Permanent link to MTA daily media news

I am not a Republican, and I am not a racist.  I will be voting for Cynthia McKinney for president.  So don’t threaten me with your post-partisan, post-racial, manipulative, coercive hate mail.

It is official – Obama is the biggest ass**** to ever run for President (by John: south of Melrose Liberal Rapture)

Yes, he said it.  Why don’t you give them the finger, Barack, as you did Hillary?  You are one classy dude.

Your fellow Democrats (by vastleft at Corrente)
I’ve never been more proud. This DU [Democratic Underground] thread, which currently has 31 recommendations (5 is the threshold to appear on the page of “greatest” posts of the day), celebrates the implication that Obama specifically had Palin in mind with his “lipstick on a pig” comment. Several other threads avidly deny that he meant it that way. It is a well-worn phrase, and I have no way of knowing whether he meant it to refer to Palin, but after her “lipstick/hockey mom/pitbull” comment it’s a poor choice of wording at very best. But, heck, it’s just words.
So, how’s all that nastiness working out for you, Barack?

McCain holds 5-point lead for second day; in past, such advantages have held for a while (On Politics, USA Today)
Two days in a row now, Gallup’s presidential tracking poll has given Republican nominee John McCain a 5 percentage point lead over Democrat Barack Obama. The latest reading, according to Gallup: McCain, 49%; Obama, 44%. That’s the same score as yesterday. And according to Gallup, history suggests McCain’s lead could last for at least a while.

McCain Now Winning Majority of Independents (Gallup)
PRINCETON, NJ — John McCain’s 6 percentage-point bounce in voter support spanning the Republican National Convention is largely explained by political independents shifting to him in fairly big numbers, from 40% pre-convention to 52% post-convention in Gallup Poll Daily tracking… Regionally, Gallup finds solid gains for McCain in all areas of the country except the West, where his already fairly high support has held steady. However, the 9-point increase for McCain in the South on top of his previous 49% support level in that region makes the South now overwhelmingly pro-McCain, 58% to 36%.

Warning Signs Barack Ain’t Ready (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
I was chatting last night with a good friend, a retired Navy SEAL Captain, who said, “Barack may be a nice guy but what worries me is that he is even more unprepared than George Bush to handle a crisis.” Amen!! And we are seeing the warning indicators that this is true. Yesterday’s clumsy attempt to smear both Palin and McCain with the clunky use of lipstick and dead fish as metaphors reveals a guy not handling the pressure of adversity with grace, humor, and steadiness. But that’s not the first time we have seen this Barack on display…

Let’s face the uncomfortable truth–Barack is like George Bush, a better public speaker, but equally insecure. Bush and Obama share a lot in common in terms of having political savvy to run pretty tough campaigns. But when it comes to the nuts and bolts of executive decision making, Obama, like Bush, is unprepared, self-absorbed and not a quick learner.

Lipstick (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)

Poll shows big shift to McCain among white women (Reuters)
A Washington Post/ABC News survey published on Tuesday found most of McCain’s surge in the polls since the Republican National Convention was due to a big shift in support among white women voters… Before the Democratic National Convention in late August, Obama held an 8-point lead among white women voters, 50 percent to 42 percent, according to the Washington Post/ABC News poll. After the Republican convention in early September, McCain was ahead by 12 points among white women, 53 percent to 41 percent, that survey found. 

“Where Are The White Women At?” (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
Sorry – obscure Blazing Saddles reference. Ahem. Where were we? Oh, yeah, white women… [It’s] a 20 point shift. Ouch… We have been talking for months here about how the Obama campaign has been pretending that the working class, women, and other groups who have been providing the Democratic party with its muscle at the polls for lo these many years just don’t exist. They don’t need us. They’re going to register 18 year olds to replace all of us. Well, better start now, boyz. And guess where the white women are at. Looks like they gave up on the Democratic party and wandered off.

Obama Doesn’t Believe Polls Showing Women Voters Flocking to McCain-Palin (by Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller at Political Punch, ABC News)
First, Obama expressed skepticism about the poll… Second, Obama said Palin had attracted a lot of attention and, among conservatives, excitement — but he didn’t think gender played factor… Obama said the race is far from over, and that issues would ultimately beat out personality… Obama did not address the question about whether he regrets not naming a woman running mate.

Three Candidates for Vice President (by Bud White at No Quarter)
Obama is hemorrhaging women voters. He must stop the bleeding, but his attacks on her only serve to diminish him. Palin has become Obama’s opponent, and his attacks on her inexperience only remind voters of his own inexperience and, even worse, they remind women of what he and his supporters did to Hillary. The attacks on Palin, a woman friend told me today, are beginning to feel like personal attacks on all women. Instead of having two political giants like Kennedy and Johnson, we have three candidates for vice president, of which Palin is the best, and McCain is reaping the benefit.

Whose Side Are These People On? (by myiq2xu at The Confluence )

Obama supporters need to quit claiming that Senator McCain and Governor Palin are insane extremists.  They aren’t.  They are pretty much typical conservatives, and about half this country shares their views.  I don’t agree with them, but I think they are rational, intelligent people.   If they win in November it will not plunge our nation into the Dark Ages. Secondly, Obamanation needs to knock off the frantic search for something negative to throw at them, particularly in regards to Governor Palin.  The Obama bloggers already sacrificed their credibility with “Panty-Sniff 2008,” wherein they horrified the nation with a wankfest claiming Sarah wasn’t the mother of Trig Palin.

So the attempt now to make mountains out of every molehill in Alaska is not only a waste of time, it is counterproductive.  Every time they attack Governor Palin, more people decide to vote for her and Senator McCain.  Don’t believe me?  Check the polls… Obamanation is alienating the voting public, but alientating is what they do best.  They thought insulting Hillary supporters was the way to get us to vote for Obama.  But if they are going to be so damn stupid, I wish they wouldn’t call themselves Democrats.

Another Flip Flop from Struggling Obama Campaign (by bostonboomer at The Confluence)
Oh, this is just hilarious. First he moved the DNC to Chicago long before he became the official Democratic nominee; then he called back campaign workers who had been working for downticket Democrats in local and state races; finally he told his contributors to stop donating to Move On and other organizations that run independent ads for candidates. Whoops! Never mind. Now that the money isn’t rolling in the way he assumed it would, Obama has decided he needs some help from 527s after all… [But] it may be too late for Democratic 527s to come to the rescue…Even if independent groups could raise the necessary funds, says Stein, they would be limited in what they could do at this late date in the campaign.

Just Can’t Win For Losing (by Turkana at The Left Coaster)
This was the year to do the world a favor and finally rid it of the U.S. Republican Party, once and for all. The worst and most unpopular president ever, and a Republican candidate who might even be more disastrous, and all the Democrats needed do was run a tight campaign, emphasize what people already knew, and let history take its course. Only the Democratic Party could have blown this critical historic opportunity, and that is precisely what they already have done.
We tried and tried and tried to tell you which Democratic candidate could win. And you belittled us, demeaned us, cursed at us, and drove us away.

How The Obama Campaign Bungled the Palin Phenomenon. (by Texas Hill Country at No Quarter, cross-posted from his blog, Texas Hill Country)
With the explosion of support that McCain is seeing in the last week, there can only be one explanation… Sarah Palin. She, at once, unified the evangelical base, small town America, and offered centrist and Independent women another option. And it scared the bejesus out of the Obama campaign… Palin exceeded all expectations [at the convention], striking back with amazing strength and a smile that killed. Palin hit Obama hard, making fun of Obama’s claim to fame as a Community Organizer and attacking him on his experience, sending the Obama campaign reeling.

That one joke did 4 things…. It highlighted Obama’s inexperience, brought up the question about what a community organizer does exactly because most of America probably doesn’t know, it painted Obama as an urbanite that is out of touch with rural America, and it painted Obama as a rabblerouser and a trouble maker… a sort of 60’s era radical. None of these images are particularly appealing to rural and small town America. Stupidly, the Obama fell into the trap and began to compare the experience level of Obama to Palin… an incredibly dumb move that both diminished Obama and bolstered Palin. Comparing the top of one ticket to the bottom of another is never a good idea. It only served to put a spotlight on the experience gap between McCain and Obama.

Now Obama must climb out of the hole that his campaign, the media and himself have created… We shall see if Obama and his campaign keep insulting small town America and those who cling to God and their guns… We shall see if they keep diminishing the accomplishments of women.

Fear and Loathing of Women Make Heads Explode Across the Political Spectrum (by Arthur Silber at The Power of Narrative)
By the time the second Clinton term began, my view of both Clintons was strongly negative. I considered both of them to be largely unprincipled, willing to sell out anyone and everyone for momentary political gain, or just because they didn’t have the courage for the big battles. But I have to confess that Hillary Clinton always held a certain attraction for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the presence of a strong woman in national politics, and I liked the fact that she personally fought back with everything she had… I loved the reaction she provoked from conservatives. She did indeed make their heads explode… Can’t stand her politics, but I love that aspect of her.

That brings us to Sarah Palin. Again, I can’t stand the woman’s politics. But the spectacle that is unfolding is simply extraordinary. Not just heads are exploding, but entire solar systems. And this time, the explosions are on the liberal side. This reaction to Sarah Palin, especially when connected to the reaction to Hillary Clinton (not only in the 1990s, but in this year’s primary…, should make one point indisputable: the deeply embedded cultural loathing of women affects virtually everyone… There is barely a sane word to be heard from any quarter. We are a godawful, calamitous, catastrophic mess.

Sarah Palin Sexism Watch, #11 (by Melissa McEwan at Shakesville)
Currently on the front page of “progressive” webzine Salon.com:

The graphic takes you to [the] story, which includes passages like: “… large numbers of Americans think she’s hot.” This latter point cannot be underestimated. Iraq may be a quagmire, a new cold war may be looming, the economy may be tanking and the world may be heading toward environmental doom, but the presidential race may be decided by the perceived doability of the governor of Alaska… [But] he concludes, “…[I]n the end, I suspect most Americans will be driven by their pocketbooks, not their pocket rockets,” thereby undermining his own premise.

The only point in raising it in the first place, then, was to provide a reason to disgorge a sticky splatter of misogyny all over the page. Must have been satisfying. I can practically smell the smoke of his post-release cigarette from here.

Could Obama get away with this shit if he we were white? (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
[From] a Kos Diary by an African American woman named TexasMango, titled “White People, can we talk?” “… [I]f Obama loses, then we can blame racism, pure and simple.” Nonsense… As I keep saying, Colin Powell could have waltzed right into the White House in 2000, had he been in a waltzing mood. Obama is … a crook and a liar. If he loses, don’t blame racism. Blame his campaign’s nonstop accusations of racism, leveled against anyone who dared to support another candidate…

Consider: Tony Rezko. Could any white presidential candidate have survived such a toxic association? Governor Blagojevich had to forego his own presidential quest when his links to Illinois corruption became a matter of discussion in newspapers and courtrooms. Obama’s ties to that dirt are just as strong, yet the fixers decided that they could run him in Blago’s stead. (That’s the real reason why Obama broke his pledge not run in 2008.)

Consider: During his time as a State Senator, Obama committed the same sins that put Duke Cunningham in jail, albeit on a less grand scale. In both cases, a crooked pol directed public monies to crooked businessmen who stuffed the pol’s campaign coffers. Taxpayers ended up funding a partisan race. Same shit, different pol. Why is Duke in jail while Obama runs for the highest office in the land?…

Consider: Any white candidate would have been crucified for the kind of lying and position-reversals that Obama has gotten away with. NAFTA, FISA, campaign finance, gay marriage, taxes, gun control — the list goes on.
Click through for more, much, much more that Obama has gotten away with, until the Republicans decide to drag it out into the light of day.

Media Embrace McCain’s ‘Maverick’ Re-Branding Effort (Think Progress)
By choosing Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his running mate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has tried to reinvigorate the perception that he is a “maverick.” Last week in their respective speeches to the Republican National Convention, McCain and Palin underscored this point by branding themselves as the “maverick” ticket:… The McCain campaign has amplified this talking point with a new ad … called “The Original Mavericks.” On Fox News [Monday], the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes observed that this re-branding effort is something that “the media has bought.” Barnes is right. Since the convention last week, the media appear to be more than happy to comply with McCain’s effort to put the “maverick” brand back into his campaign — hook, line and sinker.
The sun rises in the east.  Republicans brand themselves.  Democrats let them.  Republicans brand Democrats.  Democrats let them.  Anybody who didn’t predict this has been living on a quickly shrinking ice floe for the last 16 years.  Click through to watch a compilation of video pushing the “maverick” meme.

Narratives (County Fair at Media Matters for America)
Yglesias says narratives, not one-off factchecks, are what matters — and that the media hasn’t assigned negative narratives to McCain as readily as they have to Democrats.  He’s right.
Yes, and this has been the problem for many years.  And the Democratic leadership and big Democratic donors continue to pretend the problem doesn’t exist.  And Republicans continue to win, even when their approval ratings are in the toilet.  Because it takes YEARS of SUSTAINED EFFORT to build a brand—or to diminish one.  But don’t worry about it, Democrats, keep doing the same things over and over.  We know what that tells us about you, even if you don’t seem to.

No. 2 Palin’s the No. 1 draw for women at Pennsylvania event (McClatchy)
LANCASTER, Pa. — For the women attending a campaign event in Lancaster County, Pa., Sarah Palin might as well be at the top of the Republican ticket.

McCain campaign organizes women to defend Palin against “smears” (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
John McCain’s presidential campaign has announced a “Palin Truth Squad” comprised largely of Republican women politicians, to “set the record straight against Internet and liberal smears” for McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that Democrats have sent opposition researchers to Alaska to look for damaging information on Palin. Among the members of the “Palin Truth Squad”: former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, Alaska’s Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, a dozen female members of Congress, and one of Palin’s friends.

“Troublemakers” shouldn’t bother trying to interview Palin
Those are the journalists who refuse to treat Sarah Palin with what the McCain camps calls “some level of respect and deference.” Deference, says James Rainey, “might be the right approach for a reporter lucky enough to interview John McCain’s 96-year-old mother, Roberta. But it would be wrong — and, dare I say it, even sexist — to suggest that Sarah Barracuda is too meek for a little back-and-forth with the denizens of the Fourth Estate.”

Palin hasn’t pushed her anti-abortion beliefs as governor (McClatchy)
Gov. Sarah Palin is about as anti-abortion as a politician can be, and crusaders on the issue say they can’t imagine a better candidate. Abortion-rights advocates say just the opposite.

McCain campaign endorses Palin’s claim that the Iraq war is a task ‘from God.’ (Think Progress)
In June, when Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addressed the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God, she “painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.” “Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” said Palin. In a statement to the New York Sun yesterday, McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb endorsed Palin’s comments “100%“:
And Nancy Pelosi said that Barack Obama is “a leader that God has blessed us with at this time.”  I don’t see much of a difference. I’d like to stop ALL of this God talk.  It’s the oldest coercion technique in the universe.

Paperback version of Palin biography headed for stores (On Politics, USA Today)
Christian publisher Tyndale House says that tomorrow it will begin shipping to stores soft cover versions of the biography SARAH: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down. Tyndale calls author Kaylene Johnson’s April 2008 book about Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin an “original, definitive biography which has become this season’s most sought-after book.” Also tomorrow, the publisher plans an online discussion guide at faithandpoliticsdiscussionguide.com.

Not to be outdone, Barack is racking up the sales, too.
Obama Book Rockets Up Charts (Political Wire)
The new campaign book from Sen. Barack Obama, Change We Can Believe In, is on Amazon’s bestseller list the first day it’s available. The book outlines Obama’s “vision for change in our country, and lays out in detail Barack’s plans to fix our economy, make health care affordable for all, achieve energy independence and keep America secure. It also contains the full text of seven of Barack’s landmark speeches.”

Are Palin’s Eyeglasses the New Pantsuit? (ABC News)
Are vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s rimless eyeglasses the new Hillary Clinton pantsuit? The glasses, created by Japanese designer Kazuo Kawasaki, are becoming a bipartisan must-have fashion accessory. The company that manufacturers Palin’s eyeglasses says its phones have been ringing off the hook…. The Palin look is “smart, sophisticated and put together,” said one woman browsing for frames.
On such issues are presidential elections decided.

FOX “News Analyst” attacks MSNBC for bias, especially the “lesbian Air America host” (by bluegal at Crooks and Liars)
Oh no!    He didn’t!    Well, yes he did.
What’s the contention here?  Rachel Maddow is openly lesbian.  And besides, she opined a few days after Palin was announced as the Republican VP candidate that she’d have to resign—all because Rachel made the mistake of believing a lot of the lies about her.  Good work for a so-called feminist, Rachel.  Click through to watch the video.

THIS FELLOW JUST CAN’T STOP: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
Some “men” are born to behave this way. One fellow clearly can’t stop: “MADDOW (9/8/08): And so, you think [Obama’s] confidence is about what comes next in the campaign, not necessarily an undue confidence about where his tactics thus far have gotten him. OLBERMANN: Well, look what he’s—he’s fought off this. He’s fought off this, you know—we found somebody at Schwab’s Drugstore in Hollywood and give her a screen test and now she’s Liza Minnelli and a star is born and we’re making her the vice president of the United States or at least the candidate on the ticket.”

In this way, this fellow adorned the first few moments of Rachel Maddow’s first program! But then, some “men” are born to insult women; they keep it up to the day they die. KeithO seems to be such a guy. He’ll never stop gender-trashing Palin, even if it puts her consort safely inside the White House.
Consort?  Whoa, Bob, don’t you get catty, too!

What Are The Duties Of Media Critics? (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Olbermann and NBC were defended by Obama supporters on the Left. There was no concerted media criticism of Olbermann and MSNBC from the usual sources, including from Glenn Greenwald. The fact is MSNBC and Olbermann’s journalistic performance during the Democratic primaries was as bad as anything seen from Fox. And the silence about it was deafening. To complain now about MSNBC’s actions against Olbermann and Matthews is, to use Greenwald’s words, incoherent. They had no problem when the MSNBC’s journalistic malpractice was aimed at Hillary Clinton. They have no standing to complain now.

NYT’s Patrick Healy needs a new beat (County Fair , Media Matters for America)
When Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race in June we thought one of the benefits would be that readers would be spared reading Patrick (“Cackle”) Healy’s tortured campaign reporting on Clinton. Alas, he’s still hacking away. Today, Healy adopts the latest Beltway media critique that Clinton just isn’t going after Sarah Palin hard enough on the campaign trail. (Did we miss something or is Clinton suddenly on the Dem ticket?)

Federal deficit soars, but McCain, Obama offer no answers (McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Just weeks before the government’s fiscal year ends Sept. 30, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday projected a near-record federal budget deficit of $407 billion, sharply higher than White House projections six weeks ago and more than double last year’s figure.

Ron Paul urges voters to back alternatives to Dems, GOP
Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning, Houston-area congressman who waged a feisty Republican primary campaign for president, is expected on Wednesday to urge supporters to reject the two major-party candidates and vote for any of the four minor-party contenders on the November ballot… In his speech, Paul is planning to say that voters can send a message to the major parties by voting for the non-establishment candidates: Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, Green Party contender Cynthia McKinney, independent Ralph Nader or Constitution Party standard-bearer Chuck Baldwin.

Woodward: Bin Laden capture could be ‘the September or the October surprise.’ (Think Progress)
In his new book “The War Within,” Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disclosed “the existence of secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent leaders.” Asked by a caller on Larry King Live last night if the capabilities could be used “to catch bin Laden,” Woodward replied that “maybe they can use it on bin Laden.” He then mused that it’s possible that “the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden.” Watch it:

BBC says world wants Obama (by Matthew Weaver at No Quarter)
BBC is out with as new poll of 22 countries, World wants Obama as president: poll. They explain that 17 of the 22 countries polled, including our NATO allies and Australia, want us to anoint Obama as our next president. In Kenya, the support for this is 82%. No mention of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iraq. Here’s my answer: To: The World… With respect, drop dead. We will pick our own president, one who represents our values and respects our citizens. If you want the self-declared ‘citizen of the world’, you may have him.

“… and doggone it, people like me.” (by lambert at Corrente)
Reuters: “Al Franken, a comedian and former liberal radio talk show host, won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday to run for a U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota…” Good. The comedians are the only ones who are making sense of all this.

Another Reason to be a “Disaffected Democrat”: Pelosi Letting Rove off the Hook as Time Runs Out on This Congressional Session (InsightAnalytical)
With the targeted House recess date fast approaching (September 26) time is running out on any chance of putting the screws on Karl Rove… [He] has blown off a subpoena and could get away scott free if the full House doesn’t vote on the contempt citation passed by the House Judiciary Committee before this Congressional session is over.

Md. Court Rejects Ballot Attempt To Overturn Anti-Discrimination Law (American Constitution Society)
Maryland’s top court today blocked a measure from appearing on the November ballot that would overturn a county law barring discrimination against transgender people… More than a dozen states and almost one hundred cities have similar anti-discrimination laws in place. Dana Beyer, a transgender woman and legislative aide to the Montgomery Count council member who championed the anti-discrimination law, lauded the court’s decision, telling The Washington Post that, “Everybody deserves the right to a free life without discrimination.”

Florida court strikes down 31-year ban on gay adoptions (McClatchy)
A Monroe Circuit Court judge has ruled that Florida’s 31-year-old gay adoption ban is ”unconstitutional” in an order that allows an openly gay Key West foster parent to adopt a teenage boy he has raised since 2001.

Veterans Groups Attack Bush Administration Plan To Outsource GI Bill Benefits (Think Progress)
In June — after months of kicking and screaming — President Bush finally signed a war supplemental spending bill that included a doubling of GI Bill college benefits for veterans. Bush’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however, doesn’t seem too happy about the increased work these new benefits will create and plans to outsource it all… The government wants to automate all GI Bill requests and is looking to hire a private contractor to set up such a system. AFGE is condemning this decision, which would dump the expertise of 850 government employees who are able to process a veteran’s request for GI benefits within 20 days. The VA is arguing that with this new outsourcing plan, benefits could be processed in minutes. Veterans advocates point to the Bush administration’s abysmal record in hiring contractors who have no expertise in the area they’re hired to work:

Florida will require I.D. match for all would-be voters (McClatchy)
TALLAHASSEE — State elections officials will resume enforcement of a controversial state law that requires Floridians to have their identification match up with a state or federal database in order to register to vote.

Incoming Detroit council chief screams at “evil” media
Incoming Detroit City Council president Monica Conyers stormed into council offices ranting at the news media on Monday. “You are all evil!” she shouted. “Please leave me alone!” Zachary Gorchow reports Conyers’ outburst happened even before a reporter asked her a question.

Fannie’s Inspector Clouseau (by Steve Soto at The Left Coaster)
Why is Bloomberg surprised that Fannie and Freddie’s boards were asleep at the switch and unable to prevent each of them from financial ruin as they slid downhill? Why in hell is anyone surprised that something of this magnitude got past former Louis B. Freeh, when in fact many at both organizations planned to get rich from this debacle and force the tab onto the taxpayers all along? Besides, if winger darling Freeh spent so much time berating Clinton’s morals while ignoring John O’Neill’s concerns about Al Qaeda, then why is anyone now surprised that this right wing Barney Fife let it happen once again right under his nose?

Dean Baker

It Is Not a Record Budget Deficit

Equality in Health Care Spending: Give Me a Break

Washington Post Hires Minimum Wage High School Students for Coverage of Drilling Issues

Media Matters for America headlines

• Ignoring outright “Bridge to Nowhere” falsehoods, Kurtz pronounces evidence insufficient to say Palin is “lying”

• Levin on his “National Organization of Ugly Women” remark: “[F]or now on, it’s the National Organization of Really Ugly Women”

• Gibson, who is scheduled to interview Palin, let several McCain falsehoods go unchallenged

• NPR’s Williams ignores falsehood in Palin’s claim about “bridge to nowhere”

• Hannity accuses Obama of “outright falsehood” in saying Fox News — home of the “terrorist fist jab” smear — has suggested he is Muslim

• NY Post editorial falsely claims Obama “once insisted that U.S. forces invade Pakistan” and “opposes sanctions” against Iran

Pakistani Journalists Propose Code Of Ethics Of Media
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists has proposed a draft code of ethics during a recent international media summit attended by journalists, editors, publishers and members of the civil society.

Disney Images Used on PA Hate TV
Palestinian Media Watch: Palestinian Authority (Fatah) TV is using the universally beloved characters of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet in an attempt to create a Disney-like studio — while teaching children to glorify a mass murderer whose victims included 12 children.

Europe Takes Aim at Sexual Stereotyping in Ads
Putting men in gray business suits and women in aprons sends a demeaning message, a European Parliament report says.

Journalists And Whistleblowers Face Jail Over Disclosure (The Australian)
Journalists and government whistleblowers could be sent to jail for refusing to answer questions from Queensland‘s corruption watchdog.

YouTube And Pulitzer Center Look For Best Video Journalists
YouTube announced Monday that it has partnered with the Pulitzer Center to create a journalism contest designed to unearth the best news videographers.

Associated Press Cancellations, Once Common, Are a Good Idea Again (by Tim McGuire at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications)
The Minneapolis Star Tribune got some press a week or so ago when it gave the Associated Press the required two year’s cancellation notice. The Star Tribune is at least the fifth and perhaps the biggest paper to take this action. Nobody really says it, but I think newspapers around the country want more affection and/or respect from AP.

Let’s hope people step up to support the Sun, but…
“Let’s also hope that civic leaders across the country start to recognize what is happening at many of our noblest and, in almost every case, still profitable newspapers and what that means to society,” writes Peter Osnos. “If capitalism (or the largesse of the very rich, as in the case of the New York Sun) is not the way to support quality journalism, then our system has to devise another formula. There is no perfect scenario, but just letting papers implode is the most dangerous option of all to anyone who cares about what makes newspapers so vexing to some and yet so important to all.”

Gannett to Re-Org, Cut 100 Management Positions
Gannett plans to eliminate about 100 management positions, U.S. Community Publishing President Robert Dickey wrote Tuesday in a letter to employees. “Although we worked hard this year to manage costs, the decline in revenue has outweighed expense reductions almost threefold,” he wrote.

‘Orange County Register’ Studying Switch to Tabloid
“It would be easier to read,” Register President and Publisher Terry Horne said about a tabloid approach. “It depends on what size tab, half a broadsheet or a long tab. You would have to determine the format.” Other cost-cutting measures being considered are Monday and Tuesday papers with fewer pages and self-service advertising options.

Feeling Relish Heat, Parade Launches Health Mag
Facing increased competition, Parade Publications, publisher of newspaper-distributed magazine Parade, is set to launch a new title, HealthyStyle, on September 17. The midweek magazine, with a circulation north of 8 million, will be carried by 46 newspapers, including Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Newark Star-Ledger, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

NBC Shows Back on iTunes
To get TV shows from NBC Universal back on iTunes, Apple yielded to some demands on pricing and packaging made by the media conglomerate, NBC executives said Tuesday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced at the company’s “Let’s Rock” press event on Tuesday that NBC shows such as 30 Rock and The Office would return to iTunes a year after the entertainment company pulled out of iTunes.

‘Fringe’ Could Prove to Be Fox’s Big Hit
Media Reviews for Media People: As Long as Series Doesn’t Get Lost in the Details

‘Running in Heels’ Joins Stampede of Fashion Reality-Shows
Marie Claire and Style Network to Follow Editors at Work and Home

Shopping channel QVC sees music opportunities
NEW YORK (Billboard) – As CD sales shrink due to the ascension of digital, store closures and music space reductions, cable shopping channel QVC sees an opportunity and is stepping up its offering.

For Every Move, Mood, and Bodily Function, There’s a Web Site to Help You Keep Track (WaPo)
Self-disclosure has been redefined online. In Web 2.0, it’s led to blogs and Tweets, Facebook, and instant messenger, each developed to help users share the inane minutiae of their lives with others. But another kind of site has evolved — a type meant not to broadcast your life to others but to chart it for yourself, on password-protected sites accessible only to the user.

AOL Pushes to Win Back Lost Subscribers
When AOL in 2006 ditched its subscription service in favor of an advertising-based model, millions of subscribers deserted the site. Now, AOL is making its biggest push yet to win them back. In a bid to remain relevant, AOL on Wednesday is unveiling a new home page as well as a slew of web sites aimed at women, pop-culture addicts, and parents of gamers.

Yahoo News Redesign May Pull a Technorati, Why Not Twitter?
Yahoo may not have announced a redesign, but some bloggers have uncovered URLs for a new Yahoo News layout which includes a “Most Blogged” section. The list is presumably based off its recently acquired Techmeme-like service, Buzz Tracker, which displays related blog posts and those that link back to an article, but the idea seems a bit outdated.

GM says Volt photos inadvertently posted on Web
DETROIT – They were posted on the Internet for only 12 minutes, but General Motors Corp. says that was long enough for secret photos of the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable car to be distributed worldwide.

Mobile broadband for laptops gears up
Faster anywhere-Internet access is available using AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint’s 3G mobile broadband networks.

Apple unveils new iPods but shares slip
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off a revamped line of iPods on Tuesday and trumpeted a truce with NBC Universal that means the TV network will begin selling programs again on iTunes.

Pearl Flip is first BlackBerry that folds up
NEW YORK (AP) – Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry phones, is set to reveal Wednesday a phone that folds in half, a departure from the slab-like design that has defined its products.

Senator examining rising text messaging rates
WASHINGTON (AP) – A key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is asking the nation’s top four wireless carriers to justify the “sharply rising rates” they charge people to send and receive text messages.