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Media Bias Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 09, 2016 81 Comments
The Boston Globe published a curious tweet yesterday, warning of a front page it "hope[d] never to publish." https://twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/718537190704353282 Drudge has obtained images of what purports to be the Sunday front page, plus some:

Posted by Andrew Branca on April 08, 2016 19 Comments
The Washington Post reports on a new study that suggests racial bias motivates police to fatally shoot black suspects at a disproportionally high rate.  That study, entitled “Fatal Shootings By US Police Officers in 2015: A Bird’s Eye View,” is published in the once well-respected scientific journal Nature. The first alarm bells went off for me when I noted the source of the "data" used for this "study":  journalists from the Washington Post itself, as well as the left-wing UK newspaper, The Guardian.  As we've seen in the past, "data" collected by journalists is rarely worth the paper it's printed on, not surprising given their generally utter lack of expertise in the subject being covered.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 03, 2016 10 Comments
As I was reading through my newsfeeds, I kept seeing this story about "black staffers" leaving the RNC in droves.  It sounded ominous, like everything the mainstream media and progressive left have been saying was playing out in a mass exodus of black Republicans from the party. Here are some of the headlines: from NBCNews:

Yet Another Top African American Staffer Departs RNC

from the Sun Times:

RNC Losing Top Black Staffer

from Huffington Post:

Top Black Staffers Leave The Republican National Committee

However, once you follow the link and read the stories, these black staffers are simply moving on to new and greener pastures, often within the GOP or in more lucrative media roles.  For example, the subject of the stories above is  Kristal Quarker-Hartsfield, the national director of African-American Initiatives at the RNC, and she "is leaving the organization to work for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) as his director of intergovernmental affairs."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 30, 2016 45 Comments
There is a continuing pattern of the media falsely trying to portray Trump rally attendees as violent, when in fact almost all confrontations were provoked by violent and intimidating conduct of anti-Trump protesters. We saw this extensively when Trump's Chicago rally was shut down after near riots by anti-Trump activists who infiltrated the rally venue. And we saw it yesterday at a Trump rally in Janesville, WI. The headlines, such as at The Hill, scream about how a protester was peppered sprayed directly in the face.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 12, 2016 35 Comments
The Breitbart/Michelle Fields/Trump Campaign Manager saga continues. If you're just joining this story, I would suggest beginning with Part 1 as this post picks up where the other left off. Breitbart Reporter and Fox News contributor, Michelle Fields, claimed Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, grabbed her arm, tossing her towards the ground when she asked Trump a race-related question. Breitbart News offered a muddled initial response, suggesting if Lewandowski had in fact grabbed Fields, he should apologize. A Washington Post reporter with Fields at the time of the alleged altercation identified Lewandowski as the individual responsible for grabbing Fields. The Trump campaign denied Lewandowski put his hands on Fields and then proceeded to attack her as "delusional."

Both sides of the argument

Thursday, Breitbart's Editor at Large, Ben Shapiro and Trump supporting defense attorney, David Wohl, joined Megyn Kelly to discuss the alleged altercation:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 10, 2016 74 Comments
Reports that Donald Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, grabbed Breitbart Reporter and Fox News Contributor, Michelle Fields, and threw her to towards the ground surfaced Tuesday evening. Following eyewitness accounts, not to mention a bruised Fields, the overtly Trump friendly website refused to stick up for their reporter. Neither did they demand an apology from Lewandowski. The following day, The Daily Beast pieces the story together in its entirety. I've only included excerpts, but I would suggest reading the piece in its entirety. It's quite disturbing:
The reality television billionaire might also be laying the groundwork for a not-so-brave new world in which a campaign manager can assault a female journalist, while her news organization—in this case the famously Trump-friendly Breitbart News—responds with a mild rebuke in a vague statement perceived by some to be designed to protect the perpetrator.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 07, 2016 14 Comments
Never change, MSNBC. After Sunday night's CNN Democratic debate, MSNBC reporter Kristen Welker either could not or did not hear studio anchor Ari Melber telling her she was live and on the air. Unbeknownst to Welker, her mic was on, which allowed the entire broadcast audience to hear Welker feeding questions to Jen Palmieri, Hillary Clinton's Campaign Director of Communication.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 24, 2016 3 Comments
The annual tour of lies and hate known as Israel Apartheid Week kicked off Monday in England, with stops coming around the world.  The U.S. edition is set for March 27-April 3. Monday morning, Londoners taking the underground were greeted by a series of new advertisements targeting companies with business in Israel.  They accuse Israel of the same tired litany of apartheid, cruelty and crimes that has been debunked so many times already. The first event at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies last Monday night included the usual accusations of prisoner abuse, organ harvesting and, of course, apartheid.

Recent Developments On UK Campuses

Israel Apartheid Week comes to England at an opportune moment, as rampant anti-Semitism comes to light at the vaunted Oxford University.  Last week, the student co-chairman of Oxford University's Labor Club (OULC) - Alex Chalmers - resigned out of protest at the group's anti-Semitism.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 24, 2016 28 Comments

Fight Twitter management behavior, but don't leave the arena....

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 22, 2016 43 Comments
On Saturday morning we posted a brief compilation of recent events suggesting Twitter might be targeting conservatives, Is Twitter Silencing Conservatives? The impetus Saturday was the suspension of Robert Stacy McCain's account (@rsmccain).  McCain blogs at TheOtherMcCain.com and last February published a book, Sex Trouble: Essays on Radical Feminism and the War Against Human Nature.  That followed de-verification of Milo Yiannopoulos's account (@Nero).  Like McCain, Yiannopoulos is a prominent critic of modern feminism and the Gordian Knot of accusations and recriminations known as "Gamergate."  Oversimplified, Gamergate involves issues about the poor treatment of women in the gaming community.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 20, 2016 51 Comments
Twitter, an invaluable news aggregator when properly run and used, has seemingly taken aim at conservatives and those advocating conservative causes. In early January, Twitter stripped Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos (@Nero on Twitter) of his "verification," saying he violated the anti-harassment Terms of Service. https://twitter.com/Nero/status/685601754654871552

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 16, 2016 28 Comments
Media discussion of Justice Scalia's death and its implications for the public unions case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association overstates the impact and misses the larger issue. Before Justice Scalia died, it was very likely the Court would hold that it is unconstitutional for state law to require, or even simply allow, "agency shop" agreements compelling non-union members to nevertheless contribute to the union's collective bargaining and related expenses.  Now, the Court will probably affirm the Ninth Circuit's decision upholding agency shop agreements, but without setting precedent. That is obviously a better outcome for the Union, but how long will it last?  The New York Times says "a major threat to public unions has evaporated."  Reuters writes more temperately that "a 4-4 split is a likely outcome, which would hand a win to the unions as that would leave the lower court's ruling in their favor in place."

Posted by David Gerstman on February 16, 2016 6 Comments
We hear from critics of Israel that Israel needs a two-state solution to be  legitimate. Without a Palestinian state, the argument goes, Israel will rule over millions of resentful Palestinians to whom it will have to deny their basic rights in order to maintain its Jewish nature. Or if Israel enfranchises the Palestinians, they could overwhelm the Jews with their votes and then Israel would cease to be a Jewish state. So the reasoning goes, without a separate Palestinian state, Israel will either cease being Jewish or democratic. But there was already a separation achieved in 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords. By the end of 1995 Israel had withdrawn from the major population areas in the West Bank, leaving over 90% of Palestinians under the political control of the Palestinian Authority. In 2005, Israel "disengaged" from Gaza ending the occupation of that territory.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 12, 2016 2 Comments
There has been quite a bit of BDS-related legislative activity in the several weeks, with two anti-BDS measures moving through Congress, and activity in several state legislatures.  While the legislatures universally oppose BDS, President Obama has weighed in in opposition to Congress's pro-Israel legislation.

Federal Anti-BDS Legislation

First, Wednesday afternoon Senators Mark Kirk (R. - IL) and Joe Manchin (D. - WV) and Representatives Bob Dold (R. - IL) and Juan Vargas (D. - CA) filed a bill to help states divest from BDS-supporting companies.  According to Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon:
The new bill, which was filed Wednesday afternoon, marks an aggressive push by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to combat the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, otherwise known as BDS, which advocates in favor of economic war against the Jewish state. The bill would provide legal shelter to states seeking to divest taxpayer funds from any company that has backed the BDS movement. It also would set a legal precedent granting safe harbor for private investment companies to do the same.

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 10, 2016 13 Comments
Conservatives are often critical of liberal bias in our political media but an explosive new story shows the issue is worse than many suspected. Back in 2009, Marc Ambinder then working for the Atlantic wanted a scoop on a Hillary Clinton speech. He got it, but it came with conditions with which he complied fully. Surprisingly, it was Gawker which broke the story. J.K. Trotter reported:
This Is How Hillary Clinton Gets the Coverage She Wants Hillary Clinton’s supporters often argue that mainstream political reporters are incapable of covering her positively—or even fairly. While it may be true that the political press doesn’t always write exactly what Clinton would like, emails recently obtained by Gawker offer a case study in how her prodigious and sophisticated press operation manipulates reporters into amplifying her desired message—in this case, down to the very word that The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder used to describe an important policy speech.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 01, 2016 7 Comments
The NY Times, as most of Western media, always is looking for a "reason" for the current Palestinian wave of terror that is unrelated to Palestinian responsibility. It's always a search for a way to excuse the terror, including the knifings by Palestinian teens of Israelis, particularly targeting Israeli women. A January 19, 2016, NYT article by Steven Erlinger typifies the genre, Anger in a Palestinian Town Feeds a Cycle of Violence
Raed Jaradat was 22, an accounting student from a well-to-do family here, already working part time with his father in his stone quarry and construction business. After Dania Ersheid, 17, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers who said she had pulled a knife at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a version disputed by Palestinians, Mr. Jaradat wrote an angry post on Facebook: “Imagine if this were your sister!”
Stephen Flatow takes apart both the Erlinger article and the genre, Let’s play the ‘blame Israel game’ with The New York Times:

Posted by David Gerstman on February 01, 2016 4 Comments
In the middle of January, I dissected Vox video purporting to distill the Arab-Israeli conflict into 10 minutes. But those ten  minutes were littered with countless errors and omissions. I wasn' t the only one weighing in, of course. Elder of Ziyon, one of the longest running pro-Israel bloggers has taken the criticism to a new level, in a video critique of the Vox video. This is no easy task - and I admire his patience and cool - as his critique of the first three minutes clocked in at 17 minutes. As Elder put it:
I'm not certain I will create parts 2 and 3, because I don't know who will want to spend maybe 45 minutes listening to a critique of a ten minute video. Literally every ten seconds I nI ceeded to stop to respond to another distortion or lie.
I certainly had that feeling reviewing the video:

Posted by Jonathan Levin on January 31, 2016 22 Comments
An eight-year Marine Corps veteran his wife have filed suit against their daughter’s high school principal, vice-principal, school district and board of education for violating her First Amendment rights by indoctrinating her in Islamic thought. The case filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland is captioned Wood v. Charles County Public Schools, et al. The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Their daughter and her fellow students were instructed to write out the Islamic creed “Shahada,” which says, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” When recited by non-Muslims, the creed amounts to conversion to Islam. Students were also required to memorize and recite the Five Pillars of Islam and were subjected to disparaging teachings about Christianity. “Most Muslims’ faith is stronger than the average Christian,” one worksheet read.
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