Bill Clinton’s mission to North Korea to save two imprisoned US journalists was a powerful moment driven by powerful emotions. But we need to consider the fallout, says former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Op-eds
Dan Rather: Obama must save the media
Veteran newsman Dan Rather calls on US President Barack Obama to save the ailing news industry with a Presidential commission into what he calls “a crisis that, with no exaggeration, threatens our democratic republic at its core.”
Bill O’Reilly pays tribute to Obama. No, really!
Conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly pens an unexpected tribute to US President Barack Obama in the latest Parade magazine, praising him for overcoming significant odds in life and lauding him as a top role model for American youngsters.
Wolff and Kohler: Rupert will make you pay
Newser’s Michael Wolff and Business Spectator’s Alan Kohler examine the merits of Rupert Murdoch’s pay plan.
Robinson: Anderson was a ticking time-bomb
NT Minister Alison Anderson’s explosive exit from the state’s parliament yesterday was inevitable, says Natasha Robinson: the “bolshie” Anderson was never going to last “watching the machine grind on as her family struggled in poverty”.
Dreaming of a Niger Delta Republic
Amidst the nightmare of bloody violence in Nigeria, Sonnie Ekwowusi dreams of an independent Niger Delta, a republic where those indigenous to the area are afforded the right self-determination.
You are not going to be famous. Deal with it.
Surrender the fantasy, says Jim Hanas: you will almost certainly never be famous; and he’s done the maths to prove it. Your chances of becoming as famous as Lindsay Lohan? 1 in 1,574,638.
Politicians take it to the op-ed pages
Politicians have always published op-eds but could the latest flurry of opinion pieces — Wilson Tuckey, Tony Abbott, Penny Wong — signal a change in how political communication takes place?
Abbott: This ETS shall come to pass
The government’s Emissions Trading Scheme is poor policy, says Tony Abbott in an op-ed for The Oz, but the Coalition would risk making it even worse by blocking it in the Senate.
ALSO
Does the world need a UN army?
The growing demand for international peacekeeping forces in places like Somalia means it is time finally to bite the bullet and give the UN a permanent, standing military capacity, argues Gideon Rachman.
From the desk of Ben Bernanke…
Currently in DC testifying before Congress, US Fed chief Ben Bernanke took some time out to pen an overview of his thoughts for the WSJ, outlining his plan for an exit strategy from the stimulus package.
Boris Johnson: We’re too spineless to walk on Mars
Britain needs to harden the f- up, or we’ll never see man walk on Mars, rambles London Mayor Boris Johnston in an op-ed for the Telegraph. More astronauts in schools!
Why Americans aren’t feeling stimulated
The $787 billion stimulus package crafted by Obama’s administration wasn’t engineered to maximize its economic impact. It was mostly a political exercise. That’s why it’s not working, says Robert Samuelson.
The cultural cringe of publishing industry protectionism
Scrapping parallel import restrictions ruin the Australian publishing industry, says Tim Wilson: it will be killed by “cultural cringe” from authors and publishers who want to stop it being globally competitive.
How Hollywood is neutering America
When teen sex symbols are being generated by clean and chaste films like Twilight and Harry Potter, you know there’s a problem.
Why journalism degrees should be scrapped
Journalism is not a profession like engineering, medicine or even law, says journalist Richard Sine: you can pick up most media skills on the job, and no-one dies if you stuff-up. Wannabe reporters would be better off honing their skills out in the real world.
Sarah Palin’s WashPo op-ed
In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, soon-to-be-former Alaska governor Sarah Palin makes her case against Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan.
Palin and the politics of resentment
Sarah Palin’s combative resignation soliloquy, though much mocked by prognosticators of all political persuasions, has an equally vociferous and more powerful constituency, argues Frank Rich.
Why Twitter deserves the Nobel Peace Prize
Twitter’s role as a window to Iran in the fallout of the country’s presidential election warrants consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize, argues Mark Pfeifle. In other news: a thousand “social media commentators” just wet themselves.
Shafer: we’re entering a golden age of journalism
Just because the journalism business is going to hell, it doesn’t mean that journalism isn’t thriving, says Slate’s Jack Shafer — the technology at our disposal today would have the hacks of yesteryear salivating.
How Politico conquered Washington
Politico was launched as a short-term project by two print journalists to cover the 2008 presidential campaign — but it continues to prosper and defy all expectations, feeding an audience of six million ‘obsessives and insiders” every day. It is, says Michael Wolff a glimpse at the future of the media.
Tomorrow, when the climate war began
Climate change will kill us all, writes The Guardian’s James Lovelock — that is, unless we can find a ‘climate Churchill’ to lead us through an imminent climate war. Lord Kitchener must be feeling kinda left out.
Wolff: How many more years did Madoff get for being Jewish?
Bernie Madoff is Jewish. Most of the people he ripped off are Jewish. Did it affect his sentencing? Michael Wolff sure reckons so.
Politicians who vote against climate change guilty of treason
So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. Great, says Paul Krugman. But as for the 212 representatives who tried to say no, they’ve offended the planet.
Jackson coverage was overkill
American entertainment bows to what economists call “consumer sovereignty,” and Jackson’s popularity was a clear example of that, writes Tom Rutten. Still, the media had more important issues to discuss.
