The latest NSW Newspoll found latest Newspoll found premier Kristina Keneally’s personal ratings are going strong — so why did The Oz run with the line “the Keneally government is dead in the water”, asks Charles Richardson.
Journalistic bias
How the media has manipulated America’s minds on Afghanistan
Glenn Greenwald’s comprehensive take-down of the US media’s “mindless” and “unquestioning” coverage of the war in Afghanistan, comparing it to far more objective reporting by Afghani news agencies.
Looking at Africa through a new lens
Photography and politics expert David Campbell looks at how the world’s view of Africa has been shaped by media images of devastation and despair. Is it time for photographers to stop offering up the same “old” visions of Africa?
Come in Spinner: Exclusive! Shock! Horror! Probe reveals PR influence
When will journalists realise that PR influence is insignificant compared to other factors impacting on the media? asks Noel Turnbull.
Rupert’s war on Rudd
The entire stable of News Ltd papers — with The Oz at their helm — seem to be waging a war on Kevin Rudd, with relentlessly negative coverage of anything and everything the Government does, writes The Political Sword.
Q&A hates democracy
Q&A’s claims of being an “adventure in democracy” is true in the sense of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea being a democracy, writes John Styles. Q&A’s audience is vetted, the questions pre-chosen and conservatives get a raw deal.
Tech journos, take note on your iPads: cheering Steve Jobs isn’t journalism
The only thing worse than the hype surrounding the Apple iPad launch is enduring the fawning reaction of the Apple evangelists in the days following, writes Christopher Scanlon.
How Rupert ruined the WSJ
On the second anniversary of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the Wall Street Journal, current and former writers say his conservative politics have tainted the paper’s editorial objectivity and quality.
Andrew Bolt, Lateline and the bias of balance
Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt has got the science on climate change wrong before, but that didn’t stop Lateline from giving him air time on the subject, says Sophie Black.
How the press got it wrong on Obama in China
The flood of stories on Obama’s adventures in the Far East — painting him as a meek, kowtowing debator who got nothing achieved — show the Western media’s fundamental misunderstanding of Chinese press and politics, explains Howard French.
Jon Stewart catches Fox News anchor doctoring footage
Fox News presenter Sean Hannity has been caught out airing misleading footage during a story about an anti-health care reform rally to make the event look far more successful than it actually was. The investigative reporter with the scoop? The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.
graph pr0n 
Deadly drugs: users vs. deaths vs. media coverage
Is Dr David Nutt correct that cannabis is no more harmful than alcohol? Does the drug just suffer from bad press? Data journalist David McCandless mashes up the government’s own data on drug death, users and press coverage to find out.
Reading between the lines on the NRL-Howard coverage
Once again, Piers Akerman has written a story about a News Ltd investment without once mentioning that his employer has a deep involvement in the issue.
Larvartus Prodeo / Monday, 15 February 2010
From Shanahan to Grattan, Australia’s pundits have turned into “commentariat-bots”, says Mark Bahnisch, constructing a political narrative based on their own random musings instead of hard data.