Fairly Unbalanced: The State of the Modern Mainstream News Media

The internet, if it can survive as a free and neutral venue for the exchange of ideas, will be the salvation of us all.  Imagine a time before the web, when the only sources of information were newspapers, radio newscasts, and more recently network news.  Now we can have direct reports from bloggers who were on the scene, or instantaneously discuss the discrepancies between different networks’ coverage of an event with people all over the world.  We can access news reports from foreign news agencies such as the BBC, and get an outsider’s prospective on American politics and news events.  Unfortunately all this progress has not worked to reduce bias, inaccuracy, and sensationalism on the part of American cable news, but has rather worked to increase it.  To maintain their dwindling audiences, the networks have had to cater to their ideological bases and play up controversies and scandals to grab ratings, rather than striving for objectivity and rational discourse.   I would like to take some time to expose the bias, journalistic laziness, and irresponsibility of two major news networks.

First, permit me to turn my wrath on Fox News.  I will admit that they are just as unprofessional, sensationalistic, and biased as any other large news company, but this story just grates me.  You can find it online at:

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/05/07/wikipedia-purges-porn/

The long and the short of it is that Fox did a story where they discovered-shock and horror!-that there were sexually-explicit images and images depicting the naked human form on Wikipedia pages concerned with sexually-explicit topics and human anatomy.  Allow me to dissect some of that article:

“These images were and in some cases still are easily accessible to anyone, including school children, many of whom receive unfiltered access to Wiki projects in schools across the country.” (more…)

On Healthcare Reform and Tort Reform

Author’s Note:  I’d have commented on this all much sooner, but computer issues and other personal matters have delayed my completion of this entry.

It’s been quite an eventful couple of weeks in the world of politics. President Obama signed into law the healthcare bill which the House had passed the prior weekend, and that Thursday the Congress approved the “fixed” version of the bill which removed the so-called “Cornhusker Kickback”- extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska-but kept other special deals for other states.  Twelve states are already set to challenge the bill’s constitutionality.

Now, I’m not going to attempt a point-by-point dissection of the bill, nor am I going to address its many flaws.  For an article which does a good job of that, see “20 Way ObamaCare Will Take Away Our Freedoms” by David Hogberg.  The latest Forbes also has a good article on all the taxes that Obama and the Democratic Congress have enacted, or will enact in the future, and I recommend that everyone read it, lest they be fooled by the oft-used talking point, “But Obama has actually cut taxes for most Americans!” Rather, I will simply go through what I think would have been better solutions and address the issue of Tort Reform, which has so often been brought up as a possible fix (or part of one) for the Health Care issue.  (more…)

NCAA Tournament First Round Liveblog!

Welcome to Milwaukee everyone!  John Greely checking in with you here, ready to bring you all the action from UCSB’s first round match with second-seeded Ohio State.

Tipoff is at 6:45 p.m. Pacific, and check in every few minutes starting around 6:30 for all your UCSB-analysis needs. Go Gauchos!

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Live Updates

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What do conservatives want, exactly?

The political spectrum in the United States has long varied to some extent from those in the rest of the developed world. While the Democrats are host to a range of ideological stances that range from the traditional left to the center-right, the Republicans and those with associated or similar positions hold many beliefs that are, shall we say, not considered acceptable in the other G-20 countries.

The sanctity of entitlement programs and other forms of direct government assistance, essentially free education through the university level, acceptance of climate change, the necessity of strong government intervention in the economy in times of recession and universal single-payer health care are all accepted as canon in Europe, a place that not coincidentally is weathering this storm, save for the Greeks and their financial shenanigans and the Spanish housing bubble, much better than we are. The fact that these items are still seen as controversial and remain under heated debate in the United States is frankly stunning, and the rest of the world had a bad taste left in their mouth by our dysfunction after our embarrassing showing in Copenhagen, where we promised to show up with legislation passed ready to sign an agreement. Needless to say, we failed on both accounts. (more…)

Big West Men’s Final Live Blog!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Anaheim. We’ll keep you updated in today’s men’s finals as the action goes.

Check in every couple of minutes for instant analysis on all the action, starting right before tipoff. (more…)

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