Jon Stewart’s rally to restore sanity turned into a rally against cable news media. The media are still trying to figure out how to react. Some are upset. Keith Olbermann claimed that Stewart “jumped the shark”. The New York Times called Stewart a political activist. The right barely noticed. But if you pay attention to the media reaction to Stewart, you get the feeling that the media aren’t happy.
To fire or not to fire, that is the question. And recently it seems as if an increasing number of news organizations are deciding to pull the plug on journalists who have voiced their own opinions outside the walls of their employers’ corporations.
Watching media cover Kentucky politics this year has never been dull. The latest incident involves Lauren Valle, the moveon.org worker who suffered the infamous head stomp from Rand Paul supporter Tim Profitt.
Lee Abrams resigned from the Chicago Tribune Friday. It’s not often you get to witness the media eating their own but in Abrams’ case, cannibalism was allowed.
Of course, the press never considered Abrams one of their own. Abrams was a radio guy whose ideas affected the radio business on a number of occasions.
The Chicago Tribune’s banner headline on Tuesday, September 7, the day Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he would not seek a record seventh term, read: “City wants $1 billion more for O’Hare Plan.”
This signaled two things, one obvious, the other less so . . . but worth exploring, for it helps explain why Daley is calling it quits after 21 years in office.