Posts by Matthew Littlewood
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Yeah, that Daily Show episode was great, but has anyone else noticed how different Stewart's tone has been towards Fox over the last few years. During the GWB years, he focused on the failings of the administration and the Fox clips were used as comedy gravy, but now there's a clear sense of outright contempt for how Fox operates. Simply put, I don't know how "funny" he finds them anymore. And yet somehow, he's funniest to watch when he's at his angriest!
That said, as good as this aftermath was, I do think the 2008 wrap-up was more exciting, if only because there was a palpable sense of relief coupled with a sense of "okay, now we have something new to work with", and the fact they used far more of the rest of the team. Stewart, as good a front-man as he is, often needs his crew (e.g.Oliver,Mandvi, Wyatt Cenac , the recent edition of Jessica Williams etc) to really drive the point home.
I really I wish I liked what Rachael Maddow's show does, but most of the time she grates on me- the fact her "guest correspondents" are usually just pundits who agree with her doesn't help, nor does the sense that I don't know how much journalism the show does in relation to merely commenting on things already covered. I already have the Daily Show for that-- and to give Stewart his due, his range of guests are pretty broad.
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Hard News: The Big 2012 US Election PAS Thread, in reply to Russell Brown,
I mean, not unexpected, but … does anybody there have anything resembling self-awareness?
Jon Stewart was in his element on the Daily Show last night. It's got to the stage where he's no longer making fun of the Fox Network, he stoops to outright contempt. I could link to the whole episode, but his quick sketch on punditry here is a good taster:
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Hard News: The Big 2012 US Election PAS Thread, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
If you read The Economist regularly enough to take its fundamentally classical liberal editorial pulse, it’s hardly surprising that it has a lot of issues with the Obama Administration’s economic and trade policies. And even on “social issues” it’s often more to the left than Obama is. Don’t forget The Economist came out for marriage equality looong before it was trendy. :)
Oh, of course. Editorially, you're never going to be too surprised by The Economist (although it's also argued for a much stronger approach to tackling global warming/climate change than either candidate proffered), but fortunately its reputation is built on the basics of good journalism and good writing. And good design too. I love their covers
That’s the approach the congressional Republicans decided to take, and I guess you could argue it worked for them in the 2010 mid-terms, and at least didn’t cost them the House today. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand they OWN IT.
Yes, and you wonder how long they can continue to do that and still hold onto their seats.
As an aside, it's instructive comparing Obama's keynote 2004 DNC speech to, say, his 2012 presidential acceptance speech. There are a lot of similarities in tone, it has to be said, but damn, Obama 2004 looks a good 16 years younger than Obama 2012, not eight. I guess what they say about the aging effect on presidents is true.
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Hard News: The Big 2012 US Election PAS Thread, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
And there's a bigger picture problem here for the GOP. As I've often said, Richard Nixon and the Ronald Reagan who actually served as Governor of California would be ideologically unacceptable to the current debased Tea Bagger/theo-con Republican Party. And don't even delude yourself that Eisenhower or Teddy Roosevelt would have got past the New Hampshire primary.
Just out of curiosity, Craig, have you read the Economist's rather terse endorsement for Obama, published last week? (Although it's not surprising the endorsement is terse, given the Economist's fiscal slant) It's an interesting piece, touching upon some of the concerns you raise above, while their US correspondent covers it in more detail here.
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Hard News: The Big 2012 US Election PAS Thread, in reply to Yamis,
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What’s going to happen in the next 4-8 years etc when the percentage of white population/voters drops further and the minorities vote increases? Republicans have got some serious decisions to make if they want to get their fair share of bums on the big seat in the oval office.Yeah, James Carville talked about just that on CNN. He expects a massive internal struggle over the next 2-3 years for the Republicans, which (as he sees it) will have to lead to the severing of the Tea Party wing if they're ever going to be electable at a presidential level again.
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Hard News: The Big 2012 US Election PAS Thread, in reply to Russell Brown,
It was extraordinary. There were a number of familiar motifs in there, but it seemed born of conviction. The climactic message of diversity and inclusion – with its historic shout-out to disabled citizens – was powerful and moving. I cried at that point.
What's so remarkable about Obama's speech is its sense of history- and the way he calls on so many great American orators before him- and how it's brought into the Now. It's in the way it just builds to this crescendo.
That said, the tone was distinctly different to his 2008 acceptance speech- how could it not be?- there wasn't the sense of grand expanse, more of a call for communality. As an aside, not only did he come onto "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)", his speech also referenced Sly & the Family Stone's "You Can Make It If You Try". Small detail, but pretty cool
And to be fair to Romney, his concession speech was gracious, well-judged and succinct.
I do worry, given the fact it's essentially going to be electoral status quo ( solidly Democrat Senate, solidly Republican Congress, Democrat president) that the US is going to be locked in four more years of GOP legislative brinkmanship and filibustering. But that's for another debate.
On the other hand Ezra Klein's take is more optimistic- as he says, this victory for Obama (and increase for the Dems in the senate) essentially "locks in" his three major pieces of legislation- the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank Bill and the repealing of the Bush-era tax cuts.
I guess the US continues to live in interesting times.
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to Russell Brown,
In Savile’s case, girls who complained of their abuse were ignored or even persecuted. Carers were instructed to ignore Savile selecting victims from hospital wards and taking them to his “bedroom” at the hospital because he brought in so much money in donations. There were eyewitnesses and people he told. He sexually assaulted disabled kids who couldn’t resist. There are now victims giving very clear, consistent testimony of being raped. There are, for fuck’s sake, actual broadcast TV pictures of Savile feeling up young girls
Yes, it was the sheer calculated and systematic nature of the abuse-- and the levels of the cover-up -that sickened me the most. You wonder why and how it got to the stage where Savile became (ironically) beyond reproach. I mean, it clearly went beyond the usual "that was a different time then" social mores: people knew about it, and knew it was bad. Even the notorious Louis Theroux doco tiptoed around him- although ultimately its portrait did poke somewhat under the supposedly harmless "eccentric" exterior, suggesting a man who cultivated everything for effect. The clip showing him boast about his "no tolerance" policy as a DJ (look it up on Youtube) was quietly chilling.
Oh, and good show this week Russell: the discussion around whistleblowing, particularly Hager's comments, were instructive.
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How are journalists trained these days? Is it an undergrad degree or diploma? Could the quality of journalism be improved if it were postgrad and would be journalists did a degree in something else first?
I can only speak for myself, but I did the postgraduate course (Grad Dip.J) at Canterbury University (better known for years as "Jim Tully's course") in 2008, and that course had been running in that format (or something similar) since 1987 (it wasn't held this year due to a number of, largely earthquake-related, factors, and will return next year). Massey University's is also a GradDipJ.
Here's a good website with the list of available academic courses in journalism in NZ, as you can see it's a mix of polytechnic and University options.
http://www.journalismtraining.co.nz/NZJTO/Careers/Journalism-Schools
My honours degree was in the Arts (English Literature and German), I'm not sure what percentage of the journalism DipGrads held arts degrees, (at a glance), but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a majority or pluarity.
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That SJD track is great.
I know this has been around for ages, but I reckon this "fan-made" video for Brian Eno's "King's Lead Hat" is just perfect. It couldn't capture the manic feel of the song better- and it also features a few cool musical jokes (including the obvious Talking Heads reference).
Indeed, it seemed to be a trend a while back to make awesome video collages to Brian Eno tracks. Here's an equally stellar one for Byrne and Eno's "America is Waiting".
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I've become increasingly in awe of Tom Tomorrow's (AKA Dan Perkins') ability to wring absurdist, jaw-dropping satirical humour out of US politics, when it's already plenty absurd and jaw-dropping as it is, but his latest cartoon riffing on Mitt's gaffes is just beyond fantastic.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/24/1134459/-Further-gaffes
Seriously, how does he make the long-hanging fruit seem so exotic and delicious?