By Dan Kennedy • The press, politics, technology, culture and other passions
In my latest for the Guardian, I examine why the pay-for-play scandal at the Washington Post — off-the-record access to Post editors and reporters at publisher Katharine Weymouth’s home for $25,000 a pop — defied early efforts to contain it.
On the one hand, it’s good to know that we’re still capable of being appalled. On the other hand, was this really all that different from what happens every day at the nexus of power, media and money?
In my latest for the Guardian, I consider the implications of an idea put forth recently by influential U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner: making it illegal to link to copyrighted content without permission. Not only would Posner’s proposal do enormous damage to the Internet, but it would destroy the doctrine of “fair use” as well.
In my latest for the Guardian, I ponder the possibility that President Obama, with his health-care forum on ABC News as the latest example, may have just about reached the media-oversaturation point.
In my latest for the Guardian, I attempt to make sense out of the past week’s developments regarding the Boston Globe — and to urge an amicable divorce between the Globe and the New York Times Co.
Alas, my work in the Guardian came up short for the second year in a row in the Syracuse University Mirror Awards, as I lost out yesterday to Clive Thompson of Wired.com in the category of online media commentary.
There was plenty of buzz about the Boston Globe at the luncheon, held in the not-very-spacious confines of New York’s Harmonie Club. Several New York Times people I spoke with, including media columnist David Carr, were speculating about why the Newspaper Guild voted “no” and what might happen next.
We also heard from Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, whose receipt of a lifetime achievement award was controversial given her perceived role in harming the news business.
She got off the best line of the day, saying (this is a close paraphrase; I should have taken notes, but I couldn’t extend my elbows sufficiently), It’s not true that I single-handedly destroyed the newspaper business. I had help from Craigslist. Ho, ho.
In my latest for the Guardian, I write about the New York Times and the myth of Guantánamo recidivism.
The assassination of Dr. George Tiller, I write in the Guardian, shows once again that abortion is the cultural divide that won’t go away. Which is why Bill O’Reilly’s taunting name-calling — “Tiller the baby killer” — and his comparisons of Tiller to Nazis and Al Qaeda terrorists was so mind-blowingly irresponsible.
In my latest for the Guardian, I review Eric Boehlert’s new book, “Bloggers on the Bus,” which introduces us to the liberal bloggers who’ve redefined Democratic politics in recent years — and who helped Barack Obama win the presidency even as he, wisely, kept his distance from them.
I’ve got a commentary up at the Guardian on the latest skirmishes in the paid-content wars, from Times Reader to Rupert Murdoch’s new scheme.
I’ve got a commentary up at the Guardian on the latest at the Boston Globe, and what’s coming next: more layoffs and — maybe — a new owner.