Newspapers

Not new news but certainly topical around here, "Fairness and Accuracy in Media" (not to be confused with the misleadingly named right wing group "Accuracy in Media") looked at Citations of Think Tanks in Media. Reported in May/June 2006 the study found a drop in think tank cites, primarily from progressive groups.

40 percent of such citations in 2005 were to conservative or center-right groups, 47 percent were to centrist groups and only 13 percent were to center-left or progressive groups.

More below the fold

The lines between journalism and punditry have always been fuzzy, and in North Carolina that fuzziness is a mile thick. To my knowledge.

Today’s big dogs in political news and opinion are the major dailies, with guys like Rob Christensen (News and Observer) and Jim Morrill (Charlotte Observer) out front on state political reporting. The AP has its own news hunter, Gary Robertson. And there are even some freelance watchdogs. The Lois Lane’s of North Carolina, so to speak.

The papers also have editorial pages and op-ed columnists. Editorial writers largely remain anonymous, giving the impression that their personal opinions represent management - or mismanagement, depending on the paper. And then there are pure columnists, people like Rick Martinez (N&O), Scott Mooneyham (syndicated) and Paul O'Connor (Winston-Salem Journal).

Everyone interested in creating a strong roots based Democratic Party should read E.J. Dionne's column in todays Washington Post.

He addresses some of the conflicts we are seeing between Howard Dean and the DCCC and why it is important for the Democrats to create a party that is active all the times, not a group of special interests that just come together for a Presidental election.

Conservative pundits, bloggers, and representatives are saying that Bill Keller and the New York Times ought to be tried for treason. No, really. They're actually saying that. What's got these folks so atwitter?