Analysis: Nixon, Opponents Rely Too Heavily on Too Few Arguments

Missouri governor Jay Nixon faced both of his challengers in his reelection bid at a debate sponsored by the Missouri Press Association on Friday morning. Nixon, a Democrat, is running for a second four-year term against St. Louis businessman Dave Spence, a Republican, and Libertarian candidate Jim Higgins. The hour-long debate covered topics ranging from jobs and education to health care to the Army Corps of Engineers’ policies toward the Missouri river.

All three candidates took fairly simple approaches to their arguments.

Website Review: Badassoftheweek.com

The definition of journalism has become extraordinarily flexible with the advent of the Internet. All of the sites I have reviewed on this blog practice some form of journalism. This week, I am reviewing Ben Thompson’s Web site, badassoftheweek.com. While I do not consider this site a journalism site in any strict sense, it raises some interesting considerations for journalists and writers in general.

Burning Down The House At Route 66

When I tell people I am a racing fan, after an initial period of confusion, they reply, “What, like NASCAR?” I am indeed a NASCAR fan, but I enjoy any kind of racing involving an engine with wheels attached, whether it’s the Indianapolis 500, a demolition derby, or drag racing.

“Danger Room” in the Danger Zone

The interesting thing about niche journalism is that sometimes you can find a niche within a niche. That’s what Wired, a science and technology publication, did with its Danger Room blog.

How “Foreign Policy” covers its niche

My previous posts have compared and contrasted how different media outlets have covered events such as the Middle Eastern uprisings and the Japan earthquake. For a change, I will analyze how one particular publication, Foreign Policy, deals with its niche, in this case international relations.

How science media covered the Japan earthquake

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on March 10 instantly drew the world’s media. While traditional news outlets such as CNN and NBC covered the human toll, science media weighed in from a different angle. This posting will compare how several major science publications covered the disaster on their Web sites.

A comparison of commercial news radio in mid-Missouri

Over the course of two weeks, I listened to and visited the Web sites of mid-Missouri’s major commercial news radio stations. I found all of them have their similarities and differences (reword!). For this article, I will review the AM stations KWOS 950, KSIS 1050, KRMS 1150, and KFRU 1400. I will also compare them with the FM station 93.9 the Eagle, or KSSZ.

Arab Revolution Coverage and Reflections on Progress in Broadcast II

Arab media and coverage of the revolutions

For many Americans, the name “Al-Jazeera” is synonymous with Middle Eastern media. The network has a vast audience but it is far from the only news source in the region. This post will compare and contrast the coverage of the Middle Eastern protests in different Arab media outlets. English-language Arab news sources are in relatively short supply, so for this post I will concentrate on three: Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and Al-Ahram.

Lessons learned from Election 2010

About the only rule that can be learned from the 2010 midterm elections is that there are no rules. As cliché as this may sound, the fact is no conventional wisdom held true in this election.

Incumbency, long considered an asset, was frequently a handicap this year.

Third Parties in Missouri: An Analysis

With less than 48 hours to Election Day, I will use this post to compare and contrast the three main third parties in Missouri.

Nationwide, the Libertarian, Constitution, and Green parties are the largest political parties after the Republican and Democratic parties. Over the past few weeks, I discussed the status of these parties’ affiliates in the state of Missouri.