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This week, the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls squared off for the final televised debate before the Iowa Caucus. There wasn't a lot said by the candidates that made much of a splash in the press. Instead, the media analysis centered on the performance of debate moderator Ted Koppel. Koppel joins Brooke to defend his heavy focus on issues like polling and endorsements, at the expense of more substantive issues.
If you've been reading the major U.S. or U.K. newspapers over the past few weeks, you might have noticed a full-page ad denouncing the Nobel Committee's selection for this year's prize in medicine. The ads are the work of one Dr. Raymond Damadian, who is incensed after being passed over in favor of two other scientists. As an advertiser, he's had absolute control over his message. But as Washington Post manager of public policy advertising Marc Rosenberg tells Brooke, that doesn't mean Damadian has control over the ads' effect.
This fall, a groundbreaking technology was quietly unveiled on the Internet. Visitors to Amazon.com can now search the entire contents of 120 thousand books, and view the pages with the corresponding text. Eventually, the online retail behemoth plans to extend its "Search-Inside-the-Book" feature to millions of its books. Wired Magazine contributing editor Gary Wolf talks to Bob about the enormous implications for publishing and research.
Readers weigh in on our coverage of the proposed liberal radio network, and the media's treatment of obese people.
When the Supreme Court this week upheld the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, more than soft money was at stake. The odd coupling of groups like the NRA and ACLU had also challenged the law's restrictions on campaign advertising, calling them a restriction of free speech. Bob talks to Paul Taylor, chairman of the board of the Alliance for Better Campaigns, about how the decision may play out in the coming presidential electioneering.
Under the Supreme Court's decision this week, the National Rifle Association, like other corporately-funded advocacy organizations, is barred from airing campaign spots right before elections. That strikes the NRA as a double standard, seeing as how big media are exempted from that rule. In the spirit of if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them, the group is considering acquiring its own TV or radio station. American Liberty Foundation president Jim Babka tells Brooke why he thinks it's a "deliciously absurd plan."
For some time now, TV watchers have been taking advantage of new technologies, and good-old-fashioned savvy, to more effectively steer around advertising. But advertisers aren't giving up without a fight, and carefully placed commercial products are popping up more and more in the midst of regular programming. Brooke speaks with Advertising Age editor Scott Donaton about the increasingly blurry line between programming and advertising.
Madison & Vine is one increasingly vital crossroad. Now that the Campaign Finance Reform Act has been upheld, maybe there will be a K Street & Vine, too, as politicos try to replace soft money advertising with product placements. OTM imagines the possibilities.
Last year, Poetry magazine learned that it would be coming into 100 million dollars, courtesy of drug company heiress Ruth Lilly. It was the largest ever single donation to a literary organization, and it went to an journal whose staff of four had recently operated out of a borrowed room in a Chicago library. Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank chats with Brooke about the turmoil that the influx of money has brought to the fabled institution.
Have you ever dreamed about chatting on the phone with Tom Cruise? Or maybe you've fantasized about a call from Catherine Zeta Jones? Well, you may have to get over those dreams. But thanks to a new website, you may now get a ring from some lesser known stars. On the Media's Hal Humphreys reports on "Hollywood is Calling."
Highlights from Past ShowsOn Wednesday, three Rwandan journalists were convicted of crimes against humanity and inciting the 1994 genocide that killed 800 thousand minority Tutsis. It was the first such verdict since the 1946 Nuremberg trials. Lead prosecutor Stephen Rapp joins Bob to discuss the landmark case.
In yet another attempt to circumvent what it sees as the media's endless doting on "bad news" from Iraq, the Bush administration is developing what it calls "C-Span Baghdad." The network will feature a constant stream of whatever the US government wants Americans to see: press conferences, briefings, and in all likelihood, very little coverage of downed helicopters. Bob speaks with New York Observer reporter Joe Hagan, who recently wrote about the project.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
