Alternative to crooksandliars

April 27, 2008 11:20 AM

I have trouble keeping up with the big political news on television. So I use the clips on crooksandliars.com as a way of staying on top of what the current political stories are and how they are being discussed. What I don't like is the editorializing. It's not that I disagree with all their takes, I just find that the way they push their agenda distracts from what I am trying to get from the site. Is there another blog that can keep me up to date with the current television news cycle that is a bit more unbiased? Specifically one that includes video clips of the pundit discussions?
posted by aburd to computers & internet (13 comments total)

Back when I still kind-of followed politics I watched the Daily Show for this purpose. They post tons of clips on comedycentral.com, so it's almost like a vlog.
posted by waxboy at 11:32 AM on April 27

RealClearPolitics is a pretty good aggregator, and Politico has some good analysis, as well as real time updates on primary nights.
posted by timsteil at 11:39 AM on April 27

Memeorandum, I think.
posted by Class Goat at 11:41 AM on April 27

Media Matters has a spin, but they show a lot more context than crooks and liars.

Scroll down a bit for the daily updates.
posted by Pants! at 12:07 PM on April 27

I think Real Clear Politics might be what you're looking for. I know they do a round-up of the Sunday talk shows, not sure about other days. Their headline round-ups are awesome. Everything is very neutral.
posted by lunasol at 12:41 PM on April 27

MSNBC has an excellent flash-based Video player (except for its ads between segments)

MSNBC Video Player

They have segments from Countdown, Hardball, "Race to the White House", Meet the Press, as well as most of their other political and news coverage. Segments are usually posted online within an hour or two of live broadcast.

The interface is top-notch and I recommend it highly. It's a good way to catch up on the news, punditry, and sound-bites of the day.
posted by Auden at 1:23 PM on April 27

I love Politico but also try these:

Electicker
Politicker
The Fix
posted by loosemouth at 1:23 PM on April 27 [1 favorite]

Agreeing that Real Clear and Politico are probably the best, I also like to check out Roll Call as well.
posted by dawson at 1:23 PM on April 27

Keeping up with the propaganda on cable news is not going to inform you on anything more than who's pissing farther on any given day and that changes with the wind. If you want to know what's going on in the world you are going to have to work these days and that includes reading long form articles from real magazines that have journalists that do actual research instead of just offering their opinion on gossip and political strategy which is all you will get from talking heads.
posted by any major dude at 2:40 PM on April 27

I don't have a TV, and I keep up with TV news online by checking Talking Points Memo. They embed some of their video clips on that homepage, and they have more on their YouTube page. There's also an offshoot site, Veracifier, that's more focused on video clips.

TPM's YouTube site specializes in the following:

* Analysis by Josh Marshall and occasional guests -- e.g., post-Pennsylvania analysis

* Straightforward TV clips, e.g. the Obama interview on FoxNews today

* Snappy soundbites, e.g. McCain on anti-Obama ad

* Original reporting, like this dispatch from a summit with Afghan students

As for the idea that TV just doesn't give you intelligent content: one benefit of TPM/Veracifier is that even though it draws on cable news channels, they're also willing to skewer those media outlets. Examples: this clip show of meaningless jabber from last Sunday, and this comical splicing of the last debate.

A caveat: they don't strive to be neutral the way MSM does. But for purposes of looking through a bunch of newsworthy clips, it gets the job done without distracting you too much with their ideology. There's a liberal slant to the site, but I don't think they overdo it.

Also, Meet the Press is essential -- you can subscribe to the "podcast" (audio or video) to get every Sunday's show in iTunes or whatever you use.

Aside: I heavily used clips from the TPM YouTube site in a recent blog post listing my 44 favorite primary campaign moments. If you're interested, go to my profile and click "website." In the interest of not overly self-promoting, I won't link in the thread.
posted by Jaltcoh at 3:03 PM on April 27

Not a blog, and not video... But I use podcasts for the same thing.

It's all politics, the post politics podcast, slate's political gabfest, left right and center, wait wait don't tell me and On the media come to mind. All found on iTunes.

Some of these might be better for you than others, For instance on the media is all about how the media covers topics, where as "it's all politics" is just two long time political junkies talking about whats going on this week they're funny too. left right and center, has smart calm people from the left right and center look at the same issue. They don't even yell at each other. It's great to hear a smart conservative and a smart liberal talk about what happened and actually debate it. Slates political gabfest is three or so political reporters talking with each other and giving their spin on things.

I used to be a crooks and liars fan. I spent a lot of time on that site but got burnt out on their absolutism. These podcasts aren't perfectly unbiased but they have been great for me, because they look at multiple sides of the issues in a very smart well informed way. I know you asked for a blog with video, but I recognize myself in your shoes about 6 months ago, so I figured I'd share.
posted by magikker at 8:36 PM on April 27 [1 favorite]

One more thing: If you go to Bloggingheads and scroll down a bit in the middle column, you'll see a list of a dozen or so links to recent newsworthy video clips. This is pretty haphazard, and there doesn't seem to be an archive. Also, Bloggingheads is an excellent sources of punditry in its own right -- kind of like regular TV pundits, but with much more extended conversations and intellectual honesty.
posted by Jaltcoh at 9:36 PM on April 27

TheHill.com

The Hill is a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, with a special focus on business and lobbying, political campaigns and goings on on Capitol Hill.
posted by rickdog at 12:55 AM on April 30 [1 favorite]