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Media -- Dont Quote Me

Twilight of the superheroes

The ghost of Time Inc.’s Henry Luce haunts Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times
While riding the New York subway one warm night in 1922, Hotchkiss-schooled, Yale-educated Henry Robinson Luce conjured the name of his epoch-defining magazine after spotting an arresting advertising placard.

By: PETER KADZIS | April 28, 2010

Fourth-estate follies, 2009 edition

The Phoenix's second annual year in media malfeasance
Between the rise of the Web, the ADD-addling of America, the fragmentation of any national political consensus, and the devastated economy, working in the press can feel a bit like manning the Titanic — and this year, the entire industry seemed to teeter on the edge of oblivion.

By: ADAM REILLY | December 28, 2009

Holy terror?

Cutting through the muddled thinking about Nidal Malik Hasan's faith and its role in the Fort Hood shootings
On the afternoon of November 5, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan walked into a building at Fort Hood, the sprawling military base in central Texas; sat briefly in solitary silence; and then opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, shooting roughly a hundred rounds and killing 12 soldiers and one civilian.

By: ADAM REILLY | November 16, 2009

Latter day taint

How Glenn Beck is driven by Mormonism — and why his fellow faithful (including Mitt Romney) should be worried
Fifteen years ago, Glenn Beck was a small-market DJ with a drinking problem, no friends, and bleak professional prospects. Today, he’s a Fox News superstar averaging 2.4 million viewers, an inexorably successful author, and the leader of a popular movement that condemns government in general and President Barack Obama in particular.

By: ADAM REILLY | October 10, 2009

Personal fouls

ESPN's odd double standard on sex
The biggest story in sports media last week was the discovery of surreptitiously shot nude-video footage of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, whose comeliness has made her a favorite — and sometimes a fetish — of the online sports commentariat.

By: ADAM REILLY | July 29, 2009

Black like him?

Obama is, apparently, our first African-American president. But is that the identity he touted as a candidate?
Whatever your race — and whatever you think of his résumé, or his politics, or his yen for tax-cheating cabinet nominees — Barack Obama's arrival in the Oval Office is something to celebrate.

By: ADAM REILLY | February 11, 2009

Toxic talk: Hating Obama

Repugnant anti-Obama hate speech has dissipated for the moment. How likely is it to raise its ugly head again?
During and just after the 2008 presidential campaign, the antipathy of right-wing pundits toward Barack Obama reached remarkable, often repugnant depths.

By: ADAM REILLY | January 19, 2009

Speak no evil?

Why tightening up on anti-Obama speech is a bad idea
Anthony Lewis's free-speech credentials are impeccable: among other things, the former New York Times columnist is James Madison Visiting Professor of First Amendment Issues at Columbia University's Journalism School

By: ADAM REILLY | January 14, 2009