Tag Archives: journalism

An Open Letter to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel 2

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On June 3 James Tracy sent a letter to Sun-Sentinel editor-in-chief Howard Saltz citing the paper’s repeated attacks on Tracy for publicly questioning government pronouncements and overall news coverage of the Sandy Hook massacre and Boston Marathon bombing. In a June 17 response to the letter Saltz maintains that the Sun-Sentinel‘s coverage is defensible given its newsworthiness and under the tenets of free speech.

“Our news coverage has not judged the merits of your arguments,” Saltz contends. “It never will. We will report them, and let the chips fall where they may.”

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Media Disinformation and the Conspiracy Panic Phenomenon 94

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To posit that one’s government may be partially composed of unaccountable criminal elements is cause for serious censure in polite circles. Labeled “conspiracy theories” by a corporate media that prompt and channel emotionally-laden mass consent, such perspectives are quickly dispatched to the memory hole lest they prompt meaningful discussion of the political prerogatives and designs held by a global power elite coordinating governments and broader geopolitical configurations.

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The Unlikely Antics of Boston’s “Cowboy Hero” 173

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Carlos Arredondo has been widely praised by an array of corporate news media as among the most valorous figures of the Boston Marathon bombing. He was “heralded as a true American hero,” the International Business Times gushes, having allegedly “risked his life to help the victims of the two explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon.”[1]

>>>>>WARNING: POTENTIALLY DISTURBING PHOTOS<<<<<

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In Search of the Last Liberal Intellectual 68

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook School shooting public incredulity with the official version of events led to numerous speculations on what really happened. In short order corporate media marshaled pundits to disparage such alternative interpretations as “conspiracy theories” and the work of deranged and even malevolent Sandy Hook “truthers.”

The now-prevalent phenomenon where only the narratives authorized by law enforcement and government authorities are worthy of serious consideration suggests the unmistakable extent to which public discourse has declined. In such an ideational system journalists and academics are expected to either fall silent or perform the rearguard action of deflecting criticism from the state.
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PBS Defies Basic Journalistic Standards to Push Sandy Hook Official Narrative 88

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This past week the Public Broadcasting Service presented its viewership with a flurry of reportage and commentary on the Newtown tragedy, taking special care to closely associate the incident with the issues of gun control, mental health, and school safety. Specific programs have included Washington Week, PBS NewsHour, NOVA, and FRONTLINE. This degree of coverage from an outlet with significant credibility among the educated professional class is especially unusual.

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The Sandy Hook Massacre versus the Dorner Rampage: Corporate Media Double Standard 51

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It’s no secret that journalists working for the bulk of mainstream news outlets seek to uncover and exploit every facet of gruesome events such as ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner’s apparent rampage or the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown Connecticut. Such routinized reporting typically involves generating grist for the 24 hour news cycle by identifying and maximizing all possible video evidence while interviewing every witness willing to speak before the camera. This is exactly how coverage of the two incidents may be distinguished.

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