SoundBites February 2014
Odd Lessons of Obamacare… Right, Righter, Wall Street… What You Think About What You Don’t Know… Six Degrees of Assassination… The Faux Pas of Bombing a Two-Year-Old… Bernie Sanders: ‘Agitator’ or ‘Spoiler’?… Dreams for Sale
Public Sector Workers Are ‘the Easiest Kid to Pick On’
Economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told CounterSpin’s Janine Jackson that we shouldn’t believe the hype we’re hearing about the causes of Detroit’s problems, and we should pay extremely close attention to what’s being sold as the solution.
Names in the News—or Not
With 24 hours of programming a day, cable news channels could cover just about everything—but of course their attention is selective. Extra! searched transcripts from MSNBC, CNN and Fox News to find out how often various names and issues came up in 2013.
14th Annual Fear and Favor Review
Private corporations care very much about the content of the news they sponsor or, as outlet owners, produce—that it not be too downbeat, or provide a platform for anyone asking hard questions about corporate America.
Muzzling Critics—or Building Media Democracy?
Ecuador’s media law represents something more complex than an attempt to bully critics. The Organic Communications Law attempts to treat the news media like a public good or service, with regulations intended to benefit citizens. It calls on each outlet to develop a code of ethics, calls for swift correction of errors, and requires national outlets to have ombudsmen to deal with public complaints.
Fallujah Slaughter Rewritten as Sacrifice
For many in media, Fallujah was remembered primarily as a place where US soldiers made great sacrifices. Mostly—if not entirely—forgotten was what was done to the people who lived in Fallujah.
Abortion Restrictions Soar, Media Coverage Sags
Over the past decade, it has gotten much more difficult for women in the United States to access safe and legal abortion services. National media, however, are not keeping up with this dramatically changing landscape, leaving the changes largely outside of public debate.
Calling Rape by Its Right Name
The L.A. Times inexplicably employed every other word and phrase imaginable other than “rape” to describe what two LAPD officers were accused of.
