By Julia Conley/Common Dreams

Though President Donald Trump this week expressed an interest in establishing a state-run TV news network due to his dissatisfaction with the media’s coverage of his historically unpopular presidency, the Sinclair Broadcast Group on Tuesday appeared to fulfill that role with another of its “must-run” pro-Trump segments, this time defending the use of tear gas on migrant children at the southern U.S. border.
In a segment all 173 Sinclair stations were ordered to air, former Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn rejected criticism of the tear-gassing and said the actions taken by U.S. border patrol agents on Sunday were necessary for the nation’s security.

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Posted on November 29, 2018

“A detective and action-adventure television series, Lady Blue revolves around Chicago investigator Katy Mahoney (Jamie Rose), her violent means of dealing with criminals and tension with her co-workers,” according to Wikipedia.
“She works in the Violent Crimes Division of the Chicago Police Department. The New York Observer’s Bryan Reesman described Mahoney as “the fiery red head” with a “trigger happy” personality and “violent excesses.”
“She frequently uses a .357 Magnum (which John J. O’Connor of The New York Times called “a grotesque extension of her right arm”), and was introduced as capable of “read[ing] a crime in progress like most guys read the sports page.”
The opening is priceless:

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Posted on November 27, 2018

Another Beachwood Special Report

“Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel may finally get paid for a job he’s been doing for free for years: offering opinions on national politics,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Emanuel announced in September that he wouldn’t seek reelection as mayor and has since been largely mum about his post-mayoral plans. But he has attended meetings in New York with top executives at MSNBC and CNN in recent weeks, and discussed a potential future as a cable news pundit, according to several sources familiar with the conversations.”
The Beachwood has learned the following shows are under consideration:

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Posted on November 13, 2018

By Faiza Hirji/The Conversation

The Simpsons’ Apu may be dead, but stereotyping of South Asians most certainly is not. In fact, from the debates that preceded the conflicting report of his demise, we can conclude a few things about Hollywood.
One, Hollywood doesn’t know how to address criticism of its racism. Two, Hollywood doesn’t know how to recognize racism even when it consciously perpetuates it. And three, as audiences, we sometimes perpetuate the cycle of racist portrayals because our options seem so limited.

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Posted on November 7, 2018