Recent Journalism Commentaries

Featured image for “They don’t give awards for integrity…”
They don’t give awards for integrity…
The only time I watch Fox News is when Shepard Smith is the anchor for the mid-day news, the factual news, the honest news, not the distortions put forth by those so-called opinion guys on the network. It really isn’t surprising that the vast majority of Fox revenues are brought in by those other guys that pander to the president,...
Read More
October 14, 2019
Featured image for “An Offer He <em>Did</em> Refuse”
An Offer He Did Refuse
For years a parade of celebrities, politicians, CEOs and others have attempted to end The National Enquirer’s sleazy and wildly inaccurate “news” reporting with little success. Now this mainstay of Yellow Journalism has crossed swords with the world’s richest man, and The Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., along with its CEO David Pecker may be a little more troubled...
Read More
February 11, 2019
Featured image for “CNN v. Trump”
CNN v. Trump
In response to yet another controversial and unprecedented action taken by President Trump, cable news organization CNN has filed a lawsuit against the president, as well as some members of his administration, for revoking White House Correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass to The White House. Updated: Friday, 11:23 a.m. The opening of the 18-page lawsuit reads: “…on November 7, 2018,...
Read More
November 16, 2018
Featured image for “The Ethical Take: Big Kahuna Edition”
The Ethical Take: Big Kahuna Edition
In the olden days (of 2017), I used to say, “every week”; ridiculous! Every DAY, Trump and/or his administration face some new potential legal or ethical issue. Here’s the latest rundown: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke – According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), “…Zinke has racked up 17 federal investigations into his behavior since becoming Secretary.” “…the...
Read More
November 14, 2018
Featured image for “Last Man Standing”
Last Man Standing
“Tomorrow the migrants… are more than two months away — if any of them actually come here, but tomorrow is one week before the midterm election, which is what all of this is about.” – Shepard Smith, FOX News anchor, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 Shepard Smith, the informed, straightforward newsman at FOX News (Yes, you heard me correctly, FOX News),...
Read More
November 2, 2018
Featured image for “Credibility”
Credibility
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.” ~ Edward R. Murrow, 20th century journalist in testimony before a Congressional Committee, May 1963 Let’s face it, credibility is not that simple anymore. It has less to do with facts and more...
Read More
October 22, 2018
Featured image for “Standards, <em>What</em> Standards?”
Standards, What Standards?
Fox News executives should issue the following statement: “Fox News is calling for a total and complete shutdown of inaccurate and false stories coming from Sean Hannity until Fox representatives can figure out what the HELL is going on!” P.S. – They have, sort of. Conspiracy theories have bounced around popular culture and politics since the birth of the nation....
Read More
May 26, 2017
Featured image for “60 Minutes Investigates “Fake News””
60 Minutes Investigates “Fake News”
What stood out to me in watching last Sunday’s show, where 60 Minutes journalist Scott Pelley interviews an individual who traffics in “fake” news, is how perfectly plausible he could sound. The more I listened, however, the more I realized I was listening to “fake” plausibility. “ ‘What we are talking about are stories that are fabricated out of thin...
Read More
March 29, 2017
Featured image for ““…democracy versus a dictatorship.””
“…democracy versus a dictatorship.”
In an unprecedented move, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer last Friday, barred “journalists from the New York Times, CNN, Politico and BuzzFeed—which have been criticized by President Donald Trump and his administration for their reporting—from [an off-camera press briefing]. Reporters from the Associated Press and Time Magazine boycotted the event in protest,” The Wall Street Journal reported (Feb. 24)....
Read More
February 27, 2017
Featured image for “Fact-Checking a Reader – Rebuttal”
Fact-Checking a Reader – Rebuttal
Since last Friday (Jan. 27), when President Trump signed an executive order banning travel from seven countries for at least the next 90 days, this website has received a higher than usual response rate, largely due to a commentary I wrote last year. (Comments to this post are now closed.) Fact-Checking a Reader (Jan. 20, 2016), was written in response...
Read More
February 3, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
A Call for Unity
I first heard about John Gilbert Winant several years ago in Concord, New Hampshire, while I was teaching a class on ethics. My co-captain, Professor...
We Remember
On this anniversary of 9/11, let’s take a moment to remember those we lost and honor the heroes who ran toward danger. It was a...
The Enemy Within
In 63 BCE, Rome was facing an internal crisis that threatened to destroy the Republic. Roman senator Lucius Sergius Catilina, known as Catiline, was conspiring...
This is Why I Have Lost All Faith in the Ability of Republicans to Govern
This is Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia addressing his Senate colleagues regarding the proposed Senate Border Security Bill.  » Read more about: This is Why...
A New Pearl of Great Price: Blind Faith in Trump
Legend has it that a man once approached the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder with a challenge: if he could sum up the principles of...
Our Better Angels Better Show Up
A good friend and I have what we call our “Best Friends Thursday” lunches, where we catch up on the events of the day, primarily...