Category: Media Criticism

  • Thoughts on 2025 04-16 Wall Street Journal

    Mick

    This article OH MY GOD: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-musk-children-mothers-ashley-st-clair-grimes-dc7ba05c?mod=hp_lead_pos7 Phenomenal reporting. Separately, Dear Mike Gallagher, didn’t you used to have a job where you could have done something about this? Like, very recently? https://www.wsj.com/opinion/time-for-accountability-on-the-covid-lab-leak-coverup-fauci-gain-of-function-194730d4?mod=opinion_lead_pos6 Read more

  • Thoughts on: some spot-on commentary

    Mick

    David Wallace-Wells has a fantastic and nuanced look back on the pandemic. This seems 100% in line with my feelings and memories, but most media figures forget what’s uncomfortable and remember only what they can use as a cudgel against their political foes. Speaking on the Know Your Enemy Podcast: This is based on a… Read more

  • Thoughts on: The Dispatch Podcast 2025 03-10 with Brianna Wu

    Mick

    Somebody from the Dispatch I have never heard of interviews frequent Free Press contributor Brianna Wu. Wu is an interesting person, and the Free Press (specifically Bari Weiss in round table podcasts*) typically present her as an “in the room” Democratic donor and strategist who is disaffected with the direction of the party. I am… Read more

  • RIP Capital City Sunday

    Mick

    Sad to hear — Capital City Sunday was one of the few outlets that seemed to get a good cross-section of state legislators for interviews. They were never particularly incisive interviewers, but it was one of the few places to hear Vos directly without tuning into talk radio bullshit. Not surprising, of course. We’ve heard… Read more

  • Thoughts on: John Carreyrou’s latest investigative report in NYT

    Mick

    Amazing reporting, as to be expected from this guy. This is why I subscribe to newspapers! I got some hobbying done — or more accurately, partially completed — over the holiday break. I’m really hoping to use this blog as motivation for that. However, I have busied myself with tying up loose ends in my… Read more

  • Thoughts on: Honestly with Bari Weiss 2025 01-09 Podcast on England’s Rape Gangs

    Mick

    https://www.thefp.com/p/the-uk-grooming-gangs-and-the-cowardice-05e Bari Weiss moderates a discussion between Julie Bindel and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Bindel is a journalist and advocate that relates an account of the events that is largely in line with what I recall of the coverage at the time. Hirsi Ali is, as I understand, more broadly an anti-Islamicist and critic of immigration… Read more

  • Thoughts on: Our Willful Disinformation Ecosystem

    Mick

    Frank Bruni’s recent column (which I thought was the past Sunday, but is dated December 19) is dead on. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/opinion/donald-trump-promises.html Donald Trump and Republicans simply will not, and cannot, be ‘held to account.’ These are people who believe verifiably false information. Trump will claim victory no matter what the actual conditions or consequences of his… Read more

  • Thoughts on: WSJ 2024 12-26 Covid Lab Leak Article

    Mick

    https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/fbi-covid-19-pandemic-lab-leak-theory-dfbd8a51?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink I read this reporting with great interest this morning, but on first read it does not contain any new information beyond naming a source within the FBI that believes in the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab leak theory of Covid-19 origins. It also, I feel, conflates a ‘lab leak’ with the more pernicious idea… Read more

  • Thoughts on: Meet the Press 2024 12-22 “Finding Common Ground” Special

    Mick

    https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/december-22-sens-raphael-warnock-and-james-lankford-227692613726 I think special episodes are a mistake. A lot happened this week, including last-minute passage of a continuing resolution for federal funding, ABC News capitulating to Trump’s libel lawsuit, continuing war in the Middle East, and a school shooting here in Madison (off the top of my head). Meet the Press should consider its… Read more

  • Thoughts on: WSJ Editorial Regarding Drones and Lost Trust 2024 12-16

    Mick

    https://www.wsj.com/opinion/drones-and-the-cost-of-lost-trust-ufos-government-swarm-new-jersey-3bc5e936?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink “Drones and the Cost of Lost Trust” published Dec. 15, 2024 at 5:15 pm ET. The summary of this Wall Street Journal opinion from the Editorial Board reads: “Conspiracy theories fly and public anger builds when Americans don’t believe their government.” Somewhat predictably, WSJ says this distrust blooms from the compost generated by the… Read more