Recent Media Commentaries

Featured image for “Partisanship Trumps Leadership”
Partisanship Trumps Leadership
While Donald Trump’s death march on American democracy continues, the media has dutifully followed the former president’s every twitch. Despite four indictments, and irrefutable evidence from Trump himself where he is alleged to have willfully retained top secret documents and allegedly attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election, Trump’s messianic hold over the Republican Party is alarming. In a CBS News/YouGov...
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August 22, 2023
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We Are All Americans
Last week’s arraignment of former President Donald Trump was unprecedented in many ways. I contacted retired journalist Bob Wilson to interview some of the individuals who waited in a long line, many overnight. Here’s how that conversation went. “Jim, I’m outside the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse in downtown DC and the line of people waiting outside is something one only...
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August 8, 2023
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The Truthist v. The MAGA King
The truthist stands for facts. The MAGA King could care less. The truthist believes in the Constitution. The MAGA King believes in himself. The truthist appeals to those who believe in democracy. The MAGA King appeals to a cheering minority who believes in autocracy. Former Representative Liz Cheney’s “Great Task” leadership PAC is running an ad which shows the graphic...
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May 12, 2023
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Pants on Fire
Lying has become far too pervasive in American culture today. When it’s done by politicians, it’s become normative. When it’s done by the media, it’s reprehensible. For 19 years, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite was the gold standard of trust when it came to reporting the news of the day. Today, some 24/7 cable news programs have become a hodgepodge...
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February 28, 2023
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Truth Be Told
On any given day, I can drive around the small town where I live and easily see two-dozen or more individuals on cell phones. Some are on a call, some texting, tweeting, Facebooking, or just plain surfing. All of us appear to be spliced to our phones. I’ll come back to this later. Elon Musk is the man who gave...
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December 13, 2022
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Memo to The Media: Ignore Trump
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.”— Lincoln Too many have become slaves to fear and prejudice losing the best parts of themselves to an ideology of lies and hate. I was in the process of writing about the media’s continuing obsession with reporting every word and action about Donald Trump and the...
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November 29, 2022
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Just Don’t Look
Filmmaker Adam McKay has created a perfect metaphor for our times. A dark comedy that asks: what if science; politics; climate change; bouncy, mindless talk shows; willful ignorance; pop culture; social media and money, all intersected? The answer is “Don’t Look Up.” Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence star as two astronomers who discover a comet on a collision course with...
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December 31, 2021
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What’s So Good About 2021?
Embed from Getty Images Depressed about the last 12 months of well, . . . you fill in the blank. The magazine, Wired, reported a list of “21 Things That Made the World a Better Place in 2021.” Here are a few. More Than 8.47 Billion Covid-19 Vaccinations Were Administered Globally “In December 2020,  » Read more about: What’s So Good...
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December 21, 2021
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Let’s Get After It!
CNN’s Chris Cuomo Prime Time offered a mix of news, interviews, and insights into politics and how those in power work the levers of power in Washington. He often reserved his harshest assessment of others for a segment called, “Let’s Get After It!” His approach throughout was straightforward as he fearlessly held political figures accountable, and on more than one...
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December 10, 2021
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How Do We Fix Facebook? – Part 2
Easier said than done. However, Frances Haugen, the former Facebook data scientist who came forward with thousands of internal documents to back up her claims that the engagement-based algorithms created by the tech giant are used to deepen “divides, destabilize democracies, and make young girls and women feel bad about their bodies,” has been in talks with the House Judiciary...
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October 22, 2021