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It was another week of eyebrow-raising for New York Times-watchers, after Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz raised serious questions about the war reporting of the NYT's Judith Miller. According to Kurtz's sources, Miller wielded so much power as an embed that she actually influenced the military decision-making process. Brooke talks to Slate columnist Jack Schafer about Kurtz's expose.
For foreign correspondents in the final days before the fall of Baghdad, the toppling of Saddam was ushered in by the disappearance of their official government minders. Two months later, British television reporter John Irvine returned to Iraq in search of the minder who, he realized, had become a friend, despite the man's role as the eyes and ears of the regime. Irvine tells Brooke about their reunion.
Attention Wal-Mart shoppers: Those lurid covers of Cosmo Magazine will no longer be visible to shoppers on the checkout line. Following its decision to yank three "laddie mags" from its racks, the world's largest retailer announced it will mask the fronts of Cosmo and its ilk. Wal-Mart says it is responding to customer demand, but who exactly are these customers? And what impact do the chain's decisions have on what gets produced in the first place? Brooke heads to Wal-Mart to investigate.
There's little doubt that little Ms. Pac Man would be horrified by some of the video games on the market today. Makers of these violent and racy games say their products are intended for adults, but whose job is it to keep them from kids? The question, which is working its way through courts in at least two cities, is tackled here by Brooke and Henry Jenkins, Director of Comparative Media Studies at MIT.
An unusual video game has been popping up at trade shows throughout Europe this year. The so-called PainStation allows two players to square off and inflict pain on one another - literally - while playing a version of Pong. PainStation creators Tilman Reiff and Volker Morawe spoke to Brooke last year about the genesis of their now notorious game.
If a group of European bureaucrats have their way, all will soon be fair on the (Europe-Wide) Web. A new proposal from the Council of Europe would require any website registered in one of its member-countries to post responses from every person criticized on that site. Declan McCullagh criticized the resolution in a recent article on CNET's News.com, and tells Brooke why.
A new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that after years of steady growth, the number of people using the Internet has reached a plateau. Perhaps more surprising is the sizeable number of previously online people who are choosing to stop using the Internet altogether. On the Media's Susan Kaplan reports on the growing ranks of the Net Dropouts.
Former Georgia Governor Lester Maddox died this week. Many will remember Maddox for his staunch opposition to integration - at one point, he closed down his restaurant so that he wouldn't have to serve black customers. Or perhaps for his equally uncompromising moment of television fame, when he stormed off the Dick Cavett Show after being insulted for his views. Cavett joins Brooke to share his memories of the incident.
Highlights from Past ShowsSince September 11th, the White House has done its best to keep secret the names of some 1200 people detained in the so-called 'War on Terrorism.' This week a Federal Appeals Court agreed with the Administration's argument that the secrecy is essential to national security. Jane Kirtley, the Director of the Silha Center at the University of Minnesota, joins Brooke to discuss the ruling.
The eyes of journalists around the world may be turning away from Baghdad, but Baghdadis themselves have more options than ever for reading about their city. A recent estimate pegged the number of new newspapers in Baghdad at more than 100, up from just five during Saddam's reign. NPR's Deb Amos gives Brooke a view from the ground, and tells Brooke about how the American occupiers are attempting to manage the explosion of new voices.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
