Just a coincidence

Spinning its coverage to support government policy? Check this out:

When I saw this article about Spanish organ donation I thought that it was a bit odd, coming out of the blue. What event brought that into focus? What’s the news value?

Well, now I think I know. Gordon Brown wants to add organ snatching to his list of accomplishments.
...
Update: 15.00 GMT. The Beeb really want this... badly. See here and here among others. This is quite clearly a coordinated assault on public opinion, which stems from No. 10's initiative.

Brown’s controversial prorposal (which would  “automatically presume” consent for organ donation, and rate hospitals by the number of donations they generate) certainly deserves in-depth coverage, so multiple related articles are unsurprising.  But then there’s the BBC’s unremittingly favorable slant toward organ donation.  Wouldn’t be taking guidance from the government, perhaps?

Nah, must be a coincidence.


Previously: Old Grouch's Assignment Desk

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 16:17:23 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Clipfile: January 21, 2008

“The synonym for bipartisan is ‘in cahoots.’” - Don Surber

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 03:12:14 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Hurry, Smithers, my smelling-salts!"

Teresa covers a “tremendous upheaval in the ranks of Romance Writers.”

Black-footed ferrets are involved.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 20:46:26 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Old Grouch's assignment desk

Judicial Watch inventories the HillaryCare papers:

• A “Confidential” May 26, 1993 Memorandum from Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) to Hillary Clinton... suggested news organizations “are anxious and willing to receive guidance [from the Clinton Administration] on how to time and shape their [news] coverage.”

“Anxious and willing,” hmmm? Somebody ought to ask Senator Rockefeller just who the “anxious and willing” newsies were that he had in mind. Looks like a job for Don Surber!


Via: Hot Air via Ace, who comments:

Did he just call the MSM the Democratic Party's bitch? Well I believe he did.

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 17:58:28 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Too True" department

*...as taught in American schools.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 22:24:34 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Alright you lazy slobs, back to work!

Hey guys, don't retire early. You'll reduce your widow's Social Security benefits.


Previously: The *wife* lived happily ever after

Via: Dr. Helen, who got it from Glenn Sachs.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 19:38:35 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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One-liner of the day

View From The Porch:

Derrick Kosch, 25, of Kokomo, IN displayed an amazing lack of gunhandling skills on Tuesday when he blew his own... er, wedding tackle into pink mist during an attempted stickup of a Village Pantry convenience store.

Bet he won't have the balls to try that again!

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:18:03 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Hate-speech disguised as a public service"

Elsewhere:

• original Times article: Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles
• Daily Standard: “The Wacko-Vet Myth (now echoed by the New York Times)” by John J. DiIulio Jr.
• The Wall Street Journal:The 'Wacko Vet Myth'
• Bob Owens: The New York Times Hits Veterans Yet Again
• New York Post editorial: The Killer Vet Lie

  Who's editing the paper these days - Oliver Stone?

• Tom Elia snarks:

  In asking this question, is the Post insinuating that the Times has improved its editorial process?

• (UPDATE 080118 21:55:) Iowahawk: Bylines of Brutality - As Casualties Mount, Some Question The Emotional Stability of Media Vets

  The ever-increasing toll of violent crimes committed by journalists has led some experts to warn that without programs for intensive mental health care, the nation faces a potential bloodbath at the hands of psychopathic media vets.

Via: Instapundit

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 16:36:22 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another world

Things are just different in Packer Nation:

You know it's Wisconsin when the Sheriff's spokesman goes out of his way to point out that there's still a chance the kid may have been a Packer fan:

The boy's refusal to wear the jersey may have just been rebellion, he said. "We've been unable to uncover any evidence to suggest that this boy was not a Packers fan," Smith said. - Associated Press story posted by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Read on...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 16:24:47 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Crunch time

Two scary posts on the state of newspapers by Alan Mutter at Newsosaur:

Think the blood-letting is over?  With the economy going south, it'll be Back To the Chopping Block.

Then pile on increased newsprint costs.  Whoops, there go the earnings:  Pulp Friction.

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 02:45:05 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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