Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner

Thursday night the John McCain and Barack Obama exchanged self-deprecating jokes and some good-natured humor aimed at one another, instead of campaign attacks like they have been at the Presidential Debates. Among the guests in the spotlight were Hilary Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg, and Government Patterson as well as Henry Kissinger. It was nice to see the two candidates step out of the negative campaigning mode before the election and it humanized the candidates. The roast was refreshing to watch after the build up of so much tension from campaigning. I personally liked watching this better than watching the debates. About 4 million dollars were raised at the charity event organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York to benefit underprivileged children. Both candidates acknowljavascript:void(0)edged each other with compliments in the end.

"What Liberal Media?"

In class we discussed the article published in The Nation by Eric Alterman called “What Liberal Media?” Alterman starts to set the record straight by writing a comprehensive book refuting the many allegations about liberal media. What surprised me most about the article was not the fact that there is an indisputable conservative slant in the media but rather that many conservatives are aware that the myth of the liberal media is outright false. He goes on to explain how Right Wing supporters have been triumphant in propagating this myth. Alterman critiques claims made by conservatives like Ann Coulter, Bernard Goldberg, and Rush Limbaugh about liberal media bias. The most obvious reason conservatives have been successful in spreading this myth has been due to the fact that there media moguls are predominantly conservative and therefore posses significant power over how and what information is exposed to the public. I think it’s scary that news reporting is controlled by only a handful of powerful media tycoons and it makes me wonder when it will be normal to see a fair angle in the news. This article should be read by everyone, especially high school and college students, future journalists and those citizens who wish to vote.

Ziegler's editorial on David Foster Wallace soon after his death:

http://johnziegler.com/editorials_details.asp?editorial=165


Reaction to Ziegler's Editorial:
http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/how-to-be-an-asshole-by-john-ziegler/

I'm curious to know what people think about Ziegler's editorial on David Foster Wallace.