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During a press briefing on the issue of drug abuse and parental involvement, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer had a firm “no comment” when asked if Bush himself has talked to his daughters about substance abuse. After the briefing, Fleisher called the reporter to chide him for asking the question. Bob interviews that reporter, Bennett Roth of the Houston Chronicle.
This week, the media looked back at 20 years of AIDS with special reports, issues and interviews. On The Media’s Amy Eddings looks back at how the press has handled - and mishandled -- the disease over the past two decades
As the war in Serbia raged, one independent broadcaster made heroes of its reporters by defying the political leaders and staying on the air, no mean feat. One of those heroes was B92 reporter Boyana Lekic. But Lekic has come under scrutiny for accepting an award from the very war profiteers she risked death to help expose. Bob speaks with Nejbusha Sammardjiic, a lawyer representing the association of Electronic Media in Belgrade, about Lekic.
Author Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover in her new book "Nickel and Dimed: About (not) getting by in America" to see how the "other half" lived, only to discover that often they can't. Not that many mainstream media outlets are interested. Brooke interviews Barbara about the unpopularity of stories about the working poor.
It's hard for a major corporate music company to generate much sympathy. But even these multi-national behemoths have challenges, most notably, reining in the powerful independent promoters that govern radio airplay. But with "Bootylicious", the newest single from Destiny's Child, one record label is trying to change that tune. Brooke interviews Salon.com's Eric Boehlert to get the story.
The 45 was once the dominant musical medium. From Elvis, to the Beatles, to the Supremes, that round little disc with the big hole in the middle defined the early rock 'n pop era. New technologies have since swept the single aside, but there are some die-hards who refuse to relinquish their vinyl disks, as On The Media’s Rex Doane discovers.
Singles are dying, vinyl records are almost dead, and recorded music as a whole is taking a hit because of mp-3 and Napster. But On The Media has noticed a counter trend. It seems the public's appetite for the "scratch" sound effect from a record does not in any way track with its appetite for records themselves. The scratch is everywhere. OTM’s producer at large Mike Pesca has the story.
Highlights from Past ShowsPortland, Oregon public radio station KBOO made a boo-boo a couple of weeks ago after playing the song “Revolution,” a feminist track with explicit lyrics. One angry listener resulted in one large FCC fine. Brooke talks to First Amendment lawyer Marjorie Heins about America’s ever-changing standard of decency.
These days the hottest media property among the teenaged male demographic is the MTV program Jackass. Some of the stunts the aforementioned jackasses do are funny, some dangerous. When kids start copycatting the daredevil pranks, Jackass bears the brunt of the critics scorn. But, as OTM’s Mike Pesca discovers, there’s more than one culprit in this blame game.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
