MetaFilter posts tagged with torture and media

Frozen Scandal

homunculus — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:37:57 -0800

"Scandal is our growth industry. Revelation of wrongdoing leads not to definitive investigation, punishment, and expiation but to more scandal. Permanent scandal. Frozen scandal." [Via]

Torturing Democracy

homunculus — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:00:19 -0800

"Torturing Democracy" is a new documentary which details how the government set aside the rule of law in its pursuit of harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. You can watch it online or on some PBS affiliates, but PBS won't run it nationally until January 21, 2009. Scott Horton suspects that may be because PBS is afraid of political retaliation. [Via]

"Are we in the midst of a coup?"

homunculus — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:50:14 -0800

2009: A True Story. "My name is Sara Ford and I am 18 years old. I moved to California at the end of last year. Before the first attacks... before everything changed." [Via] On YouTube: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13. NSFW.

Merry Christmas, Mayor Daley

Iridic — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:02:30 -0800

Last week, the Chicago Reader laid off four of its best journalists: John Conroy (previously), Harold Henderson, Tori Marlan, and Steve Bogira. The cuts almost certainly mark the beginning of the end of the paper's role in Chicago as an investigative force and a corruption watchdog. The New York Times responds with a salute to Conroy and a defense of muckraking's relevance. Conroy made his name through years of ceaseless investigation into police torture. For the time being, the Reader retains a full online archive of that work. Henderson's Reader blog (which proclaims him "The World's First Blogger") also remains online. Marlan's work includes the post mortems "Death of a Scientologist" and "Killed by a Cop Car." Bogira is the author of the remarkable Courtroom 302, which HBO is developing as a miniseries.

God Bless Helen Thomas

jonson — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 09:55:05 -0800

Being Press Secretary is a difficult job. Link to a hilariously uncomfortable transcript of Scott McClellan dancing his way through a White House press briefing doing his best to clarify whether or not the American government sanctions terror.

A Tale of Two Soldiers

PrinceValium — Tue, 11 May 2004 11:37:44 -0800

A tale of two West Virginia soldiers: one named Jessica, one named Lynndie. Both are on opposite sides of the propaganda war. One is a hero, one is a monster. No, wait - actually, one is a fraud, one was just following orders. No wait, one is perky and blonde, the other is kind of butch and ugly. Now I'm all confused. Help me Metafilter, you're my only hope.