Archive for the Journalism Category

« Older Entries

Murthy v. Missouri:  AMA v. AAPS; Flaccid Amendment v. First Amendment.  The Speakers’ Corner And The Public Square. (March 18, 2024)

Posted in Censorship, First Amendment, Journalism, Supreme Court on March 18, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “The American Medical Association (AMA) provides the soundest diagnosis and prescription.”

K          “The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) provides the soundest diagnosis and prescription.”

. . .

J          “In brief, the AMA encourages the dissemination of accurate information and enforces the censorship of misinformation and disinformation.”

K          “In brief, the AAPS promotes the First Amendment and protects free speech.”

. . .

[See the discussion “AMA? BITFD!” by Ben Hunt in “Epsilon Theory” dated November 24, 2020.  (“I thought I was immune to being shocked by corporate mendacity and greed.  Then I started digging into the AMA.”)  See “Technocensorship: When Corporations Serve As a Front for Government Censors” by John Whitehead, the recipient of the Second Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 16, 2017), and Nisha Whitehead at The Rutherford Institute dated February 27, 2024.  Their amicus brief is more poetry than prosaic turgid legal prose.  (“The facts of this case are positively Orwellian.”]

[See the e-commentary at Graduation Advice:  Find The First Amendment (May 15, 2023).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The Supreme Court hears oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri this morning.

Questions presented: (1) Whether respondents have Article III standing; (2) Whether the government’s challenged conduct transformed private social-media companies’ content-moderation decisions into state action and violated respondents’ First Amendment rights; and (3) Whether the terms and breadth of the preliminary injunction are proper.

Leave a comment »

Revisiting “Does Any Institution In America Function? Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (December 9, 2019)” Four Years Later (December 11, 2023)

Posted in Academia, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Federal Reserve, Journalism on December 11, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “In the last four years?  Too many institutions are failing with each passing year.”

K          “Since our last discussion, the American Civil Liberties Union has gone off the rails and opted to fail.  Yet they have maintained their defense of some civil liberties.”

. . .

K          “The courts are increasingly militarized and weaponized war zones.  The major political crime families prosecute and persecute their opponents in the name of ‘Le Law’ before hand-picked and cooperative judges.”

J          “It depends on the court.  Count me a fan of the recent Colorado Supreme Court decision.”

. . .

J          “I agree the Federal Reserve is failing faster and may now have undermined all credibility and lost control of the economy.  That frank recognition does not inspire confidence.”

K          “End the Fed, they said.  Mend the Fed, I said.  End the Fed, I recently said.”

J          “A lawyer is heading the Fed.  I am uncomfortable with a lawyer heading the Fed.  I am also uncomfortable with a lawyer heading the Department of Just-Us.  And I am uncomfortable with an economist heading the Fed.  An English major should head the Fed.  Calculated obfuscation and willful misdirection should be eschewed and verboten, I say.” 

. . .

J          “You still nurturing your cavil with the MSM.”

K          “Still deeply troubled by the wholesale lack of integrity and independence.”

. . .

K          “For decades, I gave Academia a pass.  Academia has earned a failing grade.  I noted to someone recently that Harvard is ‘half a hedge fund and half a hustle’.  Think Eric Hoffer.  Are they going to refer to it as the Harvard Zuckerberg College of Arts and Sciences or the Harvard Gates College of Art and Sciences.  To distinguish their graduates.  Or warn others.”

J          “All of the profitable universities adhere to the same business plan.  There is not much difference.  Massive bloated bureaucracies of useless administrators pursuing petty grievances and protecting patches of turf rather than developing and analyzing doctrines, notions, ideas, hypothesis, and tentative conclusions and challenging others to do the same.  Some of the mascots are clever.”

. . . 

[See the e-commentary at Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 21, 2019) awarding the Noble Prize in Jurisprudence to the ACLU.  See the discussion of the ACLU’s failure in the face of a fundamental challenge to civil liberties in Korematsu Two; And The ACLU Endorses It! (September 6, 2021).  The state of journalism is discussed at Read, But Don’t Read (June 26, 2023), Is Tucker Carlson The Walter Cronkite Of Our Day? (July 17, 2023), 2024 Pulitzer In “Breaking News Reporting” And “Investigative Reporting News”:  Jeff Gerth And The Columbia Journalism Review / Kyle Pope (March 13, 2023) and Eighth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2023 (May 8, 2023).  The courts  are discussed at Weaponizing The Judiciary: Democratic Prosecutors + Democratic Judges; Republican Prosecutors + Republican Judges:  Bad Math, Very Bad Math (December 4, 2023) and The Government Stumbles; The Judicial Legislature Rumbles (October 2, 2023).  Academia was discussed years ago at “Adjunktification” In The S.I.C. (Schooling Industrial Complex) (March 13, 2017) and The “Intellectual Infrastructure Investment Act” (“III”)  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 11, 2019). E-con-omists and e-cono-omics are discussed at Wandering E-con-omists:  The Travels And Travails Of E-con-omic Sciences (November 4, 2019).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy our economy.”  Chris Hedges

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”  Eric Hoffer

DNC = RNC = WWP

Leave a comment »

Is Tucker Carlson The Walter Cronkite Of Our Day? (July 17, 2023)

Posted in Internet, Journalism on July 17, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J         “No.”

. . .

J          “Nope.”

. . .

J          “No way.”

. . .

J          “Not a chance.”

. . .

J         “Not in a million, two hundred seventy-four thousand, six hundred and thirteen years.”

. . .

K          “He asks questions.  He listens to answers.  He challenges conclusions.”

. . .

J          “Not with a 3.048 meter pole.”

. . .

K          “I can assure you that I am deeply surprised to find myself even entertaining the hypothesis.  He was at Faux.”

. . .

J          “He is a snake oil salesman selling poisonous snake oil.”

. . .

K          “He is taking flak.”

. . .

J          “Nyet.”

. . .

K          “He is close to the target.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Tulsi, MSM, NYT, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, Real News, Fake News, Neo-McCarthyism.  Oh, And Happy Halloween! (October 28, 2019) and Russian Interference; Russian Collusion.   Epilogue (March 25, 2019).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“The more flak you get the closer you are to the target.”  World War Two bomber’s observation

“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”  Bertrand Russell

Leave a comment »

Eighth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2023 (May 8, 2023)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, First Amendment, Journalism, Pushitzer Prize In Commentary on May 8, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

            “The envelope please.  . . .  This year’s Pushitzer Prize in Commentary is awarded to . . . Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger and Bari Weiss . . . for their work exposing the alliance between Twitter and other Big Tech Behemoths and Big Government that coordinates efforts to suppress and censor free speech.  For their exposure of 51 foreign policy types who knowingly and actively interfered in the 2020 election in support of Biden.  And for their efforts stirring the pot, asking hard questions, demanding answers, rejecting lies, spotlighting uncomfortable truths, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.  And being journalists.”

. . .

[See “Post-Decency Politics:  House Democrats Use Hearing to Attack Both Free Speech and a Free Press” by Jonathan Turley in “JonathanTurley.org” dated March 13, 2023 and “Why Do Mainstream Democrats Hate Matt Taibbi?” by Yves Smith, the recipient of the Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022), in “Naked Capitalism” reprinting “Democrats vs. Democrats – One of Them Will Lose” by Thomas Neuburger in “neuburger.substack.com” dated April 6, 2023.]

[See the blatant dishonesty, hypocrisy and cowardice of the corporate stenographers who masquerade as journalists in America and cover for each other but disregard one of the world’s most courageous journalists in the proclamation “Journalism Organizations Call On Administration To Prioritize Reporters Taken Hostage [But Not Real Reporters Such As Julian]” dated April 14, 2023.  And not a word about Gonzalo Lira today.]

[See the e-commentary on the ongoing international crime at The Persecution Of Assange And The Feckless MSM (September 21, 2020).]

[See the e-commentary on the Commentary Award and previous recipients at Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022), Sixth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2021 (June 7, 2021), Fifth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2020 (May 4, 2020), Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019), Third Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2018 (April 16, 2018), Second Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2017 (April 10, 2017), First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016) and Pulitzers Are Pro-War?  Pressing The Pushitzers (April 22, 2013).]

[Please send your nomination for the Pushitzer Prize in Commentary for 2024 and a supporting letter by January 21, 2024 to e-ssay@gci.net and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Make journalism great again

Make journalism journalism again

Knowledge is not power, but ignorance is powerless

“First they came for the journalists.  We don’t know what happened after that.”

“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.”  George Orwell

Leave a comment »

2024 Pulitzer In “Breaking News Reporting” And “Investigative Reporting News”:  Jeff Gerth And The Columbia Journalism Review / Kyle Pope (March 13, 2023)

Posted in Journalism, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Russia on March 13, 2023 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “One can hope.  He is in the Club, but he has challenged the Narrative with Facts.  He is risking his position yet may now be old enough not to care.  The two Awards should also be awarded jointly to the ‘Columbia Journalism Review’ that showed remarkable courage and integrity.  And with a nod to Kyle Pope.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “They should revoke the Pulitzers awarded for the sham and the fraud in 2018.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “The individuals who were wrongly awarded the Pulitzers in 2018 should muster the dignity and integrity to return the awards.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.”

. . .

K          “And apologize.”

L          “Never happen.”

K          “Of course not.  That would contravene the American Way.”

. . .

[See “The Press versus the President” in four parts:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of Jeff Gerth’s magnum opus in the “Columbia Journalism Review” dated January 30, 2023; see “The Press Reckoning on Russiagate” by Patrick Lawrence in “Consortium News” dated February 7, 2023; “Columbia Journalism Review Russiagate Post-Mortem Is a Good Start” by Mark Hemingway in “RealClearPolitics” dated February 6, 2023 and “Take a Bow, Columbia Journalism Review” by Matt Taibbi in “Racket News” dated February 8, 2023.]

[See the e-commentary at Russian Interference; Russian Collusion.   Epilogue (March 25, 2019) and Russian Interference; Russian Collusion (February 26, 2018).  Joe’s Award should have been bestowed for the ideas and insights in these two pieces.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Russia exists to teach Americans hate and to hate.  If Russia did not exist, America would have to create it.

“knowingly, knowingly, knowingly lying, omitting, disinforming, fabricating, and covering up”

“For deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration. (The New York Times entry, submitted in this category, was moved into contention by the Board and then jointly awarded the Prize.)”  Pulitzer Announcement in 2018.

Leave a comment »

Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022)

Posted in Economics, Journalism, Pushitzer Prize In Commentary on May 9, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

            “The envelope please.  . . .  This year’s Pushitzer Prize in Commentary is awarded to . . . Yves Smith (Susan Webber) with Naked Capitalism . . . for stirring the pot, asking hard questions, demanding answers, rejecting lies, spotlighting uncomfortable truths, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.  And being a journalist.  And choreographing a collective of journalists who comment with insight and integrity on finance, economics, politics, power and life.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary on the ongoing international crime at The Persecution Of Assange And The Feckless MSM (September 21, 2020).]

[See the e-commentary on the Commentary Award at Sixth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2021 (June 7, 2021), Fifth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2020 (May 4, 2020), Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019), Third Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2018 (April 16, 2018), Second Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2017 (April 10, 2017), First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016), Pulitzers Are Pro-War?  Pressing The Pushitzers (April 22, 2013) and Economics And Finance:  Girls v. Boys (June 4, 2018).]

[Please send nominations for the Pushitzer Prize in Commentary for 2023 and a supporting letter by January 21, 2023 to e-ssay@gci.net and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Naked Capitalism:  Fearless commentary on finance, economics, politics and power

Make journalism great again

Make journalism journalism again

“The purpose of arresting Julian Assange is to send a message to the people, especially journalists, to be quiet and don’t get out of line.  If we, the people, allow the government to control us through fear, we are no longer free, we are no longer America.”  Tulsi Gabbard

Leave a comment »

Cameo In Courage Award Nominee: Julian Assange (January 31, 2022)

Posted in Cameo In Courage Award, Courage, Hypocrisy, Journalism on January 31, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

PROFILE IN COURAGE AWARD® – SUBMIT A NOMINATION

Award nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis. Nominations received after February 15th of each year will be rolled over for consideration the following year. Ordinarily, the award will be made to living Americans who are or were elected officials.  Individuals at all levels of government—federal, state and local—are eligible for the award.  An emphasis will be placed on contemporary acts of political courage. Please consider the Award Criteria to determine whether the person you wish to nominate would be an appropriate recipient of the Profile in Courage Award®.

Tell Us About Your Nominee for the Profile in Courage Award

Nominee First Name: Julian

Nominee Last Name: Assange

Act(s) of political courage for which your nominee is to be considered: Courageously standing up for free speech and courageously challenging illegal and immoral government action.

Enter other…

Tell Us About Yourself

First Name: e-

Last Name: commentator

Email Address:  e-ssay@gci.net

Zip / Postal Code:

All information submitted will be kept confidential by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and will be used only to communicate with you about your nomination and the Foundation’s activities.  No information on this form will be disclosed to any other person or entity.

. . .

[See the Cameo In Courage Award for Julian Assange in 2019 at Fourth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2019 (April 8, 2019) and the most recent award at Sixth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2021 (April 5, 2021).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Make courage courageous again

___________________________________________________

A Petition to President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.:  Pardon Julian Assange

Whereas Journalist Julian Paul Assange and his media organization, Wikileaks, has in the respected tradition of American journalism obtained and published information that is classified and newsworthy, a practice shared with the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others and

Whereas in the fifteen years of its existence the authenticity and accuracy of materials published by Wikileaks has never been questioned or disputed and

Whereas assertion by the American Intelligence Services that Julian Assange is the agent of a “Hostile Foreign State” or the Russian government are politically suspect and completely unproven and denied by Assange and

Whereas Julian Assange has consistently denied that material obtained from the Democratic National Committee and published by Wikileaks came from the Russian State and has provided unimpeachable proof to U.S. authorities and

Whereas Julian Assange, now in failing health, is being held in solitary confinement and is being extradited by British authorities to the United States for trial and

Whereas Julian Assange is an impeccably-honest, incredibly-brave, humanitarian journalist, who provides an invaluable platform for whistleblowers and concerned citizens exposing corruption and criminality infesting governments, nullifying democracy and obliterating human rights, around the world and

Whereas there are absolutely no legitimate legal grounds to prosecute Assange and, as the U.S. Department of Justice admitted in 2013, doing so would expose all U.S. journalistic and news outlets to similar criminal jeopardy.

Therefore I urge President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. to issue a full and unconditional pardon to the journalist Julian Paul Assange in the interests of justice, mercy, truth and unity.  This humanitarian act could be the most consequential and far-reaching action in your first term.

Leave a comment »

Pulchritudinous Pay Walls (July 26, 2021)

Posted in Digital, Internet, Journalism on July 28, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Beautiful, baby.”

J          “If you barrier it, they will not come?  Hopefully.”

. . .

K          “We should be so lucky.  Some sites are bivouacked behind a paywall of some sort that may limit their fan base without expanding their profits.  That is promising.”

J          “If you build it behind a barrier, they will not necessarily come.  There is hope.”

. . .

K          “The barriers used to mine the viewer’s wallet are varied.  Either there is an absolute pay wall, or a pay wall that applies to articles on one walled day but not on another open day, or a part one ‘teaser’ and a blocked part two promising all the salacious insights, or a plebeian site that is a ‘come on’ to a patrician product accessed by a secret code available only to club members.”

J          “Some sites require one to be a premium member to view or post comments.  Easy enough.  I don’t view or post comments.  I don’t participate.  I boycott.”

. . .

J          “When you black hole yourself into a vortex, your own computer is instantly infested and infected with something quaintly called ‘cookies’ and other technological cancers.  Ads drop from above and rise from below and are hurled from the left flank and the right flank.  Things explode from nowhere and everywhere.  The assault does not end until you manage to crawl out of the maelstrom.  The Internet.  It is not a pretty place.”

. . .

K          “The few stray Prophets With Honor out there are not making much profit.  They deserve support.  They are not getting it.”

J          “They deserve a listen.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

DON’T CLICK ON IT!

If you are not paying for the product, you are indubitably the prey

The Internet.  It is not for the fainthearted.

Leave a comment »

The Persecution Of Assange And The Feckless MSM (September 21, 2020)

Posted in Cameo In Courage Award, First Amendment, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media on September 21, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Most media outlets are not concerned about press freedom because they are completely free to say precisely what they are directed to say.”

J          “The only journalists commenting on the most critical freedom of the press case of our time are commentators such as award-winning Caitlin Johnstone and historian and human rights advocate Craig Murray, those at Consortium News, and a few other heroes, stragglers and renegades.”

. . .

K          “What would RBG say?”

J          “I respectfully dissent.”

. . .

[See “Empire’s mask slips at Julian Assange trial” in “The Asia Times” dated September 18, 2020 by Pepe Escobar.]

[See some of the e-commentary by typing “Assange” in the search box.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Have a peaceful International Day of Peace

“First they came for the journalists.  We don’t know what happened after that.”

Have a peaceful Equinox

Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Leave a comment »

Fifth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2020 (May 4, 2020)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Journalism, Press/Media, Pulitzer, Pushitzer, Pushitzer Prize In Commentary on May 4, 2020 by e-commentary.org

[Google continues to block access to https://e-commentary.org/ with no justification or recourse.]

. . .

          “The envelope please.  . . .  This year’s Pushitzer Prize in Commentary is awarded to . . . Whitney Webb . . . for stirring the pot, asking hard questions, demanding answers, rejecting lies, spotlighting uncomfortable truths, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.  And being a journalist and a patriot for the Planet.”

. . .

[See “Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab With Millions Of U.S. Dollars For Risky Coronavirus Research” in “Newsweek” dated April 28, 2020 by Rusty Guterl.]

[See the e-commentary at “Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019)”, “Third Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2018 (April 16, 2018)”, “Second Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2017 (April 10, 2017)”, “First Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2016 (April 18, 2016)” and “Pulitzers Are Pro-War?  Pressing The Pushitzers (April 22, 2013)”.  See the e-ssay written fifteen years ago titled “Ohio – Not Forgettin’ Ohio; The Battleground State Battles On (May 2, 2005)” on the fiftieth anniversary.”]

[Please send nominations for the Pushitzer Prize in Commentary for 2021 and a supporting letter by January 24, 2021 to e-ssay@gci.net and send the entry fee to your favorite charity.]

. . .    

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.”  Charlie Munger

For good and honest stuff

Dissent is patriotic

Plant a garden

 

Poor journalism

Need integrity, courage

Need to save Planet

Leave a comment »

« Older Entries