Hobson’s Pledge reports: We attempted to book the Sunday Star Times, The Post, the Christchurch Press, and The Southland Times. It would have been a tidy sum of money for the financially beleaguered media outlet… Our ad was very simple. Just words on a page communicating what is at the heart of the debate – equal rights. Vote […]
Stuff refusing to run ads on the Treaty
Stuff refusing to run ads on the Treaty
03 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, politics - New Zealand Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
“This is Not the Time for Balance”: LA Times Columnist Resigns in Protest . . . Over Balanced Commentary
13 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in entrepreneurship, financial economics, industrial organisation, law and economics, politics - USA, property rights, survivor principle Tags: media bias

When now President-Elect Donald Trump was convicted, the thrill-kill atmosphere around the courthouse and the country was explosive, but no one was more ecstatic than liberal columnist and former prosecutor Harry Litman. The then L.A. Times columnist told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that it was a “majestic day” and “a day to celebrate.” A lawfare advocate, […]
“This is Not the Time for Balance”: LA Times Columnist Resigns in Protest . . . Over Balanced Commentary
The BBC once again won’t use the word “terrorists” for Hamas
28 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of information, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: British politics, Gaza Strip, media bias, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror

This article just appeared in Spiked (click headline below to read), but you can see a similar piece in the Times of Israel. The upshot is that the BBC, which has long bridled at using the word “terrorists” for Hamas, is now bridling again when the Beeb itself shows a documentary about the Nova Music […]
The BBC once again won’t use the word “terrorists” for Hamas
Australia Introduces Legislation to Outlaw Disagreeing With the Government
17 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of media and culture, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left
As Australia approaches its next cycle of state and federal elections, the radical Aussie Federal Government is pushing laws which could silence media criticism of their key policy positions.
Australia Introduces Legislation to Outlaw Disagreeing With the Government
Australia Moves Toward Draconian Anti-Free Speech Law
14 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, law and economics, liberalism, politics - Australia, politics - USA, property rights Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

We have previously discussed how Australia has eagerly joined the plunge into censorship and speech controls, including a court system that has repeatedly refused to protect free speech. It is now on the verge of enacting a new censorship bill that replicates the abuses under the European Union’s draconian Digital Service Act (DSA).
Australia Moves Toward Draconian Anti-Free Speech Law
Why Musk’s Lawsuit Against Media Matters . . . Matters
02 Sep 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

Below is my column in the Hill on the victory of Elon Musk last week against the liberal media outlet, Media Matters. This follows similar recent victories by others against CNN and the New York Times to clear paths to trials. For those who have embraced advocacy journalism as the new model for media, a […]
Why Musk’s Lawsuit Against Media Matters . . . Matters
Newspaper niches
28 Aug 2024 1 Comment
in entrepreneurship, industrial organisation, survivor principle, television, TV shows Tags: media bias
“We are Monitoring”: EU Censor Threatens Musk Ahead of the Trump Interview
14 Aug 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - USA Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

In my new book on free speech and various columns, I write about the European Digital Services Act (DSA) as one of the greatest assaults on free speech in history. One of the most notorious anti-free speech figures in the world is European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton. Where some censors express […]
“We are Monitoring”: EU Censor Threatens Musk Ahead of the Trump Interview
Reporters Blame “Right-Wing Media” for Their Failure to Disclose Biden’s Infirmity
05 Jul 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, survivor principle Tags: 2024 presidential election, free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

The media is sorry . . . sort of. After the shocking appearance of President Joe Biden in the presidential debate, the public has turned its attention to the press which has, again, buried a major scandal for years. According to CNN, the reporters at the White House are really, really sorry but explained that […]
Reporters Blame “Right-Wing Media” for Their Failure to Disclose Biden’s Infirmity
The New York Times Denounces Cancel Culture . . . After Fueling Cancel Culture for Years
12 May 2024 1 Comment
in economics of education, economics of information, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, media bias, political correctness, regressive left

For those of us who have criticized the cancel culture in higher education for years, the attacks and shunning have unrelenting. The media has played a role in that culture and none more prominently than the New York Times. Recently, however, the mob came for liberal professors and media who have remained silent for years…
The New York Times Denounces Cancel Culture . . . After Fueling Cancel Culture for Years
No Knife But A Bloodletting Nevertheless.
15 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of media and culture, industrial organisation, managerial economics, market efficiency, organisational economics, personnel economics, politics - New Zealand, privatisation, Public Choice, public economics, survivor principle Tags: media bias
Hosking went after Radio New Zealand this morning and it was bad.The Mike Hosking Breakfast, 0600 till 0900 has three producer/support staff, Radio NZ Morning report has 16 production staff to cover the same five day time slot, yet the state run highly subsidised show falls way behind in ratings.. That 16 figure for production […]
No Knife But A Bloodletting Nevertheless.
NPR Editor Blasts the Public-Funded Company for Political Bias and Activism
11 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: media bias

In a scathing account from within National Public Radio (NPR), Senior Editor Uri Berliner blasted the company for open political bias and activism. Berliner, who says that he is liberal politically, wrote about how NPR went from a left-leaning media outlet to a virtual Democratic operation echoing narratives from figures like Rep. Adam Schiff (D., […]
NPR Editor Blasts the Public-Funded Company for Political Bias and Activism
Facebook Fact Checking
21 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia Tags: media bias
Sky News reports: The fact-checking director who oversees Mark Zuckerberg’s misinformation program on Facebook has been caught in secret emails colluding with a now disgraced operation which suppressed journalism during Australia’s Voice referendum. … RMIT FactLab was suspended from fact checking on Facebook after a Sky News Australia investigation in Augustfound the operation was filled with […]
Facebook Fact Checking
The Ghahraman Conflict
15 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: crime and punishment, law and order, media bias
What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on the case in Stuff in 2016 and another story about them […]
The Ghahraman Conflict
Hamas plays fast and loose with the casualty numbers from Gaza
14 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, media bias, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror

This article from Tablet describes “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers“, and while I have a few quibbles with it (or rather, alternative but not-so-plausible interpretations), the author’s take seems pretty much on the mark. Abraham Wyner simply gives the daily and cumulative death-toll accounts of Palestinians taken from the Hamas-run Gazan […]
Hamas plays fast and loose with the casualty numbers from Gaza

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