The White House Correspondents Dinner has been a lightning rod for controversy ever since Stephen Colbert mocked the Bush Administration back in 2006. Back then, the press debated about whether he was too mean to the sitting President while forgetting that the purpose of comedy ...read more

• By Jeremy Fassler
  Nov 9, 2018

Last year on SNL, the insanely versatile Kate McKinnon played Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in the first of Melissa McCarthy's sketches as former press secretary Sean Spicer. When asked a question about proficiency in students, she freezes up and says: "I don't know ...read more

• By Jeremy Fassler
  Nov 9, 2018

I will never forget the first time I saw the trailer for Get Out: the audaciousness of the basic concept - Stepford Wives with race - as well as the is-it-a-comedy-or-isn't-it tone was such a mind-blower that I immediately texted my friend who works for Blumhouse, the production ...read more

• By Jeremy Fassler
  Feb 19, 2018

It isn't a particularly nice thing to say, but if you are considering voting for any of the Republican candidates in this election season, you probably have a very serious aversion to things like facts and reality. In no sane world would men like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

Reason number 4,587,900 to never watch television again has come in the form of latest CBS reality show 'The Briefcase'. Billed as a show that, "features hard-working American families experiencing financial setbacks," the producers present the families with "a briefcase ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 17, 2016

More about Letterman's 2015 retirement here. ...read more

• By Bob Cesca
  Feb 17, 2016

This won't be a discussion of whether Sharyl Attkisson's resignation from CBS is proof of a liberal bias at the network or whether Attkisson herself was merely a conservative partisan trying to relate a partisan message at CBS. This isn't about whether CBS shut down the many ...read more

• By Chez Pazienza
  Feb 17, 2016

In Chuck Palahniuk's 1999 novel Survivor, protagonist Tender Branson is dictating his final thoughts into the black box of a doomed 747 and says, "The only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage." I used to have this quote taped to my news computer terminal ...read more

• By Chez Pazienza
  Nov 9, 2018

When it comes to "hearts and minds," Time Warner Cable is going to lose its fight with CBS. As in, it will be utterly decimated. The reason for this is simple: CBS is the most popular network on broadcast television and Time Warner Cable is one of the most universally loathed ...read more

• By Chez Pazienza
  Feb 17, 2016

An unfortunate truth about most examples of the dangers of corporate media ownership is that they're invisible. This is because it's often not about what a corporate media owner does do but what it doesn't, what stories don't get reported and what actions aren't taken. ...read more

• By Chez Pazienza
  Nov 9, 2018

I was on the Huff Post Live 'Happy Hour' show last Friday night discussing the biggest stories of last week. It was a pretty lively back and forth that featured, amongst others, discussions around the big foreign policy let down of the third Presidential debate, Colin Powell's ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 18, 2016

If you thought Mitt Romney couldn't sound more disconnected to the common man than he already has, think again. Being photoed having his shoes shined, claiming that almost $400,000 from speaking fees 'wasn't much' and asserting he wasn't really worried about the poorest ...read more

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018