Wen Ho Lee was accused of telling secrets. The government is charged with creating far too many of them. Brooke speaks with Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy Project, birddogs the government’s tightening grip on information in his newsletter Secrecy News. He says that while the United States is the most open government in the world, it’s also the most secretive.
When Bob picked up his papers last week he noticed something odd: the combat deaths of that day were no longer on the front cover…they were inside. He was moved to write an essay.
The Associated Press reported that on December 18th in Haiti, police stormed a radio station that supported the opposition, smashing equipment in what they claimed was a search for weapons. Meanwhile, Haitian radio journalist Michele Montas – the former director of Radio Haiti International, was honored this month as a defender of press freedom by the watchdog group, Reporters without Borders. Bob spoke to her in March, soon after she closed down Radio Haiti.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf continues to score points with the Bush administration as America’s “key ally” in the war on terror. Many are skeptical about his commitment to democracy, but even they agree that the press has more freedom under Musharraf’s regime than probably ever before. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s powerful military-political-religious nexus continues to wield the greatest influence over the country’s media. From Islamabad, Miranda Kennedy takes a look at the complex world of the Pakistani press, in the first of a two-part series.
Almost every year since 1932, the reigning British monarch has addressed the nation on Christmas afternoon. This year, for the first time ever, Her Majesty is offering a telephone hotline, so that troops serving in Iraq can hear it on their cell phones. But in recent years, viewership has drifted downward to below 10 million, from a record high of 17 million back in 1987. Can a tradition from the days of empire possibly have any cultural resonance today? Gareth Mitchell reports from London.
James Poniewozik covers television for Time magazine – he talked to Bob about the trends he spotted in his past year of tv viewing.
Back in the era of Beverly Hills 90210 an obsessive viewer named Daniel Drennan kept up a minute-by-minute account of the show on his website. He also hosted a chat room where other 90210 fans could get together and gossip about Brandon, Donna and the rest of the gang. That’s where Sarah Bunting and Tara Ariano first met and their shared interest led to the creation of their own site; Television Without Pity. The site now “recaps” 37 shows, each one updated weekly by a “recapper” assigned to that beat. Brooke speaks with founder, Sarah Bunting.
"Survivor," the oldest and among the most popular of the reality genre, finished its sixth season last Spring with a weekly audience of twenty million. Reality shows demand quicker turn-around than other TV fare. The time between shooting and airing it can be as brief as a week, allowing almost no time for post-production – including composing the music. Reporter Claes Andreasson, met with television composer David Vanacore, who sometimes has only a couple of days to write the score for a one-hour show.
Highlights from Past Shows
Last weekend, the American news media reported celebration in the Arab world. But according to Martin Walker, Editor of United Press International, the response in the Middle East to the capture of Saddam Hussein was actually much more nuanced. Martin gives Brooke a summary of the coverage of the historic event by the Arab press.
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.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
