When new environmental concerns appear, the media routinely cover them without context.

in my syndicated column this week, I look at the consequences of scare stories about things like genetically modified foods:

Reporters and environmental activists have incentives to leave out details that might make the story boring. It's useful if you think you're in danger... continue reading »

When tragedy strikes, what do you do if your company is at the center of it?

What if you manufacture the Bushmaster rifle? What if you run BP when it spills oil?... continue reading »

Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin is in trouble again, this time for saying there are doctors "giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant."

The journalists reporting on that "gaffe" just assume - without presenting evidence - that Akin is wrong.

"Is it Akin, or is it The Onion?" a US News writer wonders... continue reading »

Gallup polls show that most people don't trust the media. Good. They shouldn't.

Tonight, we'll look at today's media and what we do wrong.

We (I include myself) sacrifice important news time for stories that are mostly shallow entertainment. Megyn Kelly, host of America Live, joins us to discuss... continue reading »

There's some web chatter (here and here) about "unfair" editing of our Students for Liberty Show -- saying we replaced boos with cheers in response to an answer from Ambassador Bolton.

This is nonsense. We do edit (the full tape of the event was well over an hour). But we don't replace anything.

Here's the full, unedited version of the question and answer between Bolton and that student.

... continue reading »

My government spends trillions of our tax dollars and has the legal right to use violent force against us. I want to trust them. But can I? This week, we try to answer that question with the help of our guests.

Political pollster and word analyst Frank Luntz says politicians consistently mislead us, but rarely get caught due to the careful choice of phrases... continue reading »

Once again, the news media are upset about a chemical. MSNBC headlines:

"BPA in pregnancy linked to behavior problems in baby girls"

Mother Jones reports:

"BPA Makes Little Girls Anxious and Depressed"... continue reading »

The economic illiteracy of my colleagues continues to baffle me. Or maybe it’s just intellectual laziness.

This weekend, the Washington Post ran this headline:

"BIGGEST CUTS IN U.S. HISTORY."

The Los Angeles Times agreed, saying the politicians were:

"SLASHING GOVERNMENT."

President Obama also called it: “The largest annual spending cut in our history.”... continue reading »

Tonight I will fight with Bill O’Reilly about “what must be done” in response to the shooting in Arizona. O’Reilly says, “new laws that provide greater safety for public officials should be considered.  We simply cannot have chaos at this level.” But we don’t have “chaos.” America is safer than ever.  Crime is down.  Political assassinations are rare.  They were once much more common.  Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were murdered.  So were Senators James Hinds, Huey Long, Robert Kennedy and Rep. Leo Ryan... continue reading »

For years, I reported on every scare someone brought me.  Dangerous chemicals ... nuclear threats ... food additives ... But eventually I got to the point where I said, "Wait!  My TV show hypes everything.  Every night we say 'watch out, this could kill you.'  Shouldn't part of our job be to put risk in perspective?  Some things are much more likely to hurt us than others.” So I spent a year researching what *is* most likely to kill us... continue reading »