Insight on the News

Dear Readers, Have you ever wondered how stories are selected for print, radio and TV broadcast or cable news? Sure, breaking news is an important element, but so too is the mix of newsmen and their perspectives about world events. As it were,...

When president Bill Clinton announced at a grand Fourth of July event in 1999 that the bald eagle was being removed from the endangered species list, critics called the announcement a political move to bolster the presidential campaign for vice...

In early May, President George W. Bush went on the offensive on behalf of his lingering judicial nominees. For some conservatives, it was well past time. They fretted that the White House had allowed itself to be bullied by left-wing groups and...

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton will have to weigh the national-security impact of federal environmental restrictions placed upon military installations under a bill currently making its way through Congress. Though specifying that the...

Thank God for someone who is making sense. I was about to give up on all humankind until reading the column by Paul M. Rodriguez on "Virtual Child Porn's Very Real Consequences" [the last word, May 27]. When I remarked about the stupidity of...

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) reputation for being the school-yard bully of federal agencies has of late taken a troubling new turn. Its choice of patsies now has gone beyond just businesses and industries that it judges a threat...

Homosexual groups are going into orbit over the ongoing revelations of Roman Catholic priests who have molested preteen and teen-age boys in Boston and elsewhere. A few weeks ago, for instance, a group of alleged Catholics who practice sodomy held...

Mississippi has a long and troubled history when it comes to issues concerning the rule of law. The Magnolia State once was at the heart of the Confederacy, rejecting the mandates of the federal government. Nearly 100 years later it stood at the...

The adventures of media hoaxer Joey Skaggs often have been chronicled in this column through the years, and it always is a pleasure to see his efforts recognized elsewhere. All too often, to the embarrassment of news organizations, his initial efforts...

True stories with happy endings are favorites of for the people. Here's one that happened close to home. Early this spring, INSIGHT executive assistant Donna Harkins lost her wallet while shopping at a COSTCO store in Arlington, Va. A telephone...

For children, news can be a frightening thing, and with cable TV's 24-hour channels and the Internet, they are exposed to more of it than ever before. "I think we should let children know what is going on in the world but shield them from TV," says...

Americans aren't the only ones who get piqued at their press. British newspapers--a motley assortment of staid broadsheets and slavering tabloids--have received a black eye from their readerships. They are the least trusted in Europe, according...

America's third parties tend to be regarded by political insiders as something of a joke. No candidate from the Libertarian or Green parties has won a high-profile state or national election--or even come close. That significant failure aside, representatives...