Jack Shafer

10 Stories

Stormy Daniels, Karl Rove Hold Clues to Beating Trump

Attacking strengths can be more effective, Jack Shafer writes

(Newser) - There are many strategies that won't beat Donald Trump, in a political race or elsewhere. Pointing out his flaws has little effect, Jack Shafer writes in Politico column. But there are people who have the right idea, and Ron DeSantis could learn from them. Karl Rove, a longtime Republican...

We Might Be Looking at Issue of Local News Backward

Jack Shafer makes the case that it's a problem with demand, not supply

(Newser) - You've no doubt heard the lament about the death of local news throughout the country and the potentially dire consequences that might result. Local governments operating with no accountability, for instance. Generally, the blame is laid upon on greedy publishers focused on the bottom line or online behemoths such...

Advertisers Need to Stop Boycotting Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson Boycott
Is Dumb and Dangerous
OPINION
Dec 20, 2018 9:20 AM CST

Tucker Carlson Boycott Is Dumb and Dangerous

Media writer Jack Shafer doesn't want fickle companies having a say in coverage

(Newser) - Big advertisers keep pulling out of Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News over his comments that immigrants make the nation "poorer" and "dirtier." Media writer Jack Shafer is no fan of Carlson and his "retrograde views on race, minorities, gays, and women," but he'...

Jack Shafer, Timothy Noah, June Thomas, Juliet Lapidos Laid Off From Slate: Reactions
Journos Outraged as
Slate Axes Jack Shafer
REACTION ROUNDUP
Aug 25, 2011 1:16 PM CDT

Journos Outraged as Slate Axes Jack Shafer

Co-founder is one of 4 staffers let go

(Newser) - Slate co-founder Jack Shafer, who has been with the online magazine since before its official launch in 1996, is being laid off, it was announced yesterday. The media critic is one of four staff members being let go; Timothy Noah , June Thomas , and Juliet Lapidos are the others, reports the...

Jack Shafer: Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism Are Pointless
 Pulitzers Are 
 Pointless 
OPINION
Apr 18, 2011 1:17 PM CDT

Pulitzers Are Pointless

They're weightless 'footnotes,' not 'headlines': Jack Shafer

(Newser) - The Pulitzer Prizes for journalism are awarded today, but they don’t mean a thing, writes Jack Shafer. “I doubt that one newspaper reader in 10,000 could tell you a day after the Pulitzers are awarded who got the prize for explanatory reporting,” he notes in a...

Let's Blame the Crazy Man, Not Conservatives
Let's Blame the Crazy Man,
Not Conservatives
OPINION: Counterpoint
Jan 10, 2011 12:11 PM CST

Let's Blame the Crazy Man, Not Conservatives

Inflammatory rhetoric mostly harmless, says Jack Shafer

(Newser) - The people blaming conservatives for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords are "political vultures," practicing “the sick art of turning insanity into politics,” writes Victor Davis Hanson of the National Review . Jared Lee Loughner appears to be more “of an unhinged killer like Ted Kacyznski”; he...

Radio Was Gonna Kill Newspapers, Too
 Radio Was Gonna 
 Kill Newspapers, Too 
OPINION
Aug 4, 2009 11:30 AM CDT

Radio Was Gonna Kill Newspapers, Too

(Newser) - As newspapers hemorrhage cash, the refrain is getting louder: the Web is sucking away their audiences and can never replicate the serious journalism they offer. The argument sounds familiar, Jack Shafer writes for Slate: It’s the one newspapers used against radio 80 years ago. Radio was then seen as...

He's the King of Teflon, But Will It Last?
He's the King of Teflon,
But Will It Last?
OPINION
Jul 30, 2008 7:55 PM CDT

He's the King of Teflon, But Will It Last?

General-election voters want answers, not just a clean suit

(Newser) - Barack Obama has admitted that all politicians have a “reptilian side,” but the candidate’s slipperiness is so well-cloaked by his affable persona that he must be the “koala of iguanas,” Jack Shafer writes for Slate. Nothing sticks to Obama in part because he has anticipated...

'Ferocious Kind of Love' Behind Times-Bashing

Hating the Gray Lady, VF finds, often mirrors how one feels about relatives

(Newser) - It seems these days everyone’s got a beef with the New York Times these days, so Vanity Fair set out to find out why, asking a panel of experts their thoughts. Simple envy is the primary culprit, some say; others cite "a ferocious kind of love"; the paper's...

Murdoch's Journal Wins Back a Fan
Murdoch's Journal
 Wins Back a Fan 
OPINION
Jun 15, 2008 8:08 PM CDT

Murdoch's Journal Wins Back a Fan

Slate critic once thought Murdoch would kill storied paper

(Newser) - Rupert Murdoch's attempt to make the Wall Street Journal the "first read" for elites, rather than playing second to the New York Times on non-financial stories, looked like a recipe for disaster to Jack Shafer. It was likely to result in me-too coverage crowding out the Journal's signature reporting,...

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