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Great coverage of the Libyan revolution

Thanks, New York Times!

A strange scandal

Well, here's a scandal that's.... unusual, shall we say. David Wu, a Democrat representing Oregon in Congress, seems to have done some strange things during his campaign for re-election in 2010. He "borrowed" prescription painkillers, got so angry at staff members that 7 of them resigned, and sent around a photo of him dressed like a tiger to his supporters. He has been seeking mental health treatment, but claims "there are personal things, even for a congressman." Do you think the media shouldn't be reporting on this story?

Helen Thomas strikes again!

Helen Thomas, once considered the dean of the White House Press corps, is back at it again. For those of you who may have missed it, she was forced to resign her position after this video appeared last year:

Now she's claiming that Jews had no reason to leave Europe after the war, "because they weren't being persecuted anymore." Right, so I guess the pogroms in Poland that my grandparents barely escaped didn't actually happen? And the Germans didn't continue slaughtering Jews for as long as they could? Unbelievable.

She went off the deep end during George W. Bush's presidency. It's hard to imagine anyone ever took her seriously.

Rolling Stone as watchdog?

Some of the best watchdog reporting is coming from unsual places. Rolling Stone magazine, for instance. Check out this story about a U.S. general who used psy-ops on visiting Senators to try and convince them to increase funding and troop levels.

UPDATE: Maybe not.

The importance of New York Times v. Sullivan

Yesterday in class we discussed the case New York Times v. Sullivan and the change it effected in American libel law. Some people were disturbed by how far the case extended, giving the press almost complete freedom to publish anything they want.

Well, this story in today's paper shows why the case is so important. Can you imagine someone in the U.S. suing just because their book got a bad review?

The "horse race"

This is a great example of what I've been talking about today: a story in Politico that reports on a story in the Washington Post that discusses some reasons why Mike Huckabee might not run again for president. Or maybe he will. That's some hard-hitting reporting!