Author Archives: msifry

Here’s a simple request: If you are watching tonight’s “town-hall”-style presidential debate and want to share your opinion on the questions voiced by audience members, use #GoodQ or #BadQ to hashtag your comments. If possible (and we know this is … Continue reading →

Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin obtained a copy of the secret agreement between the Obama and Romney campaigns governing their participation in the 2012 presidential debates, and the conditions placed on audience participation in tonight’s “town-hall” style event are positively draconian: … Continue reading →

“Number of questions Jim Lehrer raised about issues important but neglected so far in 2012: zero. Number of times he tried to do that: zero.” –Jay Rosen on Jim Lehrer’s performance as the moderator of the first 2012 presidential debate … Continue reading →

David Corn, the Washington editor of Mother Jones magazine, was asked this question last week while doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session: Dirty Projector: Why don’t more journalists call out politicians on their bullshit? Most politicians flat out … Continue reading →

If the media is the immune system of democracy, as Craig Newmark likes to say, then the act of asking questions of the powerful might be thought of as the mitochondria, the energy source that powers the immune system. A … Continue reading →