• "C" Is for Cookie --- That's Good Enough for Me

    Amy Kroin
    October 10, 2012
    I was a true Sesame Street kid. I adored the Odd Couple-esque squabbling between Ernie and Bert. I was a sucker for both Professor Grover and Grover the hapless waiter. I loved trench-coated Kermie’s trenchant reports from the field. But no character grabbed me quite like Cookie.

  • Keeping Up With Kris

    Amy Kroin
    September 12, 2012
    On Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, NBC — alone among the major networks — abstained from showing the moment of silence observed at Ground Zero in New York City and the White House. And for that, NBC exposed itself to a public flogging. One Twitterer even said the decision was enough to make one “doubt humanity.” But surely there was a reason for the Today show's decision.

  • Oy Vey: More Public Media Cuts

    Amy Kroin
    September 6, 2012

    The executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting has proposed $200,000 in budget cuts — and warned that additional cuts might be necessary in light of the governor’s call for a 7.5 percent drop in state funding.

  • Election 2012: The Year of the Man

    Amy Kroin
    September 5, 2012
    Ross Perot was a candidate the last time a woman anchored a presidential debate. This was in 1992, when ABC’s Carole Simpson moderated the first-ever town hall-style debate. Unfortunately, she wasn’t given much to do. "I was told in my earpiece by a producer, 'Go interview the lady in the green dress on the left, and now the man in the red sweater,” Simpson recently told the Huffington Post. I had no control over the questions that were asked, or who asked, or in what order. I was like a traffic cop."

  • Free Press Staffer Josh Stearns Wins Media Ally Award

    Amy Kroin
    July 17, 2012
    Free Press Journalism and Public Media Campaign Director Josh Stearns recently won the Lew Hill Media Ally Award, named for the founder of Pacifica and KPFA, the nation’s first listener-supported radio station. Press Pass TV gave Stearns the award in recognition of his work chronicling the arrests of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street protests. Since last September, Stearns has tracked those arrests on both the Free Press site and at Storify. He has documented the arrests of 83 journalists in 12 cities around the country.

  • Patrick Leahy Hearts Batman

    Amy Kroin
    July 12, 2012

    Patrick Leahy, the senior senator from Vermont, has appeared in four Batman movies, including the forthcoming Dark Knight Rises.

    Warner Bros. produced all four of these movies.

    Time Warner owns Warner Bros.

    During his 2010 reelection campaign, Leahy received more money from Time Warner than any other member of Congress.

  • Private Eyes. They're Watching You

    Amy Kroin
    July 10, 2012

    The next time you send a text, consider this: The government may be watching you.

  • Ladies and Gentlemen, the Clock Is Ticking

    Amy Kroin
    July 3, 2012

    The summer of 2012 will be remembered for the day Katie Holmes came to her senses, the Olympic swim-off between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte … and the moment when information about televised political ads went online.

  • He Said He Said

    Amy Kroin
    June 4, 2012

    Forget he said/she said. In mainstream media, it’s more like he said/he said.

    4th Estate’s new study of 2012 election-year coverage shows that major American newspapers and TV news programs feature up to seven times as many quotes from men than women. This is true even when “women’s issues” are the subject.

    4th Estate analyzed a sample of leading media outlets from Nov. 1, 2011 through May 1, 2012. During this period, eighty-one percent of the sources quoted in print articles about abortion were men. Seventy-five percent of those quoted in articles about birth control were men. Sixty-seven percent of those quoted in articles about Planned Parenthood were men.

  • Conan O'Brien Goes to the Dogs

    Amy Kroin
    May 31, 2012

    If you’ve ever doubted the existence of “fake news” — the trend in which newscasts pass off paid advertisements as actual reporting — these segments, courtesy of the volcanic-haired late-night funnyman, should put those doubts to rest.

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