Category: Media
-
Maybe I Should Start Posting Cat Videos on Bacon’s Rebellion
Nick Freitas’ posts are showing up on more of my news feeds. The Republican delegate from Culpeper is amassing an impressive social media following — 272,000 followers on X. His clips are short, punchy and funny. The dude’s got a sense of humor! — JAB But it’s not all political….
-
Bacon’s Rebellion Proud to Be Part of Shadowy Clique of Puppet Masters
by James A. Bacon I didn’t know it but, apparently, I’m part of the vast right-wing conspiracy. I’m so clued in to the machinations of the conservative claque seeking to rid higher-ed of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion that I predicted that George Mason University President Gregory Washington might be forced to step down over DEI…
-
Hallelujah! No More Tax Dollars For NPR And PBS!
WHRO, the Norfolk-based public radio station, will lose $2 million in federal funding following a U.S. Senate vote to slash $9 billion in federal spending on public broadcasting and foreign aid. That amounts to 9% of the station’s $21 million budget, reports VPM News. WHRO serves the same media market as WTAR, which broadcasts The…
-
Seriously?
Virginia Mercury headline: “After UVA president’s exit, Dems say they want to prevent further politicization of higher education.” Omitted from the article: Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said Saturday that he’s prepared to nuke all of Governer Glenn Youngkin’s nominations to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors in the next General Assembly session,…
-
In the Governor’s Race
Do not yield to the enemies of promise. by Gordon C. Morse The 2025 race to be Virginia’s next governor enters summer a lackluster affair and it need not continue in that condition. Both candidates have inherently interesting backgrounds and, you know, it’s okay to talk about yourself. The key being that it’s you doing…
-
A Peninsula Tale and a Commission’s Work
Captain Newport hits a reef. by Gordon C. Morse Thanks to The New York Review of Books, we have this 1994 observation by the late Yale historian Edmund S. Morgan: “The distinguishing mark of American politics has been the absence of irreconcilable differences between the two parties that successively dominate the national government. Each party…
-
Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.
Want to know more about the latest Medicaid budget controversy? You’ll learn more sitting in your back yard and listening to the crickets. by James A. Bacon Today we read in the Virginia Mercury the alarming headline that Governor Glenn Youngkin and other Republican governors have signed a letter supporting a congressional budget bill “that…
-
Farewell, Jeff Schapiro
by Gordon C. Morse Columnist Jeff Schapiro vacated the Richmond Times-Dispatch rather abruptly last Sunday and for a man of many words, he had little to say about it. Four decades of scribbling and he throws out a few lines at the end of his column, not at all dissimilar to the Woody Allen dialogue…
-
Where’s the Local Media on This National Story?
by James A. Bacon A big national story has landed in Virginia, and state media, which could help the public sift through conflicting charges and countercharges, have been totally silent. In a 2022 trial heard around the world, New York Attorney General Letitia James famously secured a $354 million judgment against Donald Trump and the…
-
Case Study: How to Slant a Routine News Story
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors yesterday named Thomas “Teddy” Gottwald as interim president of the school’s governing body, succeeding former president John Adams who resigned for personal reasons last week. Gottwald disclaimed any desire to continue serving as president beyond June. Although VMI has been embroiled in controversy —…
-
Any Wonder No One Trusts Legacy Media?
by Kerry Dougherty Far be it from me to offer advice to the stupidest businessmen and women alive – news media executives – but here’s a thought. If you’re wondering why no one trusts you or wants your products anymore, consider the simple, long-ago mission of the news industry: Tell the truth to the public.…
-
Far Left Stages Polident Protests
by Kerry Dougherty “Region Rises Up”? Seriously? Another case of an excitable weekend headline writer sacrificing accuracy for alliteration. The Hampton Roads Region has a population of about 1.7 million. If a couple of thousand of sore losers gathered with hand-lettered protest signs in Norfolk on a sunny Saturday, that hardly merits such a sweeping…
-
The Bezos Speaketh
Could this herald happier times for Virginia? by Gordon C. Morse The Washington Post’s editorial chief is out the door. Cue the indignation. Light the exit sign, too. In many quarters of the paper, this will not be received as happy news and may potentially cause departures. “I am of America and for America, and…
-
TSA Harrisonburg
by Joe Fitzgerald Deb and I, encouraged by someone who’d lost a spouse to Covid and assisted by those who wanted to help share information, created TSAHarrisonburg on Facebook a few years ago to report on infection and mortality statistics in the Shenandoah Valley. We’re pivoting the site to respond to another community crisis, just…
-
Cut Scores and Lies of Omission
by Todd Truitt Virginia is in the process of raising the minimum cut scores for passing English and math Standards of Learning (SOL) exams — scores that the U.S. Department of Education (USED) declared in 2021 were the lowest in the nation. A USED official publicly testified in 2022 that Virginia’s cut scores were not…