Walter C Uhler » Entries tagged with "Stinky Inky"
Stinky Inky, Part VI: Carlin Romano’s April Fools’ Joke on His Philadelphia Inquirer Readers
Judging by his article, “Russia’s culturati a pale imitation of worthies of ‘Utopia,’” Carlin Romano and the editors of Philadelphia Inquirer have conspired to subject their readers to an infantile April Fools’ Day joke. Thus, readers of the April 1, 2007 issue of the “Inky” might be forgiven, if, after reading Romano’s review of Tom Stoppard’s 3-part play, The Coast of Utopia, they had no better understanding of 19th century Russian intellectual history than they had before falling for his joke. The real joke, however, concerns Mr. Romano’s apparent ignorance of 19th century Russian intellectual history. It seems to be no more informed than that held by the woman I encountered on February 24, 2007, during the intermission of the third play of Stoppard’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cultural Criticism, Russian History
Stinky Inky, Part V: Dinesh D’Souza and the Smatterers at the Philadelphia Inquirer
This is how it works: The increasingly decadent and profit-driven book publishing business, which is “more concerned with the sensational than the sensible” publishes Dinesh D’Souza’s new book. (Quote is from Alan Wolfe’s review in the January 21, 2007, New York Times Book Review.) The book provides conclusive evidence, not only that D’Souza is an ignoramus — although earlier evidence was already quite persuasive – but also that the Hoover Institution hires hacks, provided they are conservative extremists. Yet, notwithstanding numerous scathing reviews – for example, Professor Wolfe writes that D’Souza is “a childish thinker and writer tackling subjects about which he knows little to make arguments that reek of political extremism. His book is a national disgrace.” … Read entire article »
The “Stinky Inky,”: More Incompetence, Bias and Dishonesty at the Philadelphia Inqurier?
Readers of Frank Rich’s new book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold, understand quite well the crisis of confidence that justifiably afflicts America’s mainstream news media today, due to its largely uncritical (if not enthusiastic) reporting of the exaggerations and lies by the Bush administration during the run-up to its illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq. During the past two years, I’ve written three articles addressing the failures of my local newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer. They can be found here, here, and here. Unfortunately that deterioration has continued apace, as the two examples below indicate. In its 23 September 2006 edition, The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a faux news story by Carlin Romano titled “Premature obit sends book’s sales soaring.” Mr. Romano’s … Read entire article »
More Astounding Editorial Incompetence at The Philadelphia Inquirer
Longtime readers of The Philadelphia Inquirer know that the Inky is shrinking; both in its physical size and in its news reporting and editorial capabilities. Reports of insufficient profitability (from Wall Street analysts and greedy shareholders) have spurred rumors of the sale of the Inky as part of piecemeal, profit-gouging dismantling of its parent company, Knight Ridder. That threat has prompted buyouts and retirements of some of the Inky’s seasoned editors. Thus, the Inky appears to be trapped in a self-fulfilling cycle of self-destruction: One can attempt to increase profits by reducing the size and quality of the paper – until there’s too little space for news, too little news worth purchasing, too few purchasers worth advertising … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bush Administration, Iraq War, Media
The “Stinky Inky,” Part 2
Were one to read Davis Merritt’s recent book, Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism is Putting Democracy at Risk, he or she would realize that the reasons for The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s deterioration extend far beyond the irredeemable right-wing slop that so often besmirches its Commentary page. Merritt’s insights take on added significance, given the recently announced editorial staff reductions that have shaken the Inky. But they must await my future evaluation, because the Inky‘s stinky Commentary page of October 20, 2005 demands an immediate response. Stinky? Yes, simply consider its outrageously uniformed and insipid right-wing essays by Kathleen Parker and Jonah Goldberg . . . First, a cheerleading Ms. Parker asked why no newspaper headlines read: “Iraqi democracy takes bow to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Media
The Stinky Inky: As The Philadelphia Inquirer Placates Its Right-Wing Readers, Its Quality Deteriorates
updated 4/25/2005 I’ve been reading The Philadelphia Inquirer since I moved into the Philadelphia region in 1976. For good or bad, it’s been my local paper. And although I’ve never confused it with the serious national newspapers—The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Washington Post—the Inquirer‘s Sports Page was what I turned to before anything else. Thus I often read the rest of the Inquirer, especially it’s front-page section, its Op-ed/Commentary page and its book reviews before turning to the more serious newspapers. Eventually I commenced writing to and for the Inquirer. My first letter was published in 1986, my first book review in 1998 and my first Op-ed in 2000. But by late 2002, due to my allegations about the Inquirer‘s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bush Administration, Iraq War, Media
The Nation: Editor's Picks
- Fighting Facebook, a Campaign for a People’s Terms of Service May 22, 2013 Ari Melber, Woodrow Hartzog and Evan Selinger
- Rahm Emanuel's Zombie Pigs vs. Chicago's Angry Birds May 22, 2013 Dave Zirin
- The GOP's Black Friends Need More Black Friends May 21, 2013 Mychal Denzel Smith