Illegal Immigrants pay taxes..."that's all talk. You know that's crap."

The MediaMatters blog showed a clip of The O'Reilly Factor where Bill O'Reilly had Lou Dobbs as a guest to discuss new ID cards that could potentially hinder undocumented workers from entering the country and working. This would be great, because those illegals will finally stop "dodging taxes" and using up U.S. resources, taking jobs, etc.! Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs are making blanket statements, stating that undocumented workers don't pay taxes, when, in reality, they do. "According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security Administration, undocumented immigrants pay all kinds of taxes, including individual income, sales, property, and social security taxes." Actually, as Van de Water's post in November of 2008 stated, "the presence of unauthorized (undocumented) workers in the United States also has a positive effect on the financial status of Social Security. The earnings of unauthorized workers are less likely to be reported for tax purposes than the earnings of the rest of the population and even less likely to result in future benefits, according to Social Security's chief actuary. Although the magnitudes cannot be precisely determined, the actuary has estimated that unauthorized immigrants paid as much as $13 billion in Social Security payroll taxes in 2007. "

O'Reilly, one of the most popular political talk show hosts, has a responsibility to provide the legitimate facts. Although his opinions may be against illegal immigration, he shouldn't hint or make outright statements that aren't true. People listen to him. He is creating unwarranted hatred towards illegal immigrants, because of their lack to pay taxes, which actually isn't the case. When people take O'Reilly's show as their primary source of news, they will get incorrect information which leads to ignorance. O'Reilly should be responsible for relaying truthful information.

The New Media Watchdogs

"Journalists in the mainstream media have forgotten to do: question authority."

In today's world of Twitter, blogs, The Daily Show, people are getting the news from various new outlets; outlets that have a great effect on the public. Blogging for the Huffington Post, Kimberly Butler shared a video, The New Media Watchdogs, where she interviewed an array of journalists and people in the media to talk about the credibility of the new media. While some agreed that new media is the new source of information, some disagreed, believing that "you can't the news from watching The Daily Show" or following a Twitter.

Yet, the lure of the new media are new anchors and commentators' abilities to "question authority" and speak their opinions. Why is Bill O' Reilly or Jon Stewart so popular? It's the ability to connect to their audiences, voice their opinions, and believe with conviction in what they are presenting.

"How much they(journalists) can inject themselves to the extent that their audience allows. There is no such thing as objectivity. The most you can hope for from your anchor is factual accuracy, emotional and intellectual honesty and transparency," said Geraldo Rivera. No matter if the anchor is right wing or left wing, they can give you a story with truth, conviction, and facts.

The boundaries of freedom of speech

The debate on the role that media should play to promote social justice is raised, once again, as the criticism towards the new “Keep America Safe” campaign grow. This week Liz Cheney appeared in the O’Reilly factor talking about the group’s new promotional video. In the video (that was aired in O’Reilly’s show) nine lawyers in Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department are called the "al-Qaida Seven," and accused of working in the "Department of Jihad." In the interview Liz Cheney, accused Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, a man that is still pending trial, of “killing Americans.” This is a violation of Omar Khadr human right to a fair trial by an impartial court, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Dahlia Lithwick writes an article for Slate explaining the implications of Cheney’s words and the threat they represent for the core of fundamental rights upheld by the American Bill of Rights.

This is a classic example of a dilemma between protecting Cheney’s freedom of expression or protecting Omar Khadr right for an impartial trial, or the lawyers' from defamation. Can accusations that could impact a man's trial be aired in television? Should the media publicly condemn these rights' violations?

Who are bloggers?

In the Huffington Post today, Hisham Wyne writes about the confusion of bloggers' roles in the media. Wyne asks, "Are we mere individuals, exercising our right to free speech? Or serving in a larger reserve corps of citizen journalist, doing the menial chores mainstream fleet streeters black at, breaking community stories and spotlighting abuses that may otherwise be ignored?" As individuals or journalists, bloggers can sometimes fail to give accurate information. Without editors and other journalists proofing the stories, bloggers can run too far with opinions. Because bloggers exercise their freedom of expression, "salaciousness, fabrication, and mendacity" are inevitable from time to time. Although bloggers give extensive information and investigate into political issues, are they valid sources to follow? On one hand, their transparency is a breath of fresh air in journalism, yet their individualism may inaccurately provide a clear story because of their subjective voices.

Some old (but still relevant) news…

Searching through the Huffington Post’s news on media it is not hard to realize that even though when it comes to content MSNBC and Fox News talk shows represent completely opposite poles in the American ideological spectrum, they are pretty similar in form. True, Fox News have crossed the line between being ideologically biased and telling lies (let’s not forget the Bachmann rally affair), but when it comes to ideologically charged talk shows MSNBC and Fox News are not that different after all.
Well it turns out MSNBC and Fox News share a little more than the loud, opinionated profile of their news show's anchors, they also share producers! Yep, as the Huff Post reported on January of this year, one of the producers of Glenn Beck’s show left Fox News to join MSNBC. As the Huff Post acknowledges “Streigel's move is yet another sign of the fluidity of TV producers despite the polarity of TV hosts”…
I guess it is all part of the news/show bizz…

The (LA) Times they are a-changin…

The purpose of this blog is to record the news that appears ON the media (new and old) ABOUT the media. Today, the day after the LA Times sold its front page to Disney, seems like the perfect day to begin.

When it comes to media you know something is news when scholars mourn, blogers buzz, and even the traditional newspapers (which are often trapped in that stage of loss called denial) pick up one particular event and call it “breaking news.”

This is the case of the bold (there are many other adjectives that have been used to describe it) move that the LA Times made on Friday by selling its front page to Disney. Everyone is talking about what many have described as a major loss for journalism on its constant battle with the business challenge that traditional newspapers are facing today.