“Passive news reporting that doesn’t attempt to resolve factual disputes in politics may have detrimental effects on readers, new research suggests. The [Ohio State] study found that people are more likely to doubt their own ability to determine the truth in politics after reading an article that simply lists competing claims without offering any idea of which side is right.” [EurekAlert, via PourMeCoffee]

[CNN]

The big news today seems to be James O’Keefe punking NPR. Since we haven’t listened to NPR in, oh, fifteen or twenty years, we’ll keep our indignation dry until the next Shocking Exposé. [TPM]

It’s not that we care about the Estevez Spawn who didn’t star in Repo Man (okay, fine — or The Breakfast Club), it’s that we keep stumbling across shrapnel we just can’t ignore:

“The fact is, during Mr. Sheen’s recent criminal case in Aspen, Colo., the studio was willing to have him plead to a felony and still take him back while charges were pending against him,” says [lawyer Marty] Singer. “Yet in this case, all my client did was make alleged disparaging remarks about [producer] Chuck Lorre.”

The fact is, Marty’s right: Sheen was charged with felony menacing after a Christmas 2009 fight with his wife, Brooke Mueller. He eventually cut a deal and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.

But to get the full flavor of that episode, let’s revisit the original account:

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“Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday dismissed as ‘ridiculous’ a letter from a Democratic state Senate leader who suggested a meeting ‘near the Wisconsin-Illinois border’ to discuss the state’s budget impasse.” [CNN]

Daily Mail:

A teenager who sent threatening letters to right-wing US politician Sarah Palin has been arrested in her home state of Alaska.

Shawn Christy, 19, from Pennsylvania, had been issued a court order in October warning him to keep away from the Republican former-vice presidential candidate.

But Mrs Palin’s family have revealed that Mr Christy was held by the FBI in Anchorage, 50 miles from her home town of Wasilla. Authorities have ordered him to return to Pennsylvania.

Palin’s father, interviewed by the BBC:

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“Sen. John Ensign is expected to announce at an afternoon news conference in Las Vegas that he will retire rather than face a brutal 2012 re-election campaign, according to knowledgeable sources.” [Roll Call]