Broder and Kornheiser take WaPo Buyouts
The Washington Post has offered another round of buyouts to its staff and two of their biggest names, David Broder and Tony Kornheiser, have opted for the cash. In Broder's case, it appears to be mostly an accounting move, as he'll still be doing what he does now, just on a contract basis. The column you have been running will not change ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 14, 2008 15:19
Fox Assistant Fired for McCain Worship
A young Fox News staffer was fired for telling John McCain she'd voted for him, Chris Ariens reports. Insiders tell us the assistant, identified as Jennifer Locke, was on assignment with a camera crew to cover the entertainment angle of the event. When Sen. John McCain walked by, the assistant said, "I voted for you in the primary, you're going to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 10, 2008 07:36
NOW! Hampshire
Patrick Hynes has launched a citizen news site called NOW! Hampshire which, as you might guess, focuses on the Granite State. Apparently, they have news there unrelated to the quadrennial first-in-the-nation presidential primaries. Who knew? The concept is very Web 2.0: Now! Hampshire operates on the premise that there is a lot more interesting news out there than the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 7, 2008 12:45
NPR Had a Counterinsurgency Debate and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
Kip reports that, "NPR ran an excellent and fair report on the ongoing debate about COIN and conventional preparedness on Morning Edition this morning. John Nagl is called the disciple of COIN's Jesus, GEN David Petraeus." My local NPR affiliate, WAMU, begged for money all morning. I hate, hate, hate them and will never give them a dime. Everywhere else I've ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 6, 2008 08:15
Limbaugh Issues ‘Operation Chaos’ Pause
For a variety of reasons, I haven't heard more than a few snippets of Rush Limbaugh's show in years. I haven't figured out yet whether his "Operation Chaos," where he's urging the Dittoheads to register as Democrats and vote for Hillary Clinton, is a serious bit of agitprop or camp. Regardless, he's weighed the latest developments in the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 30, 2008 08:12
Press Not Doing Its Job?
Elizabeth Edwards, who despite no public policy credentials other than having been married to a one-term senator and yet oddly seems to get op-ed space in the major papers whenever she requests it, has a rather strange editorial in today's NYT whining about how the mainstream media is failing in its duty to inform the public. The first several paragraphs make ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 27, 2008 08:27
McCain Saved Money, Legally, on Charter Jets!
John McCain (who, as we all know, is the beneficiary of kid gloves treatment from the mainstream press while the two contenders for the Democratic nomination are constantly getting unfair coverage) has been targeted with another non-scandal scandal by his good friends at the New York Times. Given Senator John McCain’s signature stance on campaign finance reform, it was not surprising ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 27, 2008 07:41
Mullen: We ‘Will Have to Deal with Iran in the Very Near Future’
Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a very profound statement at Monday night's Atlantic Council awards dinner that has received virtually no press notice: That we "will have to deal with Iran in the very near future." Here's the context: We also live in a time where Iran routinely pushes its way ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 24, 2008 15:27
Citizen Journalism and the Future of News
Media Bloggers Association president Robert Cox argues in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed that the line between "citizen" and "journalist" has become so blurred as to have all but disappeared. This issue has reared its head again because of the so-called "Bittergate" episode. Mayhill Fowler, a maxed-out Obama contributor, was invited to attend a fundraiser in San Francisco that was off-limits to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 24, 2008 08:39
TV Military Analysts Co-opted by Pentagon
The NYT today runs an incredibly long feature by David Barstow entitled "Message Machine: Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand." The gist of the piece is that the retired military officers you see on television are often currently employed as defense contractors, and thus have a vested interest in the war machine, and are targeted by the Defense Department ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 20, 2008 07:49
AP: Time Running Out for Clinton
I got a chuckle out of the AP headline "Analysis: Time, delegate math working against Clinton." Like, this is news? The story didn't add much light, either: Time is running out on Hillary Rodham Clinton, the long-ago front- runner for the Democratic presidential nomination who now trails Barack Obama in delegates, states won and popular votes. Compounding Clinton's woes, Obama appears ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 19, 2008 07:17
ABC News Debate Focuses on ‘News’
ABC News hosted the Democratic debate in Philadelphia last night, with anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous asking the questions. Shockingly, they selected questions on the basis of what they've been covering in recent days, namely Bittergate, patriotism, various campaign faux pas and countercharges, and so forth. This has pretty much everybody except David Brooks upset. I'm ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 17, 2008 08:43
What Makes Someone an Elitist?
The rule of thumb for American politics in the media appears to be classifying politicians as being on the "beer-track" or "wine-track", or, in the alternative Hillary Clinton formation, "Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts". In other words, if you prefer wine over beer or Starbucks over Dunkin' Donuts, then you are an "elitist", and if not, you're just a "regular ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 14, 2008 14:32
Rich People Spend Money Despite Recession!
A rather clueless NYT feature reports breathlessly that some people continue to live the good life even during recessions. Who said anything about a recession? Sometime between the government bailout of Bear Stearns and the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that America lost 80,000 jobs in March, Lee Tachman spent roughly $50,000 last month on a four-day jaunt to Miami ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 14, 2008 10:43
McCain’s Relationship with the Press
In an address to the Associated Press this morning, John McCain explained his strategy of giving reporters exhaustive access: I believe in giving great access to the press for three reasons. First, I much prefer long back and forths, where reporters have multiple follow ups and I have an opportunity to explain my views in greater detail -- and, occasionally ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 14, 2008 09:56
