Diatribune - media - Comments

The tabloids have been a

epppie — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:18:55 -0600

The tabloids have been a mixed bag for a long time. Just look at the cover you've illustrated here - the tabloids have been virtually the only publications willing to look at the unhealthy things stars do to be able to continue to play their role in maintaining the shiny, happy public face of our society. But the same tabloid that exposes horrible diets of stars in one issue, can take stars to task for the slightest fat in the next. There's no consistent journalistic standard.

What about the Laura Bush story - remember the tabloids covered the problems between her and George? Did they make it up? We'll never know, because one thing we DO know is that the mainstream newspapers would never touch it - not because it's salacious, or because it's private, but because they have a vested interest in protecting the establishment.

What's different now, in terms of the comparison between tabloids and 'legitimate' press is that mainstream publications have become so compromised that they are as much a mixed bag as the tabloids. I'd say they even follow something like the same formula. One real or in some way meaningful story for every twenty crap stories.

Thanks, epppie.

Jacob Freeze — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:53:14 -0600

Thanks, epppie.

Good story, especially the

epppie — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:38:17 -0600

Good story, especially the observation about the pictures.

Here she is!

buhdydharma — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:11:22 -0600

Here she is!

you are too kind...and it's

fake consultant — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:44:42 -0600

you are too kind...and it's much appreciated.

I would never miss an

Jacob Freeze — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:15:43 -0600

I would never miss an episode!

sadly, your friendly fake

fake consultant — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:02:45 -0600

sadly, your friendly fake consultant has a face that was "made for radio", suggesting that such a news show will either be quite popular...or only watched by ian drury.

I see an internet news show

Jacob Freeze — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:45:42 -0600

I see an internet news show anchored by fake consultant. There is this miracle out there called "broadband" that makes "broadcast" and cable obsolete...
That's "broadcast" and cable where a few fatcats own the airwaves forever, as opposed to "broadband" where anybody with a camcorder can be a network.

Cable and broadcast are only going to get worse, so instead of whistling in the dark about stuff that ain't going to happen...

Just do it!

I have been afflicted by

Catzoned — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:04:23 -0700

I have been afflicted by having to watch Maury Povich and Jerry Springer shows in the clinics the past year. Maury had a guest that had 9 men tested to find out who had fathered her child and it turned out that none of them were. Jerrys show was essentially without much dialogue because of all the bleeps. The confrontations were readily apparent though. This is not acceptable daytime TV for me and certainly isn’t setting a good example for our children. These two shows are on daytime broadcast cast TV. Therefore, they are accessible for minors to watch when they are not in school. This is not good programming and certainly has no business being viewable before the posters 10 PM alleged acceptable limits.

How do we get it shown after the magic 10 PM hours if at all?

Hey, thought you might be

alexwierbinski — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:36:15 -0700

Hey, thought you might be interested in these tidbits of info:

U.S. Iraq Role Is Called Illegal by Saudi King, NYT March 29, 2007

Saudis’ Role in Iraq Frustrates U.S. Officials, NYT, July 27, 2007

U.S. Arms Plan for Mideast Aims to Counter Iranian Power, NYT, July 31, 2007

Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia, ap, January 14, 2008

essay, 7-07: Bush Wars Push Saudi Arabia out of American Axis

essay, 1-14-08: The bubbling regional war to pick up speed?

So, it appears that the first support for the iraq resistance in al anbar came from the saudis. We fought the saudi subsidized insurgency tooth and nail, leveling falluja in the process.

Then, we realisied that by taking out saddam, we had created a ready-made ally for iran with our iraqi invasion. This made the sunni resistance fighters (against our authority) in al anbar an atractive counter-weight to check the rise in influence of iran that our invasions initiated.

Realising that the sunnis could provide a counterweight to the now shite dominanted iraqi state, we cut a deal with the sunni, who still deny our authority in iraq, to mutually counter the shite dominanted government. In fact, we have gunned up the whole middle east, offering massive weapons systems to the saudis, israelis, egyptians, and a handfull of the gulf emeriates.

On the other hand, russia and china have strengthened their ties with iran.

It is clear that the sunnis (the saudi allies) in al anbar will turn on us as the situation requires. It is clear that the iranians and iraqi shite will turn on us as the situation requires. (think al sadre)

We sit in the middle of this self-created mess, arming all sides. (we have throughly gunned up the shite dominated iraqi military and police)

So, it appears that blaming the iranians for messing up our war and occupation is a stalking horse for the administration's drive to attack iran to attempt to recover from the strategic damage our blundering wars in iraq and afghanistan have wrough on our middle eastern empire.

It looks like the solution to our failed wars is shaping up to be more war.

Thanks for that perceptive

Jacob Freeze — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:41:24 -0700

Thanks for that perceptive comment.

Once upon a time people like Ochs and Paley who owned networks and newspapers were actually proud of their reporters, but no one expects the functionaries who run multinational media conglomerates today to pay attention to anything except the price of the stock.

I still think Matthews is

friendlytophil — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:22:49 -0700

I still think Matthews is one of the toughest commentators out there. Don't be ignorant. Matthews' beef with the Clintons goes back to his history with Jimmy Carter--he was one of Carter's main speech writers during his presidency. Carter was a very different type of Democrat from the Clintons, and Matthews made no secret of his dislike of the Clintons' far more conservative brand of politics when Matthews later ran the Washington desk for the SF Examiner, a position that made him a major player in the White House press pool. So poor Hillary isn't surprised at all by his comments, even if they come off seeming bellicose. And yes, he uses sexism probably at times to do it. Not that Hillary would ever use identity politics to get ahead--no, never ever ever.
Politics, my friends, is, well, political.

It's truly sad to see the

friendlytophil — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:12:47 -0700

It's truly sad to see the current state of mainstream media. By mainstream I mean TV media, large daily newspapers, and wide circulation magazines.
In the silly appearance Hillary Clinton made last night on cable news after her so-called victory in Florida, even good commentators (and there are still a few hard-hitting ones) were reduced to smirks to express what they were really thinking about her photo-op in Florida.
Chris Matthews, usually bellicose, sometimes politically doubtful, but always tough, was reduced to smiling and looking off-screen as she told him she'll try to take delegates that don't exist, delegates that could now only be awarded through a shady process, to the convention this summer. At least he got in one good comment when he described her take on the situation as "your own way of understanding the rules of the election." That was as close as he could get without getting reprimanded by his boss.
Make no mistake, many of these people aren't stupid--just look at Wolf Blitzer's expression when he has to interact with the two cackling marketing types who do the anchor desk over at CNN. At least he still recalls what it was like to be a journalist...once.

Complicity of the media:

epppie — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:39:56 -0600

Complicity of the media: ABC news has been relying on a fabricator in its Iran war drumbeat.

http://www.attytood.com/2007/09/the_disgraced_abc_consultant_a.html

Sometimes "excellence" is a

epppie — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:46:27 -0600

Sometimes "excellence" is a codeword for surrendering one's culture.