THE MEDIA BEAT is veteran journalist David Tereshchuk’s ongoing review of media coverage.
New columns appear periodically on this page, below.
The original column first appeared in 2004 when Tribune Newspapers commissioned it from Tereshchuk. It ran as a weekly feature in Tribune's New York City daily paper, 'AM New York’ until he took the column online in 2006.
A radio version of The Media Beat appears every week on the NPR Connecticut station WHDD. The Media Beat PODCASTS are available at Apple Podcasts and other major streaming platforms, as well as at WHDD's 'On Demand’ service.
From 2012 onward, Tereshchuk's frequent reports for television on ethical issues have been broadcast on PBS programs Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and PBS Newshour.
To explore columns written before October 2024 visit our historic The Media Beat website by clicking here.
Inevitable Forensics - But Then What?
IT’S QUITE EXTRAORDINARY HOW MUCH, here at a full nine days after Election Day, so many of the American mass media are still engaged in effort after fresh effort to come up with explanations for how the sweeping victory for Donald Trump could have happened.
The Election and War: Journalism’s Omissions
THE MEDIA CANNOT MISS that we’ve reached a telling juncture in the calendar, one with multiple points of significance. First: we’re at just twenty-six days until the US Presidential Election...
Assassinations, USA
THE U.S. IS STILL A VERY YOUNG NATION, we must always remember. This week’s major news, another evident attempt on the life of a candidate in the Presidential race, must put us in mind of our country’s youth. In previous eras before the USA’s creation, leaders had to regard meeting a violent death as simply an occupational hazard.
Country vs City in Presidential Campaign Coverage
I’VE BEEN TAKING A HIATUS far removed from my home-base in the “Media Capital of the World,” New York City. And I have to say, rural Maine offers a perspective not always fully taken into account during mainstream media coverage of our presidential contest.
Media Election Coverage – Turn-Out Levels Are Critical
LET’S TAKE A BREAK, shall we, from American media’s most intense preoccupation, as evidenced by yesterday’s supposedly crucial, but inevitably inconclusive White House press conference?
Computers for the Brain and Body
IN MY ROLE OF MONITORING the media I inevitably have to deal with a lot of screaming. Literal screaming – as in so-called discussions on cable television’s so-called news channels. And written screaming, in headlines and text on paper and online. So I’m grateful to have a solid, dependable, and quietly-spoken news outlet like the Financial Times to turn to.