Journalism
May 3, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Some people think alcoholism is the occupational disease of reporters, but I believe it is laziness. The ridiculously low level of news coverage in contemporary America is largely the result, I think, of the fact that most reporters do so little work. The advent of artificial intelligence may make reporters’ jobs even easier. No need to research–let alone investigate!–just pop a question into Google’s version of AI, and you can
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April 30, 2026 — Bill Glahn
I’ve always been told that local media love a local angle on national news. Here’s one for you. Cole Tomas Allen is now all but forgotten as the man who tried to shoot up the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, attended by Trump and other national leaders, last Saturday night in Washington, DC. Despite his statements to authorities and the publishing of his manifesto, Allen’s motivations remain a complete mystery. A
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December 26, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Young YouTuber Nick Shirley is blowing up Twitter (X), and other platforms no doubt, with his 42-minute video exposing (alleged) childcare fraud in Minnesota: [Update: Waking up this morning, the post below was already at 20 million views. As of 9 am CDT, we’ve already blown past 25 million views], BTW, his bit of knocking on doors and finding no children has been done for a decade. It still works
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December 26, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Just because we are in the inter-holiday doldrums, doesn’t mean that national media coverage is taking a rest. A Boxing Day roundup, Fox News (video): Minnesota lieutenant governor dons hijab in visit to Somali market as fraud scandal unfolds. Fox News (video): NY state rep warns Hochul could face same wrath as Minnesota’s Walz. Fox News (video): Minnesota mayors warn ‘fraud and overspending’ could spike property taxes. Miami Herald: Rooting
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December 13, 2025 — Bill Glahn
I hear you. Yes, we’ve been writing a lot about the news from our home state. But it just won’t stop. Judging by the contacts I’ve had with media yesterday and today (barring major intervening events) the national media coverage will extend well into next week. Yet the message may still not be getting through. Local TV reporter Lou Raguse is one of a handful who have been covering the
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December 9, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Now that the multi-billion-dollar frauds in Minnesota are national news, I thought it was time to revisit the document that represents the Rosetta Stone of the most prominent scandal, the one involving the food nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Estimates of this single fraud against taxpayers range from $300 million to $500 million. Federal and state investigations of this nonprofit have spun off other cases involving other government programs. So far,
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December 8, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Local reporter Lou Raguse of the NBC-affiliate KARE-11 has produced a helpful 2:33 video explaining the details underneath the $billion estimate for Minnesota frauds: Link here and also embedded in this post by Scott. Breaking down Lou’s math: (0:35) Feeding Our Future, $246,045,149. Scott Johnson reposts the complete document (Trial Exhibit X-1 from the 2nd trial) Lou references above at the bottom of this post. The Star Tribune objects to
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December 6, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Former Star Tribune editor Patricia Lopez wrote on Bloomberg November 26, under the headline, We can stop fraud in Minnesota without attacking Somalis. In a perfect world, Lopez is absolutely correct. She writes (non-paywall version here) that, It is true that Minnesota has seen an extraordinary rash of fraud in taxpayer-funded programs recently. More than 70 people have been charged, including several Somalis. “Several”? Wall Street Journal columnist Matthew Continetti writes, Of 86 people charged so far, all
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November 25, 2025 — John Hinderaker
On Saturday, X briefly revealed data that it has for every account, but that is not normally public: the location from which the account originates. The results, which I wrote about here, were revelatory. Those American Indian accounts that routinely disparage white people? They come from Bangladesh. The “bombs are exploding next to me here in Gaza” accounts? They are fake, posting from London, Poland, and so on. I think
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November 21, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Just yesterday (literally, Thursday), Trump was finished. It was so over. The wheels had come off. The long national nightmare had ended. He was vanquished, once and for all. The drape measuring had begun. The plans for the neocon restoration were set into motion. Then, unexpectedly, the sun rose on Thursday morning. The September payrolls number came out better than expected. Economic growth is looking strong. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
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July 30, 2025 — Bill Glahn
It’s our “man bites dog” story of the day. Fox News noticed, Washington Post editorial slams Obama judge for blocking ‘fair and square’ GOP defunding of Planned Parenthood. I didn’t see that one coming. The Washington Post editorial board backed Pres. Trump under the headline, This is what judicial overreach looks like. The case is the one John wrote about on Monday where a rogue federal district judge vetoed the
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July 16, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Jill Abramson is the former executive editor of the New York Times. She now teaches journalism at Northeastern University and is a contributing opinion columnist for the Boston Globe. Yesterday the Globe carried her column on the Washington Free Beacon under the headline “The conservative weapon bringing down university presidents and law reviews.” Subhead: “The Washington Free Beacon is publishing scoops that have left blood on the floor at Harvard,
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April 4, 2025 — John Hinderaker
News media around the world have uncritically repeated Hamas’s obviously false claims about casualties in the war it started against Israel. At most, press outlets have conventionally said that Hamas’s numbers haven’t been, or can’t be, verified. Now Hamas has casually admitted that it was lying all along: Hamas quietly removed the names of thousands of Palestinians it had previously alleged were killed during the Israel-Hamas war, Salo Aizenberg, from
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January 5, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Cartoonist Ann Telnaes has resigned from the Washington Post after that paper decided not to run one of her cartoons, perhaps because it was critical of the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos. Telnaes took to Substack to explain her resignation, and she has gotten a lot of sympathy on the left. First, here is the cartoon: several tech moguls are offering bags of money to, apparently, Donald Trump, while Mickey Mouse–Disney–isn’t
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July 18, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Alpha News reporter Liz Collin received the Caux Round Table for Moral Capitalism 2023 Ken Dayton Award yesterday. Background on the award to Liz is posted here. The award recognized Liz’s career and her work on The Fall of Minneapolis. I attended the lunch in Liz’s that was held at the Minneapolis Club in Liz’s honor yesterday and asked her if I could post her remarks here. Steve Young, to
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January 12, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The New York Times has published its Edward Jay Epstein obituary by Sam Roberts. It runs as “Edward Jay Epstein, Author and Stubborn Skeptic, Dies at 88.” The Times obit draws freely on Assume Nothing: Encounters With Assassins, Spies, Presidents, and Would-Be Masters of the Universe, the autobiographical memoir Ed published last year at age 87. Ed was a New York character and the Times obit isn’t bad. Indeed, it
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