Media Nation

By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions

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Postscript II: Tucker Carlson unleashes the flying monkeys

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On April 16, 2021

In Media Nation

The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr has a must-read story about Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s habit of singling out journalists who’ve criticized him — or simply expressed views he doesn’t like — thus subjecting them to harassment and even death threats. Among them: NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny, Los Angeles Times columnist Virginia Heffernan and Grio reporter April Ryan. Barr writes:

Carlson cut his teeth jousting with the nation’s top elected officials and brand-name pundits on CNN’s “Crossfire” 20 years ago. But as his influence within the conservative media ecosystem has grown, with some calling for him to run for president in 2024, he has increasingly found fodder in criticizing lesser-known media figures whom he presents to his audience as symbols of liberalism run amok. And a subset of viewers are inspired to personally harass those journalists with threatening messages.

Nearly all the victims cited by Barr are women.

Earlier:

An ethical dilemma in Maine as a police officer pretends to be a reporter

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On March 12, 2021

In Media Nation

Image (cc) 2008 via the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center

Now here’s an ethical dilemma. In Livermore Falls, Maine, a man who had taken four people hostage in a home called a television news reporter who was outside covering the standoff. Police asked the reporter to hand them his phone. He complied, and an officer continued the conversation with the hostage-taker while pretending to be the reporter.

It would seem to violate any sense of journalistic ethics — and yet it was a life-or-death situation. What would you have done? I think I would have done exactly what the reporter, Taylor Cairns of CBS 13, did, and then wondered later if there might have been a better way to handle it. I definitely believe Cairns did the right thing in the moment.

Become a member of Media Nation today

Earlier this week, University of Maine journalism professor Michael Socolow and I talked with Nick Schroeder of the Bangor Daily News. As I told Schroeder, “You can see what a difficult situation everybody was in. Lives were at stake here.” But I also told him that maybe this should lead to training for both reporters and police officers aimed at coming up with a better solution if a similar situation should arise in the future.

The story came to a gruesome ending. Though none of the hostages was harmed, the hostage-taker, Donald White, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after having been shot by a state police officer, according to police.

Reporter arrested at protest says it’s important for journalists to bear witness

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On March 9, 2021

In First Amendment, Media Nation

USA Today has an account of Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri’s testimony at her trial stemming from her arrest at a Black Lives Matter protest last summer. (The Register and USA Today are both Gannett papers.)

“It’s important for journalists to be on the scene and document what’s happening,” Sahouri said as part of her testimony. “Protests erupted not just across the country but all over the world. I felt like I was playing a role in that. I know we are a small city, but I felt like I was playing a role in that.”

Here, I think, is the key:

The judge has also not ruled on a motion filed by Sahouri’s attorney during the trial for a directed verdict to decide the case in Sahouri and Robnett’s favor. [Sahouri and her then-boyfriend, Spenser Robnett, were both pepper-sprayed and arrested.]

This case should be thrown out as quickly as possible — not just to ensure that justice is done and the First Amendment is protected, but to send a message to the police and the prosecutors who are pursuing this dubious case.

Earlier:

Why I’m asking you to become a member of Media Nation

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On February 11, 2021

In Media Nation

At the beginning of 2021, I decided to shift my online activities — I was going to blog more and use Facebook and Twitter less. At the same time, I decided to start offering memberships to Media Nation for $5 a month, following the lead of Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson, pundits such as Andrew Sullivan, reporters such as Patrice Peck and others.

Most of these other folks are using Substack, a newsletter platform. I figured I had sunk way too many years — 16 — into writing Media Nation as a blog, and I didn’t want to switch to a platform that’s reliant on venture capital and could eventually go the way of most such companies. So here I am, still blogging at WordPress.com, and asking readers to consider becoming members by supporting me on Patreon.

And yes, I have been blogging more as I try to stay on top of various media stories, especially involving local journalism, as well as politics, culture and the news of the day. Just this week I’ve written about Larry Flynt and the First Amendment, Duke Ellington’s legacy, a new partnership between The Boston Globe and the Portland Press Herald, and a Louisiana reporter who’s been sued for — believe it or not — filing a public-records request.

If you value this work, I hope you’ll consider supporting it for $5 a month. Members receive a newsletter every Friday morning with exclusive content.

And if you’ve already become a member, thank you.

Want this week’s newsletter?

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On February 4, 2021

In Media Nation

I’m finishing up this week’s Media Nation member newsletter, which goes out every Friday morning. If you’d like yours, please become a member for $5 a month by clicking here.

Member Newsletter #5

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On January 29, 2021

In Media Nation

I just sent out the weekly Media Nation Newsletter. If you’re a member and you don’t see it, make sure to look in your spam folder. The formatting might not look quite right, but there’s a link at the very top of the page that lets you view it in your browser. And if you’d like to become a member for $5 a month, just click here. You’ll support my work and receive the members-only newsletter every Friday with exclusive content, a wrap-up of the week’s news, photography and a song of the week.

Member Newsletter No. 4

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On January 22, 2021

In Media Nation

The latest edition of the Media Nation Member Newsletter just went out. If you’re a paid subscriber and didn’t receive it, please look in your spam folder. I sent it out by bcc, which can sometimes mess with email algorithms. And if you’d like to get it delivered to your own inbox every Friday for $5 a month, just click here.

Newsletter #3 is now up

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On January 15, 2021

In Media Nation

The third issue of our member newsletter went our earlier this morning. If you’d like to receive it every Friday morning, just click here to become a paid subscriber. The cost is just $5 a month.

A wrap on this week’s newsletter

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On January 8, 2021

In Media Nation

I just sent out this week’s Media Nation Member Newsletter. If you’ve subscribed and didn’t get it, please check your spam folder. And if you’d like to get on the list, please become a member of Media Nation for just $5 a month. Just click here.

Happy New Year!

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On January 1, 2021

In Media Nation, Outdoors

Moon Hill, Bradley Palmer State Park, Hamilton

Thank you so much for reading Media Nation in 2020. We always go out on the 30th, not the 31st, so we spent New Year’s Eve pretty much as we always do — with takeout pizza, the “Three Stooges” marathon and then watching the ball drop. It has been a terrible year, and not everyone made it to the finish line. I wish all of us a healthy (not just boilerplate this year) and much better 2021.

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