In their annual roundup of factually incorrect stories of 2010, Politifact.com, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning project set-up by the St. Petersburg Times, offered this example from Fox News’ Glenn Beck. “On his Nov. 22 radio show,” Politifact reports, “Beck told the story of Wilmington, a town of 13,000 people in Southwest Ohio that lost about 8,600 jobs when DHL Express, its largest employer,  » Read...

Monday morning I posted a commentary (They Shoot Mules, Don’t They?) about MSNBCs Keith Olbermann. I talked about how loud and offensive Olbermann can be, particularly when he engages in counterattacks against Fox News and Bill O’Reilly. Not long after I posted that piece on Huffington Post, (Sunday evening) I received an e-mail from an editor at the site which read,  » Read more about: Apologies  »...

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann is irritating, pompous and oafish. Whatever points he attempts to contribute to any political issue get lost in his snarky, Lord-High-Executioner act against anything that comes from Fox News. Sadly, this is what passes for political discourse today: two clearly partisan “commentary” shows having at each other in the cable equivalent of the Roman Coliseum. Hiring Olbermann,...

Yesterday, a House panel found New York Democratic Representative Charles Rangel guilty of 11 ethics violations stemming from improper solicitation of fund-raising and failure to accurately report his personal income. After reaching a verdict, the subcommittee now sends the case to the full House ethics committee to determine how the 80-year-old will be disciplined. Punishments range from a formal reprimand...

MSNBC opinionate Keith Olbermann was suspended last week for having violated the political donation provision in the company’s standards by contributing donations totaling $7,200 to three Democratic politicians he had supported on his show. Olbermann returned to his regular Tuesday night slot withoutapologizing to the network. He did, however, offer a written apology to his fans for “having precipitated such anxiety and...

The Juan Williams matter brings up a topic that’s important to explore – the role of an ombudsman. Alicia Shepard is NPR’s Ombudsman, and according to her bio, “Shepard was appointed… in October 2007. In 2000, NPR was the first U.S. broadcast news organization to create an Ombudsman position. “In this role,” NPR writes “Shepard serves as the public’s representative, and is responsible for bringing transparency...

There’s a very old fable of unknown origin that goes something like this… A scorpion comes upon a river and asks a friendly frog for a ride to the other side. The frog laughs and says something like, “Are you nuts? You’re a scorpion. You’ll sting me!” The scorpion replies, “Why would I do that? If I sting you, we’ll...

Corporate CEO’s like BP’s Tony “I want my life back” Hayward aren’t the only one’s susceptible to foot-in-mouth issues. Last Friday (Oct. 2) CNN fired Rich Sanchez after the daytime anchor called Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart a bigot onSirius-XM radio, then proceeded to imply that all the networks are controlled by Jews. “White folks usually don’t see it. But we do,” Sanchez told radio host Pete Dominick...

All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. – Paul Simon, “The Boxer”       When it comes to the political talking heads crowding the media platform, who, if any, do we trust the most and the least? Are the facts important or is it all just entertainment? These are a few of the...

Ethics scandals continue to make the news. “California City Officials Arrested in Salary Scandal” (Sept. 21); “Clemens Lied About Doping, Indictment Charges” (Aug. 19); “P.R. Missteps Fueled Fiascos at BP, Toyota and Goldman,” (Aug. 22) Are companies paying attention to headlines, and are they making any attempt to reinforce the moral conscience of their own organizations?  » Read more about: Searching...