More interesting than the individual elements of the Howard Kurtz controversy was seeing a TV host answer for them on his own show.
News Media
Two Cheers for CNN
Things haven’t been pretty at CNN lately, but Anthony Bourdain and Jake Tapper suggest two ways the network can get interesting without getting dumb.
Un-Arrested Development: On Boston Bomber, Media Outlets Walk Back a Big Story, Again
After last summer’s SCOTUS screw-up, CNN didn’t make the same embarrassing mistake. It—and a few others—made a brand-new embarrassing mistake.
After the Boston Attack, the Media Shows Power to Shock and Comfort
The Boston nightmare brought a rush of information (and misinformation), speculation, and even politicized argument. But there was also decency amid the horror.
Dead Tree Alert: The Charged Debate Between Tesla and the Times
In my print column, I take a look at the throwdown over the past week between Tesla Motors and the New York Times over a bad review, and what it might mean for the future of p.r. spats. This time, the squeaky wheel got the grease.
Who Cares If Lance Armstrong Is Sorry?
When we frame the sleazebag-apologia interview as mainly a p.r. exercise in showing remorse and winning redemption, the sleazebag has already won.
Reality TV Journalism: Alex Jones Shoots Off His Mouth on Piers Morgan
This was Reality TV news: the kind that, in the name of “getting people to pay attention,” turns over an argument to people glad to inhabit their most outlandish caricatures.
The Dish Goes Indie: Big Change for Blogging, or Just for Andrew Sullivan?
Sullivan may be like Louis CK or Radiohead: an established content creator who is able to monetize a DIY effort after becoming famous in more conventional ways.
Kids at Tragedies: Turn Off the Cameras
There is no good journalistic reason to put a child at a mass-murder scene on live TV, permission of the parents or not.
We Are a Camera: Life, Death and the Urge to Shoot
At tragic and mundane moments now, we reach for our cameras. The New York City subway death makes me wonder what that’s doing to us.
CNN Picks a New Boss: Will It Be Saved, or Has it Been Zuckered?
Despite a decade of bad decisions while he ran NBC, Jeff Zucker has real strengths as a TV executive. They just don’t look like the ones CNN needs right now.
Elmo, Petraeus, Sex, and What Is Our Damn Business
Whether it involves kids’ entertainment or entirely adult matters, it can be hard to distinguish between genuine outrages and stories that just titillate us or creep us out.
Dead Tree Alert: Why TV Still Matters in Politics
Election TV is much like the rest of TV today. On a day to day basis, it’s less dominant. But a very few big events—whether a debate or a secretly-taped video—have a bigger reach and effect than ever.
