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As it is in the U.S., news about Iraq is beginning to fade from the front pages of Arabic language newspapers. But in its place this week were a number of major stories related to the so-called "War on Terror" and the shifting geopolitics of the Middle East. World Press Review Contributing Editor Peter Valenti gives Bob a survey of the week's top stories as reported in the Arabic press.
When artillery fire from an American tank killed two journalists in a Baghdad hotel last month, the Pentagon insisted the tank was returning enemy fire. But a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists disputes that account. CPJ Deputy Director Joel Simon reviews the group's findings with Bob.
Earlier this month, a little-known reporter at the New York Times gained infamy when the paper revealed his extensive plagiarism and fabrications. The ensuing shakeup at the Times resulted this week in the departure of one of the paper's most well known reporters, Rick Bragg. Bob speaks to Bragg about the controversy and his decision to step down.
When it was revealed that Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Janet Cooke had invented her prize-winning story, calls for systemic reform reverberated throughout the media world. But more than two decades later, has anything changed? Brooke looks at the checks and balances in the newspaper industry, and asks whether anything could have prevented the Jayson Blair debacle.
Why didn't fact-checkers catch the lies in Jayson Blair's oeuvre? Because at The New York Times, and at most major dailies, reporters are responsible for checking the facts in their own stories. Slate columnist Brendan Koerner explains to Bob the difference between fact checking practices at newspapers and magazines.
On the eve of perhaps the most important FCC vote in decades, opponents of media deregulation are flooding the commissioners with mail. But is anybody listening? Apparently not, wrote Eric Boehlert recently in Salon.com. He joins Bob to discuss the responsiveness - or lack thereof - of the FCC to the public comment process.
While people still argue about the successes and failures of the war in Iraq, there's no disputing that the Fox News Channel emerged from the fighting as a clear victor over its cable competitors. In a recent issue of The New Yorker, Ken Auletta profiled the relatively young channel, and its founder, Roger Ailes. Auletta takes Brooke behind the scenes.
Critics of reality TV scoff at the format's banality. But when Denmark's top official invited a cameraman to shadow him during his recent EU presidency, he could hardly be accused of documenting the inconsequential lifestyles of the young and glamorous. Nevertheless, a big stink did ensue, as Economist correspondent Claire McCarthy recounts to Brooke
Highlights from Past ShowsWhite House Spokesman Ari Fleischer announced his resignation this week, after more than two years at the podium in loyal service to the President. He has weathered major events such as the 2000 election, 9/11, and the Iraq war. But among the press corps, few will miss his obfuscating style and bullying tactics. Slate columnist Tim Noah reviews Fleischer's tenure with Brooke.
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to make sweeping changes to its restrictions on media ownership. The rules were created to promote a diversity of voices on the airwaves and in the papers, and many fear that the changes, should they pass, could undermine that goal. OTM's Paul Ingles reports on what's at stake in next month's FCC vote.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
