- Ridiculous. The arrest of “journalists” at the Occupy movement has caused the US to drop in its ranking of press freedom.

Reporters Without Borders’ latest Press Freedom Index was released on Wednesday, and the list reflected some of the tumult that took place in the world in 2011, as well as the impact that those events had on journalists across the globe. Reporters became targets over and over again throughout the year, both in the Middle East and on the streets of New York.

I’m sure Reporters Without Borders didn’t bother delving into the habit many of these “journalists” had of blurring the lines between journalist and protester. No worries, we at Big Journalism did. When you cease acting like a professional during a protest and join in with the protesters, yes, you are subject to arrest if you break the law. Your media badge doesn’t give you special allowances under said law.

- Diane Sawyer’s reporting under fire for inaccurate remark on tornado warnings in Alabama:

After being publicly criticized yesterday for a report stating Monday’s tornadoes hit Alabama residents with “no warning,” “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer backpedaled last night, saying the death toll “could have been far worse” without the tornado warning system.

That criticism?

ABC “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer reported that Alabamians had “no warning” of the tornadoes that struck Jan. 23, but Birmingham weatherman James Spann begs to differ.

Spann hits back on his blog:

NO WARNING? Get a clue. This event was forecast days in advance, and the average lead times for the entire event were 20 to 30 minutes. That is plenty of time to get to a safe place.

We were on the air non-stop from about midnight until almost 8 a.m. It has been our policy at ABC 33/40 to provide long form, uninterrupted severe weather coverage if ANY county in our market goes under a tornado warning.

No warning?

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So here you have some public official caught on film casually using the word “nigger” to describe black children, he’s forced to resign as county commissioner, and this is all the information the Associated Press passes along:

WEDOWEE, Alabama — A county commissioner from east Alabama has resigned after being videotaped using a racial slur to describe black children.

Birmingham television station WBRC reports that longtime Randolph County Commissioner Thomas “June” Waldrep submitted his resignation on Tuesday. In a letter, the 80-year-old Waldrop apologized for anything he said that was offensive.

A video posted on Youtube shows Waldrep repeatedly using a racial slur to refer to black children attending a Boys and Girls Club. Waldrep doesn’t seem to know he is being recorded in the video.

In his resignation, Waldrep says he hopes his actions through the years spoke louder than his words.

Gee, isn’t something missing?

And it’s not a fluke, either, because you can read various versions of the story here, here, and here and there’s still a little something missing. In fact, after a good faith search on my part, this something that’s missing couldn’t be found in any news story on the Web. We had to confirm Waldrep was a Democrat through a Lexis/Nexis search.

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Take a look at this news report from Mobile, Alabama’s WALA on the illegal-immigration bill making its way through the Alabama state house:

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Who else could utter such fatuous nonsense with a straight face but “Booger” Max Blumenthal, ”independent journalist” and son of Clinton flack Sid “Vicious” Blumenthal, who takes to the Independent Film Channel tonight with a documentary about, what else, the “far right” and the Tea Party movement. If these snarky, sneering teasers are any indication of the kind of sophisticated analysis we’re in for, we can hardly wait:

The people I’ve written about have called me everything from a left wing hack to a sociopath to even a self-hating Jew.

Meanwhile, Max — who’s plainly terrified by inanimate objects — fears for the future of a Republic that has such folks as these in it:

Lest we forget, this memorable moment in Blumenthalism: (more…)

Don’t you wish all politicians on our side were like this guy?

Sure to make the weenie Left feel “threatened.”

Makes you want to shout, “Sir, yes sir!”

In news that’s sure to make liberals’ heads explode, Fox News has now sat atop the cable-news ratings for one hundred consecutive months. From Fishbowl DC:

The gang at FNC has to be pleased. The network rolls in at #1 for 100 consecutive months in total viewership, according to Nielsen Media Research. This includes Primetime and Total Day news programming.

FNC also secured nine out of the top 10 programs in cable news for April in total viewers. Here’s the pecking order of the top five:

1. Bill O’Reilly
2. Glenn Beck
3. Sean Hannity
4. Bret Baier
5. Greta Van Susteren

As if on cue, liberals’ heads exploded.  Here’s one now: (more…)

Just last Wednesday, the news broke that a Birmingham PlannedParenthood clinic was put on a year-long probation. The Alabama State Health Department had opened an investigation into the clinic after Live Action released an undercover video, showing clinic staffers covering up sexual abuse and skirting the parental consent law.

When our team of student journalists investigated the Birmingham clinic a year and a half ago, I was posing as a 14-year-old girl impregnated by my 31-year-old “boyfriend.”  When I told the clinic workers I was 14 and didn’t want my parents to find out about my abortion, the staffer responded that someone with “the same last name” could give permission for my abortion—directly contrary to Alabama’s parental consent law.

After they heard my “boyfriend” was 31, they told me to speak to Dr. Desiree Bates, the clinic manager. Bates, they said, “does bend the rules a little bit” and “whatever you tell us stays within these walls.” Our investigators have seen firsthand that Planned Parenthood routinely breaks laws meant to protect underage girls. (more…)