The media obsess over the Boston bombing, trying desperately to turn it into a story about the usual suspects: brown-skinned foreign invaders. The media obsess over the lurid trial of Jody Arias, as if she is world-shaking news. The media obsess over the titillating story of Amanda Knox or the latest sex crimes in Cleveland.

Meanwhile, the media ignore the much more significant crimes of corporate deregulation. A whole town is devastated in Texas. More than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh die for our fashion industry. The Massey Energy Company in West Virginia kills or terrorizes its miners.

Halliburton and …

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The News Tribune’s view that our senators ignored the will of the American people in rejecting recent gun legislation (editorial, 4-19) is the opinion of a few editorial writers – an opinion that reaches thousands of people. Our newspaper, along with most papers in the country, expressed the same anti-gun opinions along with publishing numerous articles supporting their views in disproportion with pro-gun articles.

The media support for further gun legislation allied with President Obama and his government was a massive effort to influence public opinion and polls which would undoubtedly and unfairly bias polls our newspapers cite as …

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We now know who the murderers re who planted the bombs killing and injuring innocent people at the Boston Marathon. Until now we have been treated to the arrogant media – print and electronic – telling us that the culprits are most likely right-wingers who are angry at the government because of taxes (MSNBC). Or the fervent hope that the perp was a white man and not a Muslim (Slate).

Really? It reminds me of the instant analysis on ABC that the shooter at the Colorado movie theater might have ties with the tea party. Or that the shooting in …

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Re: “15,000 teachers at military schools will get furloughs” (TNT, 3-5).

The Associated Press is once again playing into the hands of political forces that would manipulate it. The sequester spending cuts are less than 3 percent. In the business world, a 3 percent midyear spending adjustment is not uncommon and not particularly difficult to accomplish by trimming nonessential items and/or deferring routine costs like furniture and equipment replacement.

The Pentagon makes headlines claiming it must furlough teachers and cut back commissary hours as the result of a minor spending reduction. Delaying the delivery of a few aircraft would …

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In her recent testimony before Congress, Hillary Clinton pounded the desk and ask, “Why is it important if the attack on our embassy was due to a revolt against a video or some guys walking down the street who just decided to kill some Americans?”

Neither scenario is correct. It was a well-planned, orchestrated attack carried out by a terrorist organization. Apparently she felt going on the offensive would divert attention away from the fact that the American people were lied to.

Why is it important to tell the truth about what really happened? Simple. If you lie about what …

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Karen Peterson’s admonition for reporters to dig deeper into stories (column, 1-20) seems a bit odd given how many newsworthy stories are ignored by the mainstream media. It seems that those happenings that are potentially harmful to the Obama administration sort of sink to the bottom of media’s curiosity and scrutiny.

A case in point is the bogus imprisonment of a U.S. Marine combat veteran in Mexico from August to just before Christmas last year.

His family went through appropriate channels to attempt getting their son released from the renegade prison where he was being detained under threat of …

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Reading a recent issue of The News Tribune, I realized how long I had read the paper and how significant it has been. On the editorial pages were writers such as Leonard Pitts Jr. and Kathleen Parker plus a Viewpoint article by Julie Anderson, the Pierce County auditor. These are all significant commentaries on the local and national scene.

They are highly relevant and provide a view of life in our society. Newspapers may ultimately become electronic media, but for now they are a significant source of information in traditional paper format.

I believe this may work as a proposed solution to the bickering that’s made our congressional representatives dysfunctional.

Let’s discontinue all media coverage requested or provided (news conference, press releases and personal interviews) outside the official chambers of Congress. Let’s force our elected representatives to compete on the floor with head-to-head debates on the issues.

Let’s make the media coverage dependent on what’s said on the Congressional Record instead of prepared public relations monologues that allow self-serving quotes without redirect.

I can’t begin to tell you how solicitous our media have become to curry favor with politicians who can give …

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