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Arab anger about the occupation of Iraq has been nourished in recent weeks by images of death and destruction broadcast daily by the Arab media. Into that mix this week came the announcement by President Bush that Israel has the right to permanently annex parts of the West Bank, and that Palestinian refugees don't have the right to return to their homes inside Israel. UPI Editor in Chief Martin Walker gives Bob a sense of how the events are playing in the Arab language press.
On the domestic front, the media event of the week came on Tuesday, when President Bush faced reporters in a rare prime-time press conference. Bush came prepared with a 17-minute speech, but journalists were also prepared with a list of questions that they hoped would derail POTUS from his litany of practiced phrases and self-assured statements. Little was revealed about the White House's plans for Iraq, but the event did illuminate significant changes in the ways that President and the White House press corps regard each other. Brooke speaks with New Yorker media writer Ken Auletta.
In the decade since the genocide of 1994, the Rwandan government has masterfully exploited the guilt of the international community for increased foreign aid. But the genocide has also been used as a political club in the domestic arena, where it has often been wielded against the country's nascent media. The government's heavy-handed attempts to control genocide discourse have turned progressive policies aimed at overcoming the divisiveness of the past into repressive ones. Reporter Michael Kavanagh recently returned from Rwanda, and filed this report.
It's been four decades since media theorist Marshall McLuhan published his seminal volume Understanding Media. But there are many among us media types who still don't have a clue as to what the guy was trying to say. Sure, we all know that the medium is the message, but what, exactly, does that mean? Bob takes another stab at comprehending the big idea with McLuhan's daughter Stephanie, editor of a brand new compilation of McLuhan's previously unpublished lectures and interviews.
To its growing list of Internet services, Google this month launched its own free email service. But scarcely a day had passed before privacy advocates were railing against "Gmail." At issue is a function that scans incoming messages in order to deliver targeted advertisements with the email. Bob talks to World Privacy Forum executive director Pam Dixon about the brouhaha.
Among the many things easier done inside the world of a video game - things like flying, sword fighting, and princess saving - we can now add same-sex marriage. While lawmakers around the country grapple with the issue, the architects of such games as "The Sims 2" are making it possible to shack up with whomever you'd like, and live happily ever after. Brooke talks to technology writer Clive Thompson about how the real-world fantasy is rapidly becoming a fantasy-world reality.
In a society permeated with cell phones, it's getting harder and harder to be out of touch. Or, for that matter, to come up with excuses for not being able to talk. Enter German company Simeda, which has designed downloadable cell phone ambience that makes it sound as if you're at the dentist, caught in a thunderstorm, or stuck in traffic. Brooke chats with Simeda chief executive Liviu Tofan about whether his sneaky little invention is the latest sign that the apocalypse is upon us.
Highlights from Past ShowsOn Thursday, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice swore to tell the truth, and proceeded to give her long-awaited testimony to the 9/11 Commission. The jury's still out as to how effective her defense of the Bush administration was. But one thing was certain - it made for pretty good court TV. It got us to thinking about those other Washington hearings that engrossed the nation three decades ago. Brooke speaks with Nixon White House counsel John Dean about Rice's performance.
Spring has sprung in Washington, but with legislation pending that would boost fines for indecency to half-a-million dollars, the change in seasons hasn't kept a chill from descending on broadcasters nationwide. At least that's the view of Jesse Walker, radio historian and managing editor of Reason Magazine. Bob talks to Walker about the impacts that decency standards are having, and have had, on the exercise of free speech on the radio.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
