To me this article is jaw-dropping. This is what makes war possible. The refusal of mainstream corporate outlets to veer from the U.S.-Israel narrative, despite repeated atrocities, is simply incredible. You have to ask, if after this they don't add skepticism or point out the bigger picture of the onslaught of violence and the international community's disgust at the US and Israel for blocking a cease-fire, will they ever attempt a semblance of balance? If Hezbollah killed 56 Israelis, mostly kids, would we get the same stoic, sober analysis, complete with assurances from Hezbollah that they were investigating? Would their brief opening of an aid corridor be mentioned w/o the context that they'd bombed everything in site for 2 ... More »

Important to read these gripping descriptions of the destruction and human suffering in Lebanon, something we haven't gotten a very human / personalized account of from most media, especially in their photography and images.

Discusses the possible change in media-ownership rules, placed against the recent history of increasing concentration in media ownership, the contentious history of the last rules change, and grassroots efforts to prevent any more relaxation in the ownership rules. Good example of the media helping hold government accountable and giving people relevant information they can use.

This story seems split between focusing on the election's female candidates (i.e. what their prospects are) and looking at the race's potential impact on women (by describing the candidates' views on issues traditionally important to women). But it splits its attention and doesn't do either very well -- for instance on the latter issue, though there is some exploration throughout, it devotes only the final 3 paragraphs to its main subject, Gubernatorial candidate Strayhorn's, views, and unbelievably it gives Sen. Hutchison a walk. And on the former issue it mischaracterizes the main race (example: Kinky Friedman is given only two sentences, his poll numbers are omitted, and he's currently in second place!). I question why the ... More »

This story puts civil libertarians' criticism up front and center but gives us Specter's position too. Also -- and few sources do this -- it actually analyzes the bill itself, so nobody gets a free ride and the reader isn't left wondering what's what (Jon Stewart would be proud). Well written and thorough, and sources are cited.

By highlighting this controversial woman, we get a sketch of the internal debate on women's place in Islam. It would have been nice to have gotten some non-American perspective for an article like this, but it does incorporate both criticism and support for the subject and her views.

Important article on under-reported subject. Looks like a great source, too. It does a pretty good job on fairness, but I wish this child care de-funding issue were better linked to the 1996 welfare-to-work law and how it is consistent with those policies, which many women's and children's advocates believe was indeed a disaster, in contrast to the stats and ending quote and the impression we're left with. We don't hear this larger sense of urgency, though; it is more focused on the immediate problem.

This is a simple article that gives quotes from Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, about the ongoing conflict between them and Israel. The piece doesn't look too deeply into motives for the speech or Hezbollah's actions, or attempt to put any of Nasrallah's statements or the facts of the conflict to the test. That said, the article has value in presenting a usually-excluded perspective.

Nice look at an aspect of the educational system I was not aware of. Gives some background to the development of the more punitive treatment, to help the reader understand it. Also gives perspective of advocates, parents, and students, which is usually minimized or left-out in reports on schools, though I am left wondering what school officials' defense is.

Could go more into the drawbacks of relying on Foundation monies, but the focus on how this could impact women's health is definitely a good thing.

As a review, this piece doesn't need to fulfill the requirements a regular news item does in order to be credible. But the writer largely repeats the book's claims without context or challenge from himself or others. This serves some purpose, I guess--we learn what the author is claiming--but is lacking in that it doesn't give the reader a larger picture of what the author is setting out to accomplish, what motivates him and why, and what his larger philosophical underpinnings are. What you get is a laundry list of problems the U.S. has and a list of solutions, but no thread connecting it all.

The elephant in the room seems to be the inability of the U.S. forces to stop or even inhibit the increasing sectarian killing in Iraq. This piece has one questioning sentence in this regard -- saying the increase from 40,000 to 55,000 troops in Baghdad didn't noticeably restrain the bloodletting -- but it refrains from mentioning that repeated security sweeps of Baghdad and other cities, checkpoints, lockdowns, curfews, etc. also haven't made a difference, nor did killing Zarqawi or installing the Unity government. These facts need to be juxtapositioned when the government is making propositions for security strategy, b/c then it forces relevant questions about what's propelling the violence, opens up issues to address, and ... More »