media criticism

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Crown Prince Unusually Candid About Coverage of Daughter

Crown prince had choice words about 'fabrications,' response to stories

(Newser) - Prince Akishino of Japan has some choice words about the media coverage of his daughter Mako and her wedding. The former Japanese princess, now a commoner and a New Yorker , was subject to intense and unflattering media scrutiny, and her dad is not pleased—not with tabloids, not with online...

Bad-Art Stockholm Syndrome Is Making Critics Uncritical

Ben Yagoda at Slate says critics are going too easy on films, TV, books

(Newser) - You just can't get into the Ted Danson-starring The Good Place despite critics' raves. And that Emily Dickson biopic A Quiet Passion has a 92% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes but only a 48% rating from audiences. So what gives? "In my viewing and reading life, I’...

Howard Kurtz Will Get Grilled on His Own Show

Over his misfire on Jason Collins item

(Newser) - It's been a rough week for media critic Howard Kurtz, who took a barrage of criticism when he inaccurately accused gay basketball player Jason Collins of not coming clean about his previous engagement to a woman. Kurtz "parted ways" with the Daily Beast after the gaffe, though he...

Jack Shafer, Timothy Noah, June Thomas, Juliet Lapidos Laid Off From Slate: Reactions
Journos Outraged as
Slate Axes Jack Shafer
REACTION ROUNDUP

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...

Nancy Grace Defends Calling Casey Anthony Jury 'Kooky'

HLN host says she doesn't regret judging Anthony

(Newser) - Nancy Grace is taking some heat for her coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, especially her over-the-top “ the devil is dancing ” line yesterday. After the verdict, defense attorney Cheney Mason lashed out at those who had “indulged in media assassination”—a line widely believed to be...

Hey, America, This Is Good News in Egypt
 Hey, America, This Is 
 Good News in Egypt 
OPINION

Hey, America, This Is Good News in Egypt

Salon essayist: Don't let 'racism against Arabs' ruin the celebration

(Newser) - The protests in Egypt are threatening to transform and democratize the entire region. So why all the "grim faces" on American news channels? Because a free Egypt will mean less American power in the Middle East and expose American and Israel hypocrisy, writes Philip Weiss in Salon . "The...

NYT's Deepwater 'Scoop' Was Regurgitated: AP Reporter

No new info in supposedly unprecedented reconstruction

(Newser) - The New York Times ' sweeping account of the Deepwater Horizon's final hours may be compelling storytelling, but it is not news, claims AP oil spill reporter Harry Weber . Though the Times story claims to be an account built from new disclosures that "make it possible to finally piece...

Sherrod Frenzy Was Like OJ All Over Again
Sherrod Frenzy Was Like OJ 
All Over Again
OPINION

Sherrod Frenzy Was Like OJ All Over Again

Simpson trial established mold for overblown stories

(Newser) - The media’s collective freakout over Shirley Sherrod was just the latest rerun of its freakout over the OJ Simpson trial, “a grotesque Groundhog Day set of conditions that occur all too often,” writes Mark Halperin of Time . Both were brimming with the kind of disputed facts, compelling...

$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'
 $1B US Embassy 
 in London 
 'Far From 
 Subtle' 
Architecture REVIEW

$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'

Security challenges noted, but critics remain blah

(Newser) - Architecture critics aren’t too impressed with the winner in the US State Department’s competition to design its next London embassy. “Cool, remote and far from subtle” reads the Guardian ’s headline; “all the glamour of a corporate office block,” harrumphs Nicolai Ouroussoff for the...

Taylor Swift's Label Fires Back at Haters

 Taylor Swift's 
 Label Fires Back 
 at Haters 
grammy night fallout

Taylor Swift's Label Fires Back at Haters

'She's not the best technical singer,' says chief, but she's 'emotional'

(Newser) - Get off Taylor Swift’s back about that "strikingly bad" Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks, pleads/threatens the head of her label, Big Machine Records. “Maybe she's not the best technical singer,” Scott Borchetta tells the Tennessean , “but she's probably the best emotional singer.” And that's...

Bachmann: I'm Being 'Palinized'
 Bachmann: I'm Being 'Palinized' 

Bachmann: I'm Being 'Palinized'

Calls for supporters' help against 'liberals' scorn'

(Newser) - GOP Rep. Michelle Bachmann doesn’t want to be “Palinized”—that is, hammered with media attacks and “liberals’ scorn,” she writes in a fundraising letter to supporters. “Just as they did with Sarah Palin, the more I talk about the issues, the more they attack...

CNN Kills Ad Ripping Birther Dobbs

(Newser) - A media watchdog ad attacking CNN anchor Lou Dobbs for his "racially charged" support of conspiracy theorists who question President Obama's birth certificate is all set to run tomorrow on CNN. But there's fat chance you'll ever see it on CNN. Five of the six cable providers who sold...

New Newsweek a Lot Like Old Newsweek
 New Newsweek a Lot Like 
 Old Newsweek 
OPINION

New Newsweek a Lot Like Old Newsweek

(Newser) - Freshly fired by Time, Michael Kinsley checked out the much-ballyhooed Newsweek makeover. Let’s just say he’s less than impressed. In his introductory note, editor John Meacham says, “We are not pretending to be your guide through the chaos of the information age.” Already, Kinsley sees a...

NYT's Ethicist Rips Off Colleague's Column

Cohen nabs a previously-published question from another columnist

(Newser) - Is it right for an ethics columnist to steal a reader’s question from a colleague? It apparently is for the New York Times’ Randy Cohen, writes Alex Carnevale in Gawker. Today’s Ethicist column includes a question printed in another column last month. “The paper now has more...

Palin's Right, the Press Does Stink ...
Palin's Right,
the Press
Does Stink ...
OPINION

Palin's Right, the Press Does Stink ...

... for labeling her horrible debate performance success

(Newser) - Sarah Palin doesn’t like the mainstream media, and after watching its reaction to her debate performance, neither does Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. Palin ignored questions, lied, and invented new powers for the vice president, but somehow the media wound up praising her anyway. “I could quote...

McCain Accuses Couric of 'Gotcha!' Journalism
McCain Accuses Couric
of 'Gotcha!' Journalism
OPINION

McCain Accuses Couric of 'Gotcha!' Journalism

Maybe shielding Palin from the media was a bad idea

(Newser) - John McCain and Sarah Palin sat down for a joint interview with Katie Couric last night, and it was hard to avoid the impression that McCain was chaperoning his running mate “to keep her out of trouble” writes Time TV critic James Poniewozik. McCain accused Couric of “gotcha...

New Sites Try 'Crowdfunding' to Finance Journalism

New site solicits story ideas and funding to write them

(Newser) - As newspapers nationwide struggle to stay afloat in the internet era, a new online venture aims to harness the power of the people—or at least their checkbooks. The San Francisco-based Spot Us site solicits story ideas and donations from the public. If enough cash is raised for a particular...

Enquirer Boss: Edwards Saga 'Unzipped a New Era'

Mainstream media must reevaluate what news is, where it comes from

(Newser) - When John Edwards admitted that he had indeed had an extramarital affair, “the gnashing of teeth from mainstream journalists was so loud you could barely hear the sobs of everyone who posts for the Daily Kos,” writes victorious National Enquirer editor David Perel in the Huffington Post. The...

Edwards 'Love Child' Story Shows Press Double Standard

Media are hypocrites about hypocrisy

(Newser) - The press jumped all over Larry Craig’s bathroom dalliance not because he was gay, it was claimed, but because he was a hypocrite with an anti-gay voting record. But no one is piling on John Edwards, whom the National Enquirer says it caught visiting his mistress and love child...

'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...

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