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The daily casualty count from combat in Iraq shows no sign of abating, and this week the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq characterized the conflict as "war." Meanwhile, hostility between the military and the media in Iraq is also mounting, with increasing incidents of abuse, detentions and confiscation of equipment. NPR's Deborah Amos recently returned from Iraq, and shares some of her latest impressions with Brooke.
Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by occupying armies fighting hostile insurgents is that the guerrillas never fight them on their own terms. So how to prepare war planners for these sorts of conflicts? How about taking them to the movies? A few months ago, Pentagon officials were invited to a special in-house screening of the 1966 classic "The Battle of Algiers." Rand Corporation terrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman routinely uses the film in his courses, and tells Bob why.
Britain's royal family is once again embroiled in scandal, but this time the Queen's subjects haven't been able to get the lurid details from their mainstream media. Under the UK's strict libel laws, British media are barred from reporting on the allegations that Prince Charles was caught in a sexual act with a male aide. Meanwhile, charges of censorship are being levied by continental European newspapers, because their British distributors are allegedly keeping them off newsstands. Brooke reviews the scandal with David Hooper, a London solicitor specializing in libel law.
This summer in England, a courtroom investigation had the nation on the edge of its seat. The five-week Hutton inquiry looked into the suicide of government scientist David Kelly, who had been fingered as a source for the BBC's report which alleged that the British government had "sexed up" intelligence on Iraqi weapons. Now, Londoners are again watching the proceedings unfold…but this time the drama is scripted and on a stage. Director Nicholas Kent talks to Brooke about the play "Justifying War," scripted from actual courtroom transcripts.
For years, New York Magazine media critic Michael Wolff has been chronicling the exploits of our era's media titans. In his new book, "Autumn of the Moguls," Wolff expounds further on the larger-than-life figures who he simultaneously envies and loathes, and who he believes are presiding over the self destruction of big media. He joins Bob to discuss the book.
Joe Sacco is a journalist, a cartoonist…and a cartoon journalist. Drawing himself into his books and strips as a kind of bespectacled everyman, he literally illustrates the difficulties involved in reporting from war zones around the world. His books about the Bosnian war and the Palestinian occupation have won praise for their honesty and bleak humor. Now, he's taking some time away from the battlefield to pen stories about the campaign trail for the Washington Monthly. He tells Bob about his new beat.
In the aftermath of the Jayson Blair scandal, the New York Times published a 7600-word post-mortem that offered readers a rare look at its newsroom practices. But the Times is not the only news organization of late to give the public a fuller view of how the journalistic sausage is made. In a similar spirit of transparency, OTM's John Solomon illuminates a few aspects of our own radio production process that might come as a surprise to some listeners.
Highlights from Past ShowsThese days, there seems to be no shortage of government officials who would prefer a media-free democracy. But for much of American history, Congress and the press have existed symbiotically, with each alternatively shaping the actions of the other. National Security Archive founder Scott Armstrong joins Brooke to discuss the recent breakdown in this symbiosis, and the consequences for the democratic process.
On Oct. 13th, the Washington Times reported a soldier as having said, "if one person dies, five or six are getting wounded....but people are only hearing about the one man who is killed.” In fact, as of October 30th the total number of American soldiers wounded since the war began has reached 2084. That’s 1745 wounded in hostile combat and 339 in non-hostile action. New Republic senior editor Lawrence Kaplan recently wrote on “America’s near-invisible wounded.” Bob speaks with Kaplan about covering the wounded and why the media seem to be steering clear.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
