Malkin shows the New York Times "dowdifying" a letter from a dead Marine in order to make him sound grimly resigned to his death, rather than willing to give his life to combat terrorism.

When the reporter was called on it by a reader, he resorted to the "chickenhawk" meme, asking the reader if he'd ever been to Iraq! Amazing.

Via Dean's World.

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1 Companies that take this kind of tone with their customers (and subscribers and other readers are indeed customers, even if the majority of revenue comes indirectly via advertisers) don't tend to have terribly bright financial futures.

Posted by: David Foster at November 03, 2005 07:07 AM (7TmYw)

2 Yes. Did I mention that this is the New York Times?

Posted by: Attila Girl at November 03, 2005 07:54 AM (x3SIT)

3 http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=NYT&t=5y

Posted by: David Foster at November 03, 2005 08:06 AM (7TmYw)

4 Exactly. Unfortunately, the lefty media types of my acquaintance simply chalk this general trend up to the fact that people are getting a lot more news over the internet these days. We are. But why, specifically, are people shying away from most heritage media news sources, rather than switching and reading them online? They have not addressed the issue of mistrust, because to do so would require that they cop to the general leftist bias. And of course, in these people's minds the only bias is one AGAINST their views, due to the effect of the Rovian mind rays that keep us all from being OUTRAGED that there's a WAR going on.

Posted by: Attila Girl at November 03, 2005 08:20 AM (x3SIT)

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Larry Elder spoke today at the Liberty Film Festival, and afterward I decided I was going to pin him down for another of my signature "mini-interviews." He had just agreed to let me walk him to his car when he got shanghaid into signing a bunch of his DVDs. As one might expect, that kept him there long enough for more and more people to arrive—most of whom needed to at least shake his hand, and maybe get a picture (and possibly have a small exchange with him regarding politics, race, economics, or affirmative action).

After a few hours my resolved calcified: as long as he'd agreed in principle to my getting a few minutes with him, I was going to wait until he was away from the madding crowds, and could focus on what we were saying.

I'll summarize our discussion in another post, but he is an amazing man. No matter how many hands he had to shake, he never seemed to get tired of his fans, supporters, and colleagues. His ethical system is clearly as demanding as his work life: I'd never seen that level of focus in someone surrounded by an ever-changing crowd of 5-10 fans who all clearly want to talk to him as well. When Larry turned to me I indicated that he'd promised I could walk him out, and that was what I intended to do. He appeared to respect that. Meanwhile, I reminded myself that people call in to his show all the time and wait for hours to speak with him in the least private of settings. I was waiting a bit, but would get a one-on-one chat with him. A bargain, if you want to know the truth.

And sure enough: a friend of his who works for the L.A. Times ran into us as we approached the back doors of the Beverly Center, and they had a very cute exchange regarding their differences of opinion. (Larry pointed to me and threatened, after the other man had made a tacit admission of media bias, that I was going to expose this shameful moment in my blog. We all had a good laugh, though I'm afraid my readers might not be any more impressed with that than they would be with "a Times writer admitted that it gets hot in the summer in L.A.")

But Larry really is the all-time gentleman: he listened to my questions, gave me thoughtful answers, and stood there by his black Thunderbird asking me what I thought about various issues, as if he had all the time in the world. (At first, my mouth dropped open, and I may have looked like a fish for a moment there, till I rallied and remembered that I definitely Have Opinions.)

Truly a great experience. I've met Larry before, but not since 1998 or so, and we'd never had this long a chat. And, you know: I love being treated like a Real Media person, when in fact I'm just bloggy little me: a girl with a keyboard.

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1 Well, if he doesn't like attention he's in the wrong line of work. So I rather hope so. Nice to meet you, and I will be checking out the latest Wallace & Gromit.

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 23, 2005 11:57 AM (x3SIT)

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. . . that journalists be held to the same standards as car manufacturers.

The spreading of lies about Hurricane Katrina constitute one more nail in the coffin of the heritage media.

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I fear the world is about to end: Patterico just got published in the L.A. Times.

And I have to give them a little grudging respect for it, too: he's no more soft-spoken in this op-ed piece than he is in his own blog.

UPDATE: Turns out this is the second time Patterico's been invited to contribute to this "Outside the Tent" series. Kudos to the editor who makes this decision.

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. . . by Hugh Hewitt.

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. . . might become, for the New York Times, what Patterico is to the Los Angeles Times. (Though perhaps not as intensely: it would be difficult to match Patterico's frequency of slapdowns.)

And this could be lovely to watch. (Not to mention the fun I'll have forwarding these tidbits to my father, who maintains that I'm not "literate" because I don't read the NYT. I'm afraid his years on the East Coast warped his brain.)

At any rate, it's Maloney's takedown is sweet; check it out.

(Via Goldstein.)

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That when my media-industry acquaintances ask me if I'm getting paid to blog, they're just being a bit snide because they caught a glimpse of the pro-Schwarzenegger bumper sticker on my car. After all, when someone mentions working on a novel or a screenplay, no one asks if he/she is getting paid: it's understood that such projects are labors of love and hope.

But perhaps there's something deeper about the question of payment for journalism. Something at the very heart of the MSM-blogosphere conflict. Perhaps there is fear in the issue as well.

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of Nadagate (the Plame affair) by John Hinderaker here, couched in terms of the New York Times hypocrisy in outing real CIA covert operators, while pretending outrage that well-known Langley desk jockeys are discussed by media types with White House officials.

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anyone know what John Dean's smoking?

Anyone?

Bueller?

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. . . I'm more and more in awe of Mark Steyn. How can one man stay right on top of politics in the U.S., Canada, England, and Europe in general all at the same time?

I had a boyfriend who used to refer to Isaac Asimov as "the Asimov brothers." That's how I feel about Steyn, who is always just brilliant—whether I agree with him or not. He's a top-notch writer and a top-notch thinker.

In his latest Right Wing News Interview with John Hawkins, Steyn discusses his favorite—excuse me, favourite—bloggers, reserving his highest accolades for Canada's Kate McMillan, who is indeed one of the very best out there.

Needless to say, we were all button-busting proud at the Cotillion.

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Holy fucking shit.

I'll believe it when they ditch the airhead for a chick sporting a brain. (See post below.)

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Kate of Small Dead Animals discusses an article about the BBC in the U.K. that she feels could just as easily have been written about Canada's CBC. The extreme leftist bias in both cases is not a conspiracy at all; it simply reflects the world view of those who work there.

These news agencies are only a few degrees further left than our own heritage media, though in the U.S. the anti-American bias has to be muted somewhat, made palatable to the masses (who aren't as stupid as the media elites imagine, and are simply voting with their remote controls).

The difference, of course, is that in Canada and the UK these agencies are state-run, supported by tax dollars. Here in the U.S. we only have to put up with National Public Radio, which appeals to a niche market, and (despite its being far-left) I rather like. Still, there is something maddening about the idea of the person who works at 7-11 having to pay taxes to support media organs that present only a tiny piece of the spectrum of political thought. Especially when these news agencies do not acknowledge this bias in the least, or even really see it.

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Jeff of BA (Beautiful Atrocities, and the Bay Area) has some suggestions for those of us who just haven't been able to figure out the question of our day—that is, how to flush the Quran down a toilet:

• Flush Cliff's Notes on Quran instead. (This is cheating)

• Place Quran in toilet bowl. Add 1 quart of lye. Let stew for several days. Try to avoid using toilet during this period, or you will have disgusting mess on your hands. (If smell unbearable, add a little Old Spice or Brut.)

• Eat entire Quran page by page. Defecate. If necessary, use Milk of Magnesia

I always want to give up blogging when I stop by Jeff's place. Now read the whole thing.

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You know, I haven't helped to get someone fired since Mary Mapes, and I've got that itchy feeling again. And I'm not the only one.

Apparently, W. got so mad, he started his own blog:

"So it's rioting in the Middle East and guess who has to deal with it," Condoleezza Rice complained, "Me, that's who. Why couldn't I be Secretary of Defense?"

"Because diplomacy is for women and kill'n is for men," Rumsfeld answered.

"I'll show you killing!" Condi shouted and approached Rumsfeld.

"Let's save our violence for Newsweek," Bush said, "Now hand me my fact-checker."

"The 12-gauge?" Condi asked.

"That'll do."

Laura walked into the room. "Are you going to use violence to solve a problem again?"

"No, dear," Bush answered, stuffing his pockets with shotguns shells.

"You know, when someone in the media writes something that isn't true," Laura told him, "the popular and effective way to combat it is to blog about it."

"Blog!" Rumsfeld yelled, "Sounds like something for homosexuals."

Via Insty.

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explains that it's sorry it reported that the Koran was being desecrated at Guantanamo, but it's not that sorry, even though people died because of it. And—hey!—look over there! Something shiny!

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Trey Jackson has the video of both those moments people were talking about: Bush discussing his legacy, and his reaction to the question about Wolfowitz being the architect of "one of the most unpopular wars in history."

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An interview with Jeff Gannon's penis, courtesy of Protein Wisdom.

PW: “What do you hope to accomplish now that you have re-entered the public domain?  Obviously, a book deal is in the future.  What message are you hoping to send by telling your story?”

COCK: “I suppose what I really want to say is that I’m really just like any other GAY PORN COCK.  Prick me, do I not bleed?  Stroke me long enough, do I not, y’know --”

PW: “Gotcha.  Sure.  But let me ask you directly, for the record. Are you gay?”

COCK: “I go where I’m told, to be honest with you.  And from my perspective?  There’s not a whole lot of difference from one cave to the next.”

Read the whole thing. Now.

UPDATE: I hadn't realized some of you out there hadn't seen the original interview with Jeff Gannon himself. Here you go.

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Very Interesting:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation on Wednesday to achieve meaningful reforms to federal government information laws, most notably the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (FOIA). The Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2005 (OPEN Government Act) is aimed at substantially enhancing and expanding the accessibility, accountability, and openness of the federal government. U.S. Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), the committeeÂ’s senior Democrat, is the billÂ’s co-sponsor.

Importantly for bloggers, the Cornyn-Leahy legislation grants privileged FOIA fees for bloggers and writers for Internet outlets, providing the same status as old media and will protect access to FOIA fee waivers for legitimate journalists, regardless of institutional association - including bloggers and other Internet-based journalists.

If this passes, will bloggers be spine biters to the MSM, instead of ankle biters?

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Iowahawk scored the transcript of Eason Jordan's remarks! Now there's some CITIZEN JOURNALISM! As Goldstein would say, GIVE THE MAN SOME PIE!

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. . . is sexual McCarthyism.

Do the lefties really want to be the party of gay-bashing? Do they really want White House reporters to clear some kind of "morals" background check before being admitted to the West Wing?

They need to get out of people's bedrooms, and out of the witch-hunt business. This whole Jeff Gannon affair is just nauseating. Let people's pasts remain so.

Posted by: Attila at 02:34 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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