Category: Media
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Ball of Confusion
by James A. Bacon Virginians are still suffering from massive confusion about what the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is proposing for its controversial Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative. The befuddlement arises from the use of various words that are seeming synonyms but have precise, different meanings when used by educators. Two columns appearing in my…
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VPM and the ACLU Descend into Madness
by James A. Bacon Only one Richmond news outlet, Virginia Public Media, has written about the controversy engendered by the hateful online language of Taylor Maloney, president of the Virginia Commonwealth University student government. No surprise, the angle of the VPM report was not how Taylor tweeted, “i hate white people so much its not…
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VMPI Would Eliminate Tracked Courses
by James A. Bacon Yes, Virginia, it looks like the Virginia Mathematics Pathway Initiative (VMPI) does seek to do away with “tracked” courses in which quicker and slower learners attend separate classes geared to their abilities. Gifted students would be given “extension topics” that would allow them to explore concepts that would not otherwise be…
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Newspapers: Words Still Matter
by Kerry Dougherty After 42 years in newspapers, having dedicated my adult life to that once-proud industry, I now read papers with a sense of dread. All too often that turns to disgust. Rarely do I stumble on a newspaper piece that delights anymore. The reasons are many, and you’ve heard them all before: Newspapers,…
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Journalism, Confirmation Bias and the Presumption of Racism
by James A. Bacon People believe what they want to believe. They seek information that affirms their worldview, and they downplay or ignore evidence that conflicts with it. Psychologists have term for this proclivity: “confirmation bias.” Confirmation bias is extremely well documented in the psychological literature. Everyone falls prey to it. It doesn’t matter how…
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The Roanoke Times Downsizes… Again
by James A. Bacon The Roanoke Times is laying off nine newsroom employees, resulting in a 20% decrease in staffing, reports Virginia Business. Both Henri Gendreau, who covered the Virginia Tech beat, and Claire Mitzel, who covered K-12 schools, were informed that April 23 will be their last day. The two reporters broke the story…
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Ad Promoting Free-Speech Post Squelched
Thanks to the financial support of our generous readers, Bacon’s Rebellion has begun promoting popular posts on Facebook with the goal of driving traffic to the website. Faceless Facebook minions review each ad before it can be published. Not surprisingly, any text with “COVID” appears to be automatically rejected, even when we’re not opining on…
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Distrust Simplistic Narratives about Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
by James A. Bacon Attorney General Mark Herring has long made an issue of the rise in hate crimes and white supremacy, which he has conflated as largely one and the same. As he runs a tough campaign for the Democratic Party nomination, he continues to put hate crimes front and center. Besides re-launching a…
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Democracy Dies in Fake Quotes
by Kerry Dougherty There are no words for the disgust I feel for The Washington Post right now. Oh, it’s been listing left for years, eagerly reporting negative news about conservatives and their causes, while offering tongue baths to liberals. But printing fabricated quotes to damage the president? That’s a new low. Now we KNOW…
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Dissecting the Washington Post’s Latest Hit Job on VMI
by James A. Bacon The Washington Post needs to adopt a new motto: “We cherry pick the news so you don’t have to.” The Post, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Virginia, committed itself last year to the narrative that Virginia Military Institute is a place where African-Americans are subjected to “relentless racism.” The…
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Scrap Art Genius Sam Hundley Debuts First Book
by Kerry Dougherty Remember when The Virginian-Pilot was a thing of beauty? When the graphics that accompanied the hard-hitting news stories were so dazzling that they were what grabbed your attention? Remember when newspapers around the country imitated what we were doing in Norfolk? There was one man behind much of that style and sizzle:…
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Newspapers: No Laughing Matter
by Kerry Dougherty Almost any time I do any public speaking – not often since the pandemic began – a member of the audience will ask something like this: “What advice would you give to a young person who wants to work in newspapers?” After I stop laughing, I ask if the young person has…
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The Democratic Coalition’s Conflicts of Interest Cause Much Political Scrambling
by James C. Sherlock It is tough to be a Democratic politician in Richmond or Washington. Now that they govern, they find it one big game of coalition whack-a-mole. I have written today of the conflicts between the interests of teachers unions and those of parents playing out in the Virginia General Assembly. That vital…
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A Rare Recognition
It’s not often that we see our friends at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy (TJI) get recognition in established media. The younger generation of reporters gravitates toward studies and reports published by left-leaning advocacy groups, seemingly living in a universe in which informed conservative opinions do not exist. So, I’m delighted to see…
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Consumer Reports Misleads on Virginia EV Bill
by James C. Sherlock Few media outlets are as influential with their readership as Consumer Reports or as active in soliciting direct contact of public officials on issues that management feels are important to that publication’s political values. That is their right, but false statements in support of their positions is a violation of public…