Who do you believe – entertainment or news? That’s not a trick question. Last Thursday, CNBC’s lead financial reporter and host of Mad Money Jim Cramer paid a visit to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show on Comedy Central.  It was a showdown of sorts. Stewart had been running video clips of CNBC gaffs like Rick Santelli’s rant against an Obama policy announcement and Jim Cramer’s videos showing him...

Jack Cafferty is CNN’s resident grouch. Five days a week, Cafferty has a segment on CNN’s Situation Room that frequents the three-hour program with questions to viewers; questions that cut-to-the-chase of all things political and cultural. In examining some of the details of President Obama’s stimulus package, Jack asks, “How does getting people to stop smoking stimulate the economy?” Or this, “[Republicans]...

Before President-elect Barack Obama has taken the oath of office; before he offered up his election-night speech in which he focused on how he intends to lead the country, conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh began his criticism. “He [newly appointed Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel] is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug just like Obama is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug.” This is...

“MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict.  They’re living from fix to fix and swearing they’ll go into rehab the next week.” There’s too much commentary disguised as news, these days. According to a New York Times article (Sept. 8), “In January, [Keith] Olbermann [host of MSNBC’s ‘Countdown’] and [Chris] Matthews, the host of ‘Hardball,’ began co-anchoring primary night coverage. ...

The Visa party went well.  Who knew Rham Emanuel was so fluent in Kantian ethics, (and that Wolf Blitzer could devour a whole tray of crab puffs)? The media has descended upon Denver like a biblical cloud of locusts.  According to CNN, there are approximately 15,000 media to 4,367 delegates at this year’s Democratic convention.  However, thanks to my new...

It began with a one-minute TV commercial – one stranger helps another who helps another who helps another. Insurance giant Liberty Mutual wanted to get people to think about personal responsibility.  (And to be fair, they also want to create a lot more interest in their company.) But, the reaction to this memorable concept commercial has been thousands of messages thanking the...

Answer:  When it depicts a national, political candidate with a boatload of misconceptions that many still believe to be true. The cartoon on the latest cover of New Yorker magazine has Senator Barack Obama standing in the oval office, dressed as a Muslim, a picture of Osama bin Laden above the mantel and a flag burning in the fireplace.  His...

It’s easy to criticize reporters when they go too far, but what about the times when reporters are pressured to go farther… and they don’t. Charles Lewis founded the Center for Public Integrity after eleven years as an investigative reporter at ABC News and CBS News, as well as a producer for 60 Minutes. The following story comes from my...

It’s interesting to see the direction these commentaries take.  I never have a preconceived plan.  I go where the story and the ethical issue take me. In Monday’s post (June 10) I had strong feelings that “Vanity Fair” editor Todd Purdum’s use of anonymous sources to insinuate that former President Bill Clinton’s “…appearances of impropriety” on the road campaigning for...

The CBS news show “60 Minutes” ran two compelling stories last Sunday (May 4).  I’m not sure if the producers were aware just how similar, yet ethically different the first two stories were. Both segments talked about mistakes that were made.  Both discussed the tragic, personal costs of those mistakes.  However, that is where one story took a “right” turn....