I’ve come to believe that people who declare themselves the biggest protectors of American democracy too often are the most formidable threats to fair and honest elections. To substantiate this position, I offer you Wajahat Ali, a contributor to the New York Times and MSNBC.
Journalism was once a profession dominated by people who wanted to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Independent journalist Matt Taibbi still adheres to that principle, which is why the mainstream media wants to take him down.
Some thoughts on whether to believe Elon Musk or a publication co-founded by an editor responsible for two major journalism disgraces and funded by the former CEO of the FTX crypto exchange; former FBI honcho Frank Figliuzzi disgraces MSNBC; and why CBS News keeps Edward R. Murrow rolling his grave.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Twitter “teeters on the edge” after 1,200 employees resigned rather than accept Elon Musk’s demand to accept a “hardcore” work culture. Perhaps that’s true, but if Musk is successful transforming Twitter into a profitable company with less than half its previous workforce, it will further underscore how tech company valuations are grossly inflated.
It hurts to admit this, but here’s why I’m rooting for Musk.
As deftly reported by Ashley Rindsberg in the online magazine Tablet, the media played an integral role creating the myth of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced CEO of crypto exchange FTX.
Bankman-Fried donated to various publications, including the Intercept, an online publication that possibly contributed to the election of President Biden.
I’ve long opposed ESG, or so-called socially responsible investing, because it legitimizes the activities of some companies that do very bad things. So when I retrieved the November issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance this past weekend and found the publication touting ESG on its cover, my instinct was to toss it in the garbage and cancel my subscription. Reading editor Mark Solheim’s justification for the cover story decision didn’t change my views on ESG, but he made me feel good about subscribing to Kiplinger’s.
Solheim is the rare journalist who knows how to win friends and influence people. His column is a masterful example of engagement. Corporate governance commentator Nell Minow and Toronto Globe and Mail reporter Rita Trichur would be wise to read it.
In 1964, the New York Times published what still ranks among the most damaging false stories in U.S. media history: 37 witnesses heard the screams of a bartender named Kitty Genovese being stabbed and not one of them intervened or call the police. The story sparked what became known as the “bystander effect,” a theory that held that when multiple people witness a crime or acts of wrongdoing, they are less likely to intervene than when a single witness observes a crime.
Here’s a modern-day twist on the bystander effect: When someone is accused of racism and dozens of persons know that the allegations are false, they are less likely to intervene than if only one person knows for certain.
A professional politician who can’t properly secure her guns in a crime-ridden city and accepted a lucrative scholarship that figured prominently in a corruption investigation is unfit to lead the City of Angels.
The termination of Canadian television anchor Lisa LaFlamme’s contract has generated outrage in Canada and the U.S. because of speculation she was fired for allowing her hair to go gray. More likely, the network decision to terminate LaFlamme was driven by budgetary considerations.
Despite the uproar, LaFlamme has refused to comment, which is despicable for a journalist.
Some thoughts on Twitter’s whistleblower, the similarities of Elon Musk and P.T. Barnum, the New York Times and the Washington Post carrying water for the Deep State, the surge in Adderall prescriptions, and my prescience about Bed Bath & Beyond.