while he's covering the story. So now we can factor that in while evaluating whether to take his reporting at face value.

UPDATE: Hit & Run has more, including an example of how the rapid response of the blogosphere can correct falsehoods.

[The video] reveals that Ware didn't do anything until the end of the presser, when he raised his hand. But CNN didn't endeavor to release that video. It came from a Ware fan site. A few years ago CNN would have kept dithering as the story gathered momentum online, and then finally released the video as the story was dying out. Here's an example of a Web 2.0 technique - readers uploading short videos and sharing them at the speed of thought - defeating a Web 1.0-ish news site that posted a story and let the readers have at it.

However, a news report says:

Making a lightning trip to Iraq, McCain and three fellow Republican senators told slightly incredulous journalists about their "deeply moving" downtown walkabout, sipping tea and chewing the fat with welcoming Iraqis. . . .

"I studied warfare. I'm a student of history. If you control the capital city of a nation you have a significant advantage," countered McCain as one reporter giggled at the back. [my emphasis-JSW]

Ware was sitting at the back, and the report goes on to say that "journalists openly scoffed afterwards."

Judith | 04/02/07 at 02:32 PM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 01, 2007

Psychology Today Prints Asher Abrams' Letter

Late last year, I was interviewed for a Psychology Today article on political ideology and transformation titled "The Ideological Animal," which appeared in the January/February issue.

While I felt that the article treated my story of post-9/11 left-to-right political transformation fairly, I disagreed strongly with the author, Jay Dixit's, take on what inspires such political shifts. In short, Dixit implied that they are motivated purely by "irrational fears," including a fear of death, and he cited several highly suspect and blogosphere-debunked studies to make his point. I blogged about my concerns here, as well as linking to the many other bloggers (and one Pajamas Media "Sanity Squad" podcast) that covered the subject here.

Continue reading "Psychology Today Prints Asher Abrams' Letter"

Cinnamon | 04/01/07 at 11:12 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

CNN Correspondent Michael Ware continues to drink heavily on camera

[ UPDATE: Ware claims and video shows that he did not heckle McCain. ]

Michael Ware has been Exhibit A in the controversy over unprofessional partisan journalism in the Iraq War. Make that inebriated unprofessional partisan journalism. (And unlike Christopher Hitchens, he isn't an eloquent principled dignified drunk, but a sloppy one.)

Last year Ware made unsubstantiated accusations about sexual abuse by US troops, to Bill Maher's TV audience, live and defiantly drunk in Baghdad. (Video here. YouTube now has the videos, so I added them to the end of this post.)

Following that spectacle, Hugh Hewitt interviewed Ware and bloggers commented on the interview. (Links here.) Then Hewitt played the interview back to both Hitchens and Victor Davis Hanson, who respond to Ware's ravings.

As a result of that controversy, Ware went from being the Time Bureau Chief to "a CNN correspondent." But he's still drunkenly flaunting his partisan persona, and I guess CNN is okay with that; disgracing the journalism profession on network news brings in more viewers. And in Michael Ware, CNN has a direct conduit to terrorist snuff videos, always a money-maker.

Someone on the Powerline Forum says Ware is indeed like that all the time:

Continue reading "CNN Correspondent Michael Ware continues to drink heavily on camera"

Judith | 04/01/07 at 08:33 PM | 13 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 31, 2007

If the Passover Story Were Reported by The NY Times

I got the following via email a few years ago. Although a few of the names have changed, unfortunately it hasn't aged much. And the ending hasn't aged at all.

The cycle of violence between the Jews and the Egyptians continues with no end in sight in Egypt. After eight previous plagues that have destroyed the Egyptian infrastructure and disrupted the lives of ordinary Egyptian citizens, the Jews launched a new offensive this week in the form of the plague of darkness.

Western journalists were particularly enraged by this plague. "It is simply impossible to report when you can't see an inch in front of you," complained a frustrated Andrea Koppel of CNN. "I have heard from my reliable Egyptian contacts that in the midst of the blanket of blackness, the Jews were annihilating thousands of Egyptians. Their word is solid enough evidence for me."

Continue reading "If the Passover Story Were Reported by The NY Times"

Judith | 03/31/07 at 10:16 PM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 23, 2007

Irony Alert

How amusing!

Former President Bill Clinton yesterday complained that “it’s just not fair” the way his wife, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), is being depicted for her controversial Iraq war vote.

Speaking to hundreds of supporters on conference call, the former president said, “I don’t have a problem with anything Barack Obama [has] said on this,” but “to characterize Hillary and Obama’s positions on the war as polar opposites is ludicrous.

“This dichotomy that’s been set up to allow him to become the raging hero of the anti-war crowd on the Internet is just factually inaccurate.”

How ironic. Hillary has become a victim of media spin.

Alcibiades | 03/23/07 at 12:10 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 20, 2007

Erlanger vs Landes on media manipulation

Tune in to ZOA internet radio here tomorrow (Wednesday March 21) at noon:

Steve Erlanger, NYT Jerusalem Bureau chief, will join us as we question him about his coverage of the Middle East, and particularly his "news" story that ran in the NYT on March 12th: A GENERATION LOST: The Second Intifada; Years of Strife and Lost Hope Scar Young Palestinian Lives.

Following the interview with Erlanger, we will be joined by Richard Landes, BU History Professor and an expert on media manipulation. Landes will discuss the various levels of dangers presented by the mainstream media's portrayal of Israel - and the NYT is the Mother of all Mainstream Media!

We will also have the opportunity to chat with H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University. Swygert swiftly and courageously nullified a decision by a rogue portion of the Howard University faculty to force the university to divest its holdings from Israel.

Our friend Landes fisked Erlanger's latest piece and has said unkind things about him in the past (not on record) so this should be fun.

At a media conference in Israel (not the one I was at) Erlanger confirmed all the worst stereotypes about the MSM:

Continue reading "Erlanger vs Landes on media manipulation"

Judith | 03/20/07 at 07:24 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 15, 2007

Serious Questions for Henry Waxman's Show Trial

By Rick Ballard, reposted with permission:

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman will continue his show trials masquerading as Congressional hearings tomorrow with a focus on the purported outing of CIA celebrity agent Valerie Plame by the White House and Office of the Vice-President. Apparently Waxman has limited access to simple facts. If Waxman had even a minimal desire to determine the truth, Joe Wilson would have been called to sit beside his wife and testify to their joint decision to go into electoral politics.

The primary responsibility for the protection of agents’ identities rests with the agents themselves. That is a fact hammered into all CIA employees from the moment they are hired. Valerie Plame Wilson initiated her own ‘outing’ by participating in her husband’s successful effort to become an advisor to the Kerry campaign. The precise moment in which she abandoned any pretense of being ‘undercover’ is difficult to determine, but it is safe to presume it occurred prior to May 2, 2003.

On that day, during a meeting of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the Wilsons succeeded in inserting Joe Wilson into the electoral political process. They also made contact with New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof.

From Vanity Fair:

“In early May, Wilson and Plame attended a conference sponsored by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, at which Wilson spoke about Iraq; one of the other panelists was the New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Over breakfast the next morning with Kristof and his wife, Wilson told about his trip to Niger and said Kristof could write about it, but not name him.”

Continue reading "Serious Questions for Henry Waxman's Show Trial"

Alcibiades | 03/15/07 at 01:44 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 11, 2007

Moments of truth in Mainstream Media

[ UPDATE: Video of Ted Koppel interview referenced below. ] Journalist Pamela Hess caused a stir this week when she argued passionately and eloquently on C-SPAN for staying the course in Iraq. What is heartbreaking about this video is her . . . more »

Judith | 03/11/07 at 11:23 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

More on the Secular Islam Summit from Phyllis Chesler

Phyllis Chesler continues her three-part article series on the Secular Islam Summit. Here's Part II: An Islamic Enlightenment . . . more »

Cinnamon | 03/11/07 at 01:25 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 10, 2007

More Wisdom from the Sage at MSNBC

Chris Matthew's blathers his pearls into the microphone: The liberals will talk about poverty, injustice, and racism, and nuclear war, and pick that part of the Christian message from Jesus, and the conservatives will find the evils of sodomy, the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/10/07 at 09:08 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 09, 2007

Disappearing a Man's Freedom: Smoke and Mirrors

In a column today, Charles Krauthammer points out the very thing that NBC does not want the public to know: Everyone agrees that Fitzgerald's perjury case against Libby hung on the testimony of NBC's Tim Russert. Libby said that he . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/09/07 at 04:31 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 07, 2007

Speaking About Exploiting Jury Duty

Denis Collins is a juror on the Scooter Libby trial, somewhat discussed during the course of the trial because he had worked for Bob Woodward, who testified, and was a neighbor of Tim Russert, who also testified. Since unlike Russert, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/07/07 at 11:03 AM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 02, 2007

Seven Words You Can Never Say in the Media

Taking off from the famous George Carlin bit, Zombie conducted an informal straw poll on LGF - Seven words you can never say in the media: 1. Terrorist 2. Dhimmi 3. Treason 4. Caliphate 5. Victory 6. Jihadi 7. Patriot . . . more »

Judith | 03/02/07 at 02:35 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 19, 2007

Nashville Cab Jihad

Here we go again: Muslim cabbie tries to kill 2 students with stolen cab Since the whole incident revolved around his religion, the article really couldn't avoid mentioning it. But that's Fox News. Wonder how the rest of the media . . . more »

Cinnamon | 02/19/07 at 09:15 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 14, 2007

Utah Shooter a Bosnian Muslim

The question I posed yesterday (updated by Judith) about the Utah mall shooter has been answered and sure enough, he's a Bosnian Muslim. About halfway down in a report from KLS.com is this little factoid (hat tip Sweetness & Light . . . more »

Cinnamon | 02/14/07 at 06:18 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 13, 2007

Utah Shooter: Religion of Peace?

Killer identified as 18-year-old Sulejmen Talovic "Police have no motive in the killing." Does that mean he's Muslim? UPDATE from Judith: Via LGF, FWIW: . . . more »

Cinnamon | 02/13/07 at 06:57 PM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 12, 2007

NYTimes gets the kaffiyeh kraze wrong too

Speaking of people who think Israel is an "apartheid state" . . . . you might assume a scruffy youngster with a kaffiyeh around his/her neck would be booking it down to the Judson Church for some (self) righteous Palestinian . . . more »

Judith | 02/12/07 at 12:26 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 11, 2007

Media Blackout on a Few Essential Points: Libby Trial

A Few Facts You May Not Know About the Libby/Plame Investigation Because of the Media Blackout lack of discussion: The major witness the prosecution has called to impeach Libby's veracity is Tim Russert. Before Tim Russert remembered journalistic privilege, he . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/11/07 at 12:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 08, 2007

Russert the Hypocrite

In a previous post, I produced Russert's testimony showing that privately he spoke to an FBI agent about his call with Libby, the same call that later on, publicly, he fought against "being forced to reveal" because, as a member . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/08/07 at 11:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Tim Russert - Boldly Lying on the Stand

A report on the Morning's testimony: Libby's defense attorney, Wells, continues to grill Russert. To recap, Russert, being a god, unlike you and me, got special treatment for his "grand jury" testimony. He got to testify in his office, with . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/08/07 at 12:13 PM | 4 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 07, 2007

Grilling Russert to a Fine Turn

For those of you who are not Plamiacs - all Plame, all the time! now that the Libby trial is going on - there was a delicious moment in the court today. Tim Russert walked into court today, a commanding . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/07/07 at 07:27 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 03, 2007

Positive Stories From Afghanistan

In the spirit of continuing to post items regarding Aghanistan that shed light on the complexity of the situation, rather than the MSM's steady diet of doom and gloom, I ran across two inspiring stories. One is on the man . . . more »

Cinnamon | 02/03/07 at 11:08 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 02, 2007

Obama

Dick Morris brilliantly sums up Obama: “Obama is like a stem cell. He can become any part of the body he wants to be!” Or that the media wants him to be! In reality, he's an unleavened liberal. But the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/02/07 at 11:50 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 01, 2007

Want to Know What's Really Going on in Afghanistan? Listen to the Military, Not the Media

Much as they do with the so-called insurgency in Iraq, the mainstream media (MSM) is constantly telling us that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are "winning" in Afghanistan. To hear the MSM tell it, vastly outnumbered Taliban forces are about to . . . more »

Cinnamon | 02/01/07 at 06:11 PM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 29, 2007

Wall Street Journal's John Fund Raises Questions About Sandy Berger

Fresh on the heels of my recent post on the subject, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal is raising questions about the Sandy Berger affair: Paper Chase: Did investigators turn a blind eye to the seriousness of the Sandy . . . more »

Cinnamon | 01/29/07 at 01:18 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 26, 2007

Sandy Berger: The "Watergate" No One Wants To Talks About

Former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, who, along with colleague Bob Woodward, exposed the Watergate affair, has been grumbling that the Bush administration has done "far greater damage" than President Nixon. But perhaps the intrepid reporters of "All the President's . . . more »

Cinnamon | 01/26/07 at 04:29 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 17, 2007

The Saudis Finally Got the Damned Memo

Bush must feel relieved. Remember when the Democrat talking points told us that in the fall, just before the 2004 elections, Bush was going to whisper in Saudi ears to increase oil production and the price of a barrel of . . . more »

Alcibiades | 01/17/07 at 03:13 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 04, 2007

Fact-checking is for guys blogging in their parents' basement in their pajamas

There's sloppy reporting, biased reporting, biased sloppy reporting. And then there's the New York Times, whose official policy is, seemingly, that fact-checking is for lesser beings. Once a process whose rigor a media leader would showcase with pride, fact-checking is . . . more »

Judith | 01/04/07 at 02:44 AM | 8 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 31, 2006

Conference on Media as Theater of War: collected links

Hertzliya, Israel, December 17-18, 2006. This is the home page for my blogging about the conference on Media as Theater of War, the Blogosphere, and the Global Battle for Civil Society, Hertzliya, Israel, December 17-18, 2006. UPDATE: More links . . . more »

Judith | 12/31/06 at 11:47 AM | 10 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 28, 2006

The MTW Conference: in the audience

Hertzliya, Israel, December 17-18, 2006. All my posts about the conference are collected here, also links to other blogs writing about the conference. Richard Landes gazes upon his creation. Brett Schorr, conference manager extraordinaire, unflappable, and a really nice . . . more »

Judith | 12/28/06 at 02:20 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 25, 2006

Fantastic Discussion in the Comments

Following from the recent conference in Israel on Israel and media, there is a fantastic conversation going on in the comments on a post by Liza, particularly between Richard Landes and Don Radlauer on the problem of Israel and Israel's . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/25/06 at 09:12 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 03, 2006

The Shoddy Game of Political Telephone

In his new book, Bush's War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age Professor Jim A. Kuypers precisely articulates my experience of what has gone on in the months and years following 9/11 with regard to the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/03/06 at 03:12 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

November 20, 2006

"A combination of blurring and smearing"

Greyhawk takes us step-by-step through the events surrounding the scandal at Abu Ghraib, demonstrating how the shadow of its prolonged exposure influenced the battle of Fallujah and the growth of Sadr's power, and made security for Iraq harder to achieve. . . . more »

Judith | 11/20/06 at 08:14 AM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 26, 2006

Press Release from Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Here's the press release about the posthumous award to Steven Vincent which I wrote about here. Fifth Annual Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism go to Steven Vincent and Massoud Ansari Awards Honour US Freelancer Murdered in Iraq for Uncovering . . . more »

Judith | 10/26/06 at 11:33 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 24, 2006

2nd Al Durah Trial Starts Today

Neo Neocon is in Paris to cover the second Al Durah Trial with an explanation of who France2 is suing for libel. And why it is bound to strike Americans, used to freedom of speech, as absurdist right off the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/24/06 at 09:10 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Steven Vincent honored by Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Longtime readers of this blog know that we are big fans of Steven Vincent, and his widow Lisa is a big fan of the bloggers who appreciated and publicized his reporting from Iraq in 2003 and 2004, and remembered . . . more »

Judith | 10/24/06 at 07:18 AM | 1 Comments | 5 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 22, 2006

Spooking the Spooks: More on the BBC

Anyone out there ever seen the BBC series Spooks? Also known, in the US, as MI5? I quite liked it in the first two seasons, although I had to spend an unreasonable amount of time filtering out its annoying BBC™ . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/22/06 at 07:17 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 20, 2006

CNN: The Al-Jazeera of the West?

CNN's airing of portions of the latest Iraqi "insurgency" (as the MSM labels it) propaganda videotapes this past week put them in the realm of Al-Jazeera, the mouthpiece for al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorists all over the world. The fact that . . . more »

Cinnamon | 10/20/06 at 04:15 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 19, 2006

Clumsy GOP ad

I think this could backfire. Bush is already accused of exaggerating terrorism as a fear tactic to gain more power (by the conspiracy-mongering Left, it's true, but that mindset has deeply infiltrated the Democratic Party). This ad is a blatant . . . more »

Judith | 10/19/06 at 09:58 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Fauxtography Rules!

[With UPDATES at the bottom] Apparently it does in France where news suppression and journalism as propaganda has just won a victory. In appalling news from unfree France, on the first of the Al Dura trials currently ongoing in France, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/19/06 at 11:50 AM | 6 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 17, 2006

More Objective Reporting From Reuters

On Tuesday, a Reuters cameraman, working in the West Bank, was remanded into custody by the Judea-area military court. What were the charges, you ask? Nothing special. Just the usual kind of objective methodology we've now grown accustomed to seeing . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/17/06 at 03:57 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 16, 2006

It’s time to have a passive voice watch

Michael Rubin: A writer with whom I spoke about two weeks ago pointed out a very interesting trend in the press reporting and political commentary about the war on terrorism. All too often, reporters and politicians use the passive voice. . . . more »

Judith | 10/16/06 at 07:23 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 05, 2006

Happy 10th anniversary to alt TV

Jeff Jarvis - media maven that he is - notes that Fox, Al jazeera, and the Daily Show all turn 10 this year. It'll take a while for me to digest that . . . . . . . . more »

Judith | 10/05/06 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 28, 2006

Hamid Karzai explains it all to you

Hamid Karzai schools a White House reporter. I'm sure they will all scurry around calling him a puppet. This dignified thoughtful leader who should get a Nobel prize if there is any justice. I was at a dinner the second . . . more »

Judith | 09/28/06 at 11:02 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 26, 2006

Hugo Chavez, Noam Chomsky, and the New York Times All Say Stupid Things

Apparently, while I was on my two week trip to the States, Noam Chomsky died and was resurrected, prompting a grateful puff piece from the New York Times, which appears to have forgiven Chomsky his innumerable slanders against it over . . . more »

Benjamin | 09/26/06 at 03:05 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 15, 2006

Hope in Europe?

A French high court gives a sympathetic hearing to media critics fighting for their right to call BS on propaganda ... and politicians across Europe stand up for Israel. Finally, don't call Nicaolas Sarkozy a cheese-eating surrender monkey. Neo brings . . . more »

Asher Abrams | 09/15/06 at 01:31 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 01, 2006

Plamegate fallout

Poor David Corn. The latest in a string of stories on this by Hitchens, links to all the others are embedded, I believe. The gist is that the people making the most noise about what an awful thing it was . . . more »

Judith | 09/01/06 at 07:48 AM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 31, 2006

At the Times, it's dust bowls all the way down

Via a friend: . . . . the NYT reefers [sic] a big piece on arid conditions in the Great Plains, which have left "farmers and ranchers with conditions that they compare to those of the Dust Bowl of the . . . more »

Judith | 08/31/06 at 11:57 AM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Lebanon: You are There

Lisa has a video of combat in a Lebanese village, by an Israeli journalist embedded with the Israeli combat unit. That's embedded on foot, moving along with the soldiers, using night vision goggles. Explaining what is going on (I think . . . more »

Judith | 08/31/06 at 11:01 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 23, 2006

The Ghetto of History

I originally wrote this piece during the war in response to Richard Cohen's article referring to Israel as an "historical mistake". I think it is still timely and, unfortunately, will be for quite awhile. A great many voices have been . . . more »

Benjamin | 08/23/06 at 05:10 PM | 12 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 21, 2006

Where in the world is Flat Fatima™ ?

You may remember Flat Fatima™ , one of many props for photojournalists invented by the People's Cube. Well, acolytes of the Cube have been Farking it up over there, posing Fatima™ in many newsworthy situations. In fact, Fatima™ is . . . more »

Judith | 08/21/06 at 04:29 PM | 2 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 13, 2006

Yet more alternate history news

(Previous dispatch from the alternate Middle East here) From Loud Noises: Tuesday, November 6, 2001 New York, NY (CCN) — The Security Council will meet again today to try brokering a ceasefire in the U.S. war in Afghanistan, as it . . . more »

Judith | 08/13/06 at 07:33 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 12, 2006

Tools in the propaganda campaign

A compact summary in a short video of the recent Lebanon photo fraud. The methods of Palestinian film propaganda, exposed, using raw footage: . . . more »

Judith | 08/12/06 at 08:06 PM | 15 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 11, 2006

More alternate universe news

It's so easy to make fun of the New York Times and their readership demographic. You've seen the t-shirts about the Normandy invasion. Well, our friends at the People's Cube have a New York Times front page about . . . . . more »

Judith | 08/11/06 at 08:12 AM | 0 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 10, 2006

Never apologize, never explain

[ RELATED: David Adesnik wonders if Siniora will ever express regret for the deaths of Israelis. ] . . . more »

Judith | 08/10/06 at 03:47 PM | 11 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 08, 2006

The arsenal in the bedroom closet

Journalist Kevin Sites has been reporting the Israeli-Hezballah war for Yahoo News. The story behind this video. . . . more »

Judith | 08/08/06 at 01:01 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 06, 2006

More Photo Fraud

I expect everyone sentient that reads blogs for political news now knows about the photoshopping photo fraud Charles Johnson uncovered, put out by Adnan Hajj, photo stringer at Al Reuters. Here are two more examples: the first, at EUReferendum . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/06/06 at 09:03 PM | 11 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 05, 2006

Truth in Advertising: A Fitting Logo For the BBC

BBC has been test marketing its new logo: [Hat Tip: Stephen Pollard] . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/05/06 at 10:27 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 04, 2006

Lebanon War Round Up

Here are some interesting links: David Warren on why Qana has disappeared from the news: My reader may be wondering what happened to all the coverage from Qana. As usual, when the "liberal" media begin to realize they've been had, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 08/04/06 at 09:54 AM | 5 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 02, 2006

Steven Vincent: Lisa's charge

Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part I Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part II Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part IV Lisa sends a pizza: To honor and remember my beloved husband Steven Vincent, the freelance journalist kidnapped and murdered . . . more »

Judith | 08/02/06 at 04:05 PM | 1 Comments | 11 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Steven Vincent: Bloggers remember one of their own, cont.

Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part I Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part III Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part IV Vincent's inspiration was his friend, the artist Steve Mumford, who had gone to Iraq ahead of Vincent and showed . . . more »

Judith | 08/02/06 at 03:43 PM | 3 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Steven Vincent: Bloggers remember one of their own

Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part II Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part III Steven Vincent Blogger Commemoration - Part IV Steven Vincent was murdered in Basra, Iraq, one year ago on August 2, 2005, because he went where other . . . more »

Judith | 08/02/06 at 03:23 PM | 3 Comments | 16 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 26, 2006

Human Shields in Lebanon

Since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants began two weeks ago, there had been several dozen incidents of firing close to UN peacekeepers and observers, including direct hits on nine positions, some of them repeatedly, a UN official said. . . . more »

Judith | 07/26/06 at 07:01 PM | 9 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 22, 2006

Pajamas Media: An Army of Davids

It's a mixed blessing, but wars often stimulate technological advancement and social change. Just last week I quoted a news story from 2003:Reporters across the Gulf - including hundreds "embedded" with American troops -- planned to file stories using laptops . . . more »

Judith | 07/22/06 at 03:19 PM | 2 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 20, 2006

The Forward hasn't heard of centrist and right bloggers

Via Canonist: The Forward thinks that bloggers are avoiding writing about the Israeli-Hizbullah war. That's because the only bloggers mentioned in the aricle are left-of-center bloggers. I just sent them a letter: . . . more »

Judith | 07/20/06 at 04:00 PM | 7 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 19, 2006

Soledad O'Brien ™CNN Milks the Narrative for All It's Worth

CNN seems to believe that Soledad O'Brien, one of their morning anchors, is only capable of going on location in situations where she can repeat the Katrina meme. They saw how "well" she did with that one [read puerile], in . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/19/06 at 12:47 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 18, 2006

Narrative Ahoy!!

Don't you know the MSM is no longer floundering without a narrative in sight and having to report on the war. Finally - what a relief - finally - a narrative has been spotted. The true, important story of lo! . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/18/06 at 08:45 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

NYTimes destroys its own history

In a previous entry we fisked Richard Cohen in the Washington Post for inexcusable distorting of history. Someone in comments pointed out the lack of editorial oversight in the fact-checking department. One of the criticisms of the MSM in general . . . more »

Judith | 07/18/06 at 03:44 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Blogs are now an accepted news source

Gulf War One was the first war reported from cable TV. The Iraq War was the first war in which the internet was a communication tool taken for granted. From March 2003: Hours before the United States attacked Baghdad yesterday, . . . more »

Judith | 07/18/06 at 12:27 AM | 8 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 11, 2006

Novak About To Spill All On the Plame Game

Drudge has the red siren flashing: Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has informed my attorneys that, after two and one-half years, his investigation of the CIA leak case concerning matters directly relating to me has been concluded. That frees me to . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/11/06 at 05:35 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

WWII or Vietnam?

On a muggy Manhattan July day, Pamela covered two protests on opposite ends of town. I saw her at the NYTimes rally and she looked pretty wiped. She really deserved her Elvis Costello concert. Interesting tidbit from her coverage of . . . more »

Judith | 07/11/06 at 01:22 AM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 10, 2006

Two protests this Monday in NYC

Rally to demand the release of Gilad Shalit. When - Monday, July 10th at 12 noon, rain or shine. Where - 820 Second Avenue (between 43rd and 44th Streets). (In front of the Syrian Mission) If you have a lot . . . more »

Judith | 07/10/06 at 10:56 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 03, 2006

Only Your Newspaper Editor Knows For Sure

Ann Althouse points out where Bill Keller and Dean Baquet's argument "to trust us" to reveal national security secrets for your good falls short, even for people who still like the NYTimes. (Or the LA Times, for that matter.) Speaking . . . more »

Alcibiades | 07/03/06 at 07:18 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 27, 2006

Ann Coulter versus Jeremy Paxman on the BBC

Ann Coulter versus Jeremy Paxman on the UK BBC Newsnight interview. These two deserve each other, although I think that Jeremy Paxman makes it too easy for Ann. He gives her far too many straight lines, being of the opinion, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 06/27/06 at 05:27 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 25, 2006

Two Articles on Zarqawi

Fouad Ajami writes a resigned post-mortem on Zarqawi and the situation in Iraq and in the Arab World at his death in the Wall Street Journal, The Extremist is Never Alone. Subscription only, but here is a passage: In the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 06/25/06 at 11:04 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

All the news that's self-aggrandizing to print

It's Photoshop time in the blogosphere, and the New York Times is the target, as it continues to feed its self-importance by being the loose lips that sink ships. Michelle Malkin has been showcasing updatings of the WWII posters . . . more »

Judith | 06/25/06 at 12:56 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 23, 2006

Mixed Messages Runs Amok at the NY Times

[ Update: Speaking of mixed messages . . . . the Times Sunday Magazine has a serious article on Londonistan, by Christopher Caldwell. ] Three serious cheers for the New York Times for its full-fledged support of American veterans. Yes, . . . more »

Van | 06/23/06 at 11:48 AM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 14, 2006

Don't say Londonistan

Apropos of my post on the new climate of fear in Denmark, a small detail in the latest Mark Steyn column on the Toronto jihadis: [Melanie] Phillips is one of Britain's best-known newspaper columnists. She appears constantly on national TV . . . more »

Judith | 06/14/06 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 13, 2006

The Robert & Mickey Show

Bloggingheads TV looks good today (actually this is yesterday, before Bush's trip to Baghdad): Will Zarqawi become Jim Morrison? (14:22) (Abbas vs. Hamas) vs. Olmert (08:43) Ann Coulter. Need we say more? (10:10) Meet the new boss (Kos) [but first . . . more »

Judith | 06/13/06 at 11:46 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Business as usual at the Times

Via Canonist - Ron Radosh recalls what the NYTimes did to a letter of his: A letter with my signature appears in today’s Times, but it’s not exactly the letter I wrote. The changes were not for length or clarity. . . . more »

Judith | 06/13/06 at 12:23 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 11, 2006

Terrorist talking points

Eric S Raymond: Massive Intelligence Raids Follow Zarqawi’s Death NEW YORK (Disassociated Press) - In a surprise sequel to the death of top al-Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this morning, police have executed raids and searches on dozens of newsrooms . . . more »

Judith | 06/11/06 at 12:13 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 19, 2006

The Mirror Self: A Foolish Journalistic Projection

Two stories today lay clear the perils of journalistic hubris in telling only one side of the story, both of them centered around Iraq. In the first, Ken Silverstein writes a post called: “Fairy Tales” The (lack of) intelligence underpinning . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/19/06 at 08:32 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 11, 2006

Tony the Tiger: That's GRREEAATTT

Tony Snow is seeking to challenge negative, lazy mainstream MSM news reporting techniques. White House sources said Snow ... is determined to aggressively counter what the administration considers unfair assertions in both news and editorials about Bush. And Tony . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/11/06 at 11:42 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Profiling Dana Priest, Pulitzer Prize Winner for the Black Sites Story

Jennifer Verner profiles Dana Priest for Accuracy in Media. Much of her information is already known to readers of this site and several others, but it is useful to have the information neatly sewn up in an incisive column of . . . more »

Alcibiades | 05/11/06 at 12:17 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 05, 2006

Hirsi Ali gets around

Via Callimachus, here's an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali on NPR. (Is it my imagination or does Alex Chadwick sound a bit scared, a bit tremulous through the whole thing? Maybe he's just scared of saying the wrong thing. He's . . . more »

Judith | 05/05/06 at 12:30 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 24, 2006

Rand Beers On Mary McCarthy

According to Rand Beers, whom she was hired to replace at the NSC, Mary McCarthy categorically denies being the source of the prison leak story. Though this is as yet unconfirmed by McCarthy herself who did not reply to attempts . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/24/06 at 06:59 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Funny Mark Steyn

Saying funny Mark Steyn is really a redundancy. But I'll say it anyway, because I was taken with the opening to his new piece. Do you worry? You look like you do. Worrying is the way the responsible citizen of . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/24/06 at 03:30 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 23, 2006

Multicultural sensitivity at the NYTimes

This example of NYTimes awfulness is a month old, but deserves more exposure:In 1994, three weeks before Passover, Ari Halberstam, 16, was riding in a van over the Brooklyn Bridge when Rashid Baz, in a nearby car, shot a bullet . . . more »

Judith | 04/23/06 at 10:28 AM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 22, 2006

Details Details

Mary McCarthy, the CIA officer just fired for political leaking to the press turns out to be, how unsurprising!, a Clinton appointee, who worked under former National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, well known for stealing classified documents himself during . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/22/06 at 03:16 PM | 5 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 20, 2006

Dead terrorist bleg

Jim Geraghty points out several AlQaeda and Taliban bigwigs neutralized by anti-terrorism forces and complains: Why is the Bush administration losing the message game? Well, for starters, almost nobody has blogged about this, and almost nobody has covered this. . . . . more »

Judith | 04/20/06 at 10:45 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

China in the News

The MSM is finally beginning to cover news of the coerced organ harvesting from Falun Gong political prisoners in China. Top British transplant surgeons have accused China of harvesting the organs of thousands of executed prisoners a year to sell . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/20/06 at 09:57 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 12, 2006

Melanie Phillips Talks to General Georges Sada About the Lost WMD

Melanie Phillips recently met with General Georges Sada, former Air Vice Marshal in Saddam’s Iraq, to discuss what he believes happened to the WMDs. He also says that he lived and worked with the ever-present daily reality of Saddam’s tactics . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/12/06 at 01:57 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 10, 2006

Anti-Iraq Media Manufactured Story of the Day

Thomas E. Ricks, of the Washington Post, has "sources" who have informed him that the US military is conducting a propaganda campaign "to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq." Apparently "some military intelligence officials" believe that . . . more »

Alcibiades | 04/10/06 at 04:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 05, 2006

NY Times: "Basic Instinct 2" is All About Bush

Nobody liked "Basic Instinct 2" except Sharon Stone's accountant. New York Times critic Manohla Dargis slagged it last Friday, but thoughtfully included a bit of analytical nastiness that nobody noticed. For Dargis, the movie can be read as a brave . . . more »

Van | 04/05/06 at 02:58 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 29, 2006

The NYTimes Lying? I'm shocked, shocked

Check out how the NYTimes's reporter Eric Lichtblau entirely misrepresents the position of the FISA court judges, delivered in plain English in order to maintain the Times' narrative that Bush overreached on the NSA kerfuffle. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/29/06 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Hewitt Does Ware

For those following the Michael Ware discussion here and here, Hugh Hewitt has a lengthy, substantive interview with him up at Radio Blogger which you can read or download and listen to as you prefer. He also has a post . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/29/06 at 10:26 AM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 27, 2006

Speaking of Michael Ware...

Judith mentioned some of Michael Ware's shenanigans below. Last week radio host Hugh Hewitt interviewed both Victor Davis Hanson and Christopher Hitchens and the subject of Michael Ware was raised. HH: TI want to play you a little bit. Michael . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/27/06 at 10:12 AM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 26, 2006

Our intrepid war correspondents

Two years ago, some dumb sex therapist in California triggered at least one huge suicide bombing simply by posting an essay on the internet, for US consumption, in which she used rape as a metaphor for the US invasion of . . . more »

Judith | 03/26/06 at 08:52 AM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 24, 2006

Rumsfeld Love

Saying before the cameras what so many people think: Gateway Pundit has the goods on a Rumsfeld-CNN reporter exchange: Reporter: "Do you feel embattled at this point in your tenure? In a recent column, Maureen Dowd quoted an unidentified administration . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/24/06 at 03:03 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 16, 2006

"The day is coming when British Muslims form a state within a state"

Mary did some internet dumpster-diving (otherwise known as searching search-engine caches) and rescued an article about Britain and Sharia law, which had been purged from the Telegraph website after some Islamist groups complained about it. So you can read the . . . more »

Judith | 03/16/06 at 11:15 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 15, 2006

Was the rally anti-Muslim?

Englishman in NYC thought our rally for Denmark was too polarized, and he left early. He wrote a column about it in Metro New York. I don't want to invalidate his experience, but I just don't think it paints an . . . more »

Judith | 03/15/06 at 05:10 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Printing the Mohammed cartoons can get you fired

[ UPDATE: Alt newspaper columnist Dan Savage - an alumnus of U of Illinois - is furious. ] Acton Gorton, an Iraq vet, and editor of the Daily Illini, the University of Illinois newspaper, was fired yesterday, ostensibly for not . . . more »

Judith | 03/15/06 at 03:28 PM | 1 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 12, 2006

Is Islam Compatible With Democracy? II

Last week we ran a post on whether Islam was compatible with democracy - based on a lecture that Ann Althouse attended. The answer was a tentative yes, depending on whether a suitable model could be found in which was . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/12/06 at 02:03 PM | 3 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 09, 2006

I was Zogby Polled!

So I just got my first call from Zogby to poll my opinions: One of the questions I was asked about was of interest: To the best of my recollection, it went like this: In the next NY State Senatorial . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/09/06 at 06:30 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 04, 2006

God is a Bad Word

The new orthodoxy, in Britain. So it turns out that Tony Blair, well known to be a religious man, actually did something as shocking as pray to God (gasp!) before he made the decision on War in Iraq. Shocking, indeed! . . . more »

Alcibiades | 03/04/06 at 11:08 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 27, 2006

Confabulating Once Again about Cheney

So Cheney is going to retire in a year, after the midterm elections, reports Insight magazine, quoting "Senior GOP sources". Which is nicely anonymous and means absolutely nothing. It could be senior GOP sources from previous administrations, who are not . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/27/06 at 04:46 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 24, 2006

The NYTimes, Other Journalists Anti-Semitic?

U.S. journalists urged to apologize to Jews More than 70 leading American journalists sign petition urging Newspaper Association of America to acknowledge failure of U.S. journalists to aid Jewish refugee journalists trying to flee Nazi regime in 1930s. More than . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/24/06 at 12:19 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 17, 2006

Stephen Holden Reviews Sophie Scholl

The New York Times Never Fails To Disappoint Ten days ago, I pointed to the trailer of Sophie Scholl, this year's German nominee for best foreign film, as a movie that looked compelling. It's the story of a young German . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/17/06 at 09:41 AM | 5 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 16, 2006

Time Waster

Things You Learn from Reading The Huffington Post: Apparently, not only was Cheney, um, dead drunk when he shot Whittington last Saturday - that appears to be the Democrat legal conventional wisdom at the moment - but he and Whittington . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/16/06 at 09:19 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 10, 2006

Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Sot

I'm exceedingly pleased to see that Carsten Juste, the editor in chief of Jyllands-Posten, the paper in Denmark recently notable for launching one of the first battles of World War IV in Scandanavia the Great Cartoon Jihad of 2006, has . . . more »

Alcibiades | 02/10/06 at 05:28 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 06, 2006

An Arab Tribute to Sharon

"Courage and objectivity require us to admit that Ariel Sharon has lived all his life for his people's benefit," a commentary in Jordan's al-Dustur reads. "If he were an Arab leader and behaved as he has done in Israel, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 01/06/06 at 12:59 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 03, 2006

Able Danger and the NSA Surveillance Kerfuffle

[ UPDATES at end ] After all the angst this fall about why the President didn't pursue the Able Danger story more strongly to castigate - heh - his critics - and point out the inadequacies and failures of intel . . . more »

Alcibiades | 01/03/06 at 05:51 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 30, 2005

Turn About Is Fair Play

The Justice Department has opened up an investigation into how the NYTimes came to learn the details of the NSA program. Notice how the AP phrases the reaction to the NSA spying scandal: The story unleashed a firestorm of criticism . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/30/05 at 12:52 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 27, 2005

Unwarranted Tails

Well Lookee Here! Democrat Talking Point Number One on the Bush NSA Wiretap Kerfuffle: In its entire history, the FISA court has only 5 times rejected a request for wiretapping. It's the easiest court in the world to get a . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/27/05 at 12:35 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 25, 2005

Thanking The Military

A nice tale for Christmas about thanking those who sacrifice in the military from the LATimes. In order to thank the military, it helps to understand military culture. And you won't get much of that from the mainstream press these . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/25/05 at 12:38 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 21, 2005

Smackdown On NSA

I'd like to see a smackdown between Andy McCarthy and Bruce Fein on this NSA surveillance kerfuffle. But the media would never host it between those two. And Orin Kerr and Jonathan Turley (strongly against) can join in, too. By . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/21/05 at 03:55 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 18, 2005

May the Games Begin!

This just in (well yesterday) according to Mac Ranger, a retired military intelligence guy, whose blog Macsmind has become a must-read of mine on the arcania of issues such as Able Danger and the Plame Game: The search is officially . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/18/05 at 04:15 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 17, 2005

RIP Already

Retire In Peace: So can anyone figure out the benefit to Fox News of hiring Robert Novak. I certainly can't. He's the kind of conservative who turns me off completely, old and paleocon. And preferably out at pasture. Why didn't . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/17/05 at 08:13 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 08, 2005

Roger Friedman Doesn't Do Irony

Judith discusses Roger Friedman's gushing review of Munich, as the "best movie of the year", below. He's impressed both with the film and the authenticity of its visual presentation: And yet, as far as I can tell, there are no . . . more »

Alcibiades | 12/08/05 at 10:19 AM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 03, 2005

"Fake, but accurate"

Propaganda - as Stephen Green points out - is as important a factor in war as it ever was, although its reverberations have become more complex as global communication has become instantaneous and means of distorting and faking images and . . . more »

Judith | 12/03/05 at 08:47 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

November 29, 2005

Fred Kaplan rewrites the facts

I'm going out on the trail one more time before I have to pack and go back to New York, so somebody please fisk Fred Kaplan for me. The errors and ignorance and twisting of history in this piece are . . . more »

Judith | 11/29/05 at 01:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 28, 2005

60 Minutes Sunday: Featuring Joe Wilson, for whom Indictment day was a sad, sad occasion

Because, you know, um, that shows he has gravitas. According to Drudge, Joe Wilson will be appearing on this week's Sunday 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley to talk about how much harm has occurred to Valerie and how there have . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/28/05 at 09:43 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

How to turn silk purses into sows' ears

Media Research Center has just released a thorough study on the US news media treatment of the Iraq War, and yes, it's extremely biased toward pessimism. Any optimism from Iraqis and US military undermines the picture the MSM is trying . . . more »

Judith | 10/28/05 at 02:30 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

You Went to Washington for Two Years and All I Got Was A Lousy Indictment?

10/28: UPDATE: Libby's statement, and that from his lawyer Michelle Malkin has live blogged parts of Fitzgerald's press conference. Q: Did Libby know whether Valerie Wilson's identity was covert? A: ...We have not made any allegation that Libby knowingly/intentionally outed . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/28/05 at 12:50 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 27, 2005

In the Best Tradition of British Irony...

...American Joe Wilson deadpans...Leak indictments would be 'a sad day,' Wilson says Uh huh. Wilson said Wednesday he took little comfort that the men he believes have engaged in a campaign of character assassination against him for the past two . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/27/05 at 10:49 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 24, 2005

Me, I'm curiouser and curiouser

Unlike the quagMier, which my esteemed co-blogger has pronouced "intensely boring", the Plame Game keeps getting more fascinating. Not only does it provide a rare glance into the nature of the CIA's war against the Bush Administration's Iraq policy - . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/24/05 at 12:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

October 23, 2005

Duelling Portraits

A portrait of I. Lewis Libby Jr. here. And a portrait of Patrick Fitzgerald here. I'm curious as to why the NYTimes is hosting a relatively positive portrait of Libby just now. Can it be, maybe, for deniability purposes after . . . more »

Alcibiades | 10/23/05 at 02:46 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 29, 2005

Reuters says U.S. troops obstruct reporting of Iraq

What a shame! And it's especially bad when you're reporting for the other side. I don't see anyone obstructing Michael Yon, for example. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/29/05 at 12:58 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 25, 2005

Media tidbits

More protest stuff here. Does this look like 100,000 people to you? (via Reuters) UPDATE: A correction: there were more people on 15th street. So, crowd estimatation experts: Does this look like 100,000 people to you? How about this? (Not . . . more »

Judith | 09/25/05 at 11:02 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Able Danger - The Continuing Story

If anyone is interesting in attempting to follow the current odd machinations of Able Danger - the story of the Pentagon program that appears to have successfully highlighted Mohammed Atta and three of his hijacking cronies in the year 2000, . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/25/05 at 12:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 24, 2005

We Decide, You Report

Throughout the right side of the Blogosphere today we've seen comments sarcastically haling the bang up job the media is doing at promoting the anti-war protest to make it seem like a major event; and why they have not provided . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/24/05 at 09:36 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 23, 2005

Here's the A.N.S.W.E.R.

More protest stuff here. On the eve of the next anti-war swarm on Washington, Glenn Reynolds has a series of links for those who want to find out more about the various personalities and politics of those making up the . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/23/05 at 12:54 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 20, 2005

God Tests the New York Times. No Ram In Sight

NYTimes cutting 500 jobs. In a memo to staffers, company chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. and CEO Janet Robinson wrote: "We regret that we will see many of our colleagues leave the Company; it is a painful process for all . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/20/05 at 06:07 PM | 6 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 18, 2005

Shocked, shocked to find anti-Americanism here!

Tony Blair was shocked by the BBC's coverage of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, describing it as “full of hatred of America”, Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, revealed on Friday night. Mr Murdoch, a long-time . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/18/05 at 02:57 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Rehashing the Mash

Christopher adds to the spate on the debate with his own post mortem. [What is it about this thing that has everyone rhyming all of a sudden?] Lovely write up of the event in the London Observer by Andrew Anthony. . . . more »

Alcibiades | 09/18/05 at 10:47 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 16, 2005

The Economist trades in insulting cliches

As a proud Texan, I kvell to read thibaud's letter to The Economist, in response to this article. . . . more »

Judith | 09/16/05 at 03:40 PM | 2 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 06, 2005

Federal, state and local spheres

As we move into the next stage of post-Katrina finger-pointing, some pundits are asking the right questions about the inept local and state handling of a crisis that had been predicted in detail by everyone from the National Geographic to . . . more »

Judith | 09/06/05 at 12:55 PM | 3 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 04, 2005

Hurricane-based finger-pointing

After many links to relief organizations and spiritual ruminations, it's time to join Junkyard Blog in decisively refuting the campaign to blame the Bush Aministration while making excuses for the ineptitude of local and state officials. Throughout the Labor Day . . . more »

Judith | 09/04/05 at 12:43 AM | 6 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 31, 2005

What a donkey

In response to a dumb comment by Eleanor Clift on "The McLaughlin Group", Damian Bennett of E-Nough sent me the following email: . . . more »

Judith | 08/31/05 at 07:26 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 29, 2005

Iraq is just like . . .

A succinct rejoinder to all the "Iraq is Vietnam" crap, which might be especially useful to veterans attending college this fall:Iraq is just like Vietnam except: We occupy Hanoi. We've captured Ho Chi Minh. The North Vietnamese have just held . . . more »

Judith | 08/29/05 at 01:18 PM | 1 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 26, 2005

The silly season isn't over

Previous Sheehan entry here. Since it is still a week before Labor Day and the unofficial end of the summer, the Sheehan media carnival is not over yet. The NRO Buzz continues to report, with many pix, including new choice . . . more »

Judith | 08/26/05 at 01:30 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 05, 2005

Steven Vincent: mensch

As people who knew Steven Vincent post their eulogies, a portrait emerges of not only an idealist, skilled writer, and brave man, but also a nice guy. Steven Vincent guestblogged at The Adventures of Chester, and Chester reminisces about their . . . more »

Judith | 08/05/05 at 04:29 PM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

August 03, 2005

Freedom of the press

As I noted previously, the murder of journalist Steven Vincent resulted from the reluctance of the occupying forces - in this case the British - to judge the behavior of some factions in Basra and take decisive action against them. . . . more »

Judith | 08/03/05 at 03:00 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Steven Vincent has been killed

Journalist Steven Vincent was abducted at gunpoint, along with his Iraqi translator. He was found shot to death dead today. Vincent was one of the most honest and fearless reporters in Iraq. He went everywhere, and genuinely cared about the . . . more »

Judith | 08/03/05 at 03:01 AM | 1 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 15, 2005

What? It's not a parody?

It's really gratifying to us bloggers to see one of our number make it into a major newspaper like the NY Times. So congratulations to Iowahawk for his hilarious parody of lefty feminist outrage. What? It's not a parody? RELATED: . . . more »

Judith | 07/15/05 at 03:32 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 13, 2005

Remember Beslan?

Gail emails me:Gotta rant, folks. I can't believe what I just saw. The BESLAN MASSACRE as slimed by Bill Vomit Moyers. BESLAN, he says, is an ACT OF RESISTANCE by the "terrorists". This piece of filth is on TV on . . . more »

Judith | 07/13/05 at 11:39 PM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 08, 2005

Ouch

Via Roger's comments: Hitchens turning Ron Reagan upside down and shaking hard. [ UPDATE: Oh goody - the video! And More Hitchens. ] . . . more »

Judith | 07/08/05 at 06:50 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 17, 2005

"The media is never going to get this," part 7482

Rich Lowry on the latest horsetrading in the nascent Iraqi government:Here's an administration official on the deal in Iraq: "The media is never going to get this, but this is just the way the Iraqis operate. They take it . . . more »

Judith | 06/17/05 at 04:30 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 08, 2005

Flacking for the UN

Mediacrity is a watchdog blog which breathes down the neck of the NYTimes and the Nation, among others. It has been tracking a story about journalists who work as UN flacks, and hide that fact when they write supposedly . . . more »

Judith | 06/08/05 at 12:28 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 21, 2005

Next: The Chuck Manson You Never Knew

Jeff Jarvis is horrified at the idea of a 9-11 made-for-TV movie, especially since the producer is talking about "humanizing the terrorists." (I stole Jeff's title for the post, because it is perfect.) Lots of discussion in the comment . . . more »

Judith | 04/21/05 at 03:34 PM | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 10, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: the press controversy continues

Previous entries on this topic here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and description of the conference and speakers here. Campus-J's stringers at Columbia and Columbians for Academic Freedom are on the front lines of this controversy; check both . . . more »

Judith | 04/10/05 at 02:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 31, 2005

Academic Integrity and the Middle East: the report

Previous entries on the Columbia U Conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East here, here, here, here, and here. Video clips of all the speakers are now online! . . . more »

Judith | 03/31/05 at 06:06 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 26, 2005

Letter to the editor, cont.

Last week I sent this letter to the Jewish Week criticizing their coverage of the Columbia U Conference on Academic Integrity and the Middle East. They didn't print my letter but they did print these: . . . more »

Judith | 03/26/05 at 08:00 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 17, 2005

Maybe I should start reading Alterman's blog

People like Major Robert Bateman are willing to email him:A few days ago an Italian journalist, recently freed by a ransom paid (to people who are, not to be too delicate about it, trying to kill Mrs. Bateman�s son), . . . more »

Judith | 03/17/05 at 01:09 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

18 months later, Eric Alterman is still an ass

I found this via Fred Kaplan at Slate (i.e. I don't read Eric Alterman voluntarily). Alterman chats up Wolfowitz at a ritzy NYC media cocktail party. (Links embedded in the quote are mine) : . . . more »

Judith | 03/17/05 at 12:26 AM | 4 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 04, 2005

Gunner Palace

The much heralded documentary about a troop of soldiers in Baghdad just after the end of the war opened today here in NYC and other major markets, to be followed next week by many other cities. Gunner Palace also . . . more »

Judith | 03/04/05 at 11:32 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 26, 2005

We won

Gunner Palace - the new documentary about a troop bivouacking in one of Uday's palaces right after the Iraq War - was initially given an R rating, presumably for rough language. A petition was circulated, the rating was reviewed, . . . more »

Judith | 02/26/05 at 10:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 23, 2005

Moral equivalency run amok

I posted earlier in the week about the Committee to Protect Bloggers, which is picking up the flag that organizations like Amnesty International have let fall from their hands as they have lost their credibility as non-partisan truth-telling forces. . . . more »

Judith | 02/23/05 at 11:55 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 15, 2005

Meeting halfway

Best. Mark Steyn. Column. Ever. UPDATE: I was going to also add this David Brooks column that everyone is citing, as the best column I've ever read of his, but it works best embedded in this appreciation by a . . . more »

Judith | 02/15/05 at 03:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

The Iraqi election returns, cont.

Previous entry on the Iraqi election results here. Cliff May has the same take on the Wapo article that I do. . . . more »

Judith | 02/15/05 at 07:31 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 09, 2005

Support the troops?

Best of the Web quotes the ideologically predictable Guardian on the Anheuser-Busch ad: . . . more »

Judith | 02/09/05 at 11:05 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 03, 2005

Journalistic narcissism Dept.

Via The Corner, Telling comment on the media in Iraq from Tina Brown: . . . more »

Judith | 02/03/05 at 04:34 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 02, 2005

How big a blogger are you?

Today your bloggish clout is measured by whether Eason Jordan thought you enough of a threat that you were worth spinning with this email. . . . more »

Judith | 02/02/05 at 08:59 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Iraqi bloggers redux

Jeff Jarvis responds to the long-awaited NYTimes response to criticisms of reporter Sarah Boxer's snarky smear of the Fadhil Bros. Jeff is rightfully pissed. As I said in his comments, I have not been impressed with Dan Okrent's ombudsmanship; . . . more »

Judith | 02/02/05 at 01:09 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Assymetrical warfare

A dangerous escalation in the latest round of hostage taking. The comments pleading for her life are heartbreaking. UPDATE: Related. UPDATE: Your mainstream media at work. UPDATE: Our brave captive manages to get a message to the outside world: . . . more »

Judith | 02/02/05 at 11:43 AM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

Moments of illumination

So now some pundits and politicians are looking at 8 million purple forefingers and asking themselves if maybe Bush was right. So . . . if successful Iraqi elections mean that Bush was right, and they have previously not . . . more »

Judith | 02/02/05 at 09:50 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 31, 2005

More afterglow

Still basking in the afterglow of the Iraqi election. Previous Afterglow post here. Europe is cautiously optimistic, and almost sorta maybe willing to admit it might have been a little wrong, maybe. If you want a sneak preview of . . . more »

Judith | 01/31/05 at 08:21 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 30, 2005

Afterglow

Iraqi election link roundup here. Mary and I met at Susan's apartment this afternoon to watch the Spirit of America coverage on C-SPAN. The whole set-up had that endearing Wayne's World Public Access TV feel, but it also had . . . more »

Judith | 01/30/05 at 06:26 PM | 2 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 24, 2005

Iraqi election coverage

Plan to be at your computer or TV this Sunday afternoon (it's cold and yucky, so you weren't planning to go out anyway, right?) This Sunday, January 30, Spirit of America will be providing coverage of Iraq�s elections at . . . more »

Judith | 01/24/05 at 02:29 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 21, 2005

America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country

A commenter at Michael Totten's linked to this Iraqi election ad. It's a specific demonstration of the themes of Bush's inaugural speech. It made me cry. Notice how the expression on the old guy's face changes after the others . . . more »

Judith | 01/21/05 at 04:45 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 17, 2005

Latest tempest in a teapot

I am probably the only pro-Rathergate blogger who has no problem with CBS putting up a file that can't be doctored. It seems obvious why that's a good idea. But they should also put up one which can be . . . more »

Judith | 01/17/05 at 03:40 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 16, 2004

The rocket's red gleaming. . .

Gunner Palace is finally finished and will premier in February, with a wider opening in March. . . . more »

Judith | 12/16/04 at 08:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

December 10, 2004

Spirit of America tour - link roundup

I made this entry for all the blogging and news links about the Spirit of America tour with Omar and Mohammed Fadhil, the bloggers of Iraq the Model. I've arranged them chronologically. Keep checking back for updates. Status report . . . more »

Judith | 12/10/04 at 01:04 PM | 3 Comments | 3 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

November 18, 2004

Deranged journalist Dept.

We knew Robert Fisk has lost it, several times. Each time we wonder how low he can go. Here is his latest example of descending into madness in a vain attempt to make the bad guys and good guys . . . more »

Judith | 11/18/04 at 05:20 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 22, 2004

Memogate follies, cont.

A previous post collected some Shakespearean riffs on Memogate. And now, from a somewhat different genre: . . . more »

Judith | 09/22/04 at 10:56 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 14, 2004

You happy few, you band of bloggers

I stopped trying to keep up with Rathergate, since many others were doing a much better job (and still are), but check out the round-robin Shakespeare thing. As is my wont, I'm going to ferret out all the gems . . . more »

Judith | 09/14/04 at 05:59 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 11, 2004

Latest mainstream media debacle, cont.

I had so many updates in my last post about the Killian forgeries that it was time to start a new post. In my previous entry I wrote:You have to wonder how dumb the forgers (and the mainstream media) . . . more »

Judith | 09/11/04 at 07:24 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

September 10, 2004

Latest mainstream media debacle

Mary has a nice roundup of links on the Killian forgery accusations. Charles has been using his years of experience with desktop publishing to point out many inconsistencies in the documents. You have to wonder how dumb the forgers . . . more »

Judith | 09/10/04 at 02:48 PM | 1 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

July 10, 2004

Dead white males Dept.

Michelle Malkin on Ted Rall: . . . more »

Judith | 07/10/04 at 09:37 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 06, 2004

The pivot of history

Today is the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Blackfive is curating a blogburst on the topic. Meanwhile, visit Silent Running for a foray into an alternate universe where "Beebvision" comments on the events of WWII with the same attitude the . . . more »

Judith | 06/06/04 at 02:23 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

June 03, 2004

Yet more perspective on Abu Ghraib, part V

Previous post on the Abu Ghraib scandal here, and use that post to link back to previous posts. John Keegan:Because we in the Atlantic region remember 1945 as the year of victory over our deadliest enemies, we usually forget that . . . more »

Judith | 06/03/04 at 07:52 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 30, 2004

Damned if you do Dept.

Bruce points out how the media can create an unfavorable spin no matter how the Bush admin handles terror warnings. . . . more »

Judith | 05/30/04 at 01:40 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 21, 2004

Yet more perspective on Abu Ghraib, part IV

Previous post on the Abu Ghraib scandal here, and use that post to link back to previous posts. I've compiled 4-5 since the scandal broke, with lots of links to military law and analysis, Iraqi opinion, the varied responses from . . . more »

Judith | 05/21/04 at 03:27 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 17, 2004

Yet more perspective on Abu Ghraib, part III

To our antiwar friends:. . . And to those who are torn between weeping over the end of the sitcom "Friends" or decrying American imperialism, I offer you relief from the mental anguish you go through daily by virtue . . . more »

Judith | 05/17/04 at 09:20 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 12, 2004

Yet more perspective on Abu Ghraib, part II

I usually don't quote at such length, but the only non-pay link I found for this essay had lots of other text on the same page. I did snip a few paragraphs. From Fouad Ajami: . . . more »

Judith | 05/12/04 at 11:13 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 11, 2004

Yet more perspective on Abu Ghraib

Jason Van Steenwyk is an American officer in Iraq who has some very sensible commentary on Abu Ghraib: . . . more »

Judith | 05/11/04 at 10:17 PM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

More perspective on Abu Ghraib

My previous link roundup about Abu Ghraib is here. Some hindsight from 1942 on how to assess the progress of a war when you're in the middle of it. Hint: It's not a linear progression, but a series of . . . more »

Judith | 05/11/04 at 11:59 AM | 0 Comments | 2 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 06, 2004

Perspective on Abu Ghraib

The prison guards at Abu Ghraib did despicable things to their captives, that are unworthy of American soldiers. However, the vast majority of soldiers in Iraq continue to build schools, repair infrastructure, kill terrorists, ensure local elections, train Iraqi . . . more »

Judith | 05/06/04 at 11:36 AM | 0 Comments | 4 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

May 03, 2004

Media ineptness Dept.

How propaganda works: . . . more »

Judith | 05/03/04 at 01:53 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 28, 2004

The tortoise and the hare

Lies have already encircled the globe countless times on the alleged "Jenin massacre." Truth finally gets out of bed and puts on its shoes, in the form of a TV documentary about the grossly irresponsible media response to the . . . more »

Judith | 04/28/04 at 12:37 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 27, 2004

From the horse's mouth

Lynn B attended a talk in Philadelphia, by a Palestinian journalist who now lives in Israel and works for the JPost. Everything you wanted to know about tyranny under Arafat, including suppression of real journalism, summary executions, celebrating 9-11, and . . . more »

Judith | 04/27/04 at 06:38 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

The revolution is being blogged right now

David Adesnik on George Packer on blogging. I think Packer is about 90% right and David is a wee bit defensive. Blogs are changing the face of media and journalism in the aggregate, but Packer's observations are more true . . . more »

Judith | 04/27/04 at 05:43 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 14, 2004

Communication

Israeli and Arab journalists are collaborating on a new venture called Duet. Ben Lynfield writes, "Leading Jewish and Arab members of Israel's fourth estate are coming together to alleviate ignorance and mistrust between their communities. The joint venture, a . . . more »

Judith | 04/14/04 at 11:57 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 13, 2004

Would you rather be a senile TV news personality or a mensch?

Michele fisks Andy Rooney's "when are you going to stop beating your wife" interview questions and links to all the other fisks of same. And she suggest some replacement questions for our soldiers in Iraq: . . . more »

Judith | 04/13/04 at 09:17 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 11, 2004

Fact-checking your ass Dept.

Check this out at Belmont Club:The circumstances fueling the account by Lee Gordon of the London Telegraph has so many eerie similarities to the New York Times John Burns piece on the Golden Mosque that they fairly jump out. . . . more »

Judith | 04/11/04 at 11:46 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

April 04, 2004

Visual aids

We've had to suffer through really nasty political cartoons. Well, it's payback time. If these are any indication, loading up little kiddies with bombs was a baaaadddd PR move for the Pals. At least in the US. And Chris . . . more »

Judith | 04/04/04 at 12:28 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

March 31, 2004

Welcome to America

Email from Dave:I wanted to inform you that PBS is running a series called Independent Lens: The New Americans on March 29, 30, and 31st. The series chronicles the lives of different immigrants who are trying to make a new . . . more »

Judith | 03/31/04 at 10:39 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 17, 2004

Plus ca change Dept.

Lileks looked up some 1992 newspapers and this is what he found: . . . more »

Judith | 02/17/04 at 04:49 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 14, 2004

Read this now

Jeff Jarvis has a lot to say about a recent conference "on fear." In fact, Jeff quotes a lot from a skeptical report on the conference by none other than a New York Times reporter. (Is Edward Rothstein a . . . more »

Judith | 02/14/04 at 10:34 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 11, 2004

That river in Egypt Dept.

Larry Johnson, July 2001:Judging from news reports and the portrayal of villains in our popular entertainment, Americans are bedeviled by fantasies about terrorism. They seem to believe that terrorism is the greatest threat to the United States and that . . . more »

Judith | 02/11/04 at 01:42 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

February 04, 2004

The Great Communicator - not

I have written before on this blog (scroll down) that before and throughout and after the Iraq war, Bush should have been conducting weekly fireside chats with the American public, a la Franklin Roosevelt. One of the basics of . . . more »

Judith | 02/04/04 at 12:18 AM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 30, 2004

Eyewitness

Jerusalem Post editor Bret Stephens on the recent suicide bombing in Jerusalem: . . . more »

Judith | 01/30/04 at 03:14 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 27, 2004

Memo to journalists covering the Iraq occupation

From a US Army officer:. . . in nearly a year overseas, we've only had a few reporters bother "embedding" with us for longer than one or two patrols. Almost all of them swing by, hang out long enough . . . more »

Judith | 01/27/04 at 05:15 PM | 0 Comments | 0 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate

January 24, 2004

Just in case you still trust the New York Times

Tim Blair links to an account by an editor of the Spectator of the many changes forced upon his (solicited) op-ed by Times editors. Tim excerpted a few paragraphs, but you really have to read the whole thing to . . . more »

Judith | 01/24/04 at 08:08 PM | 0 Comments | 1 TrackBacks | Categories: - The Fourth Estate