The quest for innocence in political journalism means the desire to be manifestly agenda-less and thus “prove” in the way you describe things that journalism is not an ideological trade. But this can get in the way of describing things!You have to read the entire piece.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A MUST-READ
Wow. Just wow. Jay Rosen's The Quest for Innocence and the Loss of Reality in Political Journalism on his blog PressThink:
Making Shakespeare Current
A NY Times rave review Shakespeare in the Park's Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino:
For as this Shylock rants — and the lines between wrathful avarice and paternal anguish blur beyond reckoning — his state of confusion becomes a heightened mirror of everything around him. As the lights dim on Shylock in limbo, it suddenly hits you that Shakespeare’s vengeance-addled Jew is neither merely the victim nor the villain of this piece; he is instead the very soul of the money-drunk society he serves and despises.
Palin's Pregnancy, The Saga
Andrew Sullivan posts responses to readers concerning his ongoing questions about the birth of Trig Palin. While many see this akin to the Obama "birthers", Sullivan has not given up raising this question and wondering why Palin has never produced documents to put this all to bed.
Everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about "Babygate." Courtey of the Palingates blog.
Kathy Griffin goes to Palin's house in Alaska last night on her reality show.
The Meme in Pictures
Newsweek gives us a photo slideshow of all the emotions of Barack Obama, continuing the meme that the president "needs to show more emotion", "isn't angry enough", and "needs to feel our pain." So much easier (and cheaper) than reporting.
Elizabeth Edwards, Act II
The Daily Beast on Elizabeth Edwards' reinvention and latest book tour that kicks off today:
Edwards may be the most press-friendly press-hating jilted political spouse in history—a significant achievement in a crowded field. She is unmatched in both the relentlessness and vehemence of her image-rehabilitation campaign. Next to her, Jenny Sanford, author of Staying True, and Dina Matos McGreevey, author of Silent Partner, look like wallflowers. Not even Hillary Clinton can compete, and she almost became president in her own resilient schlep back from the low point of the Lewinsky years.
6 Degrees of Hypocrisy
John Stewart, once again performing the work the media refuses to do:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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Back to the Future
One of the most depressing paragraphs I've read in a long time. From Craig Crawford at CQ Politics:
Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton as an anti-war candidate. But it was a lie that his supporters chose to ignore. Gen. David Patreus' congressional testimony on Tuesday makes clear that the Obama Administration is for more war, not less. He advocated more fighting in Afghanistan by loosening the rules of engagement, and all but erased the President's faux deadline for exiting by next summer. It's hard to image he would say such things without Obama's tacit approval. Let's face it, for whatever reason, Obama played his base for the fool, winning the Democratic Party nomination in 2008 by perpetuating a fraud.It seems worth revisiting Obama's speech against the Iraq War, bravely given in 2002 when he was an Illinois State Senator:
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair."
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