Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Jon Soltz on Hannity & Colmes: “So I’m not going to sit here and be lectured by someone like you.” (by Nicole Belle)
Normally, I’m not in favor of people agreeing to appear on Hannity & Colmes, because the deck is just so stacked against you and you’re lucky to get a word in edgewise. But VoteVets.org’s Jon Soltz (and yes, he’s been busy this week) obviously knows how to handle Hannity and get us a nice little soundbyte as well. Jon discussed with former Bremer advisor and full time Bushie Dan Senor (whose new job is for a 527 that attacks those wanting to end the Iraq occupation). Watch how Soltz got the better of him.
Click through to see the video.  I think we progressives are missing a lot by not having a program to train our commentators in tactics that work in these situations.

Should Economists Rule The World? (thanks to Economist’s View)
[T]there’s no outlet in the world that publishes as many economists — and good ones, too, Nobel Prize winners — as The Wall Street Journal editorial page. We know, and many of those economists know, that that editorial page is mendacious, extremist, and intellectually sloppy. But they nevertheless publish there, lending their titles and credibility to an outlet that continually promotes a fundamentally poisonous and empirically laughable ideology. This is, in large part, how supply-siderism survives. Not because economists believe it. But because the Right is very good at setting up incentives so it’s good for the careers of otherwise credible individuals to seem like they’re promoting it. And it’s a shell game many economist happily participate in, and that grievously harms the country.
This is an aspect of the right-wing media machine that I hadn’t thought about.  Not only does the machine foster writers and commentators who show talent for twisting facts, they provide a (sometimes) distinguished platform for otherwise respected academics and anlysts to do the same.

Mythbuster: Poverty on the op-ed page
[Wednesday,] Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson … trots out statistics to make a case against immigration. Mr Samuelson argues that we have made progress against poverty, but that progress is obscured by a flood of poor hispanic immigrants… While the absolute number of hispanics in poverty has increased since 1990, the poverty rate among hispanics has fallen dramatically over that period… Mr Samuelson’s biggest blooper, however, is to ignore trends among all groups within the 1990 to 2006 time period. Between 1990 and 1993, poverty increased among all racial and ethnic groups.

Going After Gore? (By Reed Hundt)
There are a lot of reporters I know and respect, but I will never forget the one… who put down his pen after a long and cruel interview about my friend and high school classmate Al Gore, and explained that he was so hard on Al because “we expect more from Gore…” What is a reporter doing expecting more from one candidate than from another?… How could someone so unaware, inattentive and misinformed [obtain] the power to publish a biograph of Al Gore? Why would anyone ever publish a word that fellow wrote? And yet they still do.

Listening Post: US Media Anti-Iran Message
Presented in cooperation with Al Jazeera: Listening Post probes the US administration’s handling of media concerning Iran.

Conversational Journalism: Credibility Gained or Status Lost? (by Amy Gahran)
Might opening up to more conversation in our work — especially public conversation — help journalists gain credibility through transparency? I think so, and I’ve seen some examples to this effect. That said, I know many journalists fear loss of status or credibility from engaging in public conversation — especially publicly discussing controversies, errors, oversights, or news judgement.

Why do NYT, other newspapers refuse to call Gonzales a liar?
“My own view is that a news organization should never say in its news columns the word ‘liar,’” Times public editor Clark Hoyt tells Bob Garfield. “It’s such a loaded, judgmental word. It’s certainly appropriate to use it if you’re quoting someone, but adopting it yourself I think leaves you open to all kinds of accusations of partisanship.”
NOT using it leaves you open to accusations of being stupid.

The New Don Imus: Craig Carton Mocks Asians, Turns In Immigrants, Outs Politicians
CBS has replaced Don Imus with Craig Carton, a shock jock out of New Jersey, and a curious hire considering Carton is just as controversial.

BBC caves to executives, scraps climate change series.
The BBC has scrapped plans for Planet Relief, a television special on climate change designed to “raise consciousness” about the environment and encourage viewers to save energy. The network’s corporate executives protested the series, claiming it was “not the corporation’s job to save the planet.” “Negative reaction to the flop Live Earth concert, promoted by Al Gore…was cited as a factor in the decision not to go ahead with Planet Relief.” 

Abrams’ big decision: Do a show or run MSNBC’s newsroom?
Dan Abrams’ days of pulling double duty at MSNBC are numbered, reports Felix Gillette. Abrams says he can’t continue to supervise news coverage and do a prime time show for much longer. Soon, he’ll choose, but declines to tell Gillette in which direction he’s leaning. ALSO: Abrams blasts CNN’s “God’s Warriors” program, calling it “shameful advocacy masked as journalism.”

Fox News’ Rivera doesn’t care what people say about him
“I’ve had a wonderful career,” says Geraldo Rivera. “I’ve been famous for 40 years.”
And that is all you need to know about Geraldo Rivera.

USA Today Distributes News by ‘Widget’
NEW YORK (AP) – USA Today is plunging into a hot new Internet technology, offering its online users the ability to install “widgets” on their blogs and personal Web pages that contain news updates and other information from the newspaper.

Democrats unveil a file on Romney
RomneyFacts.com lays out a wealth of documents: personal financial disclosure statements he filed as governor; policy proposals he put forward in his 2002 campaign; several old campaign ads; and a unique searchable database of campaign contributions from his entire political career.

Newest spy gadget: social networking
CHICAGO – As spy gear goes, a social-networking Web site doesn’t quite have the same cachet as some of James Bond’s high-tech gadgets.

Hulu vs Lulu: NBC and News Corp Sued Over YouTube Rival
Media titans NBC and News Corp are being sued today by Lulu.com for trademark infringement after the announcement of the video site’s official name, “Hulu“. The claim was filed in a US District Court in Raleigh, NC.