Last week, Dr. Kermit Gosnell was arrested for the murders of eight people. Now, normally if anyone in the country is accused of murdering 8 people (and, in fact, a reading of the grand jury report indicates he is suspected in the murders of untold more, and I do mean untold), that would be big news. This has not been big news. It’s been covered, but not in the way the 24-hour news cycle covers, say, a missing blonde woman.
Unrest in Egypt
Anti-government protests are shaking Egypt right now. It’s incredibly hard to get good information about what is going on there since the U.S.-backed Mubarak government (we give them over $1.3 billion annually, I believe) has shut down social media and regular media. Here’s just one recent example:
Crusaders and conspiracy theories
More than a few GetReligion readers dropped us a line or two to mention the Foreign Policy report about a recent Seymour Hersh speech. The Washington Post took interest in the speech, too. Here’s how reporter Paul Farhi covered it in his article “Hersh rebuked on ‘crusaders’:
Time test flies a faith-free Romney story
I’m sorry to bring this up, but it’s time – once again – to wrestle with the complicated reality that is GOP superstar (sort of) Willard Mitt Romney and the challenges he presents to mainstream reporters who cover his, at this time, unofficial candidacy for the White House in ’12.
Finding fresh angles at March for Life
The 38th annual March for Life was held today, an event for which media coverage is always a contentious topic. The video embedded here is something that came out from a pro-life group after some of the media coverage of last year’s march. As such, the language is rather partisan. But I highlight it to show what, exactly, pro-lifers complain about. Others argue that these complaints are such an annual rite themselves that maybe pro-life leaders should take some of the blame for their public relations problems.
AP: 'Bama Christians only Baptists
I’ll admit that I’m a bit ignorant about some of the things that go on in the corners of this country. But there is no way that the inference created by this AP story can be correct.
Ghost in the Shriver obits (again)
There really isn’t any question about the facts that belonged at the top of the obituaries for Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 2009 and, now, those noting the passing of her charismatic husband R. Sargent Shriver.
A little context goes a long way (Updated again)
Freshly inaugurated as Alabama’s new governor, Robert Bentley already is making national headlines — but not the kind likely to excite the Republican or his press office.
Correction? That picky fact about Isaiah 40
Join me, please, in meditating on our journalism question of the day: When publications make an error of fact and correct it, should they (a) change it quickly and move on or (b) change it and run a correction notice? Some of you may want to add a qualifying clause that says something like, “It depends on how important the error is, yada yada.”
