Paste hired me to run two brand-new sections debuting in December 2016. The media section was aimed to look at broader narratives in TV and film, while critiquing political media coverage, focusing on the “both-sides” false equivalence so many mainstream outlets fall in to in a misguided attempt to be objective (what this does is present the appearance of objectivity, which gets to the heart of our critique: media is a business, first and foremost, and business goals often do not align with journalistic ideals).
Since I was Editor, most of the work shared here is by our stable of talented writers, and my media critiques can be found in the Paste politics archive.
Did Neil Postman Predict the Rise of Trump and Fake News?
- by Ed McMenamin
An Industry Insider Explains Why AMI’s $100 Million Us Weekly Deal Should Matter to You
- by Joyce Chen
Mother Jones’ Legacy Is Haunting Mother Jones as the Magazine Embraces Neoliberalism
Click Here, Stupid: Why a Lefty Like Me Stopped Writing for Many Liberal Websites
- by the hilarious Caitlin Bladt
New Report Discovers That the Media Normalizes the Murders of People with Disabilities
The Daily Show‘s Jordan Klepper Solves Guns
- This was an interview I did with Jordan Klepper on his new political comedy special
How Maxim Shamelessly Turned the Publishing Industry on Its Head
- by Luke Winkie
Arresting American Journalists May Not Be as Rare as It Once Was
In Moonlight, a Silver Lining Emerges
- by Bee Vang who starred in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino
Endorsed by the Pod People: 7 Podcasts on Other Worlds, from Star Wars to Trump’s America
- by Muira McCammon, who did weekly podcast reviews for us
Paste Interviews the Artists behind the Disney Princesses Promoting Women’s Health
The Kayfabe of Television News is Going to Kill Us All
- by Alex Jacobs
I’ll close out this page with one report I did and a few analytical pieces I wrote for Paste media.
It Looks Like Fusion Fired a Staffer, Then Copied Her Idea without Attribution
Conservative Media Is Wrong: Cord Cutting – Not Politics – Led to the Massive Layoffs at ESPN
Bill Maher Desperately Tries to Normalize Milo Yiannopoulos, Then Takes Credit for His Downfall
Trump’s Strike in Syria Brings Out the Bloodthirst in American Media
Stop Listening to Seth Abramson’s Hack Trump-Russia Theories
- this was the first debunker written about a man who proved to be very wrong quite often and whose incredibly conspiratorial Twitter threads were elevated by many famous people with millions of followers.