Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Media Stocks--Newspaper, TV, Radio, etc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (478)	6/24/2012 12:01:58 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 826

Former CBS Producer Disgusted by MSNBC WAWA Edits: “What the hell is wrong with you guys?” ]After a solid week of MSNBC being hammered by other media outlets about their airing of a deceptively edited video to smear Romney on the Andrea Mitchell show, I’m sure they hoped the story would just go away. It looks like they might have a bad weekend. Andrea Mitchell’s shameless non-apology on Tuesday precipitated an angry message from Greg Kandra, former CBS news writer and producer, who had previously defended the news media from accusations of liberal bias. The blog post entitled, “Memo to NBC: What the hell is wrong with you?” reads as follows [emphasis added]: Today, we have Andrea Mitchell’s spectacularly lame followup to “criticism of the Romney clip edit” — which amounted to Ms. Mitchell saying, with a sigh and a frown, “Oh, bother. Fine. Here’s what we left out.” She failed to acknowledge what the “criticism” entailed; she neglected to point out how the editing misrepresented the event being covered; and she offered nothing resembling an apology or an admission of responsibility for something that was, as a matter of fact, irresponsible. I’m tired. Truly. I’ve grown weary of trying to defend the indefensible and explain the inexplicable. For years, people have stomped their feet and pounded their fists and snorted “Liberal media bias!” and I’ve always tut-tutted and shooshed them and said, “No, no. Calm down. They meant well. It was just a misunderstanding. A mistake. These things happen.” I spent over 25 years working in the oft-reviled Mainstream Media and I saw up close and personal how the sausage was made. I knew the people who wielded the knives and wore the aprons, and could vouch (most of the time, anyway) for their good intentions. But now? Forget it. I’m done. You deserve what they’re saying about you. It’s earned. You have worked long and hard to merit the suspicion, acrimony, mistrust and revulsion that the media-buying public increasingly heaps upon you. You have successfully eroded any confidence, dispelled any trust, and driven your audience into the arms of the Internet and the blogosphere, where biases are affirmed and like-minded people can tell each other what they hold to be true, since nobody believes in objective reality any more. You have done a superlative job of diminishing what was once a great profession and undermining one of the vital underpinnings of democracy, a free press. Good job. I just have one question: What the hell is wrong with you guys?

To: MJ who wrote (478)	6/26/2012 2:52:34 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 826

*Suspended reporter tweeted: Racism ‘secret sauce in the Politico shtburger’ 06/26/2012 By David Martosko Executive Editor dailycaller.com Joe Williams, the White House correspondent whom Politico suspended last week after he made racially insensitive remarks about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, tweeted about his employer on the evening of March 30 that “what’s most irritating is the overlay of blatant racism. that’s the secret sauce in the Politico shitburger.” The Daily Caller has obtained an archive covering several months of Williams’ Twitter activity. In a tweet nine minutes before that comment, Williams wrote that “we’re supposed to be about justice and the truth, but we’re mostly about posturing, arcane rules and CYA [Cover Your Ass]. annoying.” The two messages seem out of place in the context of Williams’ other tweets that day, most of which involved mocking Romney for being wealthy. “We get to talk about [Romney's] car elevator for another day?” he tweeted. “#Awesome.” It’s possible the comments critical of Politico were meant to be “direct messages” — private notes intended for a single person to read — and broadcast publicly by mistake. But when asked about his March 30 tweets, Williams would only say, “I was having a bad day,” before referring TheDC to attorney Jeff Jacobovitz for comment. Three hours later, Williams’ Twitter account was deleted. He had “protected” it after his Politico suspension went into effect, making its contents unavailable to all but a small group of Twitter followers whom he had approved. Williams, a former deputy Washington bureau chief at the Boston Globe, began reporting for Politico in April 2011. His presence in the newsroom came to a crashing halt, however, after he told MSNBC’s Martin Bashir during a June 21 broadcast that Romney ”is very, very comfortable, it seems, with people who are like him. … [W]hen he comes on ‘Fox and Friends,’ they’re like him, they’re white folks who are very much relaxed in their own company.” Politico suspended Williams for that comment, noting ”an unacceptable number of Joe Williams’s public statements on cable and Twitter” that “cumulatively, require us to make clear that our standards are serious, and so are the consequences for disregarding them.” In one tweet first reported by Breitbart.com, Williams responded to an observation by Romney’s wife Ann, who said his political handlers should “unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out” so Americans could see his humorous side. “Either Ann Romney meant Mitt is flaccid or that when we ‘unzip him’ we’ll find he’s a d–k,” Williams tweeted. The tweets from March 30 show a racial prism over Williams’ perception of how Politico assembles its reporting. Racial issues have made frequent appearances in Williams’ tweets. On April 2, responding to reports that conservative talker Rush Limbaugh said reactions to the Trayvon Martin shooting were “doing more harm to the black community,” Williams tweeted that the statement was “mighty white of him.” On April 11, after National Review fired long-time columnist John Derbyshire in response to racist arguments he made in another publication, Williams wrote that the conservative journal as a whole was a racist institution. National Review “sets up ‘remedial racism’ course,” he mock-reported in a tweet. And responding to questions raised in an April 10 Washington Post column about why Republicans had not promoted Florida Rep. Allen West as a possible vice presidential nominee, Williams tweeted an answer: They “found out he’s black.” Williams’ March 30 tweet complaining about “blatant racism” at Politico may refer to the news outlet’s choice of assignments for him: During the weeks leading up to that date, most of Williams’ non-White House reporting focused on the Trayvon Martin shooting, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, and the disgraced “green jobs czar” Van Jones. Politico published Williams’ story about Jones — a positive review of the black community organizer’s book, “ Rebuild the Dream” — less than two hours before he sent the two tweets about his employer. That context may be important, and Jacobovitz complained to TheDC that other news organizations had made his client “the victim of … articles that have mischaracterized and taken out of context various tweets or TV statements.” But Jacobovitz, speaking for Williams, declined to answer when TheDC asked him to provide a meaningful context for the March 30 tweets. Reached for comment, Politico editor-in-chief John Harris told TheDC that he was largely unfamiliar with Twitter, and that ”it would be irresponsible for me to comment at this point.” Although Jacobovitz said that he “represent[s]” Williams “with respect to negotiations with Politico,” Harris said he wasn’t aware of who Jacobovitz was. Read more: dailycaller.com NEXT: Politico editor-in-chief says it's 'irresponsible for me to comment at this point'** Read more: dailycaller.com

To: MJ who wrote (478)	6/27/2012 9:53:06 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 826

Lefty media Scampers to "Handle" Obama's Fast and Furious Disaster Fortune Magazine Tries to Tell The "Truth" About Fast and Furious, Fails Miserably Katie Pavlich Jun 27, 2012 townhall.com "A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust." That's the subtitle of an "investigation" from Fortune Magazine today, or in other words, a full out distortion and dismissal of the facts in the Fact and Furious case. The article is long and I'm not going to take the time to debunk the entire thing, but just a few points. First, the article gives a full defense of corrupt ATF Supervisor David Voth while smearing gun dealers as massive suppliers of drug cartels. Customers can legally buy as many weapons as they want in Arizona as long as they're 18 or older and pass a criminal background check. There are no waiting periods and no need for permits, and buyers are allowed to resell the guns. "In Arizona," says Voth, "someone buying three guns is like someone buying a sandwich." By 2009 the Sinaloa drug cartel had made Phoenix its gun supermarket and recruited young Americans as its designated shoppers or straw purchasers. Voth and his agents began investigating a group of buyers, some not even old enough to buy beer, whose members were plunking down as much as $20,000 in cash to purchase up to 20 semiautomatics at a time, and then delivering the weapons to others. Fact: During Operation Fast and Furious, gun dealers repeatedly emailed Voth, asking whether guns they were selling under orders from ATF, were ending up in the wrong hands. Voth assured them they were not. More than two thousands guns trafficked into Mexico and hundreds of dead victims later, that turned out to be a lie. Gun dealers repeatedly raised concerns about ATF telling them to allow straw purchasers using false ID and loads of cash to buy weapons. In 2010, a gun dealer emailed Voth because a straw purchaser had placed a large order and the dealer wanted to know if he should order more stock. Once again, so he could comply with ATF's order to sell. Voth told him, go right ahead. Order the guns, sell to the bad guys. On June 17, 2010 a concerned dealer wrote, "As per our discussion about over communicating I wanted to share some concerns that came up. Tuesday night I watched a segment of a Fox News report about firearms and the border. The segment, if the information was correct, is disturbing to me. When you, Emory and I met on May 13th I shared my concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in wrong hands. I know it is an ongoing investigation so there is limited information you can share with me. But as I said in our meeting, I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents [sic] safety because I have some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern AZ as well as my concern for all the agents [sic] safety that protect our country. If possible please email me back and share with me any reassurances that you can. As always thank you for your time and I send this email with all respect and a heart felt concern to do the right thing." Voth sent an email on April 2, 2010 saying, "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during the month of March alone, to include numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles," he went on, "I believe we are righteous in our plan to dismantle this entire organization and to rush in to arrest any one person without taking in to account the entire scope of the conspiracy would be ill advices to the overall good of the mission." In another email, Voth mentioned 1200 people killed in March 2010, yet still called the program "righteous." You can read more about Voth here. Next, the Fortune article claims officials directly involved in Fast and Furious never intentionally trafficked guns into Mexico and and actually seized guns. Quite simply, there's a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn. The guns sold during Fast and Furious didn't "eventually fall into criminal hands," they were put there intentionally as soon as ATF approved the sale of those guns to guys they knew were straw purchasers before they even walked through the door of the gun dealerships. Not to mention, weapons were never seized until they were found at violent crime scenes; 1400 remain missing. And of course, according to Fortune, this whole Fast and Furious scandal has been drummed up by...right wing bloggers! How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.) Right, exposing the horrors of this scandal according to Fortune is simply bloggers, CBS and Issa "amplifying" "complaints" made by ATF Whistleblower John Dodson. More like, telling the truth, Fortune. Also, Fortune quotes an IRS agent, but why was the IRS involved in Operation Fast and Furious? Because the IRS in partnership with ATF was giving gun dealers participating in the program advice about how to do their taxes with such a large inflow of cash. And of course, the Fortune article mocks Arizona for being a pro-Second Amendment state while implying the reason for cartel violence in Mexico is because of limited gun control laws in the state when it was ATF who was deliberately trafficking weapons directly to the cartels in Mexico, doing nothing about it. This is simply an attempt to put a sliver of reasonable doubt into the minds of potential jurors should supervisors like Voth face criminal prosecution down the road. The rest of my rebuttal to Fortune can be completed by reading my book. Becca Watkins, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform spokeswoman, has issued the following statement: “Fortune’s story is a fantasy made up almost entirely from the accounts of individuals involved in the reckless tactics that took place in Operation Fast and Furious. It contains factual errors – including the false statement that Chairman Issa has called for Attorney General Holder’s resignation – and multiple distortions. It also hides critical information from readers – including a report in the Wall Street Journal – indicating that its primary sources may be facing criminal charges. Congressional staff gave Fortune Magazine numerous examples of false statements made by the story’s primary source and the magazine did not dispute this information. It did not, however, explain this material to its readers. The one point of agreement the Committee has with this story is its emphasis on the role Justice Department prosecutors, not just ATF agents, played in guns being transferred to drug cartels in Mexico. The allegations made in the story have been examined and rejected by congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the Justice Department.” credit to calgal

To: MJ who wrote (478)	6/28/2012 9:45:03 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 826

ABC: 30 Seconds on Holder Contempt; Full Segment on Airport Baggage Auction by Breitbart News 28 Jun 2012 breitbart.com Breitbart News, monitoring ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer, has found the network's flagship news program gave less coverage to Congress's vote to hold a sitting Attorney General in contempt than the death of a "My Three Sons" actor and an auction program for lost airline luggage. The program led with stories on the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act and wildfires in Colorado--stories of equal magnitude to AG Eric Holder being found in criminal and civil contempt. WN then covered SCOTUS striking down the Stolen Valor Act, a law which criminalized false claims of military service. World News also devoted segments to a physical altercation between an airline employee and a passenger, the death of "My Three Sons" actor Don Grady, and an auction service for lost airline luggage. The program's coverage of today's contempt vote lasted a total of thirty seconds: Congress's vote ended at approximately 4:45 PM EST, 105 minutes before World News' broadcast at 6:30 PM EST. Rival NBC News was able to put together a full news package on the vote within this time.