Press Criticism
NYT's lame look at the Medicare horse race
The story explored how the latest Republican proposal to privatize Medicare might affect the 2012 campaign, but failed to describe how the plan would work, or what its substantive impact would be. As such, it did not succeed even at the level of horse race analysis. It's enough to make you wonder: Who is this stuff written for, anyway?
WSJ story exaggerates "price" of taxing the rich, cherry-picks data
The "curse" of state reliance on high earners to pay a big share of taxes leaves states "starved for revenue in a bust.” The "root" of California’s woes is "its reliance on taxing the wealthy.” Claims like these mean that a recent Wall Street Journal article will undoubtedly be brandished in tax fights. But the story doesn't add up. And, interestingly, one needn’t go beyond the four corners of the Journal’s “Saturday Essay” feature to figure that out.
U.S. economy as tragic victim of circumstance?
New York Times picture of the American economy as a "victim" of various forces, including newly rising oil prices, leaves out failure of past and present policy-makers to address energy and other challenges.
Mubarak just became a dictator...this month?
For years, New York Times reporters (or their editors) had been too "diplomatic" to use the "D" word.
Deficit hawks or just a fairy tale?
A poll question featuring constrained choices prompts unsupported press claims, but other surveys suggest that public support for government spending remains strong.
What's the cost of the cuts to Congress?
When the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to
cut its own budget last week, the scant coverage in major outlets
represented a missed opportunity to probe what the consequences of the
reduction might be — or how previous staff reductions have affected the
ability of Congress to perform its work.
cut its own budget last week, the scant coverage in major outlets
represented a missed opportunity to probe what the consequences of the
reduction might be — or how previous staff reductions have affected the
ability of Congress to perform its work.
Washington Post's lackluster look at the EPA debate
You might think it would be hard to produce a news article that is simultaneously a puffy profile of an important government official, a credulous conduit for her leading opponents, a feeble explanation of the actual political dynamic, and a lackluster treatment of substantive policy issues. But that’s what The Washington Post delivered last week with its story about Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the industry interests lining up to battle new regulations that the EPA is considering.
That was terrible reporting
December 3, 2010 — Sometimes there is just no other way to put it.
Once a year, Maureen Dowd turns her column over to her brother; the device, if tired, is at least duly announced. Today, The New York Times, without disclosure, apparently turned its lead story over to Republican Party writers, with two prominent members of the Times’ Washington Bureau giving a pitch-perfect reading of the GOP’s “surrender, tax cuts for multi-millionaires are inevitable” script.
In the performance by David Herszenhorn and Jackie Calmes, it turns out that trivial matters like a vote by the House of Representatives are not “real” or worth exploring in and of themselves. And, we learn, there are some Democrats who — perversely — are still making a nuisance of themselves instead of accepting and embracing Republican triumph maturely and demurely...It is as though these reporters think that one little league team has been outscored by more than 10 runs, should take advantage of the “mercy rule,” forfeit the game, and end the embarrassment as quickly as possible.
Once a year, Maureen Dowd turns her column over to her brother; the device, if tired, is at least duly announced. Today, The New York Times, without disclosure, apparently turned its lead story over to Republican Party writers, with two prominent members of the Times’ Washington Bureau giving a pitch-perfect reading of the GOP’s “surrender, tax cuts for multi-millionaires are inevitable” script.
In the performance by David Herszenhorn and Jackie Calmes, it turns out that trivial matters like a vote by the House of Representatives are not “real” or worth exploring in and of themselves. And, we learn, there are some Democrats who — perversely — are still making a nuisance of themselves instead of accepting and embracing Republican triumph maturely and demurely...It is as though these reporters think that one little league team has been outscored by more than 10 runs, should take advantage of the “mercy rule,” forfeit the game, and end the embarrassment as quickly as possible.