AlterNet.org: Media and Technology

New York Times "Stands Behind" Its Contested Reporting on the ACORN 'Pimp'

Brad Friedman, Brad Blog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:01 PST

The Times maintains its claim that James O'Keefe wore a pimp suit into ACORN offices -- despite an attorney general's report that says otherwise, and no corroborating evidence.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Racist

Sonia Scherr, SPLC Intelligence Report — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Researches have found that kids don't necessarily get their prejudice from their parents -- it is the community that fosters tolerance or prejudice.

New Orleans Revels in Saints' Superbowl Victory

Dave Zirin, TheNation.com — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:00:01 PST

Four years ago, it seemed Katrina had destroyed the Big Easy. The New Orleans Saints are now the Super Bowl Champs and the city is feeling fearless.

Sarah Palin Aims to Bust Up the Republican Party -- And the Tea Party Movement

Adele M. Stan, AlterNet — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Palin's speech was her boilerplate of non sequiturs and cognitive disconnections, but in the interview that followed, she revealed her hand in a game for the presidency.

Being 'Objective' Is Killing Newspapers, But We'll Be Much Worse Off When They Go Out of Business

Chris Hedges, Truthdig — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Donâ€™t blame the Internet. The bloodless and soulless journalism of the traditional media left newspapers on the wrong side of the growing class divide and their readers.

James O'Keefe, the Landrieu 'Sting' and the Truth About Conservative 'Journalism'

Eric Alterman, Center for American Progress — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

As the he antics of O'Keefe and company demonstrate, the right has failed to train many genuine journalists. So why do mainstream journalists swallow their line?

Could Your Cell Phone End Up Killing You?

Daniela Perdomo, AlterNet — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:01 PST

A new debate is raging over whether prolonged cell phone use poses serious health side effects.

Can Obama and Dems Overcome the Right's Talk Radio Monopoly?

Sue Wilson, AlterNet — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Will a recent plea by President Obama to learn more about talk radio be enough to loosen Limbaugh's stranglehold on the airwaves?

White "Savior-Afflicted" Christians, Black Haitian Babies: This Won't End Well

Devona Walker, AlterNet — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Would the Baptists accused of taking Haitian kids out of the country illegally have tried to pull this off in a predominantly white country? Doubtful.

Half-Naked Hot Chicks and Beer: The Sexist Guyland of the Super Bowl Beer Commercial

Vanessa Richmond, AlterNet — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

The land of beer is a fun and raucous place. It's also filled with deeply sexist images.

Planned Parenthood Posts Pro-Woman Ad, Putting the Pressure on CBS

Liliana Segura, AlterNet — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:01 PST

With Super Bowl Sunday only a few days away, the fight over Focus on the Family's overtly anti-choice ad featuring University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is raging.

The Right-Wing Media Machine Has Arrived on the Internet

Robert Parry, Consortium News — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

For years, the Right's media infrastructure had only one weak spot, the Internet, but now that has changed.

Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Are Upending Our Democracy

Janine Wedel, AlterNet — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Wedel argues in her new book that a group of corrupted elites are destroying the principles that define modern states, free markets and democracy itself.

Why Are Some Civil Rights Groups & Leaders On the Wrong Side of Net Neutrality?

James Rucker, Jack & Jill Politics — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:00:01 PST

The trickle-down economics proposed by the big broadband providers never works and has always failed communities of color.

Why Are Americans Passive as Millions Lose Their Homes, Jobs, Families and the American Dream?

Harriet Fraad, Tikkun — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Society-wide depression has struck America. Why it's happened and what we can do about it.

5 Ways Techno-Gadgetry Is Bringing Out the Worst in Humanity

Scott Thill, AlterNet — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Everything from handy gadgets like cell phones and iPods to user-friendly weaponry like Tasers have changed the way we work, play and police.

Against Closure: Why "Lost" Creators Should Resist the Urge to Tell All

Graham Hillard, Killing the Buddha — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

The problem is that a program whose guiding principle has been the introduction and prolonging of suspense cannot easily lay suspense aside -- and it shouldn't.

Why We're Addicted to Disaster Porn

David Sirota, AlterNet — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

We can thank the likes of Sanjay Gupta, Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper -- disaster porn stars with visions of Peabodys and Pulitzers dancing in their heads.

Howard Zinn: "We Should Not Give Up the Game Before All the Cards Have Been Played"

Howard Zinn, ZNet — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:01 PST

Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zigzag toward a more decent society.

Paul Krugman Trashes Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to His Face: 'Deliberate Misinformation'

John Byrne, Raw Story — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:00:01 PST

Krugman: "People did not know what was in the [health care] plan, and some of that was just poor reporting, some of it was deliberate misinformation."