Writer Michael Massing sums up several currents of influence on the U.S. mainstream media in The End of News? a two-part essay in the New York Review of Books (H/T to Zerby).

And with this morning's dropping of the writ, CTV has unveiled its election site.

Yes, there will be blogging there.

If you want to revisit the polling "fiasco" of 2004, and why it could happen again, read my feature.

A former Texan, raised on a ranch and and a one-time hunter, is the new editor of Harper's Magazine, the erudite, foundation-supported journal of ideas.

Ah, the dark side of citizen journalism: You do the work, we keep all the rights and profit. This Media Guardian article airs complaints about the Telegraph in the UK with respects to rights-grabbing.

My friend Stevie Cameron, one of this country's finest investigative reporters and authors, has come under criticism for her relationship with the RCMP during her work on the Airbus and Eurocopter investigations. The latest salvo came this weekend. She fires back at her critics.

Haroon Siddiqui, the Toronto Star's editorial page editor emeritus, has a somewhat different perspective on Robert Fisk than does the Globe's Marcus Gee.

The Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee wrote on Saturday about a recent interview he had with Robert Fisk, the longtime Middle East correspondent.

A proposed new law from the governing Liberals would prevent even those accused of a crime of seeking Canadian citizenship.

Journalist John Pilger trumpets the success of some alternative media outlets in forcing stories like the use of white phosphorus onto the agenda.

Just when I'm thinking I don't post enough right-wing stuff, along comes a juicy morsel like this, from Daniel Johnson of the New York Sun.

Cartoonist Martin Rowson of Britain's The Guardian talks about the pluses and minuses of seeing his work distributed globally.

Wadah Khanfar, al-Jazeera's director general, has travelled to London. He wants to see the memo that claims U.S. President George W. Bush raised the possibility of bombing the Doha, Qatar headquarters of the Arab satellite TV news network during an April 2004 meeting with British PM Tony Blair.

If you don't want to break BBC impartiality rules, don't admit in your news report you started crying when you saw a world leader was apparently in the end game of his life.

Toronto news junkies who like their fix served on newsprint are in for a treat. The NYT will be printed at the same Mississauga plant as The Globe and Mail, meaning it will be available in T.O. first thing in the morning.

Last week, the U.S. Senate shot down a motion proposing to congratulate Bruce Springsteen on the 30th anniversary of his Born to Run album, one of the great records of the 1970s or rock history, for that matter.

It's really no suprise why.

The Toronto Star reported today that Lord Black of Attica, er Crossharbour, wants back the Canadian citizenship he renounced in order to become a British lord.

One advantage of Canadian citizenship is if you're convicted of corporate fraud in, say, the U.S., you can serve it here -- something you can't do if you're a Brit.

I guess one has to make plans in case the unthinkable happens and an innocent man is convicted.

The New York Observer blurb: Where Was the Media Between Invasion and Murtha? Networks Gave Vietnam War Twice the Minutes Iraq Gets; Baghdad Bureaus Cut Back; Amanpour: ‘Patronizing’

Lara Logan, a swimsuit model in her native South Africa, will become CBS News's leading foreign correspondent. While people have muttered about her looks, Logan has also proven her courage in the field.

Lord Black of Crossharbour, the self-described Darwinian capitalist, predicted complete vindication of himself when his corporate fraud case is eventually heard.

A brave declaration, and who knows, maybe he'll ultimately be proved right. But the ball hasn't exactly been bouncing Conrad's way lately. And with David Radler, his right-hand henchman pleading guilty, well ... .

Here's the CTV.ca story.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who never met a microphone he didn't like, has launched a lawsuit for breach of confidence against Peter Newman, author of The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister.