When MTV was celebrating its tenth anniversary, in 1991, its news operation was a font of liberal bias, in part because the network allowed (encouraged?) its anchors and reporters to promote their personal - and quite left-wing - opinions. Rather, Brokaw, and Jennings aren't always evenhanded, either, but it's hard to imagine them being so bold or intemperate as to call Satan "humanity's handiest invention"; claim that "right-wing fundamentalists" had used AIDS "as a tool to bully people, especially young people, into not having sex"; or muse, apropos of a Gulf War victory parade, "As with any outbreak of vaguely... continue reading
Being a White House reporter is one of the most intoxicating job assignments in journalism, a seat at the front row of history. So why do some privileged correspondents seem so desperate to be rebellious, to abuse what should rightfully be seen as an honor? During the Clinton era the White House press corps was seemingly incapable of asking a question - never mind reporting a story - that might offend the First Family. In the late Clinton years, his in-house reporters wouldn't even let a rape charge ruin the groove of his press conferences, which were called for the... continue reading
Maybe you've decided that the best way to endure the current onslaught of cheesy, sleazy, nasty "reality television" is to say to yourself, in effect, "The sun'll come out tomorrow." There are those out there who think it won't. "Not everyone in the business believes [reality TV] is a fleeting fad," the New York Times' Bill Carter wrote on July 17. "For some programmers, reality shows represent...the end of an old world and the start of a brave new one...Almost all [of these shows] have been outright hits with young adult viewers, and especially big with viewers under 30...And if... continue reading
Remember when the feminists marched around Washington in 1992, the vaunted political "Year of the Woman" pledging to ruin the political careers of insensitive male officials who "just don't get it"? Have all of those women now disappeared like Chandra Levy? Despite their manifest disagreements on life and family issues, feminists and social conservatives could be united in their disgust at the way women are treated by lecherous, usually adulterous men in positions in power. But all the old rhetorical fire that feminists used against Clarence Thomas, against Senator Bob Packwood, even against the late Senator John Tower in their... continue reading
President Bush probably wouldn't appreciate a historical comparison to Warren Harding, but "Back to Normalcy" is definitely an underappreciated theme and consequence of his election. After eight years of constant Clinton administration lying and corruption, the Bush administration has definitely restored a sense of integrity to the political process. But to watch the press corps at work is to see reality turned on its head. The national so-called "news" media which spent eight years ignoring or dismissing one Clinton scandal after another just can't get enough of GOP scandals, no matter how unscandalous they are. On the national level, we've... continue reading
There are a few entertainment industry stories that one summer breeze or another has been blowing onto my desk. Collectively they speak volumes about the dysfunctional state of the popular culture. - It is a sacred truth for the TV advertising community that the 18 to 49-year-old demographic is the only market that matters. It is a fact of life that TV shows offering copious amounts of sex and violence will attract many in that group. That is why the advertising community spends billions of dollars annually promoting their wares on these shows. Oops. Looks like they've been wasting their... continue reading
In the world of network television news, longtime ABC reporter John Stossel is the exception that proves the rule. It is the rule that when ABC and the other networks prepare hard-hitting investigative reports with totally familiar bogeymen - like the oil companies - they're the conscience of the country. It is the exception when one puts together a hard-hitting, investigative report that whacks at unfamiliar targets, like environmentalists. It is for that transgression that liberals are demanding Stossel's programs be censored and he should be fired as unprofessional. Take the recent controversy over Stossel's special "Tampering With Nature." The... continue reading
The Clintons and their legions of supporters spent eight years sharing an exaggerated sense of self-pity over the allegedly harsh media coverage of their corrupt behavior. It was only a matter of time before they started complaining that the Bush administration is getting it so much easier when it comes to ethical scrapes. The mission: keep pushing the absurd notion that all administrations are equally corrupt. Everybody Does It. Take the case of top Bush aide Karl Rove. While he was waiting for the go-ahead from the White House counsel's office to sell his shares of Intel, he had a... continue reading
Some things in life you can count on. The sun will come up. The Washington Redskins think they have another winning team this year. And in those lazy, hazy days of summer, PBS will take your tax dollars and air another offensive agitprop film promoting the righteousness of homosexuality. It's becoming an annual taxpayer-hazing tradition of the series "P.O.V.," funded by PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a little radical subsidized boutique called the Independent Television Service. Ten years ago, scores of PBS stations refused to run or delayed airing Marlon Riggs's "Tongues Untied," a salute to black... continue reading
Two news stories on consecutive days last week tell us where our popular culture is heading. Hint: It's not a pretty sight. On June 15, Inside.com carried an article by Jesse Oxfeld about the new $30 million, three-year contract for the popular New York afternoon-drive-time radio team of Opie and Anthony. I'd never heard of these fellows, but apparently they're real trailblazers where airwave pollution is concerned. Peter Goodman of Newsday stated last year that O&A have "gone beyond [Howard Stern] in vulgarity." Their listenership, he wrote, is "primarily young men who enjoy...the kind of talk that was once limited... continue reading