Anthony Lappé is a writer, blogger, television producer and executive editor of GNN.tv, the web site for the Guerrilla News Network. He's written for mainstream press like the Times and was the National Affairs Editor for Black Book, and in 2003 he collaborated on the award-winning Showtime documentary about Iraq called BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, which covered the front lines of the simmering guerrilla war in Iraq in 2003. Part of what he saw there influenced his new graphic novel, Shooting War, which started out as a serial on the Smith Magazine website. The lavish hardcover print edition, with illustrations by Dan Goldman, follows the gonzo adventures of a New York blogger who becomes a media darling in 2011 after his footage of a bombing at a Williamsburg Starbucks gets picked up by the mainstream media. Looking to keep coverage of the ongoing Iraq quagmire edgy, a global news network hires him to bring a youth angle to the guerrilla war. Part satire, part dystopian nightmare, Shooting War is unflinching in its depiction of the hellish future toward which the Bush administration is corralling us. more ›

To plug the giant hole in the network’s schedule this Sunday, caused by the WGA not giving a waiver to Dick Clark Productions for the Golden Globe Awards, NBC has handed the whole thing over to its news division. more ›

For many 1010WINS listeners, some sad news: Financial analyst Larry Wachtel who would gave financial advice on 1010WINS for 33 years died on Sunday. He died suddenly of a heart ailment on Sunday. Wachtel grew up in Brooklyn, attended Long Island University and had worked in the finance industry, retiring from Wachovia Securities in 2005. He also retired from daily commentary on 1010WINS in 2005, but remained a guest commentator. The Journal News notes how... more ›

Fox News Porn Robert Greenwald, the man behind the 2004 documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism which concluded that Fox News Channel is biased to the right based on memos and footage from the network, is at it again. This time around he is using clips from the channel culled from six months of broadcasts featuring women in bikinis and pixilated nudity in a YouTube video and website that mimics a porn site called... more ›

As we mentioned this summer, Anderson Cooper briefly left CNN for GNN! That's the Grouch News Network for those not Sesame Street-savvy. Here's his hard hitting interview from a trash can (if anyone has a better quality video let us know!)... more ›

The best part of Mayor Bloomberg's maybe, maybe-not presidential aspirations is that we can debate about whether they are going to happen until the Democratic and Republican conventions next year! The NY Times now reports that the "excitement seems to have fizzled" about the idea of Candidate Bloomberg. It's a bit more detailed that Dan Rather's August proclamation that the Mayor would not run for president. more ›

Giving Proper Credit to CBS 2 and Scott Weinberger more ›

What is the lawsuit about, Kenneth? more ›

Dan Rather may have retired from the CBS Evening News, but he's still breaking stories while at HDNet. On his upcoming Thursday night Dan Rather Reports, he will air an "rare sit-down interview" with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, where Bloomberg makes it "categorically clear that he will not run for President of the United States, nor will he seek a Vice Presidential bid nor any cabinet position for that matter, something he's never done before." Wow, we think we just heard candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties sigh with relief! more ›

The New York Times has a nice spotlight piece about Paul Ford today. We've been big fans of Paul's work at FTrain for years-- and he was nice enough to sit for one of our first interviews: more ›

Peter Jennings, the ABC News anchor up until this past April when he announced he had lung cancer, died last night at his Central Park West home. The NY Times obituary describes him as "urbane", which definitely rings true: Of the Big Three anchors, Dan Rather was blunt and straight-talking, Tom Brokaw was more paternalistic, and Jennings was simply smooth. Jennings was an international journalist at heart, relishing the opportunity to report from overseas, notably being the first bureau chief for an American station in an Arab country (Lebanon, 1968). Other parts of Jennings' personal background were interesting to the public: The fact that he was Canadian, how he was a high school drop out, and his three marriages. This morning, Tom Brokaw calls Jennings his and Rather's "prince," as the three anchors were good friends. It really is the end of an era of news anchors; the only ones we can think of these days are Brian Williams (we watched a lot of MSNBC in our day) and Bob Schieffer (he's been around forever). more ›

Jonah Peretti, Director of R&D, Eyebeam more ›

He may not be anchor anymore, but Dan Rather did get a kiss from the HIV-positive Sesame Street muppet, Kami, at the Peabody Awards event last night. Awww, but alert Ken Tomlinson - this must be evidence of the so-called liberal bias of PBS! Rather received a Peabody for his 60 Minutes II report on the prisoner abuses at Abu Gharib; a one-hour documentary for South African Sesame Street to encourage adults and children to discuss AIDS and HIV received a Peabody as well. [Related: An interview with the director of content for Sesame Street.] more ›

And the "Pot Princess," Julia Diaco, the privileged freshman who was busted last year for selling pot and other drugs from her NYU dorm, left the Idaho treatment program she was attending in lieu of serving time. While the District Attorney's office says she failed the program, the judge thought there was issues with the program. Diaco will probably still avoid jailtime if the D.A.'s office agrees with other programs her lawyer suggests. Gothamist on Julia Diaco's exploits, and here's an interesting factoid: Dan Rather, son of THE Dan Rather, is one of the assistant DA's on the case. more ›

While Gothamist hasn't been watching much Dan Rather lately (we do love David Letterman's montages of various Ratherisms), we are a bit sad. When we were little, we'd watching the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather with our parents, and afterwards, we'd play "pretend anchor" with pages and pages of scribbles. Dan, we'll miss you. more ›

Gothamist loved this headline from Jay Rosen's Pressthink: From what we can tell, the Internet doesn't enter the mainstream media until at least six months out. Anyway, some wonder if there's a blog backlash in the making (from CBS Marketwatch, no less) and whether or not blogs get the facts straight. Other wonder if this will speed up Rather's retirement plans. The NY Times analyzes Dan Rather's apology, which makes us think of ESPN Page 2's What Was Dan Rather Thinking?, the Dan Rather watchdog site, Rather Biased, and Gawker's Dan Rather Death Watch. more ›

Paul Ford more ›

PowerPoint, the bane of many an office wonk's existence ("I can animate this slide with builds and sound effects - just give me an hour") gets reinterpreted by David Byrne in his new book and DVD, David Byrne: E.E.E.I. (Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information). Unlike office wonks, David Byrne gets to look at PP with new eyes and use it in funny, "artistic" ways, like using an outline of Dan Rather's head (unless you work in network TV news) or photos of Dolly the sheep and create a book and DVD with similar far-out slides. His enthusiasm for PP can be read in his essay for Wired's September issue: "." Byrne's essay is followed by one from Edward Tufte that calls PowerPoint evil. Well, of course, it is - it's from Microsoft. more ›

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The Observer's Jason Gay finds out how Dan Rather "bagged" Saddam chat. The Texan has had a very long and storied career, but to a generation, he'll be the inspiration for an R.E.M song. Take the Dan Rather Simile Quiz on the Modern Humorist. Conservatives feel Dan Rather is Rather Biased.
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