Hi, my name's Matt Welch. Welcome to my site! This is the place where I keep most of the articles and columns I've written since early 1998, and a handful from before, divided up into all kinds of sub-categories you can see in the blue bar over on the left, or just plopped down in reverse chronological order directly below (though that list is incomplete). For a daily discussion of news events & whatever, please visit my weblog, and feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for coming, and have fun looking around!
McCain's Homework
A recently obtained National War College essay shows that the former POW is not as thoughtful as advertised about the lessons of Vietnam
Los Angeles Times - November 25, 2007
lib*er*tar*ian
Explaining the national backdrop to the Ron Paul rEVOLution
Washington Post - November 24, 2007
Free Sam Zell!
Why 'media activists' should be mocked for trying to block the buying and selling of newspapers and television stations
Los Angeles Times Online - November 16, 2007
Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn, Burn the Rich
Examining the sick mind-set that would prevent people from paying for supplemental fire protection
Los Angeles Times Online - October 31, 2007
Universe Ends!
Rich, famous hardest hit
Los Angeles Times Online - October 25, 2007
Being Honest About Mass Transit
Metro advocates need to come to grips with the fact that when given a choice, most people will drive
Los Angeles Times Online - October 3, 2007
No Lipstick for the Dodger Pig
The Dodgers have problems that go far beyond a talk-radio host straining at the leash
Los Angeles Times Online - September 25, 2007
'Fess up, Chancellor Drake
The climate for free speech will remain chilled, and the political atmosphere poisonous, for as long as we don't know why the UC Irvine leader unhired Erwin Chemerinsky in the first place
Los Angeles Times Online - September 18, 2007
Iraq Forever
The powerful logic of constant interventionism
Los Angeles Times Online - September 11, 2007
Land of the Less-Free
New passport and child-support laws are making the country less free for law abiding citizens
Los Angeles Times Online - August 21, 2007
Dodging the Hardest Calls
John McCain's new Hard Call manages to avoid the most crucial decision -- whether to make war or not
Los Angeles Times - August 13, 2007
Death of a Neighborhood
The dark side of "good" eminent domain
Los Angeles Times Online - August 7, 2007
You're on Fire, L.A.!
Round One of this year's heavyweight bout between nature and man goes to the impressively professional two-legged creatures
Los Angeles Times Online - May 15, 2007
The Diplomat Who Cracked
An interview with former U.S. ambassador to Armenia John Evans, who lost his job after referring to the Armenian genocide as "genocide"
Los Angeles Times Online - April 24, 2007
The Politics of Saying 'Genocide'
More than 90 years after the Armenian genocide, the U.S. is deadlocked in a humiliating linguistic debate
Los Angeles Times - April 22, 2007
Gorbachev's Heir
Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissidents is more Gorbachev-like than many people might guess
Los Angeles Times Online - April 17, 2007
The Furious Wisdom of Baseball Crowds
Instead of letting fans follow their own parking strategies, the Dodgers created constricted parking zones and egregious traffic
Los Angeles Times - April 11, 2007
Throw the Bums Out!
Enjoying the national pastime of watching politicians make fools of themselves over baseball
Los Angeles Times Online - April 3, 2007
Cathy Seipp, RIP
Farewell to the patron saint of L.A. freelancers
Los Angeles Times Online - March 21, 2007
Contract Killing
Why City Halls shouldn't enact social policy by the contracting process
Los Angeles Times Online - March 20, 2007
Ease up on the Insecure Boosterism, L.A.
Yes, our apocalyptic phase went way too far, but the pendulum has swung dangerously toward petty boosterism
Los Angeles Times - March 18, 2007
Be Afraid of President McCain
The frightening mind of an authoritarian maverick
Reason - April 2007
Chat With Matt!
Proving that no 1996-era online innovation will be left unadopted on Spring Street, the Opinion section boldly allows for a goofy little reader chat
Los Angeles Times Online - February 22, 2007
Illegal Gringos
An army of gray-hairs, some of them undocumented, are changing this central Mexican town
Los Angeles Times Online - February 20, 2007
Our Long National Nightmare -- Still Going Strong
The man who coined Ford's most hopeful phrase was among the first to learn that Cheney and Rumsfeld would use Watergate as an excuse to expand executive power
Los Angeles Times - January 7, 2007
Do We Need Another T.R.?
If John McCain gets his way, you'll have your faith in the country restored ... or else!
Los Angeles Times - November 26, 2006
Giving the Lie to Five Oscar Picks
Crash: About as L.A. as Woody Allen
Los Angeles Times - February 26, 2006
Old Propaganda and New
Why Bush is wrong to use the Cold War’s covert tactics in the new twilight struggle
Reason - March 2006
His Cup Runneth Over With Annoyance
Why I Caved Into the L.A. Times' Lousy Drug-Test Policy
Los Angeles Times - January 29, 2006
Executive Assistant
Alito Flunks the Most Pressing Judicial Test of Today and Tomorrow
Reason Online - January 17, 2006
The Pro-war Libertarian Quiz
How Far Are You Willing to Go to Win the War on Terror?
Reason Online - January 5, 2006
The War on Sedition
"Anglosphere" Allies Crack Down on Speech in the Name of Fighting Terror
Reason - February 2006
The Success Curse
Why Statism May Never Die in the Two Oldest Democracies
Reason Online - December 26, 2005
Fighting the Last War in Iraq and the Middle East
The Perils of Using Cold War Analogies in the Twilight Struggle Against Islamic Extremism
Reason Online - December 21, 2005
From Bob Woodward to Judith Miller
The Country's Most Reviled Reporter Is a Direct Descendant of its Most Beloved
Reason - January 2006
Sorry, Wrong Number
Truly Roving Wiretaps
Reason - January 2006
The Secret Sharer
Executive Patent Privilege
Reason - January 2006
The Times Is Blind to Bulldozers Flattening Homes
How the Paper Doesn't Cover the LAUSD's Eminent Domain Binge
Los Angeles Times - Novemeber 27, 2005
Dirty Bummer
Why the White House Should Make its Case Against Jose Padilla, But Won't
Reason Online - Novemeber 23, 2005
Times' Dodger Coverage: It's Low, in the Dirt
How Bill Plaschke Ambushed Paul DePodesta Without Ever Understanding Him
Los Angeles Times - Novemeber 6, 2005
Democrats--Not for Free Speech Anymore!
Once Again, the Party That Thinks it's Pro-Expression Demonstrates That it's Not
Reason Online - Novemeber 4, 2005
Democrats Need a Breath of Mountain-Fresh Air
Opposition Party Needs a Southwestern Strategy
Los Angeles Times - Novemeber 2, 2005
They Shoot Helicopters, Don't They?
How Journalists Spread Rumors During Katrina
Reason - December 2005
Pundit Payola
Accidental Propagandists
Reason - December 2005
Like Starting Over
Price Controls Are New Again
Reason - December 2005
Whatever Became of the Gubernator?
California's Reformer-in-Chief Looked a Lot Better in the Previews
Reason Online - October 31, 2005
Judith Iscariot
Miller Sells Journalism Down the River. Again.
Reason Online - October 17, 2005
Echo Chamber in the Superdome
A Louisiana National Guardsman Explains How He Dealt With False Rumors Being Piped Into Ground Zero of Hurricane Katrina
Reason Online - October 4, 2005
Five Untrue Things You'll Hear About the Angels This Week
A Divisional Series Primer
The Hardball Times - October 4, 2005
The Long and Happy Death of the Celebrity Profile
There's More Entertainment Coverage Than Ever, and That's Why It's So Crappy
Reason - November 2000
"Like Undermining Motherhood and Apple Pie"
Why Are California Dems in Local Government Embracing Eminent Domain Abuse?
Reason - November 2000
Rummy's Posse
The Pentagon Prepares for Police Work
Reason - November 2000
World's Greatest Degenerative Body
Watching the Senate Confirm Mr. Roberts
Reason Online - September 19, 2005
The Deadly Bigotry of Low Expectations?
Did the Rumor Mill Help Kill Katrina Victims?
Reason Online - September 6, 2005
The Second Romanian Revolution Will Be Televised
The TV Show Dallas Helped Overthrow Ceausescu. Now Gangsta Rap and Pop Culture Are Driving out Corrupt Post-Soviet Thugs
Reason - October 2005
Why The New York Times Loves Eminent Domain
Elite Newspapers and Liberal Activists Embrace the Kelo Decision at Their Long-term Peril
Reason - October 2005
Aloha, 50th State
When Affirmative Reparations Clash With Minority Rights, Maybe it's Time to Cut the Federal Cord
Reason Online - August 22, 2005
The Left's Eyeing Your Home
Why Aren't L.A. Democrats Joining the Anti-Kelo Backlash?
Los Angeles Times - August 14, 2005
The Gingrich Legacy
Blunt Political Opportunism, Not Fancy Libertarian sunday/commentary/la-op-takings14aug14,0,6734515.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary">The Left's Eyeing Your Home
Why Aren't L.A. Democrats Joining the Anti-Kelo Backlash?
Los Angeles Times - August 14, 2005
The Gingrich Legacy
Blunt Political Opportunism, Not Fancy Libertarian Ideas, Is Most of What's Left of the '94 Revolution
Reason Online - August 8, 2005
7 Questions for John Roberts
What I'd Like the Senate to Ask the Supreme Court Nominee
Reason Online - July 20, 2005
Shield Journalism, Not Journalists
Three Simple Solutions to Judith Miller's Messy Legal Problem
Reason Online - July 5, 2005
Capturing Tom Friedman
The Times Columnist Does Foreign Policy Punditry by Cliché
Reason - August 2005
Quien Es Libre?
Cut Off From Cuba
Reason - August 2005
Friendly Tyrants
Saudi Censors
Reason - August 2005
Sympathy for the Vampire
Priests May Crucify Nuns, People May Rip out the Hearts of the Dearly Departed... But Romania Is a Country on the Upswing That Deserves our Help
Reason Online - June 22, 2005
Baby Love
The Hippie-Capitalist Wisdom of CD Baby Founder Derek Sivers, Hero to 93,000 Indie Musicians and Counting
LA Weekly - June 10, 2005
Lying: The Government's Drug
How Raich Helps us Delude Ourselves
Reason Online - June 8, 2005
Cashing in on Weblogs
Major Media Companies Are Investing in Blogs. Is This a New Boom or Just a Bubble?
Reason - July 2005
Welfare Queen
Farm Subsidies for the Filthy Rich
Reason - July 2005
Cuba Spring, or Trap?
Cautious Optimism About Castro's Opponents
Reason Online - May 25, 2005
Deadwood Democrats
If Conservatives Can Claim South Park, it's Time for Liberals to Embrace the Real Wild West
Salon - May 21, 2005
G.W. and the Bear
Bush Pushes Putin in Russia's Near Abroad
Reason Online - May 10, 2005
Watching Dave Hansen
Living Vicariously Through the Career of a Pinch-Hitter
Baseball Analysts - May 5, 2005
Who Gets to Play Journalist?
An Academic Question Becomes a Pressing Legal Issue
Reason - June 2005
The Rubes in L.A. City Hall Have Swallowed Hollywood's Hard-Luck Story
Why We Should End Hollywood Welfare Before We Know it
Los Angeles Times - April 28, 2005
The Pope of Relativism
Ratzinger and His Fans Should Know Better Than to Confuse Western Society
With a "Dictatorship"
Reason Online - April 26, 2005
I'll Save the Cream Pie for Next Time
Review of U2, Live at the Staples Center
LA Weekly - April 15, 2005
Cold Warriors in Heaven
Why We're Still Arguing Over Who Beat the Commies
Reason Online - April 5, 2005
Hipsters Send Times Into Tizzies
Outside the Tent: The L.A. Times' Hilarious Gentrification Laments
Los Angeles Times - April 3, 2005
Locker-Room Liberty
Athletes Who Helped Shape Our Times and the Economic Freedom That Enabled Them
Reason - May 2005
Free at Last
New Newspapers Are Springing up Everywhere, Despite the Government's Help
Reason - May 2005
Subsidies and Lies
How Baseball Came Back to D.C.
Reason - May 2005
Bad Host
Cutting off Iranian Dissidents
Reason - May 2005
The Shame of the Steroid Hunt
The Conscious Policy of Publicly Shaming High-profile Athletes
AlterNet - March 21, 2005
'Roid Rage
Here's Something to Get Really Steamed About: Congress' Grandstanding About Drug Use in Sports
Orange County Register - March 20, 2005
Jock Sniffing
Congress Has No Business Examining Baseball's Urine
Reason Online - March 14, 2005
Goldwater Democrats
Why Democrats Should Learn to Love Limited Government
Reason Online - March 7, 2005
The Pentagon's Secret Stash
Why We'll Never See the Second Round of Abu Ghraib Photos
Reason - April 2005
A High White Note
Hunter Thompson's Writing -- and Politics -- Were One of a Kind
Reason Online - February 22, 2005
Deaniac Democrats
Will the Vermont Screamer and His Enfranchised "Net Roots" Marginalize or Revitalize the Party of the People?
Reason Online - February 7, 2005
Taking the Fifth
When Journalists Threaten Our Right to Remain Silent
Reason - March 2005
Baby Geniuses
Vouchers for Prodigies?
Reason - March 2005
C'est Rien
The Great Transatlantic Rift May End With a Shrug, not a Bang
Reason Online - January 25, 2005
Bamboozlers on the Loose
For Evidence of State Propaganda, Just Look Around You
Reason Online - January 11, 2005
That Old, Tired Balancing Act
Did the Election Kill Objective Campaign Journalism?
Reason - February 2005
Who's Tortured?
What Prominent Conservative Commentators Have Said About Prisoner Abuse
Reason Online - December 27, 2004
George Bush vs. Barry Bonds
The Government's Effective Smear Campaign Against Baseball's Best Player
Reason Online - December 8, 2004
Fly the Frugal Skies
How Low-cost Airlines Have Transformed Europe -- and What it Means for America
Reason - January 2005
All Tomorrow's Partisans
The Culture War After Election 2004
Reason - January 2005
Song for Dan Rather
No Critic Could Hate Diamond Dan More Than He Hated Himself...and the Rest of Us
Reason Online - November 29, 2004
Because-I-Said-So Journalism
A Reply to David Shaw
PressThink.org - November 17, 2004
America Unbound ... or Insolvent?
Bush Knows That Anti-Americanism Is Costly; He Just Doesn't Care
Reason Online - November 15, 2004
The Shifting Terms of Authority in the Newspaper Press
How Newspapers Can React to a World That Increasingly Ignores Them
PressThink.org - November 9, 2004
Bush Unbound
Republicans (Probably) Get an Actual Mandate
Reason Online - November 3, 2004
Biased About Bias
The Hunt for Ideology Becomes an Ideology
Reason - December 2004
The Case Against George Bush
If There's a Small-Government Candidate in This Race, it Sure Isn't the President
Orange County Register - October 31, 2004
The Great Divide
A Country Passionately Divided, and Utterly Certain, Goes To Vote
National Post - October 30, 2004
Show Us Your Vote!
Why Journalists Should Open Their Secret Ballots
Reason Online - October 19, 2004
A Swift Boat Kick in the Teeth
How the Mainstream Media Grapple With Partisans
Reason - November 2004
Unbalanced Like a Fox
Rupert Murdoch's Critics Should Follow His Lead
Reason - October 2004
President of 8th Grade
Three Years After Sept. 11, Republicans Are Running Against 'Girlie-Men'
National Post - September 11, 2004
Coverage of the 2004 Republican Convention
28 Entries on Real-time Weblog From New York
Reason Online - August 30-September 2, 2004
On War, John Kerry Is All Vietnam, No Iraq
Reading the Foreign-Policy Tea Leaves at the DNC
Beirut Daily Star - August 19, 2004
Confessions of a 'Booger'
The Agony and Ecstasy of Being a Democrat Convention Weblogger
National Post - August 7, 2004
Coverage of the 2004 Democratic Convention
34 Entries on Real-time Weblog From Boston
Reason Online - July 25-31, 2004
Watergate Blowback
The White House's Ongoing Battle Against Post-Nixon Sunshine Laws
Reason - August 2004
Rapping the Commies Away
A New MTV Generation in Romania Tries to Drive out Corruption
National Post - July 17, 2004
Only Money
Campaign Finance Reform Bites Supporters on the Rear
Reason - July 2004
The Providential Scholar
Professor Michael Mann's Journey From Ancient Rome to Nazi Europe to the Iraq War
UCLA Magazine - Summer 2004
Editing the Enemy
Censorship: The Next Generation
The Walrus - June 2004
Fair-Weather Friends
When Journalists Desert From Free-Speech Battles
Reason - June 2004
Flaming the Messenger
Looking for a Fifth Column in the Media? Try Try Again
Reason Online - May 27, 2004
McCain's Bane
Q&A;: FEC Chair Bradley Smith Explains Why He Voted Against Regulating 527s
Reason Online - May 13, 2004
Confessions of a Multilateralist
Two Cheers for the EU's Historic Expansion
Reason Online - May 4, 2004
Temporary Doves
Why Are the Architects of Kosovo So Down on Gulf War II?
Reason - May 2004
Gossip Wants To Be Free
In Defense of Online Scandal-Mongering
Reason - May 2004
Value Added
Since Long Before 'Character Education' Became Trendy, Gene Doxey Has Taught His Students Right From Wrong
Teacher Magazine - May 2004
Bush's Dangerous Escape From the Truth
Republicans Trash the 9/11 Commission
Beirut Daily Star - April 26, 2004
How Bush Fosters Bad Intelligence
Secrecy and Stonewalling Do Not Help National Security
National Post - April 24, 2004
Cracked Paneling
When Bush Fights To Keep Information Secret, National Security Suffers
Reason Online - April 16, 2004
Culture Clash
What Happens When a Harvard Man With a Computer Is Given the Keys to Chavez Ravine?
Orange County Register - April 4, 2004
Hack Roast
When Citizens Attack ... Reporters
Reason - April 2004
Unsafe at any Election
Ralph Nader Takes Another Swing ... at His Own Reputation
National Post - February 29, 2004
Trouble in the Toilet
The Tryanny of Robot Bathrooms
The American Spectator Online - February 9, 2004
Injustice by Default
How the Effort to Catch 'Deadbeat Dads' Ruins Innocent Men's Lives
Reason - February 2004
Alt Business
Commerical Magazines Fill Gap Left By Commercial Radio
Reason - February 2004
Michael Moore et ses 'Petite Arragements Avec la Realite'
Des Critiques, Parfois au Sein Meme da la Gauche Americaine, Denoncent des Approximations du Realisateur de Bowling for Columbine
L'Hebdo - January 22, 2004 (with Emmanuelle Richard)
If You Build it, They Will Leave
Sports Teams Fleece the Taxpayer, Again
Reason - January 2004
The No-Kobe Zone
The Competitive Advantage of Tabloid Negligence
Reason - January 2004
A Petty Superpower in Baghdad
Why Using Iraq Contracts as a Diplomatic Weapon Is Folly
Beruit Daily Star - December 19, 2003
Open Season on 'Open Society'
Why an Anti-Communist Holocaust Survivor Is Being Demonized as a Socialist, Self-hating Jew
Reason Online - December 8, 2003
Journalists Expelled, Terrorists Let in
How LAX Border Guards Undo Billions of U.S. PR for No Good Reason
National Post - December 6, 2003
Balls
The Joy of Watching Ideas Win
Reason - December 2003
Time Enough for Love
Robert A. Heinlein's New Oldie
Reason - December 2003
Socially Liberal, Fiscally Conservative, Personally Narcissist
Can Arnold Deliver on his Substantial Political Promise?
Reason Online - November 17, 2003
UnFAIR
The Failure of 'Market Failure'-Driven Fire Insurance
Reason Online - November 5, 2003
Golden Bear?
California's Surprising Economy
Reason - November 2003
Keeping Psychics Honest
Only in San Fran, Part XXIX
Reason - November 2003
France's Young Contrarian
A 22-year-old Leads the Revolt Against Strike-addled Culture
National Post - October 25, 2003
Baseball Welfare
Will the Marlins Soak Miami Taxpayers Yet Again?
Reason Online - October 22, 2003
Who Needs Meet the Press When You Have Jay Leno?
Why Arnold Needs a Media Circus to Govern by Initiative
National Post - October 11, 2003
Bad Boys Get Spanked
Recall Was About One Important Issue -- Firing Gray Davis
Reason Online - October 9, 2003
Minority Report
California Latinos Confound Pre-Election Predictions
Reason Online - October 8, 2003
Gray's Last Stand
Recall Turned a Cautious Plodder Into a Reckless Governor
Reason Online - October 7, 2003
Diamonds in the Guff
A Closer Look at Five Fringe Gubernatorial Candidates
Reason Online - October 7, 2003
L'etat, C'est George W.
Plame Affair Reveals Bush Team's Worst Pathologies
National Post - October 4, 2003
The Body Politic
The Walrus on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Politics
The Walrus - October 2003
Liberty Belle
France's New Libertarian Youth Leader
Reason - October 2003
The Day Nothing Changed
Two Years Later, it's August 2001 All Over Again
Reason Online - September 11, 2003
Queer Tidings
Last Gasp for Political Correctness?
National Post - September 6, 2003
Blogworld
The New Amateur Journalists Weigh in
Columbia Journalism Review - September/October 2003
The Iraqi Babies Scam Is Still Alive
How Sanctions and Propaganda Go Together ... and Kill Innocents
Beruit Daily Star - September 3, 2003
Intervention Logic
Do We Always Need to Send More Troops Abroad?
Reason Online - August 28, 2003
Re-Propping 187
California's Controversial 1994 Measure Makes a Comeback
Reason Online - August 14, 2003
Recalling Immigration
Desperate Davis Rekindles Long-Smoldering Debate
Los Angeles Daily News - August 10, 2003
Ah-nold To the Rescue
The Gold State Prepares for the Craziest Election Ever
National Post - August 9, 2003
BASE! How Low Can You Go
Gray Davis' Nauseating Pander to the Left
Reason Online - August 1, 2003
Anything But the Ombudsman!
Why Newspapers Should Avoid In-House Watchdogs
Reason - August/September 2003
Reporters Sans Entree
Dept. of Homeland Scrutiny
Reason - August/September 2003
Felonious Bunk
Why Ex-Cons Should Be Given the Vote
Reason Online - July 25, 2003
They Keep Coming, Again
Immigration Rhetoric Heats up in California
National Post - July 12, 2003
Dusty Inroads
Baker's 'Heat' Statement, True or False, May Signal New Era
Reason Online - July 10, 2003
Disassembling Mexifornia
Immigration Debate and Policy Is Shifting Right Under Our Noses
Reason Online - June 25, 2003
Turning Baseball on its Ear
How an Amateur Army Outsmarted a Sport's Gatekeepers
National Post - June 21, 2003
The Bright Side of Merde
Hopeful Thoughts About France's National Strikes
Reason - June 12, 2003
Echo Chamberlain
An American President Says Never Again, Again
Reason - June 2, 2003
The Uses of Adversity
Why the New York Times Scandals Are Good for Journalism
National Post - May 31, 2003
Keeping Journalists Out
Homeland Security Saved From Insidious European Tech Reporters
Reason - May 20, 2003
Ben Affleck for a Day
How I Got Dragged Into the Unreal World of Reality TV
National Post - May 17, 2003
Velvet President
Why Vaclav Havel Is Our Era's George Orwell and More
Reason - May 2003
The Limits of French-Bashing
Like Eating Oysters, Today's Pleasure May Be Tomorrow's Pain
National Post - April 26, 2003
Is 'Bandar Bush' Above the Law?
Saudi Ambassador and Wife Should Be Deported for National Security
National Post - April 19, 2003
Get Ready for Patriot II
Under Fog of War, Ashcroft Plans to Roll Back Civil Liberties
AlterNet - April 2, 2003
Operation 'Finish the Job' Defies Prediction
12 Years of Hindsight Doesn't Make Gulf War I Much Clearer
National Post - March 22, 2003
Where Are LA's 'Mad Cowboys'?
Shooting Down Anti-war Rhetoric at the Mall
National Post - March 8, 2003
The Tabloids Strike Back
New Populist Dailies Offer Alternative to Elitist Mainstream Newspapers
National Post - February 22, 2003
Bush and the Art of Rope-a-Dope
Is Dubya as Fast on his Feet as Mohammed Ali?
National Post - February 8, 2003
Let Them Eat Bagels
Grumpy Herald-Tribune Swallowed Whole by the New York Times
National Post - January 25, 2003
America's Secret Weapon: The Facts
Pointing out the Lies Could Help Quell the Latest Frenzy of U.S.-Bashing
National Post - January 11, 2003
Paper Cuts
Student Op-ed Pieces Result in Free-speech Fracas at Cali High School
Teacher Magazine - January 2003
Rubbing Salt in Old Cold-War Wounds
Bush's Iran-Contra Appointments Add Insult to Unhealed Injuries
National Post - December 14, 2002
Havel's Amazing Swan Song
NATO Expansion is Czech President's Ultimate Achievement
National Post - November 23, 2002
Woe is Media
It's Time to Save Journalism From its Saviors
Reason - December, 2002
Gray Skies From Now On
Dreary California Governor an Early Bet for Presidential Nomination
National Post - November 9, 2002
The U.S. Version of Adult Supervision
Washington Thwarts Allies' Aspirations at Great Peril
National Post - October 19, 2002
Deals With the Devil
What Horses Will the U.S. Trade to Gain Support for an Iraq War?
National Post - October 5, 2002
'Runaway' Strain
The American Politics of Runaway Film Production in Canada
National Post - September 21, 2002
'Death of Dissent' a Myth
American Debate Since Sept. 11 Has Been Vigorous, not Quashed
National Post - September 7, 2002
Shilling for the House of Saud
Former U.S. Ambassadors Have Become Saudi Arabia's Apologists
National Post - August 24, 2002
Iraqi Death Toll Doesn't Add up
Sanctions Imposed 12 Years Ago Blamed on a Million Fatalities
National Post - August 10, 2002
The 'Big Brother' Who Never Was
AOL Time Warner Was Never as Dangerous as Some Critics Suggested
National Post - July 27, 2002
Red & Blue Feud Resumes
Dull Partisan Sniping is Back ... But Maybe not All the Way
Tech Central Station - July 25, 2002
Hahn Failed Truth Test in LAX Shooting
Be Very Worried When the Mayor and the FBI Downplay 'Terrorism' in Case Involving Egyptians or Saudi Arabians
Los Angeles Daily News - July 14, 2002
Dubya Losing Benefit of the Doubt
Moratorium on Bush-bashing is Over
National Post - July 6, 2002
Manufacturing Dissent
Noam Chomsky Calls the U.S. a Terrorist State. Much of the World, it Seems, is Listening
National Post - June 8, 2002
Foul Ball
How Castro and the Embargo Have Silenced a Cuban Baseball Historian
Reason - June, 2002
Speaking Lies to Power
Ralph Nader Fudges the Truth Just Like a Real Politician
Reason - May 2002
The Cuban Senators
Julio Becquer and the Last-Place Cuban-Flavored Teams of 1950s D.C.
ESPN.com - March 11, 2002
The Politics of Dead Children
Have Sanctions Against Iraq Really Murdered Millions?
Reason - March 2002
Censorship Gravy Train
Oh, To Be a Seven-Figure Victim of the New McCarthyism
Reason - January 25, 2002
Weaning Europeans from the U.S. Teat
After Euro, Let Next Project Be Military, Defense Spending and Maturity
NewsForChange - January 15, 2002No Patience for Phony 'Bill of Rights'
HMO Reform is Cute, but Have you Ever Tried to get Insurance?
Los Angeles Daily News - August 5, 2001
The Webbys' Tribute to San Francisco
Internet Awards Celebrate and Console the City That Started it all
Online Journalism Review - July 25, 2001
Media Scolds Blow Condit Story
If Bernie Kalb Was in Charge, Congressman Would Have Never Fessed up
NewsForChange - July 13, 2001
A Little Less Absolute Power
Supreme Court Chips Away at the Anti-Immigrant Frenzy of '96
NewsForChange - July 5, 2001
Immigration Foes on Wrong Side of History
Racial Hysteria, not Multicultural Harmony, Dominates California's Past
NewsForChange - July 2, 2001
Parallel Lives, Pugilist Politics
Strange Things Happen When You Treat Enemies Like Humans
NewsForChange - June 27, 2001
MORE: Read All the '75 Outrage' Columns on Campaigns,
Conventions, Cops and Culture
Mayor's Race Ignored the Biggest Issue
Immigration Was the Invisible 800-pound Gorilla in L.A.
Los Angeles Daily News - June 24, 2001
Suck: From Oasis to Mirage
How the Suspended Daily Set the Standard for Media Criticism
Online Journalism Review - June 21, 2001
The Web's Most Curious Man
15 Questions With Online Journalism Pioneer Tom Mangan
Online Journalism Review - May 3, 2001
No Mo, Thank Heavens
Why the Angels Will Be Better Without Mo Vaughn -- and Why Statistics Underestimate the Defensive Value of First Basemen
Sportsjones - April 12, 2001
New Jersey's Teen Matt Drudge
Sergio Bichao's Underground Web Newspaper has his High School Reeling
Online Journalism Review - March 12, 2001
Private Free Speech vs. High School Safety
Legal Squabbles Bloom Between Student Publishers and Nervous Schools
Online Journalism Review - March 12, 2001
CANN They?
How L.A. Governs -- and May Yet Overthrow -- the Internet
Zone News - February 1, 2001
Michael Kinsley: The Apologist
Slate Editor Wastes Precious Breath Telling Bad Jokes About Bill Gates, Defending Microsoft, and Making the World Safe for Selling Out
Online Journalism Review - January 22, 2001
Hunter Thompson, Online Columnist
How the Man Who Launched a Thousand Newspaper Careers
Ended up at ESPN.com
Online Journalism Review - December 21, 2000
The Two-Hour Reich
An Election Morning White House Stroll Begins With Ugly Young Republicans and Ends With a Mugging. And That Was
Before the Pat Buchanan Encounter
NewsForChange - November 20, 2000
Baseball's Cruel Political Satire
Bush/Gore World Series Debate: E-mail Hoax, or the Hilarious Truth?
Online Journalism Review - November 20, 2000
A Season to Remember
New Book by Texas Prof Does Admirable Job of Chronicling the '97-98 Cuban Baseball Crisis
Sportsjones - November 17, 2000
The Spoiler's Fuzzy Math
Nader's Defiance and Evasion Reflect Schizophrenia of a Third-Party Campaign That Was Essentially a Liberal-Democrat Revolt
mattwelch.com - November 9, 2000
Election Night at Nader HQ
Live Weblog of Weird Scenes Inside 'Spoiler' Central
NewsForChange - November 7-8, 2000
Behind Nader's 'Mad Dash'
How a Third-Party Mumbler Sold out Arenas Like a Rock Star
NewsForChange - November 7, 2000
Ralphing on the National Press
Er, Why Was I the Only Reporter on the Spoiler's Campaign Trail Six Weeks Before the Election he's About to Wreck?
Online Journalism Review - November 3, 2000
As Gore Attacks, Nader Calls VP 'Pathetic'
In Interview, Gleeful Green Says Demo is 'Sinking in the Quicksand,' Because he's 'Incapable of Telling the Truth'
NewsForChange - October 24, 2000
Give Us Your Poor, Leave the Rich Home
Nader's One-of-a-kind Immigration Policy Would Crack Down on H1-Bs, Offer Full Rights to Farmworkers, and Cut Off Support for 'Dictatorships' Like India and Mexico
NewsForChange - October 24, 2000
Gore 'Cowardly' on Mideast, Says Nader
Lebanese-American Candidate Says Israel Needs to 'Back Off;' Arab-American Support Swells to 15%, and Michigan May Hang in the Balance
NewsForChange - October 23, 2000
The Gloomy Comedian
He May Want to Expand the IRS, Raise Taxes and Crack Down on 'Trivial Small-Talk,' But Nader is a Surprisingly Humorous Campaigner
NewsForChange - October 20, 2000
Nader's Race Problem
Candidate Has Most 'Progressive' Affirmative Action Agenda by Far,
But His Class-Based Philosophy, Personal Awkwardness and Siphoning of Democratic Votes Leaves Some Minority Leaders Cold
NewsForChange - September 22, 2000
Biting the Hand That Doesn't Feed
How an Attention-starved Nader Flatters Reporters in Private, Trashes 'Corporate Media Oligarchs' in Public, and Calls for Billion-dollar Broadcast Taxes to Pay for 'Our Own Stations'
NewsForChange - September 19, 2000
Nader on NOW: 'On Their Knees'
Candidate Blasts Women's Group After Being Called 'Willfully Ignorant'
NewsForChange - September 14, 2000
The Morning After
What Did the Convention Mean for L.A.'s 'Digital Coast?' Beyond the Parties and Influence Peddling, Results Were Mixed at Best
Zone News - September 1, 2000
The Nightmare Scenario
If Gore Wins California But Loses Nation, Watch out for Gray Davis
NewsForChange - August 24, 2000
The Democrats' Appalling Chairman
Meet Joe Andrew, a Corrupt Dot-Com Weenie With a Mind of Cheese
NewsForChange - August 14, 2000
Start the Revolution Without Me
My DSL Nightmare, and Why the Broadband Boom Is a Bust
Zone News - July 1, 2000
Hire Education
How Career Colleges, Technical Institutes and Alternative
Adult Schools Are Cashing in on the Digital Revolution
Zone News - July 1, 2000
The Culver City Finger
Mr. Travel Buddy Unravels This and Other L.A. Mysteries in Online Forum
Fodors.com - June 28 - July 5, 2000
The Reverse-bid Auction Newsroom
Or, Why B2B Companies Are Hiring Journalists While News Sites Collapse
PLUS: VerticalNet Takes Commerce/Content Cocktail to the Bank
Information Week - June 26, 2000
My Time in the DEN of Iniquity
Report on 6 Weird Weeks Spent at the Infamously Mismanaged
Digital Entertainment Network
Online Journalism Review - May 25, 2000
And the Loser Is...
The 10 Webby Nominees Most Likely to Be Dead This Time Next Year
Newcity.com - May 9, 2000
All the Young News
Webby Awards Teeter Between Establishment and Anarchy
Newcity.com - May 5, 2000
Where Have You Gone, Bill Kovach?
Journalism's First Ethicist Says Nothing While Employer Sweeps Ethical Mess Under the Rug
Online Journalism Review - April 17, 2000
The Perils of Nostalgia
New Book on Cuban Baseball Doesn't Let Facts
Stand in the Way of a Good Ideological Rant
Sportsjones - April 11, 2000
The Debauchery of Human Interaction
How Today's Media Moguls Use Journalists as Human Shields Against Common Decency (Click Here for Parts Two and Three)
Online Journalism Review - April 6, 2000
Pop or Kaboom?
What Will Happen to L.A. When the Markets Finally Crash?
Zone News - April 1, 2000
Brill's Conflictville Disclosure: Whoops!
'Media Watchdog' Lies, Spits out Own Medicine in First Issue After 'Contentville' Announcement
Online Journalism Review - March 9, 2000
Unconventional Planning
Democratic Convention Seeks Money and Gear, L.A. Tech Firms Crave Publicity and Political Pull, so Why Won't They Mate?
PLUS: Hard-wiring the Convention
Zone News - March 1, 2000
Why You Shouldn't Trust This Magazine
The Column Brill's Content Subscribers Would Have Read -- if the Editors Had Any Spine
Written for Brill's Content - February 22, 2000
Bye Bye, Brill
Media Cop Turns Media Whore
Online Journalism Review - February 10, 2000
Hollywood Goofy Over AOL-Time Warner
Merger Has Executives and Journalists Gossiping Like Schoolgirls
Wired News - February 4, 2000
Spin City for Troubled BMG Music
Boss Strauss Zelnick Downplays Botched Firing of Clive Davis,
The Threat of MP3, and the Mergers That Left Him Behind
Wired News - February 4, 2000
Deconstructing the Mergers
Industry Leaders to Convene in First Major Gathering
Since AOL Gobbled Time Warner and EMI
Wired News - February 2, 2000
Too Dumb to Snoop — So Far
Digital Downloading and Record Biz Consolidation
Still Pose Huge Threat Against Privacy
Wired News - February 2, 2000
AOL-Time Warner: Bully for L.A.
Merger Could Jump-Start Broadband, Force Entertainment
Industry to Get it Together
Zone News - February 1, 2000
When Mass Mediocrities Mate
So, AOL-Time Warner Is Bad for Good Journalism?
What Good Journalism?
Online Journalism Review - January 23, 2000
The Internet's Dr. Frankenstein
UCLA Professor Leonard Kleinrock Is Still Dreaming up Schemes,
30 Years After he Plugged in the ARPANet
Zone News - January 1, 2000
Making Crime News Pay
How AP-style Sobriety, When Applied to a Tabloid Topic,
Equals Internet Millions ... Even Without a Business Plan
PLUS: APB's Schanberg on Journalism's Ills
AND: Judge Blocks APB's Right to Publish
Online Journalism Review - December 14, 1999
Desperately Seeking Good E-Lancers
Online Editors Share E-mail Horror Stories, While Freelancers
Revel in Ever-Expanding Possibilities
PLUS: 4 Online Freelance Brokerage Services
Online Journalism Review - November 18, 1999
The Stealth Revolutionary
Why the Record Industry Should Be Terrified of
Marc Geiger and ARTISTDirect
Zone News - October 1, 1999
Bulworth at the Beverly Hilton
Candidate Beatty Gives Vigorous Speech to Impotent Audience
Tabloid - September 30, 1999
Live, From the Fishbowl!
Bay Area Journalists Gaze Deep into Navels and Discover Fuzz
Online Journalism Review - September 28, 1999
Thomas Dolby Says it's Payback Time
Major Labels Deserve Everything They're About to Get, Says
Nerd-Rocker
Wired News - September 9, 1999
AP Sucks Life out of Online News
Why Should Every News Site Look the Same, When They're Not?
Online Journalism Review - May 20, 1999
What if You Couldn't Trust the NY Times?
Paper of Record Batters Amazon Without Disclosing Professional Rivalry
Online Journalism Review - April 24, 1999
Kosovo Illustrates Journalism's Failings
This Is What You Get When You Abolish International Bureaus
PLUS: Honor Roll of Balkan Bureau Vets
Online Journalism Review - April 9, 1999
24 Alternative Sources of Kosovo News
Sites Broken Down by Reliability, Type and Political Slant
Online Journalism Review - March 30, 1999
Hack-work on Hackers: Two Case Studies
How Do You Maintain Your Nerd Cred and Professional Skepticism at the Same Time, and How Do You Handle Your Mistakes?
FEATURING: The 'Anti-Porn Hacker' Who Wasn't
PLUS: Techies Slam Paper's Report, Wrongly
AND: Plagiarism or 'Background Research'?
Online Journalism Review - March 25, 1999
The Daily Blunder
Slipup.com Trying to Get People Excited About Online Corrections Policies
PLUS: Debunking Urban Legends from the SF Valley
AND: Round-up of Sites that Track Media Error
Online Journalism Review - March 4, 1999
Ex-Cop's Daughter Hounded by Police
Politically Incorrect Father Arrested for Contributing to Delinquency in Tennessee; Baffled Teen Flees State
Putnam Pit - March 1, 1999
What Do You Tell the Boss?
Full-time Reporters Who Publish Sites on the Side Share Tactics
Online Journalism Review - February 11, 1999
New Utopia to Rise From the Sea!
Prince Lazarus Building Tax-free Island of Polygamy and Eternal Youth
Tabloid - December 9, 1998
Castro Cracks Down on Sex, Drugs, Rock
Vice Raids Nab One of the Last Remaining Original Revolutionaries
Tabloid - November 2, 1998
1998: The Year of Internet News
From Drudge to Salon to Mega-media Portal Deals, the
Wired Generation Became Mainstream
PLUS: Why People Who Love Newspapers Work on the Web
AND: Internet Stats Not Measuring up
Networker - November 1, 1998
Blues You Can Use
NewsBlues Lets TV Hacks Blow off Steam, Gather Intelligence
Online Journalism Review - October 22, 1998
LATER: NewsBlues Dies From Own Success (Nov. 13)
LATER STILL: NewsBlues Resurrected (Nov. 18)
Cookie Monster of Putnam Pit
Why One Beverly Hills Journalist Is Fighting an Entire Tennessee Town ... And Defining Internet Sunshine Laws Along the Way
Salon - October 15, 1998
Nutty Paper Loses Fight for City's Cookies!
Judge Rules That Cookie Files Are Not Public Records
Tabloid - October 1, 1998
Sports for Smart People
Gang of Academics and Rank Amateurs Launch Intelligent Sports Site
Online Journalism Review - September 28, 1998
Where Are the New Stephen Cranes?
Writer/Lout Did More in 28 Years Than Anyone Does in a Modern Lifetime
Tabloid - September 11, 1998
Ugly Irwindale Is McPig of the Year!
SoCal's Filthiest Suburb Scarfs Twice as Many Big Macs as Any Other City
Tabloid - September 10, 1998
Nonsense Index Soars 141.06!
Profit-Flaking Jitters Rout New Infestors! Rally up as Drop Points to Weird!
Tabloid - September 4, 1998
Value-added E-mail
Why Aren't More Publishers Using Cheap & Direct News Delivery?
Online Journalism Review - September 4, 1998
Choose Your Horror
How to Maintain Outrage in a Tawdry Era
Tabloid - August 31, 1998
The Savage Lust for Business News
Reporters Now All Work for Fund Managers, Who Don't Bother to Read
Tabloid - August 14, 1998
Flesh-Eating Maggots Attack U.S.!
Carnivorous 'Screw-Worm,' With Insidious Ties to Nixon and CIA, Reappears in the South
Tabloid - August 10, 1998
Bus Tour of the New Economy
The Aesthetic Nightmare and Walking Dumb of the Silicon Valley
Tabloid - July 31, 1998
No Sheepskin, No Job, Loser!
Why Twain, Hearst, Meearst, Mencken and I Couldn't Work for Today's Papers
Tabloid - July 13, 1998
Salon's Broder Attacked for Plagiarism
Conservatives Rehash Shameful Old Episode After Reporter Connects
Dots of 'Right-Wing Conspiracy'
Online Journalism Review - July 13, 1998
Conservative Critics Question Salon's Roots
Starr-struck Rightists Say Magazine's Investors Are Big-Time Demos
Online Journalism Review - July 10, 1998
Why Does Old Media Trash the New?
How the Typically Noxious Old Media Coverage of Bill Clinton's Sex Life Was Blamed on the Internet
Online Journalism Review - June 24, 1998
Who Owns Internet News?
The Impossibly Complicated Web of Tech/Biz Sites' Ownerships and Partnerships, Untangled
PLUS: 8 Convoluted Family Trees
AND: Why CNN Loves Natalie Merchant
Online Journalism Review - June 23, 1998
Fear & Loathing at the Multiplex
Notes on a Hated Movie, and an 18-year-old's Eventful Encounter
With a Savage (and Influential) Southern Gentleman
Tabloid - May 27, 1998
Net Censorship in Central Europe ... Not
Ex-Commies Too Distracted to Bother With Stifling Internet Speech
PLUS: Mitteleuropa's Best English-Language News Sites
Online Journalism Review - May 6, 1998
Salon Detected on Beltway Radar
Investigative Scoops on Scaife & Specatator Earn Respect, Scorn
Online Journalism Review - April 30, 1998
Ex-Print Muckrakers Thrive on Net
Driven Away by Bland Newspapers, Hell-raisers Make Their Mark
Online Journalism Review - March 31, 1998
Non-Political Dispatch From Havana
Self-censored Impressions of Communist Cuba, Sent by Illegal E-mail
Tabloid - February 24, 1998
Belgrade's Student Protesters
A Street-Level Account of Milosevic's Biggest Challenge Yet
Written for Pozor Magazine - January 15, 1997
The Prague Curse
The Promise and Pitfalls of the Czech Music Industry
Velvet - September 1995
Inside Vladimir Meciar's Three-Peat
Scenes From the Latest Bizarre Election to Set Slovakia Back
Prognosis - October 6, 1994
How Havel Finally Found God
A Dissident-President's Spiritual Journey
Prognosis - July 28, 1994
Anatomy of a Hype Machine
Hey, Visiting Hacks! Looking for a Story Idea? How About Young Americans in Prague!
Prognosis - January 7, 1994
Comments, questions, bad links? Send e-mail to Matt Welch.
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