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With the Bush Administration's declaration of victory in Iraq, the unveiling of a new peace plan for Israel and the Palestine, and the imminent withdrawal of US forces from Saudi Arabia, it was a busy week for political restructuring in the Middle East. World Press Review contributing editor Peter Valenti fills Bob in on the Arab press' response to the week's events.
Would-be down-loaders of music files are now being greeted with messages that they are violating copyright laws. It's the latest tactic in the record industry's campaign against file-sharing. And it comes amidst a changing legal landscape. New York Times reporter Amy Harmon talks with Bob about a recent case in which college students were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for running on-campus file swapping services.
According to recent polls, many Americans are still concerned about potential terrorism on U.S.soil, and yet aren't doing anything to prepare for it. OTM's John Solomon discovered that the widespread malaise might have something to do with the less-than-urgent tone of the Department of Homeland Security's public information campaign.
What do you do when you're sued for libel in a foreign country that favors plaintiffs? How about this: Sue that country for its media-unfriendly laws! That's what Barron's reporter Bill Alpert did after he was called into court for allegedly defaming an Australian businessman who read his story online. Alpert has filed a claim against Australia at the U.N. Commission for Human Rights, and he tells Bob why.
A strange phenomenon is taking place in the world of television advertising. Even though network TV has fewer and fewer viewers each year, advertisers continue to buy ad time at the going rates many months in advance. Advertising Age Editor Scott Donaton joins Bob to explain the annual advertisers' feeding frenzy known as the 'upfront market.'
Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism is soon to announce its new Dean. New Yorker Washington correspondent Nicholas Lemann is the man picked for the post, this coming on the heels of a statement from Columbia president Lee Bollinger on the future of journalism education. Bob talks to Lemann about his plans for the school and about the value of J-school in general.
For almost 30 years, the identity of the Watergate figure known as Deep Throat has remained a secret. Now a journalism class at the University of Illinois claims to have definitively solved the mystery. Professor William Gaines and his students fingered Fred Fielding, a lawyer in the Nixon White House, as the anonymous source who provided information to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Bob talks to Professor Gaines about the project.
When Woodward and Bernstein sold the Watergate archives to the University of Texas a few weeks ago, the U of T promised to keep Deep Throat's identity a secret until his death. Former Nixon lawyer Leonard Garment does not approve of the deal. He tells Bob that death should not necessarily signal the end of privacy arrangements.
Former Iraqi Minister of Information Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf gained international infamy for his angry denials of U.S. military advances. Now he's getting another chance in the spotlight - an Arab satellite TV channel has offered him a job as a commentator. If he accepts, he won't be the first celebrity to cash in on his notoriety. Here, OTM brings this phenomenon to its darkest extremes.
Highlights from Past ShowsLast time Brooke spoke with NPR's John Burnett, he had just arrived in Baghdad and was about to leave his military assignment. Since then, he's finally had the chance to speak with ordinary Iraqis, and get a different perspective on the war. On the eve of his departure to the U.S., Brooke checks in with John for one last assessment of the "embed experiment."
After years of negotiations, Rupert Murdoch has succeeded in his bid for DirecTV. The satellite broadcasting operation adds 11 million American viewers to Murdoch's global empire, making his media company not simply the biggest, but probably the most powerful as well. Bob queries Cable World Senior Editor Alicia Mundy about Murdoch's ever expanding media holdings.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
