Stories by Rory O'Connor
Filmmaker and journalist Rory O'Connor is the author of "Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio" (AlterNet Books, 2008). O'Connor also writes the Media Is A Plural blog.
MSNBC's star pundits have positioned the network as the progressive alternative to Fox.
Posted on Jun 1, 2009
The soft-spoken Keillor warns us not to get into a ""bloody battle over war crimes," as though this is about revenge, not justice.
Posted on May 20, 2009
In their mad dash to ensure that no one in the Bush administration is held accountable for torture, the media are putting the blame on all Americans.
Posted on May 13, 2009
Why do we leave it to children to demand the truth about torture and the rule of law?
Posted on May 7, 2009
Hell should reserve a special place for the journalists who supported torture in exchange for access and exaltation.
Posted on May 1, 2009
Is brand power the best way to keep the news trustworthy?
Posted on Mar 12, 2009
The rise of Facebook and Twitter herald changes for journalism, and pose serious challenges to about journalistic credibility and trust.
Posted on Jan 20, 2009
John McCain: You're better than that! Stop the hate speech before it's too late.
Posted on Oct 14, 2008
Only in America could a man who has called the mainstream media his "base" run against that very same media.
Posted on Sep 5, 2008
Would Jim Adkisson have killed without prompting from extreme right-wing talkers?
Posted on Aug 1, 2008
The notion that the days of right-wing dominance of the airwaves may well be numbered is rapidly becoming a reality.
Posted on Jun 20, 2008
Talk radio "shock jocks" are fretting publicly about the supposed return of the long-defunct Fairness Doctrine.
Posted on Jun 11, 2008
Shock radio host Ingraham is a master of sounding funny and appealing while dishing out the same hate speech as Sean Hannity.
Posted on Jun 7, 2008
An excerpt from AlterNet's newest book,
Shock Jocks: Hate Speech & Talk Radio.
Posted on May 23, 2008
This quick-witted woman has shattered another glass ceiling and is taking her rightful place in the traditional boys' club of big-time politics.
Posted on Apr 10, 2008
By mocking the media, quoting Saturday Night Live, and "practically browbeating reporters," Clinton's campaign lived to fight another day.
Posted on Mar 5, 2008
McKinnon, the media mastermind who helped launch Bush into office, says he won't attack Obama.
Posted on Feb 20, 2008
Clinton won by not losing and Obama lost by not winning.
Posted on Feb 1, 2008
The real racial dynamics of the Democratic race are beginning to emerge.
Posted on Jan 28, 2008
Why should ABC and Fox get to decide who is a viable candidate for president?
Posted on Jan 3, 2008
Why should ABC and Fox get to decide who is a viable candidate for president?
Posted on Jan 2, 2008
When seeking the best news of 2007, maybe we should look to ourselves, rather than the mainstream media sources writing the news to begin with.
Posted on Dec 21, 2007
It didn't take long for Don Imus' Big Media and Big Politics enablers to crawl out of the woodwork and embrace the shock jock all over again.
With a list of Imus's top 10 enablers.
Posted on Nov 19, 2007
The "Rasputin of radio" is back, ready to beat down the defenseless for more cheap laughs.
Posted on Nov 2, 2007
Economist Paul Krugman on how the right-wing media machine is destroying social progress.
Posted on Oct 26, 2007
Here's a look at O'Reilly's latest racial gaffe from his eye-opening visit to Harlem, plus the "lowlights" of his thoughts on race over the last few years.
Posted on Sep 26, 2007
A good friend mourns the passing of visionary social activist, human rights defender and Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick.
Posted on Sep 11, 2007
All the fear of unfiltered, unmediated questions delivered directly from the electorate was misplaced. It was CNN and the candidates who let us down.
Posted on Jul 24, 2007
No one should still wonder about the possibility, much less the efficacy, of 'citizen journalism.' But, more importantly, we should ask if more participation and better information will make us happier.
Posted on Jul 3, 2007
When a small Idaho newspaper held a mirror up to their community and exposed rampant pedophilia, they paid a heavy price at first. But their courageous journalism eventually paid off.
Posted on Jun 18, 2007
Michael Savage thinks gay parenting is child abuse and Bill O'Reilly boasts of being part of the "white, Christian, male power structure." It's time we build a new structure.
Posted on Jun 12, 2007
Ever wonder how writers know how to depict the FBI in films? Well, apparently they hold seminars to make sure they are portrayed in the best light.
Posted on Jun 7, 2007
Other than the desire to shock listeners -- and thereby create controversy, grow audiences and sell advertising -- the current spate of repulsive shock-jock gibberish all share something else: a salary from CBS.
Posted on May 16, 2007
Thursday is World Press Freedom Day -- a time to remember and celebrate the crucial role a free press plays in democracy and development.
Posted on May 1, 2007
Bowing to pressure, Ken Burns decided to amend his new PBS documentary about World War I that did not include Latinos. Let's hope PBS now amends their decision-making process.
Posted on Apr 13, 2007
The corporate overlords at CBS and NBC won't fire Imus unless they have to for financial reasons. So let's support the sponsors who have pulled out, and lean on the ones who haven't ... yet.
Posted on Apr 11, 2007
Filmmaker Ken Burns has come under intense criticism for not including any Hispanic Americans in his new 14-hour PBS documentary about World War II.
Posted on Apr 2, 2007
A recent New York Times article about the Libby trial is another example of their weird world view. Leave it to the New York Times to pronounce something "corrupt" and then embrace it as "crucial."
Posted on Mar 28, 2007
Scooter Libby faces up to 25 years in prison for obstructing the investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity, but he didn't do it alone ...
Posted on Mar 6, 2007
Does everyone's favorite conservative sociopath warrant sympathy or antipathy?
Posted on Mar 6, 2007
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