Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
Once again, the CBC's Tony Burman waits until everyone else finishes prognosticating before regurgitating the conventional wisdom; however,this letter-from-the-editor-in-chief is a useful review on the impact of the forces buffeting the mainstream news media these days. An excerpt: The shakedown in the business forces that control these media companies can mask where the future of journalism [...]
Sat, October 21 2006 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The Toronto Star's Thomas Walkom brings up an inconvenient fact about the Juliet O'Neill story on Maher Arar that brought the wrath of the RCMP on her — it was wrong. And he cautions this should be taken as a lesson about assigning credibility to sources, particularly ones journalists must cite anonymously. An excerpt: Most [...]
Sat, October 21 2006 » Main Page, Media » Comments Off
The Beeb's David Loyd chats with a Taliban commander. This story argues that allowing corruption to flourish in Afghanistan is of immeasurable benefit to the Taliban. Some excerpts: “You destroyed our government and all because of just one guest in our country, Osama,” said the man leading the war against the British. … The commander [...]
Sat, October 21 2006 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Dubya held a video conference with his top generals today, says they talked tactics in Iraq. However, the overall “strategy,” if that’s the right word for it, remains the same.
Sat, October 21 2006 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri have cameos in a new Republican TV ad as the U.S. moves closer to its mid-term elections. An excerpt from the BBC story: The footage shows al-Qaeda leaders with captions of threatening statements, while the soundtrack of a ticking bomb plays in the background. The advertisement, which ends with [...]
Sat, October 21 2006 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media, politics » Comments Off
The Globe and Mail reconstructs how the firing of Toronto Star publisher Michael Goldbloom and editor-in-chief Giles Gherson went down — and why it's not really Torstar's biggest problem. Some excerpts: The mood was understandably sombre when a group of Torstar Corp. directors gathered in August for a board meeting at the publisher's Toronto headquarters. [...]