Rem Rieder

During the final two months of last year’s election, television viewers in the tri-state Philadelphia area were barraged during news broadcasts with four times as much political advertising as actual news about the campaign. While Philly is a very distinctive place, there’s no reason to think this is a local phenomenon, an aberration. Experts say there’s little doubt the situation is the same throughout the country, and will be so in 2016, particularly in battleground states.

If the ’60 Minutes’ segment Sunday night on Amazon had been a drone, you’d have to say it badly missed its target. Rieder argues the news program gave Amazon a prime platform, but no tough questions, especially about the numerous logistical and regulatory issues facing the use of drones.

The Supreme Court’s anti-camera policy is just so wrong for a democracy. The high court plays such a huge role in the lives of Americans. It seems unconscionable that Americans can’t watch as lawyers present their cases on matters of such great importance and the justices test their arguments. The objections to cameras seem pretty frail when compared with the public’s right to know.