Norman Lear, 1922-2023

A television icon is gone at 101.

The Enshittification of Google?

Has the search goliath gotten worse?

Should The Press Pick a Side?

The mainstream media isn’t and shouldn’t become a counterpart to the right-wing infotainment complex.

Neither Trump Nor DeSantis?

An unconvincing column from an old pro.

Disinformation and Free Speech

How far should the government be able to go?

The Never-Ending Hunter Biden Saga

Yet more allegations.

Trump and the Presidential Records Act

A legal defense without merit.

Creative Class on Strike

Hollywood and the news media are roiled in labor disputes.

Getting Paid for Internet Content

Who should pay whom for what?

The free high-resolution photo of person, photography, money, child, business, singing, euro, merit, businessman, finance, wealth, profit, performing arts, stock exchange, revenue, investments, speculate, stock broker, speculation, share price, capital market , taken with an NIKON D3200 02/10 2017 The picture taken with 250.0mm, f/7.1s, 10/400s, ISO 400 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of person, photography, money, child, business, singing, euro, merit, businessman, finance, wealth, profit, performing arts, stock exchange, revenue, investments, speculate, stock broker, speculation, share price, capital market , taken with an NIKON D3200 02/10 2017 The picture taken with 250.0mm, f/7.1s, 10/400s, ISO 400 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Not Getting What You Paid For

When the product changes after you bought it.

Dilbert Canceled

Newspapers across the country are dropping the popular strip over a racist rant.

Pelé, 1940-2022

The soccer legend has passed at 82.

NY Congressman-Elect George Santos (AP Photo/John Locher) NY Congressman-Elect George Santos (AP Photo/John Locher)

A consequence of shrinking newsrooms

How an apparent serial fabulist got elected to Congress

The Deterioration and Death of Old Media

Headline News Network is shuttering after four decades.

The Media is Biased Against Us!

Journalists openly root for a good story.

A Spotify for News

Publishers and consumers want very different business models.

newspaper newspaper

The Declining Market for News

Reading habits continue to evolve, not necessarily for the better.

The Queen’s Death Was Predictable

96-year-olds are living on borrowed time.

Bernard Shaw, 1940-2022

CNN’s original anchorman is gone at 82.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a Medal of Valor ceremony, Monday, May 16, 2022, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a Medal of Valor ceremony, Monday, May 16, 2022, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

The News is Bad for Biden

The nature of American political reporting distorts our perception of reality.

Democracy Dies in Dumbness

Paywalls are not our problem.

Shinzo Abe Murdered

Japan’s longest-serving prime minister was killed at a campaign rally. He was 67.

Replacing Biden in 2024?

From the Cliché File.

America’s Gun Problem is Here to Stay

The obstacles to fixing the problem are many.

A Toxic Mix of Overcharging And Punitive Bail

An extraordinary example shines light on coercive factors that incentivize plea deals

Ginni Thomas: Boomer with Internet?

Does it matter whether she’s a rube or a mastermind?

Walter Mears, 1935-2022

The legendary AP politics reporter is gone at 87.

P.J. O’Rourke, 1947-2022

The great conservative humorist is gone at 74.

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Secrecy and Democracy

How do we know when our government is telling us the truth?

Yahoo News: News for Yahoos?

The longtime aggregator is now serving mostly non-news content.

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[Updated 1/31] Both Sides Are NOT the Same: “Banned” Book Edition

People, details do in fact matter!

Public Health and the Public

Are Fauci, the CDC, and others getting a bum rap?

Beatles ‘Get Back’ Documentary

A long peek at history in the making.

Nobody Watches Cable News

A media critic argues we pay outsized attention to the goings-on at Fox, MSNBC, and CNN.

Gun Control is Jim Crow protester Gun Control is Jim Crow protester

Tribal Lenses and Criminal Justice

Our reactions to recent murder trials tells us a lot about our divided country.

Nationalizing the Local

The appetite for content and clicks turns sensationalizes news that isn’t news.

Mort Sahl, 1927-2021

The first modern stand-up comedian has died at 94.

The Psychology of Internet Fame

Our brains are wired to seek approval but may not be equipped to handle our modern existence.

newspaper newspaper

The Bizarre Economics of Media

Not everyone is losing money.

Moulton and Meijer Make Unauthorized Afghanistan Trip

Grandstanding in the midst of chaos is a bad look.

Timeline Ripped Out of Arkansas Yearbook

When “the news” isn’t just “the news.”

The Consolidation of Journalism

The Internet killed the newspaper without really replacing it.

Eighteen Years of Blogging

Some reflections

The Pendulum Is Broken, Not Swinging

Historical precedents fall apart when we’re in a truly unprecedented time.

Trying an Impeached Former President

The legal debates are unsettled but we can all agree that Rand Paul is a moron.

The Endless Corruption of the Trump Presidency

Same endless song, different verse.

Trump Saves ‘Stars and Stripes’

The venerable military newspaper lives to print another day.

NPR Hit Hard by Pandemic

Telecommuting has taken a bite out of an industry built on commuting.

Trump’s Mount Rushmore Diatribe

The President is desperate and unwell and the press is making no bones about it.

President Trump Travels to Maine President Donald J. Trump walks from the Oval Office to the South Lawn of White House to board Marine One for Joint Base Andrews Md. Friday, June 5, 2020, to begin his trip to Bangor, Maine. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufiour) President Trump Travels to Maine President Donald J. Trump walks from the Oval Office to the South Lawn of White House to board Marine One for Joint Base Andrews Md. Friday, June 5, 2020, to begin his trip to Bangor, Maine. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufiour)

Republicans Losing Fear of Trump

As the President becomes less popular, there are signs he’s losing support from his co-partisans in Congress.