Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Sexism In The Media Coverage of this Campaign

Sadly, up until now, Clinton supporters have done a poor job of pointing out specific instances of gender bias in the media coverage of this historic campaign. Even as an Obama supporter, I saw comments made by pundits that were clearly beyond the pale that somehow went unchallenged. However, the Women's Media Center has done a SUPERB job of creating a video montage that pieces together some of the most offensive comments made by some of the more thoughtless pundits out there (this whole 'comment first, think later' trend in punditry has to be killed at the stake).

As an Obama supporter, I thought that MSNBC's decision to have an all-white male cast of commentators (with the exception of a brief comment from Harold Ford) cover yesterday's historic June 3 Obama "victory" speech and Clinton "(non-)concession" speech was an amazingly thoughtless editorial decision. The first African-American candidate to secure a major party presidential nomination and the first woman to lose a high profile race for the same position and reaction to the night culminating these events is covered by four white men? Absurd.

In any case, as the father of a beautiful young girl, this state of affairs worries me deeply.

If this concerns you, please sign the WMC petition on this issue and link/forward this blog entry to anyone you think would be concerned.

Washington Post Misses Obvious Questions

The Washington Post's coverage on the Metropolitan Police Department's latest ineffectual idea to take on a sudden spike in crime once again fails to address key questions.

MPD says it will cordon off one block on a one-way one-lane major thoroughfare in the violence-plagued Trinidad neighborhood.

But The Post fails to ask some basic key questions:

Why this block? Is this particular block a high crime area? Exactly how many people have been shot from vehicles or in vehicles? Can't pedestrians shoot people sitting in vehicles, decimating the logic for half the rationale here? How many shooters are on foot?

Since Montello is a one-lane one-way street (a key fact not mentioned in this article), won't this just create gridlock for people legitimately trying to navigate Trinidad residential streets? Also, since the location of the checkpoint is known, won't criminals just take West Virginia or Trinidad Ave instead?

This doesn't sound very effectual at ALL.

If there is an open air drug market on this block, it will move to another block.

There have been a lot of killings in that area, but I don't think this is anywhere near a solution.

More officers on bike patrol, at night, might be an effective way of reducing a brazen crime like out-in-the-open homicide, but this seems like it will just slow traffic, not crime.

Local Indiana News Welcomes Marine Invasion



Is there any action committed by the U.S military which the corporate news structure will critically analyze?

Despite the fact that we're currently at war with TWO countries where plenty of urban areas are available for training, the Marines laughably claim they have to train for urban warfare in Indianapolis and a local news channel unquestionably swallows and regurgitates this story in the link above.

These PR-trained robots will probably be grinning ear to ear when they report that we've all been sold as slaves to Halliburton, too.