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MSM vs. Blogs – LA Times Style
Author Luke Ford and reporter Draeger Martinez
Ok, who won?
Technorati Tags: Luke Ford, Eric Spillman, Los Angeles Times
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Los Angeles Times’ SOB SISTER for the Rising Media Star – Mirthala Salinas
Graphic courtesy of ERS News
The Los Angeles Times piece we all expected has finally arrived. And it is the SOB SISTER for Mirthala Salinas.Telemundo executives are close to deciding the fate of Mirthala Salinas, who had a romantic relationship with L.A.’s mayor while reporting on him.
Mirthala Salinas was a rising star at one of Los Angeles’ premier Spanish-language television stations before she came to be known as the other woman in Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s life.
A respected and aggressive journalist, she anchored a newscast that won two local Emmy Awards at KVEA-TV Channel 52 during her 10 years at the Telemundo station. She earned a Golden Mike broadcasting award as well.
“She was very smart and always had her finger on the pulse of the community,” said one former Telemundo executive, who recalled the 35-year-old newscaster as poised and articulate.
Now, Salinas’ career hangs in the balance as Telemundo executives decide as early as Monday whether to fire her for having a romantic relationship with Villaraigosa while she was covering him as a political reporter.
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah…….
The Los Angeles Times first apologizes for Mayor Villaraigosa’s immoral and unethical conduct and now is spinning the POWER FUC**R as the poor rising media star as the unfortunate victim.
Instead of directing an inquiry into the Mayor’s relationship with Salinas in the press room and with special interests, they profile Salinas and make a case of her continued employment at NBC/Telemundo:
“She is a community figure; people relate to her and respect her,” said Rochelle Newman-Carrasco, chief executive of Enlace, an L.A. communications marketing firm that specializes in Latino media. “Spanish-language news anchors are not just readers of the news. They are the voice of the community; they are advocates for the community and role models.”
GAG – BARF ALERT
And whether Mirthala’s relationship with the Mayor gave him favorable press treatment and NBC/Telemundo access to stories they otherwise would not have, the Los Angeles Times has this:
In an interview this week, Villaraigosa said he never gave Salinas or Channel 52 an advantage, adding that he regularly appears on many of Los Angeles’ television newscasts and provides almost unfettered access to reporters seeking one-on-one interviews.
“I play more favorites with … the L.A. Times than I have with anybody on this beat,” he said. “Honest-to-God truth.”
MORE GAGGING
During the course of a television interview on June 19, 2006, Villaraigosa walks with Salinas outside the state Capitol.
When the Los Angeles Times wants to protect someone, they go all the way.
But, why is the largest newspaper in Los Angeles protecting Mirthala Salinas and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, excusing their unethical conduct and failing to investigate the affair?
Isn’t it obvious?
Readers, you tell Flap…….
By the way, Mirthala is in NO danger of being fired.
Previous:
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Telemundo Faces Ethics Dilemma in Mirthala Salinas Affair
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas Question of the Day
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: KNBC Television Requests Mayor’s E-mails and Calendar
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas and the New York Minute
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas and Bikini Journalism
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Villaraigosa Skips TV Interview – Dispatches Spin Masters
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas’ Condo Prompts Ethics Questions for Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: The Redemption Tour Or A Lesson in How To Spin the Truth
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: He’s BACK
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Monday Antonio and Mirthala
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Sabrina Kay Rumors Heat Up Los Angeles City Hall
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Fading Latino Star – Another Alleged Affair Leaves Questions
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas Placed on Leave by Telemundo
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still A Contender for California Governor in 2008?
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: The End of a Political Career
Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, TelemundoFabian NunezSabrina Kay
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Mark Steyn Watch: Impudent Citizens Got Sen. Lotthorn’s Goat
Why the AUDACITY of those citizens.
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Mark Steyn Watch: Beware of Government as the Last Action Hero
Mark Steyn Watch: So Much News, So Little Sense
Illegal Immigration Watch: Mark Steyn – CAPITULATION A TO Z
Technorati Tags: Mark Steyn, Illegal ImmigrationTrent Lott, George Voinovich
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Fairness Doctrine Watch: House Moves to Prohibit Return of Broadcast Fairness Doctrine
House Moves to Prohibit Return of Broadcast ‘Fairness Doctrine,’ Just in Case
The House voted Thursday to bar the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the broadcast “fairness doctrine†even though there are no legislative or regulatory proposals to bring back the rule.
Mike Pence, R-Ind., a former conservative radio talk show host, offered an amendment to the bill funding federal financial entities (HR 2829) that would block the FCC from spending money to restore the mandate. The rule, repealed 20 years ago, required broadcasters to present controversial issues in a balanced manner.
During floor debate on the spending bill, José E. Serrano, D-N.Y., chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, quickly agreed to accept the amendment. But that didn’t stop Republicans from taking to the floor to warn of a free-speech threat on the airwaves.
In recent days, conservative talk show hosts, including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, have cited public comments by Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Dianne Feinstein of California and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois as evidence that Democrats are trying to bring back the fairness doctrine.
Well, if the Left cannot make it in the marketplace then why not regulate it so they can get their “fair share?”
Yeah right – except that it is an unconstitutional restraint of a free press.
Besides the MSM is owned by the Left………
Guess they want it ALL.
Technorati Tags: Fairness Doctrine, Talk Radio
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Journalists Dole Out Cash to Democrats Over GOP 9 to 1
Journalists dole out cash to politicians (quietly)
MSNBC.com identified 144 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, according to the public records of the Federal Election Commission. Most of the newsroom checkbooks leaned to the left: 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes. Only 17 gave to Republicans. Two gave to both parties.
And this is a surprise?
The Media Company Donors (Partial List):
Magazines:
Newspapers:
McClatchy Newspapers D.C. bureau
The Commercial Appeal, Memphis
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Corpus Christi, Texas, Caller-Times
Fort Wayne, Ind., News-Sentinel
Martha’s Vineyard Times, Mass.
NPR affiliate in Washington, WAMU
Non-English news:
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Flap supposes that the harping of the right blogosphere about left-wing democrat bias of the MSM is correct, now isn’t it?
Some of the comments of the “CAUGHT” journalists are funny:
The New Yorker, Hendrik Hertzberg, senior editor, $2,000 to John Kerry in three payments in 2004. Hertzberg often writes the Comment in the front of the magazine, and was a speechwriter for Jimmy Carter.
Hertzberg, in answer to the question whether he made these donations, sent this reply: “Damn right.”
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Fox News Channel, Codie Brooks, researcher for Brit Hume’s “Special Report,” $300 to Senate campaign of Harold Ford Jr., Tennessee Democrat, in March 2006, $200 more in June, and $2,100 more in September.
Brooks, who said her family is friendly with Ford’s, said she raised much of the $2,600 from friends — it wasn’t her money alone. “A lot of Fox employees have contributed to Democratic candidates. I know I’m not the only one.”
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Update:
James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal has his favorite journalist comments:
A particular standout is Mark Singer, who gave $250 to “Victory Campaign 2004, which supported America Coming Together, which opposed President Bush.” He says:
“I believe very much that writers have to be aware of conflicts of interest in all sorts of situations. Probably there should be a rule against it. But there’s a rule against murder. If someone had murdered Hitler–a journalist interviewing him had murdered him–the world would be a better place. I only feel good, as a citizen, about getting rid of George Bush, who has been the most destructive president in my lifetime. I certainly don’t regret it.”
And……
Then there’s Randy Cohen, who writes the “Ethicist” column for the New York Times and gave $585 to MoveOn.org, an Angry Left Group”:
Cohen said he thought of MoveOn.org as nonpartisan and thought the donation would be allowed even under the strict rule at the Times.
“We admire those colleagues who participate in their communities–help out at the local school, work with Little League, donate to charity,” Cohen said in an e-mail. “But no such activity is or can be non-ideological. Few papers would object to a journalist donating to the Boy Scouts or joining the Catholic Church. But the former has an official policy of discriminating against gay children; the latter has views on reproductive rights far more restrictive than those of most Americans. Should reporters be forbidden to support those groups? I’d say not. Unless a group’s activities impinge on a reporter’s beat, the reporter should be free to donate to a wide range of nonprofits. Make a journalist’s charitable giving transparent, and let the readers weigh it as they will.
“Those who do not cover anything, but write a column of opinion should have even more latitude. It is such a writer’s job to make his views explicit. Those donations to nonprofits will no doubt reflect the views he or she is hired to express. In evaluating such civic engagement, it is well to remember that to have an opinion is not to have a bias. To conceal one’s political opinions is not to be without them.”
After MSNBC.com checked the names of Times staff and contributors on this list with a spokesperson for the Times, Cohen sent this addendum:
“That said, Times policy does forbid my making such donations, and I will not do so in the future.”
James Taranto:
Cohen’s effort at self-justification approaches high comedy: If it’s OK for his colleagues to make donations to nonpolitical organizations that he finds politically objectionable, it must be OK for him to make donations to political organizations! And anyway, he thinks of MoveOn.org as nonpartisan! We haven’t read Cohen’s column in ages, but we recall that his guiding principle always seemed to be that the ends justify the means, so long as the ends are liberal.
One could argue that journalists who make political donations are doing the public a service by disclosing their own biases. The reason that many news organizations bar such contributions (though not all do; see this sidebar for the details) is to protect their institutional credibility–that is, the plausibility of the claim to be unbiased.
So, what does Flap think?
I think this quote is especially appropriate:
Abe Rosenthal, the former New York Times editor, who is reported to have said:
“I don’t care if you sleep with elephants as long as you don’t cover the circus.”
Each news organization which is a private concern and not regulated by the government must develop their own policies and disclose them.
A free press with disclosure will expose the bias – as it has.
But, what is scary are attempts like this to regulate the press – in particular talk radio by government action.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Talk Radio Watch: How to End Right Wing Domination
Technorati Tags: media bias, journalism, journalism ethics
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Mark Steyn Watch: Beware of Government as the Last Action Hero
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_Mark Steyn – Beware of government as the last action hero
And to think those fools in the United States Senate are continuing to negotiate the flawed Senate Immigration bill.
Will the GOP block it this week?
Previous:
Mark Steyn Watch: So Much News, So Little Sense
Illegal Immigration Watch: Mark Steyn – CAPITULATION A TO Z
Technorati Tags: Mark Steyn, Illegal Immigration
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Hugo Chavez Watch: Protests Continue in Venezuela – United States Calls on Chavez to Reopen Television Station
An opponent to the Venezuelan government waves a flag in front of the police during a protest 28 May 2007, in Caracas, in the aftermath of the closure of private network RCTV (Radio Caracas Television). The United States called on Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chavez, Tuesday to reverse his decision to close the country’s oldest television station.
AFP: US calls on Venezuela’s Chavez to reverse television closure
The United States joins the expressions of concern made by the international community about the May 27 closure of RCTV, Venezuela’s only independent television network with nationwide broadcast coverage,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, it’s an essential element of democracy anywhere in the world,” he said.
“We’d certainly call on the government of Venezuela to abide by its commitments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Inter-American Democratic Charter and to reverse these policies that they’re pursuing to limit freedom of expression,” he said.
In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez speaks during a meeting with retired people in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, May 29, 2007. Chavez defended his decision not to renew the license of a popular opposition-aligned television network and warned he might crack down on another critical TV station, accusing it of trying to incite attempts on his life.
But, Hugo Chavez will not reverse course. In fact, he has threatened a second station.
Venezuela’s leftist government accused a leading TV station of calling for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez, El Universal reported Tuesday.
Globovision TV was said to be openly calling for the death of Chavez when it aired the 1981 assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II accompanied by the phrase, “This doesn’t end here.”
The accusation against Globovision follows the decision by Venezuela to shut down an opposition TV station and replace it with a state-backed network triggered angry protests Monday.
The Venezuelan Social Television started broadcasting shortly after midnight, taking over the frequency previously occupied by Radio Caracas Television.
The state-run broadcast included traditional songs and dances, cartoons, documentaries and a statement from station President Lil Rodriguez — who said that as a self-respecting nation, Venezuela now has a new source of messages of dignity, VOA reported.
But RCTV employees and university students protested in Caracas Monday, calling the station closure an attack on free speech. Bank worker Marycel Montiel said she joined a protest to denounce Chavez’ authoritarian policies, comparing them to measures taken in Cuba.
And the protests continue despite Hugo Chavez’s threats:
Riot police stand guard as university students protest against Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez’s decision to shut down opposition-aligned television station Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, and replace it with a new state-funded channel, in Caracas, Tuesday, May 29, 2007.
Students protest against Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez’s decision to shut down opposition-aligned television station Radio Caracas Television, RCTV.
Will Chavez use deadly force against his own people to stifle freedom of the press?
Fidel Castro is his mentor.
Here is some video from today’s street protest in Venezuela:
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Hugo Chavez Watch: Chavez Closes and Re-Opens Nationalized Venezuelan Television Station
Hugo Chavez Watch: Iran and Venezuela Plan to Fund Projects – To Thwart United States Domination
Technorati Tags: Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
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Hugo Chavez Watch: Chavez Closes and Re-Opens Nationalized Venezuelan Television Station
A woman supporter of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez displays a doll representing Chavez during a demonstration organized by Venezuela’s embassy in Managua, Sunday May 27, 2007. The demonstration was to support Chavez’s decison of not renewing the license to broadcast of RCTV, Radio Caracas Television channel, the sole opposition-aligned TV station with nationwide reach. The writing on the background pro-Chavez sign reads in Spanish ‘Yes to integration, Yanquis ( Americans ) out of our America’.
Venezuelan TV station goes off the air
Venezuela’s oldest private television station went off the air at midnight Sunday as thousands banged on pots and pans in protest against President Hugo Chavez’s decision not to renew the license of the opposition-aligned channel.
If the press disagrees or ridicules your government, then why not take over the press? In a blatant demonstration of government censorship, ala Cuba, and the Soviet Union, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez finds a solution.
Control the press – in this case television.
And when the people protest, stage a counter-demonstration and unleash the police and water cannon to stifle the dissent.
A water cannon sprays demonstrators during a protest against the closure of private network RCTV (Radio Caracas Television) in Caracas, 27 May 2007. Venezuela’s oldest television network has gone off the air at midnight in a move slammed by the opposition as a new push by President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip on the nation’s media.
Will the print press that is mainly privately owned be the next to go?
Probably, if they criticize Hugo Chavez.
A woman shouts slogans during a protest against the closure of private network RCTV (Radio Caracas Television).
Previous:
Hugo Chavez Watch: Iran and Venezuela Plan to Fund Projects – To Thwart United States Domination
Technorati Tags: Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
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Mark Steyn Watch: So Much News, So Little Sense
Mark and Claremont Institute President and ballistic missile expert, Brian T. Kennedy, December 2005. Photograph by Flap.
Mark Steyn’s latest: So Much News, So Little Sense
And the GOP really thinks the Senate Immigration bill will HELP their electoral prospects?
They think unwisely…….
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Technorati Tags: Mark Steyn, Illegal Immigration
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Illegal Immigration Watch: Mark Steyn – CAPITULATION A TO Z
Mark Steyn on the Senate’s Illegal Immigration Proposal: Capitulation A to Z
Anyone want to bet whether the bill will be brought up tomorrow?
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Technorati Tags: Mark Steyn, Illegal Immigration