Monthly Archives: February 2007

Talk About Burying The News

Posted on February 11, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Deep in the middle of Newsweek's article Blowup? America's Hidden War With Iran, we find this news:

A second Navy carrier group is steaming toward the Persian Gulf, and NEWSWEEK has learned that a third carrier will likely follow.

A THIRD CARRIER? That would mean, presumably, a third carrier group.

Remember when the Bush administration piled all those troops outside of Iraq and many people refused to believe they would be told to attack?

There is no way I can imagine this bunch sending three carrier groups to the Gulf unless they plan to use them. Incidentally, the Gulf is a very small bit of water for one carrier group, not to mention three. And, I worry about them being, um, targets.

Doesn't anyone remember Millennium Challenge? (Cf. Wikipedia entry)

Posted in Iran | 1 Comment

Terribly Upsetting Photo

Posted on February 11, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Don't click to view this terribly upsetting photo unless you have your handkerchief ready. (Via CorrenteWire).

Yes, there is hope here as well as tragedy, but the tragedy was so unnecessary…

Posted in Iraq | 6 Comments

He Who Wields the Hatchet

Posted on February 10, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Mike Allen is a journalist rich in education and experience:

  • Served a Time magazine's White House correspondent
  • Six years at The Washington Post, where he covered President Bush's first term, Capitol Hill, campaign finance, and the Bush, Gore and Bradley campaigns of 2000.
  • Stints at the Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, The Free Lance-Star (VA)
  • Richmond and Alexandria bureaus of The Washington Post.
  • Covered parts of Connecticut for The New York Times.
  • B.A. from Washington and Lee University, where he majored in politics and journalism.

He has a c.v. as good or better than most in the business.

So how have we come to a place where a guy with this much experience can do something as stupid and evil — or is it just lazy and ignorant? — as this?

Update: Could it be petty, personal pique?

Posted in The Media | 3 Comments

Journalism 101

Posted on February 10, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

My brother has an article up at Nieman Watchdog entitled How the press can prevent another Iraq. It's nothing more than a reminder of basic journalism: don't believe everything a government official tells you; ask for proof. Use common sense.

It's absolutely amazing that any of this needs to be said to professionals. We knew this kind of stuff when we were high school journalists.

And yet, it does need to be said, because for some reason most reporters these days don't do their jobs.

Posted in Dan Froomkin, The Media | 7 Comments

Double Standards

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

The guy who started the whole flap about how Edwards should fire his blogger-staffers for things they had written before joining the campaign turns out to have a rather elastic approach to serious prior misdeeds by his own employeesBush-Cheney '04 campaign employees..

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 3 Comments

This Calls for Outsourcing

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

In a budget notable for cutting hospitals for the poor and indigent while not raising taxes for billionaires, the Bush budget proposal contains the familiar assault on domestic public TV and radio. The foreign broadcasting arm, long a home for a strange mix of dedicated professionals and far-right propagandists, is slated for a hefty increase. (See MediaCitizen: Bush Calls for Propaganda Surge, Slashes PBS.)

Here's my modest proposal: given how generally lousy so much of foreign propaganda is, why not outsource the job to the BBC World Service, which, despite its effectiveness, continues to suffer the death of a thousand cuts.

Posted in The Media | 1 Comment