Politics

U.S. Spreads Its Diplomacy Around

"To make up for the diplomatic damage done by the Iraq war and to try and leave the U.S. better positioned to respond to -- and possibly even pre-empt -- conflagrations of the future," the Bush administration is trying to make foreign-service officers "more agile and less hemmed in by the high walls and bureaucracies of the traditional embassy." Currently, "a fifth of all U.S.

No

Republican Criticizes Bush Over Secret WMD Propaganda

The New York Times reports that "The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee lashed out at the White House on Thursday, criticizing attempts by the Bush administration to keep secret parts of a report on the role Iraqi exiles played in building the case for war against Iraq. The chairman, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas ...

No

Funding the Left

Back of one-hundred dollar billThe July 2006 issue of In These Times magazine carries an enlightening and overdue article about how the Left is funded, or not. The New Funding Heresies, written by Senior Editor Christopher Hayes, focuses on the relatively new group of very wealthy liberal and progressive funders called the Democracy Alliance. This group of close to one hundred donors has pledged to individually donate a minimum of $1 million over five years to organizations chosen from a docket that is vetted by the staff and board of the Alliance. In addition, each Democracy Alliance donor pays a $25,000 entry fee and annual dues of $30,000 to cover the operating expenses of the Alliance according to the article.

War Is For Children: Reading, Writing and Recruitment

Cobblestone cover

As a child I absolutely adored Cricket magazine, published by Carus Publishing. I now have a twelve-year old daughter who likewise enjoys their magazines for kids, but the May 2006 issue of Cobblestone Magazine floored me with its blatant pro-military marketing pitch to children.

Chances are, depending on your age, that either you or your children have read one of Carus’ publications at home, school, the library, or a doctor’s waiting room. For the smallest tykes—those under seven years old—they offer Ladybug, Babybug, and Click magazines. For six- to nine-year olds they put out Spider, Ask, and Appleseeds. And for the “tweens,” Calliope, Cobblestone, Cricket, Dig, Faces, Muse, Odyssey, and Cicada.

Government PR Dominates Washington Coverage, Says Veteran Reporter Pincus

Reflecting on his 50 years of reporting Washington politics, Washington Post journalist, Walter Pincus, notes that media coverage has "become dominated by increasingly sophisticated public relations practitioners, primarily in the White House and other agencies of government." Writing in an edition of the Nieman Reports on the theme of "journalistic courage", Pincus argues that "journalistic courage should include the refusal to publish in a newspaper or carry on a TV or radio news show any state

No

When Newspapers Fall for Political "Drops"

"Next time you see an 'exclusive' tag on a story about state politics, stop and have a closer look. The chances are that the story, far from being a feat of journalistic endeavor, is what we call in the trade 'a drop,'" writes Anne Davies in the Sydney Morning Herald. "You'll be able to tell it's a drop because it's likely to quote one side of politics only. This is often a condition of the drop." Drops, especially those in Sunday papers, help politicians influence the week's media agenda.

No

Pages

Subscribe to Politics