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Journos Outraged as Slate Axes Jack Shafer

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:16:32 CDT

Slate co-founder Jack Shafer, who has been with the online magazine since before its official launch in 1996, is being laid off, it was announced yesterday. The media critic is one of four staff members being let go; Timothy Noah , June Thomas , and Juliet Lapidos are the others, reports the...

Nancy Grace Defends Calling Casey Anthony Jury 'Kooky'

Kevin Spak — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:40:05 CDT

Nancy Grace is taking some heat for her coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, especially her over-the-top “ the devil is dancing ” line yesterday. After the verdict, defense attorney Cheney Mason lashed out at those who had “indulged in media assassination”—a line widely believed to be aimed at Grace, according...

Hey, America, This Is Good News in Egypt

Mark Russell — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:33:05 CST

The protests in Egypt are threatening to transform and democratize the entire region. So why all the "grim faces" on American news channels? Because a free Egypt will mean less American power in the Middle East and expose American and Israel hypocrisy, writes Philip Weiss in Salon . "The danger to...

NYT 's Deepwater 'Scoop' Was Regurgitated: AP Reporter

Nick McMaster — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:53:57 CST

The New York Times ' sweeping account of the Deepwater Horizon's final hours may be compelling storytelling, but it is not news, claims AP oil spill reporter Harry Weber . Though the Times story claims to be an account built from new disclosures that "make it possible to finally piece together...

Sherrod Frenzy Was Like OJ All Over Again

Kevin Spak — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:48:00 CDT

The media’s collective freakout over Shirley Sherrod was just the latest rerun of its freakout over the OJ Simpson trial, “a grotesque Groundhog Day set of conditions that occur all too often,” writes Mark Halperin of Time . Both were brimming with the kind of disputed facts, compelling characters, and hot-button...

$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'

Will McCahill — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:25:00 CST

Architecture critics aren’t too impressed with the winner in the US State Department’s competition to design its next London embassy. “Cool, remote and far from subtle” reads the Guardian ’s headline; “all the glamour of a corporate office block,” harrumphs Nicolai Ouroussoff for the New York Times . The security and...

Taylor Swift's Label Fires Back at Haters

Harry Kimball — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:14:38 CST

Get off Taylor Swift’s back about that "strikingly bad" Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks, pleads/threatens the head of her label, Big Machine Records. “Maybe she's not the best technical singer,” Scott Borchetta tells the Tennessean , “but she's probably the best emotional singer.” And that's what matters, “because everybody else who...

Bachmann: I'm Being 'Palinized'

Matt Cantor — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:39:00 CDT

GOP Rep. Michelle Bachmann doesn’t want to be “Palinized”—that is, hammered with media attacks and “liberals’ scorn,” she writes in a fundraising letter to supporters. “Just as they did with Sarah Palin, the more I talk about the issues, the more they attack with below-the-belt personal hits,” Bachmann notes....

CNN Kills Ad Ripping Birther Dobbs

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:32:34 CDT

A media watchdog ad attacking CNN anchor Lou Dobbs for his "racially charged" support of conspiracy theorists who question President Obama's birth certificate is all set to run tomorrow on CNN. But there's fat chance you'll ever see it on CNN. Five of the six cable providers who sold ad...