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Journalistic hopefuls would be better off ignoring the paper of record. The case in point is the predictable poll story. There's all sorts of problems with the story, as .... the amount of media polling you need to do to figure out how that circle gets squared is truly stunning

The Blog, The Press, The Media: George Washington's False Teeth
In studying the history of books, I had to confront the history of reading, to seek out connections between the diffusion of literature and the formation of the mysterious phenomenon we call public opinion. It became clear along the way that books were but one of the many media at the time. In fact, printed texts often incorporated oral material-gossip, songs, bruits publics-and then transmitted messages that re-entered oral circuits of communication by means of discussion or reading in groups.
· But we can make history sing [ courtesy of www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/ ]
· · See Also Sociologists without Borders ((At a time when many Americans consider journalists no more trustworthy than the politicians they cover, the profession needs to cast a critical eye on itself ))
· · · See Also Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World, on the striker's ability to hit a crucial 28% area of the goal and the strategy of the penalty shoot-out, and if soccer explains the world, does it matter that Americans don't understand soccer?
· · · · See Also Spymaster cops
· · · · · See Also Bob Novak calls Bush administration arrogant. Whatever else we might say about Bob Novak, he has been using his GOP Insider status to break some astonishing stories on the fractures in the party
· · · · · · See Also Least Suprising News Story Of The Day: Nader recieving aid from right-wing groups? Fibbing as acceptable political and business strategy!
· · · · · · · Foxes & Dragons News machine outfoxed by bloggers [ Read This: Why can't a newspaper be more like a blog? Conclusion]