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The US is (unofficially) at war in Pakistan, where reporters face pressure to cover the search for Al Qaeda in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan. But the area is virtually inaccessible to most journalists and information is tightly controlled by the Pakistani military. Journalist Shahan Mufti says reporting from the region poses several ethical dilemmas.
While there were only a handful of U.S. unmanned aerial drones in 2003, there are now some 7,000 that the military relies on for many of its objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century explains that these robots are hardly risk-free and have a profound impact both at home and abroad.
As the DVR became more and more popular, many in the TV industry feared that commercial-skipping would destroy the medium. But it turns out many DVR-users still watch commercials. Bill Carter of the New York Times says the numbers are startling and the DVR actually helps ratings.
News Corp and The New York Times have suggested they might start charging for web content. Last week Newsday did start charging for access to its website. Does this mean the days of completely free news websites are over? Steven Brill is founder of Journalism Online, a company that works with over a thousand news organizations to help monetize online content. He says the moment has come to pay up.
Accessing full Newsday articles online costs $5 per week if you don't subscribe to the print edition or Optimum Online. When Newsday columnist Saul Friedman found out he quit. After 13 years of writing for the paper, Friedman says many of his readers will no longer be able to read his column and so he'd rather blog elsewhere.
Last month, John Harris, a legendary reporter for the National Enquirer, died at the age of 76. One of his colleagues, David Wright, talks about Harris's most famous assignment for the Enquirer: a search for Utopia.
The photos depicting the mistreatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners shocked the world. New photos of detainee abuse are known to exist, and the Obama Administration initially said they would share them with the public. But then Obama changed his mind, arguing the nature of the images could endanger U.S. soldiers. Last week he signed a law to keep them secret.
This month, the White House and the Senate reached a compromise that makes it likely the nation will pass a federal shield law. CW Anderson, a blogger for Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab, talks about who the law will cover, and the compromises journalists have made to get it enacted.
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. While President Ronald Reagan famously told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," another more mysterious quote attributed to Gorbachev would dominate the communist narrative of the fall of the Berlin Wall. WNYC reporter Brian Zumhagen tells the story and impact of both.
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The Medill Journalism School and the Cook County District Attorney in Chicago are locked in a legal battle over a murder investigation conducted by Medill students as part of the Innocence Project. The DA has subpoenaed the students' academic records. Medill Dean John Lavine says the students are journalists, protected under the Illinois Shield Law.
For 10 years, music execs have waged a war against digital file sharing -- and software like Napster and websites like The Pirate Bay -- which have decimated the industry’s profits. But recently, there are signs from Europe that the battle over free music may be changing.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
