Category: Media
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VPM: Your Philanthropic Dollars at Work
The following missive comes from an email blast distributed by an unidentified “whistle blower” at Virginia Public Media unhappy about public radio’s priorities. I have not vetted this story, and readers should be sensitive to the fact VPM might offer a very different spin, but the allegations seem plausible enough to examine more closely. —…
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Lies, Damned Lies, and VPAP: the Myth of Nonpartisan Institutions
There’s a reason why nonpartisan anything is the most partisan voice of all, because it always defends a status quo. — “If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.” — Hannah Arendt by Shaun Kenney I’ll start with WTKR 6…
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Maintaining the Narrative: Lies by Omission
Question: Has a Virginia newspaper, TV station or public radio station yet reported on the DOJ allegations against the Southern Poverty Law Center funding of racist groups? Copilot: No Virginia-based newspaper, TV station, or public radio outlet has yet published coverage of the DOJ’s April 2026 indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center. As of late…
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Referendum Ad Wars
by Kerry Dougherty Look who’s doing dabbling in investigative journalism! It’s my old employer, The Virginian-Pilot. Yep, they were so stunned by “Vote No” campaign literature aimed at black voters on the upcoming redistricting referendum, that they went digging. Figures. In a story headlined “Who’s Behind An Anti-Redistricting Flyer Invoking Jim Crow?” the paper asked…
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The Washington Post Is an Unprofitable Disaster
by Kerry Dougherty When did legacy journalists and the politicians who love them become such a squawking bunch of overwrought socialists? When news broke yesterday of a bloodbath at The Washington Post – 300 employees were laid off – a chorus of imbeciles rose up to demand that owner Jeff Bezos prop up the losing…
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Who Owns Virginia Mercury?
by James C. Sherlock The author just read a news article by the prolific Markus Schmidt in the Virginian-Pilot. It was a reprint of an article Mr. Schmidt wrote for his employer, the Virginia Mercury. His full-throated support of Virginia Democrats is his right. Examples abound: Virginia AG Jones joins 21 attorneys general condemning DOJ…
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John Reid Returns
After his bid for lieutenant governor, John Reid is back in the talk show business. You don’t have to live within range of WRVA radio signals to hear him. You can listen to his show on YouTube.
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Backlash? What Backlash?
Yours truly was quoted by The Washington Post as asking how Scott Beardsley, new president of the University of Virginia, differs from former president Jim Ryan when it comes to his commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. The Post also quoted my comrade in arms Stu Smith, a popular conservative social media poster, as calling…
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You REALLY Don’t Hate The Media Enough
by Kerry Dougherty Chapter 5,978 of “You Don’t Hate The Media Enough.” Today’s installment features The Virginian-Pilot, Time Magazine and CNN. Let’s start with the local offender first, shall we? On Saturday, the editorial board finally weighed in on the Jay Jones scandal by publishing a sniveling piece headlined: “Voters Will Render The Judgment On…
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Is Online Civility Possible?
by Kerry Dougherty There are days when I simply can’t read many of the comments on my own website. Yesterday, for instance. When I glanced at the post late in the day I saw 166 comments. That should be a good thing. Imagine, 166 thoughtful folks weighing in to affirm, augment or argue with my…
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Sign of the Times
From the Winchester Star: The Winchester Star has made the difficult decision to end online commenting on stories posted to our website, beginning today. Unfortunately, most of the comments had become back-and-forth personal attacks between screen names, which we enabled by providing an anonymous forum, but we’re no longer comfortable continuing it. We know the…
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The Times-Dispatch’s Slow Suicide Must Be Near Its End
The Richmond Times-Dispatch must be on its last legs. The out-of-town investors are just running some pricing algorithm to see how much addicted fools will pay to keep their access to a shrinking amount of information. There are many people, as we all know, who pay no attention to the billings that just show up on their…
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The Future of News?
Restoration News has a thoughtful essay by Matt Wolfson about Jeff Bezos’ makeover of The Washington Post, the largest provider of state/local news in Virginia. Although Bezos is pushing the Post’s op-ed section to embrace liberty and free markets, Wolfson sees the Amazon CEO’s moves as a deep-state power play. His conclusion: “This is media-as-cartel:…
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Virginia’s Unaffiliated Numbers
And the limits of partisanship by Gordon C. Morse He’s at least consistent. And so is the press. Gov. Glenn Youngkin told General Assembly members last week that Virginia’s economy is as strong as ever and concerns that federal employment reductions (thanks to the Trump administration) would drag down Virginia’s overall fiscal condition were exaggerated.…
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Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Life Support
by Kerry Dougherty On Friday some happy-but-not-unexpected news broke: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is about to go kaput. It’s on life support for two more months. That’s because Congress defunded the body that awards public funds to National Public Radio and the Pubic Broadcasting Service. The left-wing non-profit expected to be showered with $1.1…