Zurawik: Trump’s social media summit was a green light for far-right operatives to let it rip in 2020 race
President Trump's social media summit was a green light for some of the more reckless and dangerous operatives on the far right to let it rip in the 2020 presidential campaign -- doing their worst in spreading disinformation, conspiracy theories, doctored videos and memes that discredit Democrats or any other Trump targets no matter how false or vile the productions might be.
Zurawik: Post-World Cup, the media swells with winning images of women, but let’s not forget who still holds cultural power
Even as we celebrate the triumph of our U.S. women's national soccer team this week, a wall of patriarchy remains from prime time to presidential politics in our popular culture.
ProPublica and NBC show how righteous media serve democracy
One reason ProPublica is doing such great work in documenting hate during the Trump era is found in its embrace of the role of journalism as a "moral force."
Disney Channel sets writing scholarship in memory of Eunetta T. Boone
Funding a scholarship in Eunetta T. Boone’s name to help other writers get the kind of chance she received seems like an especially apt way to memorialize her.
Roger Ailes on Showtime: The ugly legacy of a media monster
How Roger Ailes used Fox News to bend the arc of media toward propaganda and away from news. In a democracy, that's an existential development.
Zurawik: Night 2 of Democrats debate hotter, better than a winning Night 1
It feels like we might have seen the torch of leadership in the 2020 Democratic race seized from Joe Biden on that TV stage in Miami Thursday night.
Zurawik: Democratic debate draws large national and Baltimore audiences on first night
NBC’s telecast of the debate was the top-rated prime-time show in Baltimore Wednesday night doubling the audience for the nearest competition.
Democratic debate, Night 1: Technical glitches aside, this is what a conversation about democracy sounds like
NBC’s first Democratic presidential debate Wednesday night was worthy of high praise for its informed and spirited conversation about democracy.
Zurawik: Trump's got Twitter thumbs poised to troll Democratic debates. Will media let him get away with it?
Trump will do his dirty dance of Twitter transgression during this election, that's a given. But we in the media must resist the temptation to dance along.
More criticism for Sinclair over 'code red' weather warnings
Sinclair is facing criticism again — this time over its weather reporting.
Social media, toxic masculinity make big trouble in Ohio town, throughout the culture today
Toxic masculinity taught, learned and writ large under Friday Night lights and in drunken Saturday night parties ending in rape. All social media amplified.
Sony announces reboot of 'Boondocks' with Aaron McGruder onboard
Sony made the announcement today calling the new "Boondocks" a “complete re-imaging” of the series for “the modern era.” Aaron McGruder onboard.
Axios on HBO, New York Times on FX: Can journalism find new audiences on Sunday night TV?
Why "Axios on HBO" seized the buzz last Sunday that should have belonged to the premiere of The New York Times' "The Weekly" on FX.
Ratings show WJZ lost almost half of key audience for 5 p.m. news in wake of Bubala controversy
While ratings can be spun and read in many ways, the link between Mary Bubala's firing and the large ratings loss during May among viewers 25 to 54.
Idris Elba, Laura Linney, Russell Crowe: Summertime is TV's best time for fine drama
Idris Elba, Laura Linney, Russell Crowe, Ben Kingsley and Ruth Wilson highlight a terrific June for cable and streaming TV drama.
Doctored video of Pelosi: Trump, Giuliani, Fox hit new low - even for them
Beyond vulgar and ignorant, Trump has taken American political life to a place darker even than the McCarthy years of the 1950’s.
Zurawik: Why Democrats need to take moral high road and just say no to Fox town halls
I have news for Democratic candidates who are thinking they can glean votes from those who watch Fox News in prime time: Dream on.
Preakness TV audience down about 10 percent year to year in Baltimore — and twice that nationally
In a race without a Kentucky Derby winner, Preakness TV ratings were down in Baltimore and nationally.
Zurawik: Frontline goes into the shadows to show how Supreme Court moved so far to the right
Critics of television often complain that the medium rarely provides context. Frontline's “Supreme Revenge” is steeped and then marinated in it.
Former WEAA general manager will take over at WYPR July 1
LaFontaine E. Oliver returns to Baltimore to become general manager of WYPR.
Zurawik: Inside the firestorm of reaction to WJZ firing Mary Bubala. Did punishment fit the crime?
What’s going on in this story ranges from WJZ’s handling of the matter, to the frustration and anger many feel about the state of political life in Baltimore today. And those factors are multiplied by the unpredictable power of social media and the incredibly polarized state of American life.
WJZ says anchorwoman Mary Bubala is out in wake of her question about race, gender of recent Baltimore mayors
Mary Bubala is out at WJZ as a result of her question last week about Baltimore's recent black, female mayors.
Bill O'Reilly is back — on radio in 100 cities including Baltimore's WBAL
At a time when American media are drowning in disinformation, lies and vitriol, I am not happy to see this mainstream a return for the partisan, polarizing O’Reilly who regularly told his viewers they cannot trust the mainstream media — they can only trust him.
WJZ again makes news for wrong reason on big news day with question on race, leadership
Friday afternoon after a day of blowback on social media , WJZ anchorwoman Mary Bubala apologized on Twitter, writing that the “question did not come out” the way she intended. “I am devastated that the words I used portray me as someone that I know I am not,” she added.
Zurawik: Pugh's out as Baltimore mayor and Young is in, but the fight for transparent, open city government has just begun
The ouster of Catherine Pugh thanks to strong reporting in The Sun and elsewhere doesn't mean City government will suddenly become transparent, open and honest.
Zurawik: More ridicule for Baltimore politics as 98 Rock mocks Pugh outside her home
I am guessing even some residents who detest Pugh for what she did in using her position on the UMMS board and the power of her City Hall office to line her pockets would see the 98 Rock stunt as a kind of bullying.
Zurawik: As anti-Semitism rises, a 'numbness' to hate in our media and society
Donald Trump has been dog whistling so hard to neo-Nazis and white nationalists since launching his campaign for president that his lips are permanently puckered.
Zurawik: The upside of Trump rallies, the downside of the darkness he invokes
As agitated as I was watching Trump’s rally Saturday, I came to understand something about them that I should have appreciated long before this time: Not only are they a form of media, they are as profound and possibly as brilliant as his use of cable TV and Twitter was in the 2016 race.
WJZ should have clearly corrected its report citing sources on Pugh fleeing state
The surprise is that some of the worst speculation was generated by a CBS-owned station, WJZ-TV, not some random site masquerading as a legitimate news platform.
The media power and moral authority of Elijah Cummings
Elijah Cummings could turn out to be Trump’s worst nightmare based on the Baltimore resident’s powerful position in Congress, his widely-praised recent media performances and shifts in the zeitgeist that have thrust Cummings into the symbolic role of be new best hope to rein in Trump.