Leid Stories – 04.30.15

Making Their Bones in Baltimore (Part 2)

The crisis in Baltimore has become a backdrop for media hounds, political pundits, talking heads and just about every variety of sound-byte opportunist. Yet the systemic problems that are the Gordian knot around the embattled city are again being given short shrift.
Even the “liberal” media are fully engaged in providing “coverage” that has more to do with sensationalism, stereotype and self-promotion than getting at the root of systemic problems that belie claims of social, political, economic and racial progress in America.
Leid Stories tackles the issue head on.

Welfare May Actually Encourage Recipients to Work, New Study Suggests – Quinn Fucile

Science and politics don’t always mix. One is inherently subjective, what someone believes is best for society, both socially and economically. The other is about questions, answers, data, and experiments. Still they often inform each other, for better or worse. We can occasionally use science and statistics to better understand society, and perhaps figure out the best course of action. …

The Burt Cohen Show – Is It Still 1815? – 03.29.15

In the face of many wars, the big powers are trying to steer small nations to create their own version of peace. That was the Congress of Vienna 200 years ago and there’s a lot of deja vu, and still a great deal to learn. The Austrian aristocrats threw an incredibly lavish, nearly year long party and peace deals were worked out. Many similar dynamics are at work today, including Ukraine and ISIS. Historian Mark Jarrett fills us in.

Leid Stories – 03.16.15

Mayhem, Murder, Madness, Money and Media Myopia

Leid Stories takes a look at a few major stories that illustrate how U.S. news outlets willingly toe ideological, political and racial lines in their coverage, and how this in turn shapes and controls our views of the world and our place in it.

Media literacy is a regular feature of Leid Stories.