Suddenly, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is everywhere: on TV, on radio, in magazines and in bookstores.

Matt Taibi skewers Friedman’s new book in a piece called “Flathead.” He says the book, on globalization, is “a battle between twisted logic and atrocious writing.”
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21856/

AMERICAblog: Microsoft paying retainer to religious right leader Ralph Reed

“AMERICAblog.com has learned that Microsoft is currently paying a $20,000 a month retainer to former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed’s consulting firm Century Strategies. Which now begs the question of whether Reed was in any way involved with Microsoft’s recent decision to abandon its decades long support for gay civil rights in order to curry favor with anti-gay bigots of the radical right.”

MEDIA AND THE POPE

Yesterday, I reported that the new Pope has blessed the media for its coverage. But Sydney Schanberg says the coverage has been deification, not journalism, in this week’s Village Voice:

“Television news gave us wall-to-wall gushing by reporters and anchors, some of it embarrassing for a reporter to watch. Meanwhile, the print press, albeit with an occasional splash of irrational exuberance showing here and there, by and large provided balance and nuance and full-blown information. Such was the coverage of the election of a new shepherd of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI.

“It is of course old news that television journalism has become the medium of spectacle, catastrophe, emotion, and entertainment, while the print press remains the primary - and often lonely -c onveyor of in-depth, grown-up coverage. But as I watched the elevation of the new pontiff on television and read about it in newspapers and on news websites, it occurred to me that this dichotomy had reached new extremes.

“Television exists these days on showbiz hoopla and raw feelings - people weeping, people cheering, people wrapped in blankets outside their burning house. And of course ‘reality’ shows…

“A CNN anchor, in a typical TV snapshot, prompted a woman in St. Peter’s Square for her reaction to the smoke and bell ringing and pomp of Cardinal Ratzinger’s elevation. ‘Did it take your breath away?’ he breathed urgently. ‘Yes, yes,’ she answered, ‘that’s what it was.’

“A Fox anchor took the heavy breathing a little further. Saying that he had covered a lot of big stories in his time, but referring to that moment when the new Pope came out on the balcony, arms outstretched to the crowd below, the Fox fellow exclaimed: ‘I don’t think I’ve seen anything in my life as magical as this!’”

VillageVoice.com

AIR AMERICA IN THE CENTER OF THE STORM

Consortium News’s Bob Parry says progressive outlets are having an impact on our politics. Parry credits Air America Radio with giving the Democrats more spine and turning the party from wimps to warriors:

“… that dynamic has begun to change as more U.S. cities get ‘progressive talk radio’ stations, which now number more than 50. Though still far fewer than the hundreds of conservative talk radio outlets, this “left side of the dial” is reaching critical mass, altering the political psyche both of rank-and-file Democrats and their leaders.

“With humor and without deference, the progressive hosts give voice to the outrage that many American liberals feel over what they regard as years of conservative highhandedness - a stolen election in 2000, a deceptive case for war in Iraq in 2002-03, and the smearing of Kerry’s war record in 2004…

“In effect, a political market is emerging that rewards courageous Democrats and punishes wimpy ones…

“For the first time in memory, many Americans are hearing coherent and consistent arguments from progressives. It’s suddenly cool to stand up to Bush and to recognize the phoniness of the mainstream media.”

Mystery of the Democrats’ New Spine
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/042605.html>

BILLBOARD REPORTS ON AIR AMERICA FLAP

Air America: ‘We Are Not Under Investigation’
By Ken Tucker

Air America Radio has issued a release countering an earlier report that the network is under investigation by the Secret Service. ‘We are not under investigation from the Secret Service,’ co-COO/president of programming Jon Sinton said in a statement. ‘We regret that a produced comedy bit that was in bad taste slipped through our normal vetting process. We do acknowledge that it was an internal error and internal discipline will be enforced.’

“The Drudge Report, citing government sources, had previously said the liberal network was under investigation.

“At issue is a skit that aired on Randi Rhodes show April 25. As previously reported, the skit about the ongoing debate over Social Security featured a character, purportedly from the American Association of Armed Retired People, saying, ‘A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn’t safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us?’ While not named, it’s obvious the ’spoiled child’ is President Bush.

“‘Well, here’s your answer,’ the character continues, ‘you ungrateful whelp.’ At this point there is audio of four gunshots.

Meanwhile, Rhodes apologized for the skit on her show today (April 27). ‘It was a bit,’ Rhodes said. ‘It was bad. I apologize a thousand times.’”

http://www.billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor

JON STEWART VERSUS CNN

One more time:
http://www.oliverwillis.com/node/2394