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Living in America, we have been trained to believe that newspapers contain relatively unadulterated news written by objective reporters with no particular stake in the stories.
Unfortunately, the Berkeley Daily Planet rarely adheres to normative journalistic practices, at least as it is practiced in the United States, as opposed to, say, North Korea. More apt, in our view, is a comparison with Rush Limbaugh, who has been caught weaving so many actual lies that he has taken to calling himself an “entertainer,” rather than a journalist. The Berkeley Daily Planet’s manipulation of the news is no different.
In this section we will uncover miscellaneous acts of journalistic malfeasance at the Berkeley Daily Planet. We readily admit that we were originally drawn to our subject by the shameless Jew bashing and Israel bashing at the Berkeley Daily Planet. But we are also Berkeleyans, and as such are almost equally appalled by the unfair way that Berkeley Daily Planet treats other topics as well.
The 64 Dollar Challenge
January 19, 2010
In the January 14, 2010 issue Terry Fletcher, claiming to be Jewish and anti-Israel, writes in part as follows:
In that light, I would also like to respond to the letter signed by Jonathan Bernstein of the Anti-Defamation League and others the week before, which states of Becky O’Malley that “she has never, to our knowledge, published any hate speech directed at other [non-Jewish] minorities.”
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Becky O'Malley Does Some Explaining
January 11, 2010
On December 3, 2009 the Daily Planet published its latest overtly anti-Semitic offering. It was a letter claiming that Zionists colluded with Eichmann to produce the Holocaust (full text below). This was duly condemned by various community leaders, who denounced O’Malley not just for this one instance of anti-Semitism, but for persistent anti-Semitism.
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Caught in the Labyrinth of O’Malley’s Mind
January 4, 2010
Look closely at the Letters section of the Berkeley Daily Planet and you will find much about Palestine and Israel--probably more than on any other topic. However, we do not suggest that there are not letters on local matters as well. In fact, one will find letters on almost every topic under the local sun.
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A Few More Lonely Extremists Accuse the Daily Planet of Anti-Semitism
December 23, 2009
Although it was submitted in time for publication in an earlier edition, the Daily Planet finally published a statement of protest by leaders of the Community against its persistent publication of anti-Semitic diatribes.
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Yodeling in an Echo Chamber
December 14, 2009
The December 3 and 12, 2009 issues of the Daily Planet published many letters from all over the country condemning our editor, John Gertz. The occasion was the publication in the New York Times on November 28 of an article about the dispute between DPWatchDog and the Daily Planet.
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Do the Numbers Add Up?
December 11, 2009
If you look at the fine print at the bottom of Page 2 of the East Bay Expresses it informs would be advertisers that they are members of the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
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The House of Representatives Outlaws the Berkeley Daily Planet
December 10, 2009
Well, not really. But close.
On a whopping 395 to 3 vote, the House has passed legislation labeling certain Middle East media outlets, including the Hizbullah-run Al-Manar, terrorist entities.
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Facts? “What, Me Worry,” Quoth O’Malley?
December 4, 2009
In a November 27, 2009 article, The New York Times quoted Becky O’Malley as saying:
“We make a serious effort to get most words spelled right in the headlines, which we don’t always achieve,” Ms. O’Malley said.
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O’Malley Pats Herself on the Back
November 16, 2009
Becky O’Malley has the very odd habit of describing her publishing policies in terms that are self-serving and grandiose, but also patently false
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Finally a Pro-Israel Commentary—But what is it?
October 19, 2009
Anti-Israel pieces in the Berkeley Daily Planet are legion, while pro-Israel pieces are few.
Becky O’Malley used to claim that, being a free speech absolutist, she publishes everything she receives. The lack of pro-Israel pieces merely reflected the fact that she received very few.
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Landmarking and Development
August 16, 2009
O’Malley has a strong anti-development bias, which she advances not just in the defense of tree-sitting, but at every opportunity. By most accounts, she purchased the DP with this single motivation in mind. Not satisfied with editorializing against development, she slants the entire news department against it.
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Berkeley Daily Planet: Newspaper or Cult?
August 24, 2009
A few days ago we received an unsolicited email from a Berkeley Daily Planet staffer informing us that we were being added to his spam blocker. This simple act got us to asking ourselves whether the Berkeley Daily Planet is a local newspaper or some sort of cult. Our thoughts are still in the hypothesis phase, but we are happy to share with our readers the evidence we have thus far accumulated:
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Jim Jones |
Becky O'Malley Kills Free Speech
August 14, 2009
On reading the August 13, 2009 edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet, we were sorely tempted to give it our much-coveted Hate Free Award, that is, until we received a complaint from one of our readers. Now we don’t know what to do.
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Richard Brenneman Speaks for the Jews and for Becky
August 12, 2009
Under the rubric of “Reader Commentaries,” paid Daily Planet reporter, Richard Brenneman, announces proudly that as a Jew, he can testify that Becky O’Malley is no anti-Semite.
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So Dark the Conn of Afghanistan
May 28, 2009
Our normal beat is the Middle East in general and Israel in particular. A very large percentage of Conn Hallinan's pieces concern Israel in part or in whole. We believe that he exhibits a profound animus towards Israel.
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A Psychotic Vouches for The Daily Planet
May 25, 2009
In a poignant, but completely over-the-top, piece in the March 19, 2009 issue, Jack Bragen details many incidents of anti-Semitism he has personally experienced, including beatings, being called a “kike,” and more.Amazingly, the whole point of the letter was to exonerate the Daily Planet. Bragen concludes that because he knows anti-Semitism like almost no one else, he is in a position to bear witness with great authority to the fact that the Daily Planet is not anti-Semitic.
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Are you From El Cerrito? That’s Your Problem, says the Berkeley Daily Planet
May 25, 2009
Readers of the Berkeley Daily Planet have been known to call it the Daily Palestinian. Elsewhere in this website we site metrics which prove that the Berkeley Daily Planet elevates the Israel-Palestine conflict way and above all other world situations. Contributor, P. Gordis, has provided us with a different way of looking at this problem.
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The Daily Planet peddles its papers in front of ACE Hardware in El Cerrito, a neighboring town the DP ignores in favor of Palestine. |
DING DONG, the Wicked Witch is Dead
May 22, 2009
We received a reader comment yesterday that simply read, “DING DONG, The Wicked Witch is Dead.” We immediately understood to what the reader was referring.
For months now, The Berkeley Daily Planet has been trying everything to stay afloat financially. We all know that newspapers have their challenges. However, neither of the Berkeley Daily Planet’s competitors, the East Bay Express and the Berkeley Voice, have had any trouble gathering enough advertisers to make themselves self-sustaining and profitable. Neither pleads poverty nor solicits donations.
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"Kill the cops, Kill the Jews": The First Amendment as the Last Refuge of Scoundrels
May 12, 2009
Becky O’Malley has very little advertising in her newspaper. Presumably, advertisers find little allure in the DP’s core demographic, Berkeley’s aging radicals. So she fills the space with faux ads that promote the DP. Some beg the readers to send her money, as though the DP were a non-profit, which it is not. Others would have you buy DP mugs and tote bags (that’s style for you). One ad, which regularly appears, is aimed squarely at our website which O’Malley has taken to condemning but without naming, lest people know where to tune in.
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Want good karma? Then kill a cop. Om.
April 2, 2009
In a move so audacious our jaw has dropped, the DP has published a long commentary in its April 2, 2009 edition that may entirely upend a core premise of this website. One of this website’s key contentions is that the DP reserves its fullest measure of venom for Jews and Israel. If Becky O’Malley is merely a radical free speecher, as she claims, then why are there never hateful articles aimed at Muslims, blacks or gays?
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City Deems Daily Planet to be a Hazard
March 18, 2009
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s March 24, 2009 edition, the City of Berkeley regards the Daily Planet to be a hazard to its citizens. We agree in principle, however, whereas we regard the hazard as moral and ethical, they have cited it for attracting vermin.
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The Berkeley Daily Planet's Cowardly Attack Upon this Website
March 16, 2009
In an extraordinary display of journalistic cowardice, the Berkeley Daily Planet has launched an attack upon this website and its editor, combining half-truths with complete fabrications (March 9, 2009). Under the title, “Open Letter to Our Advertisers and Readers,” the Berkeley Daily Planet attacks a letter apparently written by Jim Sinkinson.
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O'Malley Tries to Strangle DPWatchdog.com in its Cradle?
March 3, 2009
On March 12, 2009 the DP published an article by Mary Lou van Deventer condemning one Jim Sinkinson for sending a letter to DP advertisers, apparently asking them to cancel their ads in the paper. It is entirely possible that Mr. Sinkinson drew some of his facts from this website. After all, we are here for anyone who wishes to tune in.
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Tree Sitting
April 27, 2009
On December 5, 2006, the Berkeley Daily Planet published its first story about what would become the farcical attempt of a small cadre of Berkeley lunatics to save a grove of oak trees on the UC Berkeley campus that was slated for removal so that the campus could expand services.
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Laurie Capitelli's Near-miss
April 27, 2009
What happened to City Council candidate, George Beier, almost happened to sitting member, Laurie Capitelli, in his tight race against newcomer, Sophie Hahn. O’Malley, favoring Hahn, was all set to pull every dirty trick she could muster, when she was busted by one of her own reporters, Judith Scherr.
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The Sad Case of George Beier
April 26, 2009
George Beier ran against incumbent Kriss Worthington in the November, 2006 election for the District 7 City Council seat. Though, to this day, O’Malley has never even met Beier, she lambasted him without mercy in issue after issue of the paper leading up the election. His crime, of all things, was to be modestly wealthy. O’Malley believed that Beier was buying the election.
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Elephant Pharmacy
April 25, 2009
O’Malley is not bereft of all friends. Until its recent bankruptcy, Elephant Pharmacy was the Berkeley Daily Planet’s largest advertiser. At reputable newspapers there is a solid wall between advertisers and content editors. Not at the Berkeley Daily Planet. When Elephant Pharmacy founder, Stuart Skorman, published a book on his entrepreneurial experience, he was allowed to promote it in the Berkeley Daily Planet in the fashion of a book review (February 27, 20007).
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Shuttered up and bankrupt, advertising in the Daily Planet did not help Elephant Pharmacy. |
Dellums Sycophancy
April 25, 2009
Berkeley Daily Planet columnist, J. Douglas Allen-Taylor's, is a raging Ron Dellums sycophant. We take no issue with that, insofar as he is entitled to express his editorial opinion. However, the very same J. Douglas Allen-Taylor is the Berkeley Daily Planet's reporter covering Oakland City Hall.
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Hallinan Ducks and Covers
April 24, 2009
For those of you who follow us weekly, we will report now on our attempts to contact Conn Hallinan. For those who are new to this space, we would ask that you first read the following piece, "So Dark the Conn of Afghanistan."
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O’Malley Ducks and Covers
April 30, 2009
“Hyper-free speech advocate,” Becky O’Malley recently sent us a threatening email. More properly, she copied us on a threatening email to someone who she alleges has interfered with her business, possibly by approaching her advertisers, though the email was not explicit. We do not know exactly why we were copied, except that this must either have been some sort of veiled threat against DPWatchDog, or that since we are also members of the press, that she deemed her threat newsworthy and is seeking the publicity. If the latter is true, here is her publicity.
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Duck and Cover |
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