Boston Bombings: NY Post Put Wrong Men on 'Bag Men' Cover (Update)

April, 18, 2013 12:18 pm | Comments On #bag men, boston bombings, Media, new york post

(Update: The young men who appeared on the Post cover have been cleared, the paper says)

The New York Post ran a front page photo Thursday of two men it said authorities were seeking as they investigate the Boston Marathon bombing. But by afternoon it reported that they had been cleared, as the FBI said it was seeking two different men as suspects.

And so, it turned out, the Post had yet again focused suspicion on two people who had nothing to do with a high-profile crime.

The Post stopped short of saying the men on its cover were potentially involved -- but the insinuation was obvious. Authorities...

Read More

Obama at Boston Bombings Memorial Service: 'They Picked the Wrong City' (Video)

April, 18, 2013 12:15 pm | Comments On #Barack Obama, boston bombings, Boston Marathon, Media, president

President Barack Obama told the crowd gathered at a Boston memorial service on Monday that those responsible for Monday's bombings "picked the wrong city" to terrorize.

"If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values ... that define us as Americans, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it to," Obama said. "Not here in Boston."

Also read: Obama Calls Boston Bombings 'Terrorism' in Second Briefing (Video)

The president made the comment during a 20-minute speech centering on the nation's support for the wounded city, as well as one of his favorite topics: Hope.

"We may be momentarily...

Read More

Jay-Z, Lena Dunham, Jennifer Lawrence, Malala Yousafzai Among Time's 100 Most Influential People

April, 18, 2013 9:28 am | Comments On #Bryan Cranston, Girls, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lawrence, Lena Dunham, Media, Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, The Hunger Games, Time

Jay-Z, Lena Dunham, Jennifer Lawrence and Bryan Cranston are among Time Magazine's 10th annual 100 Most Influential People in the World, a list which also includes Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzai and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Rapper-turned-business mogul Jay-Z joins NBA player Lebron James, music manager Scooter Braun and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos as one of 20 "titans."

In a short piece accompanying Jay-Z's portrait, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg praises him as "an artist-entrepreneur who stands at the center of culture and commerce in 21st century America."

Also read: 60 Summer Movies Looking for Your Box Office Bucks: 'Iron Man,' 'Star...

Read More

Barack Obama Feels 'Personally Responsible' to Pass Stricter Gun Control After Newtown (Video)

April, 17, 2013 10:13 am | Comments On #Barack Obama, boston bombings, Boston Marathon, gun control, laws, Media, Newtown, president, sandy hook, shootings, video

President Barack Obama says he feels "personally responsible" for passing stricter gun control legislation on behalf of the families still grieving lost loved ones from the Newtown shootings.

“I feel personally responsible the same way I hope every parent out there feels responsible for all our kids,” he told Savannah Guthrie in a "Today Show" interview that aired Wednesday morning. 

Also read: Obama Calls Boston Bombings 'Terrorism' in Second Briefing (Video)

The pre-recorded interview was taped on Monday, just hours before two explosions at the Boston Marathon killed three and injured over 170 others.

The seemingly senseless attack at the annual foot...

Read More

Obama Calls Boston Bombings 'Terrorism' in Second Briefing (Video)

April, 16, 2013 9:53 am | Comments On #Barack Obama, boston bombings, Boston Marathon, Media, terrorism, video, White House

President Barack Obama addressed the Boston Marathon bombing again on Tuesday morning, calling it not only "a heinous and cowardly act" but an act of terrorism.

"Given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism," the president said. "Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror. He avoided the word "terrorism" during his address to the nation on Monday.

Also read: President Obama on Boston Bombings: Perpetrators Will 'Feel the Full Weight of Justice'

But despite the new label, he said investigators still who was behind the two explosions that left three dead and over 140 injured....

Read More

Boston Bombings: 'Man on Roof' Spawns Conspiracy Theories

April, 16, 2013 9:41 am | Comments On #boston bombings, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon Explosion, conspiracy theory, Television, twitter

All it took was one image of a silhouetted man on a roof to spawn one of many conspiracy theories about the Boston Marathon bombers.

Speculation is rampant about a Saudi man's reported interrogation and the fact that the attacks fell on tax day as well as Patriots' Day, which celebrates the start of the Revolutionary War. But no one, at this point, seems to know anything.

But true-crime shows have trained us all to think of ourselves as armchair detectives. And so online searches for "man on roof" or "mystery man on roof" took off Tuesday as an image of a man atop a building near one of the two explosions spawned Twitter theories that he was somehow involved.

The image (above) spread quickly after it was posted by several users, including a parody account of singer Frank Ocean. The tweet from...

Read More

Matt Lauer Less Popular Than Polio, Says Matt Lauer

April, 11, 2013 11:07 am | Comments On #Ann Curry, Matt Lauer, Media, NBC, Television, The Today Show

Matt Lauer is trying to show he has a sense of humor about the fallout he's faced since Ann Curry's messy exit from "Today" last summer: He jokes that polio is more popular than he is.

"I'm a bit surprised to be asked to host this dinner," he told an audience Tuesday, according to the New York Post. "If you’ve been following the papers lately, you know it’s been a bit rough for me. These days, I only get asked to host dinners if polio is busy. Yup, I have a lower Q rating than polio right now.”

Also read: Anderson Cooper Not Replacing Matt Lauer on...

Read More

Fox News Site Pulls Ann Coulter Post Calling for Meghan McCain's Murder

April, 11, 2013 8:16 am | Comments On #Ann Coulter, gun control, killing, meghan mccain, murder, Television

Fox News' Fox Nation site has pulled a post in which Ann Coulter jokingly called for Meghan McCain to be murdered. 

Coulter facetiously recommended the murder of her fellow political pundit in the post published Wednesday. Fox News did not immediately respond to an inquiry from TheWrap about the post's removal or whether it was initially vetted.

"MSNBC's Martin Bashir suggested that Republican senators need to have a member of their families killed for them to support the Democrats' gun proposals. (Let's start with Meghan McCain!)" Coulter wrote.

As New York's Daily Intelligencer noted, Bashir didn't actually call for anyone to be killed. But that contention was quickly overshadowed by the comment...

Read More

Count the 'Weiner' Puns in Today's New York Post

April, 11, 2013 7:37 am | Comments On #anthony weiner, Media, new york post, puns, Television

Last night was a late one for the New York Post's Department of Weiner Jokes: Word that disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner might run for mayor spawned an edition filled with more juvenile double entendres than even a normal issue of the New York Post.

How many penis jokes were there? We can't guarantee an accurate count, because there were a lot. But, let's try:

-Two on the front page. The headline was "Weiner's Second Coming!" with the subhead, "Anthony: Erect me Mr. Mayor"

-Two with the main story: "Second Coming" was the title of the Weiner section, printed across the top of pages five and six, with the headline, "Weiner's Long Hard...

Read More

Beyoncé, Jay-Z's Cuba Trip: FOX, MSNBC Ask Why They Can Go But We Can't

April, 09, 2013 12:58 pm | Comments On #Beyonce, Cuba, fox and friends, Fox News, Jay-Z, marco rubio, Media, MSNBC

Beyoncé and Jay-Z's trip to Cuba last week is being questioned by both Republican lawmakers and major media outlets. But instead of focusing on whether or not the famous couple broke the law, pundits like MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell and Fox News' Steve Doocy are asking why we can't, too.

Getty Images

"Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip to Cuba last week presents us with a crime: Either they committed a crime by going there or it's a crime that they get to go there legally and you can't," MSNBC's...

Read More