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Did a Republican "climate" or Democratic "tone" cause corporate malfeasance?
By Brendan Nyhan
[First published on Salon.com (Salon Premium Subscription required)]
As concern over corporate fraud at companies like WorldCom and Enron grows, the race is on in Washington to assign political blame. The targets aren't just the regulators and politicians who failed to prevent these debacles or the executives who deceived investors, however. Both Democrats and Republicans are now throwing around vague accusations that the other side created a "climate," set a "tone," or contributed to an "atmosphere" that allowed the crimes to happen.
These claims allow politicians and pundits to assign blame for the scandals without bothering to explain how, exactly, their political opponents are responsible. In short, it's yet another cynical game of pinning blame on the other guy. (Click here to read the whole column.)
[This column was previously available exclusively to Salon Premium subscribers on Salon.com. If you're not already a subscriber, we hope you'll consider signing up through our affiliate link for immediate access to our newest work, as well as all the other good stuff on Salon Premium.]
7/3/2002 07:33:39 PM EST |
When media watchdogs like FAIR and MRC complain about bias, they often only reveal their own.
By Ben Fritz
[First published on Salon.com (Salon Premium Subscription required)]
These days, the commentariat is bursting with self-professed media critics of all stripes (this column included). From bloggers to columnists to nonprofit organizations with multimillion-dollar budgets, calling the media on errors and inadequacy -- real or imagined -- is a business that just keeps on growing. But all too often, this analysis is driven more by ideology than the facts, as with the two most prominent media watchdogs, the Media Research Center (MRC) on the right and the somewhat smaller and less well-funded Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) on the left. (Click here to read the whole column.)
[This column was previously available exclusively to Salon Premium subscribers on Salon.com. If you're not already a subscriber, we hope you'll consider signing up through our affiliate link for immediate access to our newest work, as well as all the other good stuff on Salon Premium.]
6/30/2002 07:52:19 PM EST |
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