Category: Media Beat column

The third anniversary of the Iraq invasion is bound to attract a lot of media coverage, but scant recognition will go to the pundits who helped to make it all possible. Continuing with long service to the Bush administration’s agenda-setting for war, prominent media commentators were very busy in the weeks before the invasion. At…

As each new season brings more waves of higher-tech digital products, I often think of Mark Twain. Along with being a brilliant writer, he was also an ill-fated investor — fascinated with the latest technical innovations, including the strides toward functional typewriters and typesetting equipment as the 19th century neared its close. Twain would have…

Evidently the president’s trip to India created an option too perfect to pass up: The man who has led the world in violence during the first years of the 21st century could pay homage to the world’s leading practitioner of nonviolence during the first half of the 20th century. So the White House announced plans…

Death is always in the news. From local car crashes to catastrophes in faraway places, deadly events are grist for the media mill. The coverage is ongoing — and almost always superficial. It may be unfair to blame journalists for failing to meet standards that commonly elude artists. For centuries, on the subject of death,…

When Dick Cheney surfaced on Wednesday long enough for an interview with Fox News eminence Brit Hume — an event that CNN’s Jack Cafferty promptly likened to "Bonnie interviewing Clyde" — the vice presidential spin emerged from a timeworn bag of political tricks. Cheney took responsibility. Whatever that means. The New York Times website swiftly…