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In 2003, fault lines between media and government widened dramatically in Britain. The most visible conflagration followed the suicide of a government scientist who was the alleged source for a controversial BBC story on pre-war intelligence. But the Beeb was not the only British news outlet that bared its claws with aggressive reporting. Brooke reviews the year with Michael Goldfarb, a London-based reporter for WBUR.
When it comes to the murky legal waters of freedom and privacy issues, the Internet was a virtual Pandora's Box in 2003. As email ushered all manner of spam and worse into our homes, some feared that wide-ranging invasions of privacy were just around the corner. But according to Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig, the proposed cures may be worse than the disease, resulting in even less freedom and privacy. Professor Lessig shares his New Year's premonitions with Bob.
The year's final Nielsen ratings are in, and for the second year in a row, commercial cable networks bested their broadcast counterparts. And once again, Court TV reaped the benefits of America's migration from free TV. Propelled by the high-profile legal troubles of Martha Stewart, Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jackson, the channel posted a 13 percent boost in its primetime ratings over the previous year. Brooke reflects on the year past, and the one to come, with Catherine Crier, host of Court TV's Catherine Crier Live.
Court TV may be the dial's most dependable source of courtroom drama, but it is hardly the first. For decades, courtroom shows and cop shows have been riveting audiences with legal intrigue. How did we get from Perry Mason and The People's Court to Law and Order and Judge Judy? WNYC reporter Alicia Zuckerman takes a look at the history of TV's love affair with the gavel.
It's been a big year for all of us at OTM. We've watched soul-searching over integrity in newspaper journalism, battles over deregulation in broadcast, war reporters on tanks in the desert, and new challenges to freedom of information and the First Amendment. But who is THE media figure of 2003? Presidential candidate Howard Dean? Mega media mogul Rupert Murdoch? Arnold Schwarzenegger? "The Week" magazine and iwantmedia.com have teamed up to determine who will bring home the honors. Bob mulls it over with Patrick Phillips, founder of iwantmedia.com.
Last week, we got news of a catastrophic earthquake in Iran, a fatal mudslide and another earthquake in California, and a deadly avalanche in Utah. This week, there was another landslide, of sorts, in New York. A Bronx man was rescued after being trapped for two days under a pile of magazines, newspapers, books and junk mail in his apartment. Brooke wonders how much really separates his story from that of the rest of us.
Not too long ago, infomercials were big business. But back in the days when JuiceMan was making his pitch, consumers only had about nine channels to choose from. Today, with hundreds of channels to choose from, infomercials are making fewer impressions and fewer sales. Bob talks to industry expert Steve Dworman about the future of infomercials.
When mad cow disease was discovered on U.S. soil last week, crisis management maestros kicked into high gear. The beef industry, unsurprisingly, is doing its best to convince the public that there's nothing to fear, but the USDA is also insisting that everything is under control. Their success in placating panic remains to be seen, but history has shown that public relations, skillfully applied, can convince people of almost anything. And that history can be said to have begun with one man. Brooke recounts the story of Edward Bernays, self-proclaimed Father of Public Relations.
Highlights from Past ShowsScientist Wen Ho Lee’s reputation was smeared by the media when he was wrongly accused of passing nuclear secrets to China in 1999. Now he wants to sue the government but to do that he needs the reporters who wrote about the case to reveal their government sources. Two of the five journalists who have been called to reveal their sources are from the New York Times. So far they are refusing to give up any information. Bob speaks with Lucy Dalglish, the Executive Director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
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.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
