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Most media critics, if they believed it would happen at all, figured it would take a few months, a decent interval, before Howell Raines left the helm of the New York Times. But in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal, Howell's departure came sooner rather than later. Newsweek media reporter Seth Mnookin speaks to Brooke about the unfolding drama at the Grey Lady.
The resignation of New York Times Managing Editor Gerald Boyd under the cloud of the Jayson Blair scandal came as a terrible blow to the black journalistic community. Boyd, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, was one of the most powerful journalists in the country. Bob talks to Condace Pressley, President of the NABJ, about the situation.
Top management at The New York Times is hoping that the resignation of the head editors will end the turmoil at the paper. But in Italy, the departure of the Editor at Corriere della Serra is just the beginning. Corriere cultural editor Raffaele Fiengo tells Bob what journalists are doing to protest the dismissal of his boss apparently for investigative coverage of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
There were few surprises when the FCC finally voted this week on the relaxation of media ownership limits. But the commission's two dissenters were somewhat vindicated two days later at a Senate hearing in which lawmakers delivered a bipartisan spanking of the FCC decision. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein talks to Bob about being in the minority on Michael Powell's FCC.
Now that the (de) regulators have acted, some members of Congress are taking it upon themselves to re-regulate the media industry. Republican Senator Conrad Burns tells Bob why he is co-sponsoring legislation that would roll back some of the changes that the FCC approved this week.
Despite the scores of scribes shuffling through Iraq before the war and the hundreds that arrived with the troops, there was precious little written on the lives of ordinary Iraqis. Into the breach came Salam Pax, the mysterious blogger of Baghdad. But after the bombing started in late March, the world wondered, was he safe? Was he even real? Peter Maass, who was based in Baghdad during the war, tells Brooke how he unmasked the mysterious blogger.
A story that quickly grabbed headlines in the foreign press following the end of the war in Iraq, has only now taken hold in the U.S. The mystery of the missing Weapons of Mass Destruction, already warmed over in Europe is finally giving American pundits pause. Brooke compares coverage of the story on both sides of the Atlantic with Bill Falk and Jeremy O'Grady, executive editors, respectively, of the American and British editions of The Week.
Highlights from Past ShowsAs 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.
White 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.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
