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This week, U.S. strikes on buildings housing reporters in Baghdad left three journalists dead, raising the total number of journalists killed in the war to 12. Press representatives from all over the world, as well as the Committee to Protect Journalists, have condemned the "reckless" American attacks. CPJ Acting Director Joel Simon discusses the war's toll on journalists with Bob.
As the breaking stories of the war shift our attention from the deserts to the cities, many embedded reporters are facing the question of whether to leave their military posts. But un-embedded reporters say they have been repeatedly obstructed by coalition forces. Toronto Globe & Mail reporter Geoff York tells Bob about the frustrations of 'unilateral' reporters.
After nearly a month of living in the desert with U.S. troops, NPR reporter John Burnett has arrived in Baghdad. He is still officially embedded, but says the parameters of that arrangement are quickly breaking down. John shares his reflections on the past five weeks - and his anticipation about going home - with Brooke.
Each morning, White House officials dial up fellow war planners in London and Qatar. The purpose of the conference call is to issue the Administration's official media message of the day. Terms are specified, and stories are outlined. Chicago Tribune reporter Bob Kemper joins Brooke to review the accomplishments of the White House's latest P.R. project - the Office of Global Communications.
When American troops stationed abroad turn on their TV's, they can watch many of the same shows we watch at home. But not the same ads. In their place, the Defense Department's American Forces Network airs its own unique style of advertising. Brian Montopoli wrote about the ads for the American Prospect, and describes them to Bob.
Thousands of people have died since bombs started falling in Iraq, but the photos that have appeared in American newspapers and magazines have been relatively bloodless. Is it possible to accurately portray the brutality of war without showing graphic images of death? Brooke talks with the New York Times' new Picture Editor, Jim Wilson, about the paper's criteria for printing war photos.
For the past 20 years, Time Magazine photographer Anthony Suau has covered virtually every major war from the frontlines. But this time, he decided to document the war from the homefront. Suau tells Bob about the editorial filters that are shaping our perspective on the war, and about the ways that war photographers deal with those filters.
At the same time that events on the battlefields of WWII were being documented by newspapers and radio, Hollywood was re-framing the wartime sentiments of the homefront. In his recent memoir - "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip"- film critic Richard Schickel examines the myths that wartime America built for itself on the silver screen. He goes over some of his favorite clips with Brooke.
Highlights from Past ShowsWith its unflinching coverage of the war in Iraq, Al Jazeera is ruffling feathers on both sides of the conflict. The cable channel has already been ejected from the New York Stock Exchange and now in a strange twist, a correspondent has been booted from Iraq. Despite that, last week Al Jazeera was the most searched-for term on the Net. Bob talks with Joanne Tucker, managing editor of Al Jazeera's English language website.
A week into the war in Iraq, the picture we are getting from the domestic press is quite different from that portrayed by the foreign press. This gulf is especially large when it comes to the Middle Eastern media. United Press Chief Correspondent and inveterate media watcher Martin Walker is in Kuwait, and gives us a view from the ground.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
