Wednesday Link-Off: The Other Eve Eve

anna-kendrick-variety15-01I just realized that people are more than willing to call December 23rd “Christmas Eve Eve” but no one calls December 30th “New Year’s Eve Eve.” It doesn’t really make sense to call one date an “eve eve” but not the other. Hell, you even have to do last-minute shopping on both eve eves. Granted, one is for gifts and this one is solely to get you drunk. Priorities, right?

Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of 2015 which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Since it’s the last linkdump of the year, we have to lead off this post with our woman of the year. Using the scientific analysis criteria of the blog’s traffic, posts, comments and so on, for the second consecutive year, our woman of the year is Anna Kendrick.

Are those who want to limit free speech as a weapon to combat terrorism themselves a form of terrorist? It’s an interesting little debate. (The Intercept)

As we gear up for Presidential primaries starting next year, we witness the ongoing death of the Republican Party as a political group and the rise of an anti-establishment cultural movement in its stead. (Washington Post)

Why does everyone seem more scared of everything thing this year than last? Because the TV news is exploiting your fear for ratings. (Rolling Stone)

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Wednesday Link-Off: You Require More Minerals

salma-hayek-lacma15-01So this week is kind of big in gaming. Yesterday saw the release of Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. I’m spending my time with SC2 and I’m hoping to do a two-part review starting with the campaign in a couple of weeks followed by a look at the multiplayer modes. But there looks to be a lot of campaign to sink my teeth into.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s kick this off with Salma Hayek.

The chair of the board of the Toronto Star takes the CEO of Postmedia to task for interfering with editorial during the recent election. (Toronto Star)

“Calling the TPP a free-trade agreement overplays its benefits, plays down its problematic aspects and fundamentally misunderstands what the deal is actually about.” (The Globe & Mail)

Kim Davis keeps fighting marriage equality and keeps losing. (Advocate)

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Sunday Link-Off: Media Matters

jessica-alba-shape15-02This is going to be a fairly quick set of the Sunday links as we’re gearing up for E3 2015. This year’s edition of E3 will have seven on-site press conferences along with Nintendo’s video conference. In addition to the usual five (EA, Ubi, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo), there will be appearances by Bethesda and Square Enix along with a Tuesday night show focusing on just PC games for some reason. We’ll have coverage all week.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Since she once appeared at the Video Game Awards, let’s start with Jessica Alba.

There’s a federal election this fall but don’t tell Justin Trudeau. His Liberals are slumping this year. (CBC)

Gawker and Hulk Hogan are set to square off in a $100 million battle over the newsworthiness of Hogan’s sex tape. It’s not about smut but freedom of the press. (Fortune)

Benny Johnson is back writing on the internet after being outed as a plagiarist. His comeback profile in the Washington Post was written by a friend of his. (Gawker)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Media of Failure

olivia-wilde-shape15-01It’s not just the politics of failure that have failed. It’s the news media of failure that has failed as well. Try as everyone might to make it work again, they have a long way to go to get there. If only they could fail at being failures but it seems as though politicians and the news media can only get failure right.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. To change things up, let’s kick this off with Olivia Wilde.

There’s always more on the Brian Williams situation but he was just the biggest face of the ongoing self-destruction of NBC News under Comcast’s ownership. (Vanity Fair)

A report on Rolling Stone’s University of Virginia rape story had shown a systematic failure of their reporting and editorial processes. (NPR)

Inside the strange money-making world of Twitter parody accounts. I can’t believe that’s a thing. (Vice)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Lies, Damned Lies and the News Media

amy-adams-jennifer-aniston-vfoscars15-01Just when you though that Brian Williams was the only member in the media in the middle of a scandal, I happened across a bunch of stories about news media scandals. Welcome my friends to the show that never ends. And there’s a whole bunch of legitimately interesting stories if that’s more your speed.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Because the Oscars were this weekend, let’s kickoff with something special. Here’s Amy Adams and Jennifer Aniston.

The right often complains about the war on Christmas or the war on religion but they ignore their war on science. For some reason, science is under attack from people who should know better. (National Geographic)

“Among African-American men aged fifteen to forty-four, 88.7 percent of gun deaths are homicides; among white American men aged thirty-five to sixty-four, 89.2 percent of gun deaths are suicides.: (Harper’s Magazine)

Naturally, Bill O’Reilly went to town on Brian Williams for his lying scandal. Little did he know that he was about to get caught up in a scandal of his own. (Mother Jones)

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Sunday Link-Off: Valentine’s Hangover

Good news, guys! Valentine’s Day has come and gone and it’s safe to come out of hiding again. Hopefully you didn’t screw it up and if you did, we’ll need your ex’s phone number. For research purposes only, of course… I think everyone bought that.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s continue going through some of the SI Swimsuit issue with Canada’s Kate Bock.

Global News was going to run a report on the Koch brothers’ connections to Canada. Then it was suddenly killed. What happened? (Canadaland)

Even more of Brian Williams’ reports are being questioned in the aftermath of his suspension. (Gawker)

How much is the legal weed market in Colorado? Only $700 million. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Lies, Damned Lies and Isn’t There Anything Else to Talk About?

I know I’ve mentioned how some weeks are easier to find weeks than others. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have links about new stories. As much as I’m sure Brian Williams interests most of you, there has to be other things in the world that are worth writing about. I swear the media finds one bit of clickbait to latch onto and it doesn’t let go.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Since she’s on the cover of the SI Swimsuit Issue, here’s Hannah Davis.

Quiz time: Would you rather spend $1 billion on the Iraq War or on infrastructure? Independent Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to push through an infrastructure bill that would almost equal spending on the Iraq War. (The Hill)

Brian Williams is being whipped from pillar to post after it came out that he lied about being shot down in Iraq. The story’s traction might come more from the public spectacle than the principle of the matter. (Bloomberg)

The spectacle doesn’t change the fact that NBC news is in complete disarray at the moment. (The Daily Beast)

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Sunday Link-Off: Lies, Damned Lies and Brian Williams

emily-ratajkowski-hm15-05I bet nobody was expecting to wake up to a set of links about some unlikely to win the White House Republican nomination hopefuls, some exposes on sports media and the implosion of Brian Williams career. Sometimes, you get a really bad week for links. Sometimes, you get this week.

And it’s a good thing that I didn’t do an SI Swimsuit cover odds post this year because I would have been wrong. Hannah Davis was #5 on my list. Who was #1? Emily Ratajkowski.

Why are people anti-vaccine? Vox asked an anti-vax activist why he thinks vaccines are terrible. (Vox)

The news has become the news. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has admitted to lying about an alleged helicopter attack in Iraq. (The Hill)

It’s not just the Iraq story that’s falling apart from the Williams lie. His whole career is now being gone through with a fine-toothed comb. (TKTK)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The News Behind the News

jessica-chastain-amy-adams-goldenglobes15-01Just when I thought that all we’d be talking about the Golden Globes, the folks at Canadaland broke another major Canadian media story at the CBC. This is the sort of thing that I wanted to do with my life. Instead, I work a white-collar job and my life has no direction. Sorry, I’m watching Parks & Rec while I’m writing and that came up in this week’s episode.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. For something special, let’s start off with a two-for-one deal. Here are Jessica Chastain and Amy Adams.

You can’t really say CBC without putting scandal beside it these days. Once again, it’s Canadaland with the story. In this case, the CBC is the bad guy as they allowed star Amanda Lang to run interference with a story about RBC using foreign workers. (Canadaland)

To make matters worse, Canadaland says that Lang was romantically involved with an RBC board member while trying to spike that story. (Canadaland)

The CBC came out on the offensive with a denial that the Canadaland story is true. (Canada.com)

So CBC reporter Kathy Tomlinson allowed Canadaland to put her name to the accusations about Lang and the CBC’s conflict of interest in this matter. (Canadaland)

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Sunday Link-Off: What is Freedom of Expression?

cintia-dicker-dickerswimwear15-01I learned something this week. When you’re travelling, always prepare for the worst. I saw Air Canada take my luggage off the plane and wouldn’t take I’m catching a bus to another destination an hour after we land for a three-day suit-and-tie conference as a reason to put it back on. Took two days for my luggage to make one one-hour flight and a courier trip to my destination. Two days in jeans and a sweater. At least I could get by on souvenir store underclothes. Thanks Air Canada.

Anyway, that’s why I missed the WLO this week. I’m not missing the Sunday links. Let’s start with the return of blog favourite Cintia Dicker.

Don’t mess with Kevin Donovan. The Toronto Star reporter whose investigative takedowns include Rob Ford and Jian Ghomeshi now include Global TV anchor Leslie Roberts. (Toronto Star)

Following the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, freedom of expression has become a hot topic. However, even in Canada, expression is hardly free. (MacLean’s)

Telling the difference between real news and parody is hard. Just Greta Van Susteren and most of the news world who were fooled by an obviously fake North Korean news Twitter account. (Popehat)

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