Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Special Report asks of Obama: “Islam or Isn’t He?” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)

The Weekly Standard and its Arabic freak-out (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
If we’ve confirmed anything this week about the GOP Noise Machine it’s that its members’ heads pretty much explode at the mere mention of Islam or Muslims in the context of the Obama president… The sheer xenophobia though, and the blatant disdain for all things Islamic and Arabic, doesn’t get much more transparent that [a] kooky blog post at the Weekly Standard in response to Obama’s two-syllable response to the king of Saudi Arabia: “Shukrun,” which is Arabic for thank you… [A]t the Arab-hating Weekly Standard that set off all kinds of alarms bells.

Liz Cheney: Obama Wants To Hold Hands With Terrorists (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
That’s not really an exaggeration! On an appearance on MSNBC, Liz Cheney appeared to say that Obama’s speech in Cairo today showed that he wants to deal with terrorists by “hand-holding.”
Click through to watch the video.

Pagliarulo: Obama should do what Reagan would have, tell moderate Muslims “screw you,” love us or “live in your cave” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Limbaugh on Obama speech: “This is a call for the end of sovereignty” (County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Hannity airs Obama “apology tour” montage (County Fair, Media Matters for America)

ABC News thinks Sean Hannity’s anti-Obama screeds = news (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
We noted earlier that the news crew at ABC dashed to post a bulletin about how right-wing talker Sean Hannity hated Obama’s Muslim speech [Thursday]. Because at ABC, Hannity’s important and insightful. A couple hours later here’s how the Note summed up the reaction to Obama’s speech: “…‘This is an extension of what has become an apology tour, that America is an arrogant country,” Hannity said… The instant reaction from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, per ABC’s Jake Tapper: It was a ‘wonderful speech,’ she said.”

At ABC News, Sean Hannity’s reaction to a foreign policy speech is on par with the reaction of the United States’ Secretary of State. Behold your liberal media at work.

How Fox News Defies Ratings Gravity (by Jeff Bercovici at AOL Daily Finance)
In the just-ended May ratings period, Fox once again manhandled the competition, posting big gains in both primetime and full-day while MSNBC stumbled and CNN plunged headlong… It’s tempting to ascribe Fox’s surge to the change in administration. There’s something to this. Political media outlets, whether print, web or broadcast, tend to flourish in opposition. Certainly that was the case with MSNBC, which rode the crests of Obamamania to new highs last fall, only to settle to earth once campaigning gave way to governing. Even the network’s powerhouse, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, was down in May (a 20 percent drop among viewers 25-54), the first time that’s happened in almost three years.

But Fox has never fit comfortably into this mold. When George Bush took office, analysts and competitors predicted Fox would fizzle without Bill Clinton to beat up on. Instead, it merely opened up an ever-growing lead on CNN. Just a few months ago, the chin-strokers were thinking that maybe it was actually Bush and his War on Terror that had been propping up Fox and that the dawn of the Obama era would prove Fox’s undoing. That’s clearly not happening.
What Fox News gives its audience is a worldview that it reinforces every single day, many times a day. How else could almost 30% of the population still have believed, when he left office, that George Bush did anything worthwhile as president?

What so-called progressives like those on MSNBC have tried to do is mimic the us-vs.-them mentality that Fox News uses so successfully. But I don’t believe that reinforcing tribal hatred and propensity for exclusion is the way to build a more progressive, more tolerant, dare I say more moral society. But Obama’s kind of moralizing isn’t the way to do it, either.

Too bad we have so few voices explaining, convincing, teaching. Too bad so many people have bought in to the smartass model of social interaction that they don’t think teaching and being taught, convincing and being convinced, is worthwhile. Too bad for our social structures. Too bad for all of us.

Obama invites world’s Muslims to seek ‘new beginning’ (McClatchy)
Seeking “a new beginning” with an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke more bluntly than any U.S. president before him about the chasms dividing the Middle East and the political double talk behind them. In a 55-minute address from Cairo University, Obama called Israel’s settlements in the predominantly Palestinian West Bank illegitimate and said they must stop. He chastised Arabs for crude caricatures of America and conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He also acknowledged that the United States sometimes “acted contrary to our ideals” in its initial response to 9-11.

Asserting that many Muslims privately recognize that Israel won’t go away and that many Israelis acknowledge the need for a Palestinian state, he called for peace. “It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true,” he said.

Using New Language, President Shows Understanding for Both Sides in Middle East (Washington Post)
There was no mention of “terrorists” or “terrorism,” just “violent extremists.” There was the suggestion that Israeli settlements are illegitimate and the assertion that the Palestinians “have suffered in pursuit of a homeland.” There were frequent references to the “Holy Koran” and echoes of Muslim phrases…

In discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict, Obama was both resolute in expressing support for Israel and remarkably sympathetic to the plight of Palestinians. In an Arab capital, he spoke of America’s “unbreakable” bond with Israel and condemned anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, an apparent repudiation of the anti-Israeli rhetoric that periodically emanates from Iran. Yet he also seemed to draw an equivalence between Jewish and Palestinian suffering, noting “the daily humiliations — large and small — that come with occupation.”
And as we all know, how you use language is vastly more important than what you actually, you know, DO.

Speech Therapy: Pretty Words in Cairo Hide Brutal Realities of Power (by Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque)
During the speech, we heard many nicely-turned phrases and heartfelt pieties from President Obama as he sought to “correct the misunderstandings” that Muslims have about America and its benevolent policies around the world. But what speaks far more loudly to the reality of those policies is a small story already being shunted aside by the tsunami of gushing press devoted to the empty flapping of presidential jaws in Cairo – the suicide of a Yemeni man held captive, without charges, in the Guantanamo concentration camp since 2002…

It would of course be superfluous in us to point out that the progressive president who [was] in Cairo telling Muslims how they misunderstand American values is himself a staunch supporter of “indefinite detention” and “preventive detention” and is seeking ways to entrench these unconstitutional (not to mention immoral) concepts into a formalized imperial law. But we would certainly not want the Muslim world to misunderstand America’s abiding commitment to justice, freedom, liberty and peace. We are sure the president made it all crystal clear in this “major speech” from the heart of a brutal, repressive, American-funded regime.

Pious hope (and no change) (by Michael J. Smith at Stop Me Before I Vote Again)
On Obie’s one hand, the Israelis. On his other, the Palestinians. Obie weighs, Obie judges, Obie sits on the throne and apportions the deservedness and destiny of nations. So let it be written! So let it be done! There would be a certain Cecil B DeMille grandeur in it if he could assume a Pharaonic manner, but the closest he can get is Pharisaical — the I-mean-business furrowed brow, the moralizing scowl, the hollow sepulchral voice of a Methodist parson with a secret vice. The qualities that his admirers admired him for — intelligence, moral seriousness, high purpose, the whole Eagle Scout package — curdle, it seems, once mixed with actual power, into a filthy foetid smarmy preacherly pustular effluvium worthy of Woodrow Wilson himself.

Let Women Wear the Hijab: The Emptiness of Obama’s Cairo Speech (by Peter Daou, political consultant, former Internet Adviser to Hillary Clinton)
“The U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it… That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams.”

Is that a joke? With women being stoned, raped, abused, battered, mutilated, and slaughtered on a daily basis across the globe, violence that is so often perpetrated in the name of religion, the most our president can speak about is protecting their right to wear the hijab? I would have been much more heartened if the preponderance of the speech had been about how in the 21st century, we CANNOT tolerate the pervasive abuse of our mothers and sisters and daughters. Enough with the perpetual campaign. True justice, true peace, these are earned through courageous decisions and bold actions. Real truth to power.

The Arab World Reacts (by Salameh Nematt at the Daily Beast)
Reaction to Obama’s Cairo speech ranged from angry comparisons to Bush, praise for his balanced approach—and accusations that he’s an apostate. The Daily Beast’s Salameh Nematt translates today’s headlines from across the Arab world.

The multimedia presidency:
White House Touts Muslims In Government With Video (by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post)
As part of broader effort to recast Muslim-American relations, the Obama White House released a new video on Wednesday night highlighting the work of Muslim-Americans in federal government.

Obama admits US involvement in 1953 Iran coup (AFP)
US President Barack Obama made a major gesture of conciliation to Iran on Thursday when he admitted US involvement in the 1953 coup which overthrew the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. “In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government,” Obama said in a keynote speech to the Muslim world in Cairo. It was the first time a serving US president had publicly admitted American involvement in the coup.

Obama calls for new effort for 2-state solution (AP)
Prodding the international community, President Barack Obama called Friday “for all of us to redouble our efforts” toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states. “The moment is now for us to act,” he declared.

Some Congressional Democrats Are Undermining Obama’s Israel-Palestine Policy (Think Progress)
Politico reports this week that support for Obama’s message on Israel-Palestine among Democrats in Congress is starting to wane. “My concern is that we are applying pressure to the wrong party in this dispute,” said Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV). Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) complained, “I would have liked to hear the president talk more about the Palestinian obligation to cut down on terrorism.” [Thursday], the L.A. Times reports more dissent from congressional Democrats:

Write-Your-Own Obama Speech (by Benjamin Sarlin at the Daily Beast)
How does Obama keep up his hot streak of speeches? The Daily Beast analyzed his most famous speeches to crack the code behind the president’s rhetoric. Our step-by-step guide for turning even the most divisive debates into an inspiring call for unity.

A year later, Hillary wins (Politico)
A year ago today, the final set of primaries made official the foregone conclusion that Barack Obama had won the primary, and Hillary Clinton lost it. There’s far too much going on today to dwell on an anniversary, but it does seem worth noting one particular piece of news in its light: On the central health care policy debate of the Democratic Primary — which was, to be fair, conducted within a fairly narrow frame — Obama appears to have conceded today to a Senate plan likely to more closely resemble Clinton’s.

Obama lays out health overhaul (Boston Globe)
Laying out in the clearest terms yet what he wants in a healthcare overhaul, President Obama told Congress [Wednesday] that he strongly believes Americans should have the choice of a new public health insurance plan that would compete against private insurers. Obama said he is also “open” to requiring individuals to obtain insurance coverage – which he opposed during his campaign – as long as there is a hardship exemption for those who cannot afford it, an approach similar to the system in Massachusetts. He said he supports forcing employers to contribute to their employees’ insurance but that there should be exemptions for small businesses.

Keeping Them Honest (by Paul Krugman)
A few days ago, major players in the health industry laid out what they intend to do to slow the growth in health care costs. Topping the list of AHIP’s proposals was “administrative simplification.” Providers, the lobby conceded, face “administrative challenges” because of the fact that each insurer has its own distinct telephone numbers, fax numbers, codes, claim forms and administrative procedures. “Standardizing administrative transactions,” AHIP asserted, “will be a watershed event.” Think about it. The insurance industry’s idea of a cutting-edge, cost-saving reform is to do what William Kristol — William Kristol! — thought it should have done 15 years ago.

How could the industry spend 15 years failing to make even the most obvious reforms? The answer is simple: Americans seeking health coverage had nowhere else to go… Without an effective public option, the Obama health care reform will be simply a national version of the health care reform in Massachusetts: a system that is a lot better than nothing but has done little to address the fundamental problem of a fragmented system, and as a result has done little to control rising health care costs. Right now the health insurers are promising to deliver major cost savings. But history shows that such promises can’t be trusted. As President Obama said in his letter [to Congress], we need a serious, real public option to keep the insurance companies honest.

Bankruptcies Due to Healthcare Costs up to 60% (by Ian Welsh)
And even more damningly, 75% of those had health insurance. This is up from 50% of bankruptcies just a few years ago. Meanwhile, in Washington, Single Payor healthcare, which would end this, is “off the table” and a public insurance “option” is under attack, and even if it gets into the final plan, will probably be so crippled by restrictions that it is no better than private insurance… Health insurance costs are crippling America.  GM and Chrysler probably wouldn’t have gone bankrupt if there had been single payor universal healthcare, for example…

If the goal was to make a system which worked, the US would simply either copy a system which does work (Germany’s or France’s, say) or it would just extend Medicare to everyone, and allow private insurers to do top-up insurance.  Oh, and it would allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies, and to choose its own formulary. Instead, what will happen, is a program which amounts to a massive forced subsidy of the private insurance industry. None of this should be a surprise.  Obama never promised anything better during the campaign, and since he has a record of not even living up to his campaign promises, why would you expect this to be any better?

Liberal Rapture

Reporters With Pom-Poms (by Dean Baker)
Last week we got a whole series of bad reports on the state of the economy… These reports might have led to gloomy news stories, but not in the U.S. media. The folks who could not see an $8 trillion housing bubble are still determined to find the silver lining in even the worst economic news… The media have obviously abandoned economic reporting and instead have adopted the role of cheerleader, touting whatever good news it can find and inventing good news when none can be found. This leaves the responsibility of reporting on the economy to others.

Any serious examination of the data shows that recovery is nowhere in sight. The basic story of the downturn is painfully simple. We have seen a collapse of a housing bubble which has devastated the construction sector and also caused consumption to plunge.

Employment Report: 345K Jobs Lost, 9.4% Unemployment Rate (Calculated Risk)
From the BLS: “Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000 in May, about half the average monthly decline for the prior 6 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate continued to rise, increasing from 8.9 to 9.4 percent. Steep job losses continued in manufacturing, while declines moderated in construction and several service-providing industries.”

US consumer confidence falls in latest week-ABC (Reuters)
ABC News said on Tuesday its weekly index on U.S. consumer confidence, after reaching a seven-month high in early May, fell in the latest week. The Consumer Comfort Index dropped to -49 from -47 the prior week.

US retailers report May sales declines (AP)
Although consumer confidence may be increasing, it’s not showing up at the cash register yet. Many retailers posted disappointing May sales on Thursday, and food and necessities remained high on shoppers’ lists. According a Goldman Sachs/ICSC tally, overall same-store sales fell 4.6 percent, worse than the 3 percent drop predicted.

U.S. recovery hopes face doubts on jobs, mortgages (Reuters)
The United States may have hit a bump on the road to economic recovery, according to data released on Wednesday, with half a million private sector jobs lost in May and mortgage applications falling last week in the face of rising interest rates… One ray of hope, though, came from a report showing planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, reaching the lowest level in eight months, suggesting the pace of future job cuts could slow. But other data showed the service sector, which accounts for about 80 percent of economic activity, contracted for the eighth straight month in May, even though the rate of deterioration slowed.

Bernanke Warns Deficits Threaten Financial Stability (Bloomberg)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said large U.S. budget deficits threaten financial stability and the government can’t continue indefinitely to borrow at the current rate to finance the shortfall… Bernanke’s comments signal that the central bank sees risks of a relapse into financial turmoil even as credit markets show signs of stability. He said the Fed won’t finance government spending over the long term, while warning that the financial industry remains under stress and the credit crunch continues to limit spending.

Rising Interest on Nations’ Debts May Sap World Growth (New York Times)
As governments worldwide try to spend their way out of recession, many countries are finding themselves in the same situation as embattled consumers: paying higher interest rates on their rapidly expanding debt. Increased rates could translate into hundreds of billions of dollars more in government spending for countries like the United States, Britain and Germany… “It will be more expensive for everybody,” said Olivier J. Blanchard, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund in Washington. “As government borrowing in the world increases, interest rates will go up. We’re already starting to see it.”

Women-led firms coping better with recession (McClatchy)
A survey released Thursday shows women-led businesses are surviving the recession better than most other businesses, according to Florida International University’s Center for Leadership and The Commonwealth Institute South Florida.

Suicide rates show more Colorado farmers losing hope (Denver Post)
In Colorado, the number of suicides among farmers and ranchers has risen in the past five years: Fourteen took their lives in 2008, twice the number reported by the state’s coroners in 2004. “The increase in calls really started with the change in dairy prices, as they fell last fall,” said Mike Rosmann, a clinical psychologist and farmer who heads the Iowa-based Sowing the Seeds of Hope help line serving farmers in seven Midwestern states. “We’re starting to see the stress mount. It’s a nationwide problem.” In the past year, economics and inclement weather have crippled operations, pushing countless farmers to the emotional breaking point, say industry experts.

Press may have to adjust its anti-union rhetoric in light of Toyota’s dismal sales (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
The Japanese car company’s sales in America fell 40 percent in May. The reason I highlight the showroom collapse is not to slight Toyota, but because I couldn’t help thinking back to the end of last year when the media debate about bailing out Detroit’s Big Three was raging, especially on cable TV, and hearing time and time again from experts about how the American car companies had been crippled by greedy unions (whose workers made $70 an hour!), and that if the Big Three were more like Toyota they wouldn’t need a bailout. Did I mention sales at Toyota, which has no labor unions, cratered 40 percent last month?

Angelo Mozilo, mortgage risk-taker charged with fraud (Reuters)
In two years, Angelo Mozilo, the son of a Bronx butcher and a rags-to-riches icon, went from the charismatic helmsman of America’s top mortgage lender to the badly burned face of the nation’s housing meltdown… On Thursday, securities regulators filed charges accusing the 70-year-old Mozilo of insider trading and securities fraud.

Financial regulator seeks powers to curb excess speculation (McClatchy)
Firing the opening shot in a likely battle with Wall Street, the federal regulator who’s overseeing the trading of oil contracts asked Congress on Thursday for broad powers to regulate the exotic private contracts that are thought to contribute to rising oil prices and the global financial crisis.

Obama Ordering States to Close 5,000 ‘Failing’ Schools!… Chicago Lies Go National (by George Schmidt at the Black Agenda Report)
The corporate narrative that public schools in minority neighborhoods are “failing” and must be replaced by unaccountable but often highly profitable “charter schools” is an inheritance from the Bush era that the Obama administration intends to continue and intensify.  Despite any proof of improved educational outcomes, and contrary to the democratic wishes of the American people the push to discredit and privatize public education appears to be a hallmark of the Obama era.

The Power of Robert Gibbs (Political Wire)
Vanity Fair…: “The Obamas may have the smartest, most finely calibrated press operation in White House history, parceling out scoops (The New York Times), partisan talking points (the Huffington Post), and First Family tidbits (the celebrity mags) to a desperate media. Just don’t ask them to admit it.”

Conservatives’ New Sotomayor Opposition Stategy Same As The Old One (Think Progress)
A spokesman for Gingirch told Politico, “nothing has changed in the structure of his argument, he is just retracting the word racist.” Given that the “structure” of Gingrich’s argument is that Sotomayor would allow her race to impact her rulings on the bench, it seems that he wants to paint Sotomayor as a racist — he simply doesn’t want to be held accountable for doing so. And neither, it seems, do Republicans in Congress.

Sotomayor a “racist”? Really? (by Gene Lyons)
“Could a white man get away with saying something comparable about a Latina?” wrote conservative columnist Kathleen Parker. “Of course not. After Latinas have run the world for 2,000 years, they won’t be able to say it ever again either.” Parker’s a pragmatist who sees things from the perspective of the elected wing of the Republican Party. Conservatives like her understand that portraying Sotomayor as a racist hothead is a long-term losing strategy. Hispanics vote.

The GOP’s entertainment wing has a different agenda. For Coulter and Limbaugh, there’s money to be made playing to the right-wing id — stoking the fears of a minority to sell books and stimulate ratings. Increasingly, moreover, TV news networks and “mainstream” newspapers behave as if they think presenting news as melodrama is in their interest, too: the main reason Sotomayor’s inoffensive truisms were presented as incendiary.

Crackpots calling the kettle black (by Joe Conason)
Some race-baiting lowlights from the careers of Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan, two of the pundits who’ve labeled Sonia Sotomayor racist

Freedom Rider: The Sotomayor Hype (by Margaret Kimberley at the Black Agenda Report)
Blacks and progressives should prefer a “wise Latina” to the usual Supreme Court fare, any day. “The white male perspective has ruled unchallenged for centuries and has done great damage to human beings around the world.” However, just because Sonia Sotomayor is under attack from raging racists, doesn’t mean she should get a free pass from the Left. “Sotomayor should not be allowed to escape scrutiny because of race pride and meaningless swooning from white liberals.”

Sonia Maria Sotomayor — She’s No Clarence Thomas, But No Thurgood Marshall Either (by Bruce A. Dixon at the Black Agenda Report)
What is and what should be the story around the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the high court?  Is the main story a celebration of how humble origins and hard work won out?  Should we spend all our time and energy refuting the racism of Republican talking heads, and none examining her record, and how she arrived at the door of the Supreme Court?  Is this a good time to explore what a just and democratic society must demand from its courts — more nonwhite faces in high places?  More rights for corporations?  Or more justice for people?  And if this isn’t a good time, is that time ever coming?

Sotomayor’s finance disclosures show a judge of modest means (McClatchy)
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor owns a condo valued at $1 million in New York’s Greenwich Village but otherwise is a woman of fairly modest means, a newly filed report shows.

Sotomayor Gets High Approval (Political Wire)
Led by large black, Hispanic and Jewish majorities, American voters approve 55% to 25% percent of President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Said pollster Peter Brown: “So far the Republicans have barely laid a glove on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. There may be disputes within the Beltway about her nomination, but she is still playing well in Peoria.”

DHS nominee faces questions about CIA tactics (AP)
The Obama administration’s pick for a top intelligence post at the Homeland Security Department is expected to face questions from senators about his ties to the CIA’s harsh interrogations of terror suspects. At issue is the extent of Philip Mudd’s involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program while he was a senior official at the agency during the Bush administration. Mudd was nominated to be under secretary of intelligence and analysis at Homeland Security. His confirmation hearing is expected next week.

Anti-Choice Nominee for HHS Post (by Alegre)
Bad idea – even worse timing.  The president is looking to reduce the need for abortion, but his anti-choice nominee has vowed to reduce ACCESS to abortions.  Disturbing doesn’t begin to describe this latest move from the White House – especially given the elevated role of this office now that we have a Democrat in the Oval Office.  One would think that – given his campaign rhetoric – he would do his best to remove barriers to women in accessing whatever legal health care services we care to seek out…

If the White House wanted to rub salt in the wounds of everyone who was shocked and angered by Dr. Tiller’s assassination, he’s just managed to do it with this nomination.  File this one under what was he THINKING?

Rep. Lamar Smith: ‘The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias.’ (Think Progress)
[Wednesday], Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) launched the Media Fairness Caucus, made up of about a dozen House Republicans, aiming “to fight liberal media bias.” The group will “point out unfair stories, meet with members of the media, and write op-eds and letters to the editor to highlight media bias,” Newsmax reported. Appearing on Fox News…, Smith declared that “liberal media bias” is a bigger threat to the United States than the recession or terrorism.
Click through to watch the video.

GOP Budget Cuts Take Aim At Educational Opportunities For Women, Bike Paths, And Technology Innovation (Think Progress)
[Thursday], House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent President Obama a proposal with budget cuts that they claim could save taxpayers “in excess of $375 billion.”… First of all, Boehner and Cantor are inflating their cuts… Second, Republicans are planning to slash more than just “wasteful and unnecessary spending,” as Boehner and Cantor wrote in their letter to Obama.
Click through for a sampling of the proposed cuts.

Intel firestorm: GOP reveals briefing info (The Hill)
Republicans ignited a firestorm of controversy on Thursday by revealing some of what they had been told at a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing on the interrogation of terrorism suspects. Democrats immediately blasted the GOP lawmakers for publicly discussing classified information, while Republicans said Democrats are trying to hide the truth that enhanced interrogation of detainees is effective… Both [Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)] and [House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas)] accused GOP members of playing politics with national security. “I think they are playing a very dangerous game when it comes to the discussion of matters that were sensitive enough to be part of a closed hearing,” Schakowsky said.

Graham: Approving Torture Techni[q]es That Are ‘Clearly Illegal’ Are ‘Not Criminal Mistakes’ (Think Progress)
This morning on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, a caller asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) why he would not support a possible criminal investigation into the Bush-era torture program. Graham defended the Bush administration by saying they “overreacted” “out of fear,” but insisted that Bush’s “mistakes” were “not criminal mistakes”: “…They took a view of the law that I think was aggressive, and I would not have approached it that way. Right after 9/11, we all thought we were going to be hit again. So as we go back and try to hold people criminally liable. I think we’re doing a lot of damage to the country, because their mistakes were not criminal mistakes. They were mistakes made out of fear.”

But wouldn’t that same argument excuse every police officer who has ever used excessive force, as long as he or she claims it was done out of fear? Of course not. Only the elite get this kind of treatment. Click through to watch the video.

Torture Accountability

Coleman Seen as Likely to Give Up Fight (Political Wire)
Roll Call reports Senate Republicans will defer to Norm Coleman’s (R) decision whether or not to pursue a federal lawsuit if he loses his Senate recount court case to Al Franken (D) in Minnesota. In addition, sources close to Coleman say he “would likely give up his legal battle and accept defeat if the Minnesota Supreme Court decides in Franken’s favor. That’s because Coleman anticipates that Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) would ultimately sign Franken’s certification papers.”

McCarthy Reverses Course, Will Not Run (Political Wire)
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) announced today that she will not challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a Democratic primary, reports CQ Politics.  Citing personal issues, McCarthy said, “I’m not running.” However, it’s still expected that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) will challenge Gillibrand.

Beware of Enforcement Agencies, Say Ex-Bush Officials (National Law Journal)
A group of former George W. Bush administration officials gathered at O’Melveny & Myers Wednesday evening to discuss the current enforcement environment… The panelists advised caution with regard to programs enacted to help financial institutions deal with the economic crisis… One message echoed by each panelist was that companies need to be proactive about putting compliance mechanisms in place, so if they do become the target of an investigation, they can at least demonstrate they made a good faith effort to obey the law. “It buys you protection,” said [Latham & Watkins partner Alice] Fisher.
So former Bush administration officials are running a protection racket?

South Carolina Supreme Court orders governor to apply for stimulus money (McClatchy)
The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered Gov. Mark Sanford to apply for the disputed $700 million in federal stimulus money.

Alaska lawmakers have votes to override Palin’s stimulus veto (McClatchy)
Legislative leaders say they appear to have enough votes to override Gov. Sarah Palin’s veto of $28.6 million in federal stimulus money for energy cost relief. Alaska is the only state to have rejected these funds, and that’s not sitting well.

California contemplates ultimate reform – no welfare (McClatchy)
Could California become the first state in the nation to do away with welfare? That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit. County welfare directors are “in shock” at the very idea of getting rid of CalWORKs, which has been widely viewed as one of the most successful social programs in the state’s history, said Bruce Wagstaff, director of the Department of Human Assistance in Sacramento. “It’s difficult to come up with the right adjective to react to this,” Wagstaff said. “It would be devastating to the people we serve.”
It’s choice #3—let the poor die in the streets, and step over the bodies.

Poll: Corzine still trailing Christie (On Politics, USA Today)
Yet another poll shows former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie — now the Republican nominee in the New Jersey governor’s race — handily knocking off Gov. Jon Corzine in the November election. The Rasmussen Reports poll released today shows Christie defeating…

Deeds Surges in Virginia (Political Wire)
A new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll shows the momentum in the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial race shifting. The race is now a statistical dead heat. Creigh Deeds (D) has jumped into the lead with 30% support, followed by Brian Moran (D) at 27% and Terry McAuliffe (D) at 26%. There are still 17% undecided. Analysis: “Whatever the opposite of ‘momentum’ is, McAuliffe has that.”

KTLA news boss: Anchor-mayor fling poses no conflict (Poynter Online, via the Los Angeles Times)
Jason Ball, news director at Tribune-owned KTLA, says “there is no issue” with anchor Lu Parker (left) dating Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “She is not a political reporter. She doesn’t cover politics generally. The mayor doesn’t work in our newsroom. There will be no conflict.” The news boss says KTLA has no intention of reporting the relationship; he calls it a nonstory.

“Planet Money” host scolded for meltdown during interview with TARP watchdog (Poynter Online)
Adam Davidson … badgered and interrupted TARP watchdog Elizabeth Warren during a “Planet Money” interview last month. NPR ombud Alicia Shepard writes: “It’s important for journalists to treat whomever they are interviewing with respect — and to keep their opinions to themselves. Davidson did neither.” The show host says he was “very, very tired” from traveling on an NPR fundraiser.

AP to Move Series on Natural Remedies (Editor & Publisher)
A four-day series that looks at the claims of natural remedies and alternative medical therapies is set to be launched next week by the Associated Press. A note to editors from Michael Oreskes, AP senior managing editor, declares: “An Associated Press review of dozens of studies and interviews with more than 100 sources found an underground medical system operating in plain sight with a different standard than the rest of medical care, and millions of people using it on blind faith. The journalism is likely to have considerable impact.”
Why do I suspect that the corporatocracy loving AP will find that natural remedies are bad and dangerous and should be kept from the public, and that instead we should be forced to pay high prices for side effect producing pharmaceuticals?

Don’t ever forget  that natural remedies are part of folk wisdom, which must be denigrated by the cognoscenti at every opportunity. Also, herbal remedies have been the province of female practitioners and, as we all know, women don’t and can’t know anything worthwhile or make any contribution to the world except as daughters, wives, and mothers, firmly under the domination of their fathers and husbands.

Media Matters for America headlines

·                                 Hannity crops clip to claim Obama “decided to give 9-11 sympathizers a voice” in Cairo speech

·                                 O’Reilly Factor still smearing Gore, misrepresenting his testimony on profiting from advocacy

·                                 FBN fails to disclose climate-change skeptic’s position in industry-funded organization

·                                 Media again stoke fears that Obama too close to Muslim world

·                                 O’Reilly still falsely claiming he only “reported” groups calling Tiller “the baby killer”

·                                 AP continues to ignore Sessions’ double standard

·                                 McClatchy misrepresents Quinnipiac poll on Ricci case

·                                 MSNBC v. MSNBC: O’Donnell, Buchanan dismiss “apology tour” rhetoric while Matthews set to discuss

·                                 O’Reilly falsely claimed that on CNN “only Anderson Cooper” covered army recruiter’s murder

·                                 Limbaugh again falsely claimed Obama said Court “hasn’t done enough on redistribution”

Japanese software regulator bans rape “games”
A Japanese software industry body has decided to ban computer games in which players simulate sexual violence against females, a spokesman said.

Botnet, spam provider unplugged at FTC’s request
An Internet service provider with links to Eastern Europe has been unplugged after it was suspected of being behind computer intrusions at NASA and sending massive amounts of malicious spam, the Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sues Twitter
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is suing the social-networking site Twitter, claiming an unauthorized page that used his name to make light of drunken driving and two Cardinals pitchers who died damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress.

Judge: Media have no First Amendment right to be at crime scenes if public barred
A federal judge has dismissed a civil-rights lawsuit filed by Oakland Tribune photographer Ray Chavez, who said officers barred him from taking pictures at a crash scene, then handcuffed him when he persisted. The judge said the media have no First Amendment right to be at an accident or crime scene if the general public is excluded.

Niles: It’s a good time for journalists to reinvent the practice of their craft
“What should be newsworthy? What should be the impact of a news story?” asks Robert Niles. “As old newsrooms shrink, or close, journalists now can address these questions in the context of new opportunities, whether they be self-publishing or working with other journalists in new, online start-ups.”

Journalism, computer science students team up to develop news tools
The Northwestern students’ innovations include:
* a program that creates computer-generated sports stories from box scores and play-by-play;
* a Microsoft Word plug-in that allows reporters to speedily research and fact-check stories as they write them without switching to an Internet search engine;
* an iPhone web application that provides the daily news in five- 10- and 20-minute chunks for news-hungry readers with limited time to read; and
* two Twitter-based applications.
They’ll be presented to news industry leaders and others next Wednesday.

Why The New York Times Doesn’t Call Its Readers ‘Readers’
In a world of near-ubiquitous computing, where an ever-expanding collection of devices turns readers into an army of co-creators and news distributors, The New York Times’ place in this world, increasingly, rests squarely with turning its readers into “users.”

Dave Eggers and The Myth of Print’s Importance
“As long as newspapers offer less each day — less news, less great writing, less graphic innovation, fewer photos — then they’re giving readers few reasons to pay for the paper itself,” writes Dave Eggers, “To survive, the newspaper, and the physical book, needs to set itself apart from the Web.”

Get Out of the Printing Business, Moody’s Tells Newspapers 
Unless newspapers can figure out how to reduce their high fixed costs of printing and circulation, their already low credit ratings could fall even farther, Moody’s Investors Service warns in a report relased Thursday.

How Newspapers’ ‘Reach’ Can Boost Their Ad Revenues (by Lauren Rich Fine at Paid Content)
There is no question that newspapers’ reach extends beyond their print readership, as papers typically own and operate the number-one news site in their region. The Media Audit released data this week looking at the top newspapers’ reach in their respective markets, combining their unduplicated print and Internet audiences. The winner, Advance Publications/ Newhouse’s New Orleans’ Picayune Times and its companion site, nola.com, with 83% reach. Sort of feels like the olden golden days for newspapers when they used to have that reach in print alone.

For ad dependent models, which includes most media, audience or reach is critical. But most important is to monetize the traffic. In a perfect world, advertisers would buy the combined reach. But while some do, it is the exception rather than the rule. Online advertising has yet to be valued similarly to print and other mediums; by selling a combined reach, there might be more of an opportunity to extract the real value being delivered. Even the duplicated reach is valuable, in particular for frequency campaigns. While bigger isn’t always better, it is essential that news organizations grasp the significance of their reach across platforms and that advertisers start to appreciate the validity of that total reach.

Why It’s Still Wrong to Charge Readers for Online Content (by Scott Rosenberg, writing at Open Salon)
Most of us in the “charging for content is a bad bet for newspapers” camp are coming at this from the perspective of bitter experience. We are grizzled veterans of this argument. We aren’t grave-dancing; we’re saying, “Maybe you don’t want to fall into that grave that almost swallowed us.”

Let’s Try The Craigslist Model Again Or ASCAP Or … (Paid Content)
Startling news from the American Press Institute: newspapers need to make online content pay… [I]t’s about gaining consensus from at least a large chunk of publishers so the ones who try paywalls, micropayments or any other form of paid content that shifts from the ad-supported online/print subscription model will have plenty of company. If only a few try it, failure is almost preordained. If more than a few give it a serious try, the aura shifts. Ubiquity—not uniformity—will make the difference. That, and having technology that works, payments systems that don’t frustrate, and the ability to figure out how to woo advertisers with quality more than quantity.

But how to achieve that under current antitrust law?…The trick for newspapers, antitrust expert Herbert Hovenkamp told the Journal, would be to avoid exclusive agreements and show that the intermediary can accomplish something publishers can’t do individually. I’d think it would be difficult for an existing industry association to be the intermediary. There’s no shortage of others who think they could provide a similar service or some other solution that could stretch across publishers without setting prices or other raising other antitrust problems. In addition to the Steve Brill presentation for Journalism Online and one from Attributor, turns out the publishers heard from self-proclaimed newsosaur Alan Mutter.

Yes, newspapers can band together to demand payment from sites that use their content
They just have to be careful about the law, says Russell Adams. He reports that news orgs are looking at the way music publishers collect a fraction of a cent for every song played in public. “To follow in the footsteps of the music industry, news organizations would need an intermediary similar to Ascap.”

What Mutter told newspaper publishers in Chicago
Alan Mutter and “technology wizard” Ridgely Evers urged publishers to create their own system to monetize their content — and to do so principally by boosting the value of their page views rather than merely erecting pay walls that could provoke a negative reaction among readers. “We call the system ViewPass and that’s what I introduced to the publishers last week.” He explains it.

Why Mutter agreed to work with newspaper execs
Alan Mutter knows that working with newspaper publishers on a possible commercial project exposes him to potential conflicts of interest, but “just as a news photographer should drop his camera to rescue a child from a burning building if no one else is around, I felt obliged to contribute what I believe is a constructive solution to the revenue crisis that threatens the future of journalism.”

Can newspaper ownership by a foundation really be worse than ownership by a chain?
“Let’s call it a tie,” says Michael Kinsley, who has worked for both.

Digital E-Reading Alliance Drafting Proposal for Newspaper Consortium 
The Digital Publishing Alliance (DPA), a member-supported initiative of the Reynolds Journalism Institute, is drafting up a proposal to create an e-reader consortium for newspaper publishers and other content providers.

Potts: There are plenty of replacements for the big-city daily
“Who covers local news and information in a newspaper-less city is a moot point,” says Mark Potts. “The replacements already are serving the audience the paper used to have to itself, and there are more in the wings.”

Gawker chief: Egomaniac journalists hate paywalls
“We like to get out in the public eye,” says Nick Denton. When journalists are put behind a paywall, they aren’t happy because “they fall out of the public discussion.” Alan Murray of the Wall Street Journal noted that the New York Times put their popular columnists behind a paywall “and that was a disaster.” News orgs have to figure out what content might be valuable enough to put behind a paywall without purging readers altogether, he says.
It’s more important to be in the public discussion than to get paid?

Denton on Not Hiring Old Media Journos
“It’s very, very tempting right now to say, ‘Okay, let’s go out and let’s hire 50 of the best people from newspapers and magazines,” said Gawker CEO Nick Denton on a panel at NYU’s Arther L. Carter Journalism Institute. But, “they don’t adjust well to working online.”
John Cook made the transition from the Chicago Tribune to Gawker (via Radar). It can be done.

WP’s Fisher gets OK to “experiment like crazy” in his new position
Marc Fisher tells readers that in his new gig at the Post, “we’re going to try to find the stories that reveal truths about the hard questions facing people who live in this region.” Fisher and his team of journalists have a license to “experiment like crazy” to blend storytelling mediums, explore story techniques and build reader involvement.

Wall Street Journal decides to return to Canada
In 2006, the Wall Street Journal quietly closed its bureau in Canada — a move that was blasted by the newsroom union. On Thursday, the Journal told its staff that it’s “re-establishing a beachead in Canada” and reporter Phred Dvorak will move from San Francisco to Toronto this summer.

Globe Publisher: 23 Percent Pay Cut If Concessions Rejected
Gaining $10 million in savings from the Boston Globe’s largest union is “non-negotiable” and the company will take steps to immediately impose a 23 percent wage cut should the union’s members reject a contract proposal to achieve those savings, Globe publisher P. Steven Ainsley said.

Boston Newspaper Guild accuses NYT of “negotiating at gunpoint”
A Guild letter sent to members on Wednesday says that “Times Company management decisions have been wretched” and that “unfortunately, partnership with its workers isn’t part of The New York Times Company way. At least not in Boston. Threats, bullying and negotiating at gunpoint — that’s what we’ve learned from The Times Company.”

Why hire staff photographers when volunteers will do the job?
The Swift Communications-owned paper in Glenwood Springs is using a stay-at-home mom and a materials tester as volunteer photographers. Homemaker Sharon Yoast got a call from the paper after its staff photographer went on his honeymoon.

Analyst: Google E-Books Push Will Force Amazon To Drop Prices (Paid Content)
The big question around Google’s new push into e-books is how, if at all, it will change Amazon’s fortunes. Jefferies & Company analyst Yousseff Squali argues that Amazon will likely remain the e-books leader, but that the move by Google may force Amazon to provide publishers with better financial terms and offer aggressive discounts on the Kindle.

A Competitor for the Kindle that’s also a computer?
CrunchPad Web tablet is sleek, chic and almost ready for the geeks
The highly-anticipated CrunchPad gets a cool new aluminium-clad look as the touchscreen Web tablet ‘built by geeks for geeks’ moves towards a July debut.

The Week magazine’s formula seems to be working
Its circulation has grown steadily since its launch eight years ago, reports James Rainey, and ad pages are up 10% over last year. “A smart and fair aggregator like The Week — which not only pays for its content but credits other publications and writers liberally — did not create our news-gathering deficit,” writes Rainey. “It just figured out a better way to package and present the good information that’s still out there.”

ESPN The Magazine website to merge with Insider service, charge for access
Beginning in August, the magazine’s web content will be a part of the ESPN Insider service, which costs $6.95 a month, or $39.95 a year. The Insider reportedly has 350,000 paying subscribers.

Nielsen Folds Radio & Records
Nielsen Co. … announced that it was ending publication of Radio & Records immediately. Publisher Howard Appelbaum told employees that “all jobs are eliminated” and that some parts of R&R would move to Billboard, another Nielsen publication.

Bollywood Settles Dispute With Theater Owners
A deal is reached on the sharing of ticket revenue, ending a two-month dispute and paving the way for new Hindi movie releases next week.

YouTube To Premiere Movie Simultaneous To Theater Release (Paid Content)
YouTube is taking another stop in its transition from a purely user-generated site to one that also broadcasts premium content like TV shows and movies. In April, it started showing professional programming from the networks and studios. [Today], Bloomberg reports, it will broadcast its first live premiere of a movie: Luc Besson’s new film about environmental issues “Home” at the same time it is released in theaters… The movie is showing on a dedicated, branded page; it’s unclear whether YouTube has lined up sponsorship for the broadcast…

The news has a couple of implications. It further establishes the internet as a platform for live entertainment (rather than archived content) and represents more erosion of the already-shrinking exclusive-release window that studios have have long used with new movies. DVDs and pay per view versions of movies are being released closer and closer to the theatrical debuts of films in the hopes of driving additional revenue—a development that theater chains have long said hurts their ability to sell tickets.
Theater chains had better start thinking about what else they can do besides having exclusives on first run movies.

They need to be thinking about showing enhanced versions of movies in formats that haven’t yet reached most homes, such as 3D, and formats that will never reach the home, such as IMAX. They can also be venues for high quality showing of live performances in other locales, such as concerts and plays. There’s already a service that puts feeds of live operas in some movie theaters. The days are surely numbered for first run exclusivity for movies.

WNYC Begs You For Money So It Can Pay Its CEO Half a Million Dollars (by John Cook at Gawker)
[Wednesday] WNYC, New York’s public radio station, laid off four staffers and eliminated 11 unfilled positions. As we speak, it’s begging for donations with its spring pledge drive. So why does CEO Laura Walker make nearly $500,000 a year?… Half a million dollars isn’t an absurd amount of money to be paying someone to run a huge major market radio station. But it’s $60,000 more than Kenneth Stern, the CEO and highest-paid employee of National Public Radio—the far larger radio network that supplies WNYC with much of its content—made in 2007…

WNYC also announced an across-the-board 5% salary reduction for senior staffers, which would bring down Walker’s compensation to roughly $462,000. But given the huge spread between her salary and that of the rest of the senior staff, one would hope that she took a bigger hit. Just remember where the money is going the next time WNYC begs you to support the important work that they’re doing.

Radio gets a new in-car competitor.
AT&T teams with RaySat Broadcasting to launch CruiseCast, a rear-seat entertainment system that gives subscribers 20 satellite radio channels and 22 TV channels.

Recession assessment: $2.5 billion drop.
BIA Advisory Services says radio could see revenues fall to $14 billion this year. That’s $2.5 billion below last year’s $16.5 billion total. But BIA believes digital initiatives may already be attracting younger demos with higher rock and urban ratings compared to a year ago.

Videogames delivering workouts along with fun
Videogame lovers are being coaxed off couches as the industry sprints ahead with a trend toward fitness titles and motion-sensing controllers.

ABC News to convert its library to a “Digital Research Facility”
“Our extensive, hard copy library filled with periodicals and other materials is no longer necessary in the digital age,” ABC News president David Westin tells his staff. “The time has come to re-shape that library to reflect today’s world. …We’re developing, with an outside research consultant, a state of the art research system tailored to our particular needs. When this new system is completed, you will be able to get the information you need and conduct your own searches from your desktop.”

Sony joins Universal, YouTube for music video site
Sony Corp’s Sony Music Entertainment will join the online music video service being developed by Google Inc’s YouTube and Universal Music Group

MySpace, YouTube More Popular Than Facebook Among U.S. Teens
MySpace and YouTube are more popular than Facebook among American teenagers, at least according to a new global study conducted by Habbo, a popular youth-aimed virtual world. Facebook is now the third most popular Web site among U.S. teens, up from fifth last year.

Twitter Addicts Bringing Down New York Times Computers
How Twitter-addled is The New York Times newsroom? Well, it’s gotten so bad that the newspaper’s system administrators have cautioned the Twitter addicts against using their beloved Twitter syringe, “TweetDeck,” to get on the microblogging service. It’s crashing the system!

What Twitter naysayers fail to understand
It’s this, says Steven Johnson: “It’s just as easy to use Twitter to spread the word about a brilliant 10,000-word New Yorker article as it is to spread the word about your Lucky Charms habit. Put those three elements together — social networks, live searching and link-sharing — and you have a cocktail that poses what may amount to the most interesting alternative to Google’s near monopoly in searching.”

Opera Mobile Outduels iPhone’s Safari in May
The Opera Mobile browser has overtaken the iPhone’s Safari browser to become the world’s number-one Web-surfing platform for mobile phones, according to StatCounter. The Dublin-based Web metrics firm, which records more than 10 billion page loads per month, said Opera held a 24.6 percent share of the global market in May compared to the iPhone’s 22.3 percent share.

Stop selling scarcity (by Jeff Jarvis)
You have to love – or at least pay attention to – Digg’s new advertising system enabling users to vote on ads: The more that users digg an ad, the less the advertiser pays. That’s a reversal of advertising but it’s the way advertising probably needs to go: The better your relationship (which springs from a better product and service), the more your customers will market it for you, the less you’ll have to pay to market it. That is the ideal. Advertising is failure. Or look at it another way: We in media – including us online with our banners and buttons – are still selling scarcity – and pricing it that way – when there is no scarcity. Google sold performance instead and that motivated it to create ever more ads across more of the internet – aka Adsense – to get ever more relevant ways to be ever more effective.

I’ve been wanting for sometime to have users vote on ads and tell a site which ads are worthwhile to them and which are not. This creates data that valuable for the advertiser (who likes me, who doesn’t?) and it enables media and marketing to become far more effective (Google allowing us to correct the targeting assumptions it makes about us reduces our irritation with irrelevant ads and improves Google’s effectiveness).

Why Publishers Need To Serve Fewer Ads (by Bill Day, CEO of ScanScout, writing at Paid Content)
Consumers understand that the ads support the content, and I am not a believer in models reliant on users paying for content. Consumers are willing to “rent out their eyeballs and data” to a certain extent, but a more reasonable quid pro quo needs to exist. Bombarding users with distracting and irrelevant ads should not be part of this tacit agreement. Much to the chagrin of targeting companies (of which ScanScout is one), a more targeted ad is not, in my opinion, alone enough of a reward for consumers. Yes, we need to use technology and data to improve targeting, but we also need to demonstrably reduce the clutter of worthless ads. In doing so, we’ll improve the effectiveness of the remaining ads.

The first steps to creating a more reciprocal relationship:
—Fewer ads…
—Smarter ads…. It’s about putting ads in the right place, at the right time, to the right audience regardless of the content.
—Better call to actions: Were flashing lights and the siren song of “click here to claim a prize” ever really effective? Think of engagement on the same level as search advertising, delivered in a more visually charming format. 
—Advertisers need to start thinking beyond a simple CTR metric as the only measure of success; it can be one measure, but they need to also think about time spent and ad-interaction rates, both of which can be measured now.

Online Behavioral Targeting Targeted by Feds, Critics
Internet ad networks have been following you around the net, watching what you do to serve you targeted ads. But now federal regulators are starting to follow them around, trying to figure out whether they are playing fair with U.S. consumers.

Electronic Arts stages fake protest of game at E3
Electronic Arts has been playing games with attendees of the nation’s biggest video-game trade show. The game publisher hired a group of nearly 20 people to stand outside the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Wednesday and appear to protest the upcoming EA game “Dante’s Inferno.” EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood says the stunt was arranged by a viral marketing agency hired by EA.