What is the top story in the news?

Depends on where you get your news.

Check out CNN:

'Horrified' mom of alleged Penn State victim wants 'justice'

The mother of one of the alleged sex abuse victims in the Penn State scandal says she wants the perpetrator "to be put away for a long time." FULL STORY

• Assistant coach in middle of scandal  
• Ethical lesson | Finally, university first SI
• Millions at stake | Abuse warning signs
• Parallels with church abuse scandal

Now over at Fox the top two stories are outright criticisms of the Obama Adminstration.

Panetta: Cuts Would Invite Aggression

• AP
• Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns sweeping military cuts, which could be triggered by the failure of the congressional deficit committee to strike a deal, 'invite aggression' from abroad and would leave the military a shell of its former self.
• Panetta Says Air Force Must Review Penalties for Mortuary
• National Guard Faces High-Level Opposition in Push for Seat on Joint Chiefs
• Obama to Watch Basketball on Carrier That Buried Bin Laden
• Late Soldier's Family Awarded Silver Star
• OPINION: Congress Comes Together to Get Veterans Back to Work 

Parents of Slain Border Agent Lash Out at Holder

Parents of agent killed by gun tied to 'Furious' call attorney general, ATF 'liars' over handling of failed operation

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Is it a coincidence that the most conservative, pro-Republican news organization uses it newscasts and website to constantly attack the Democratic president?

Don't get me wrong, I think the news SHOULD critically cover the powerful, as is argued in the book. the problem is when that criticism is not productive but just political to serve a given ideology.

Important facts about the USA PATRIOT Act

In the book, evidence is presented that, for the most part, the mainstream media ignored serious issues and potential problems with the USA PATRIOT Act, passed shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and meant to be temporary law. I show how there were literally only a handful of stories on the law.

Even those provided no context about the law -- who wrote it, what did it do, how did it change our civil liberties, was it worth the loss of freedom, would it actually keep it safer, etc. Thus, there was little critical coverage of the law, suggesting the media failed in their role of watchdog of the powerful.

Well, the law is still with us (just renewed again without privacy provisions in place for another year by Congress and President Obama). And the problems with the law remain. Yet, there is almost no coverage of these issues in the inner-ring/uper-tier media.

Luckily, organizations like these allow us to learn more about the law. But to learn the truth, you have to go to these sources, for the media are simply not covering the story.

Spend some time there and learn the facts.

http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/

http://w2.eff.org/patriot/

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/usa-patriot-act