The Times note underscores the argument over whether the coverage of Iraq has been too upbeat and needs correction, as conceded in the Times, or so excessively biased that it actually hurts the war effort, as charged by conservatives and some in the military. This week media critic and educator Jay Rosen wrote in his weblog, Press Think, that he objects to the very terms of that debate. It’s not about quantifying the positive and negative, it’s about completeness, he says. Jay Rosen joins Brooke to put forth his argument that the coverage is distorted because it’s too narrow.
Last summer, the military paper Stars and Stripes conducted a survey of troop morale. Half of the soldiers surveyed said morale in their units was low, and they did not plan to re-enlist. Forty percent described their training as insufficient, and almost as many said their missions were not clearly defined. The findings were printed in a multi-part series entitled “Ground Truth,” and were deemed pretty scathing of the military. But Washington Monthly journalist Robert Schlesinger did some digging and found that the articles had actually been sanitized prior to publication.
Last November reporter Scott Armstrong told On the Media that the coverage of the run up to war had been overcautious because of Congressional passivity. Congress, he said is supposed to act as a kind of anvil, providing the pegs for stories in which journalists could hammer out the truth. Without Congress, reporters had to initiate investigations, and risk being charged with bias. In the nervous days post 9-11, it rarely happened. The wind seems to have changed and now there are Congressional commissions and investigations galore. Scott Armstrong is back to talk with Brooke about whether new Congressional activity is giving journalists a place to hang their hats.
The Freedom of Information Act, known as FOIA, can be a lean mean fighting machine in the battle against excessive government secrecy. The FOIA request is not a difficult tool to wield – it takes just a little know-how and a lot of patience. Russ Kick knows the drill. Independently, he’s filed hundreds of FOIA requests and they have yielded some unforgettable results. Russ Kick offers Bob a how-to lesson on freeing information from secrecy.
Two more journalists have been subpoenaed in the federal investigation into the tip that led columnist Robert Novak to out CIA operative Valerie Plame. NBC’s Tim Russert and Time Magazine’s Matthew Cooper say they never received the tip, but they will fight the subpoenas anyway because journalists, if they want to remain journalists, do not reveal their sources. Lucy Dalglish is the Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. She joins Bob to explain reporters’ privilege and whether the law will protect these journalists this time.
Brooke parses two surveys so that you don’t have to. One from the Pew Center for People and the Press, and one from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). The findings, and her conclusions shed some light on where journalists stand in a deeply divided America. Brooke parses two surveys so that you don’t have to. One is from the Pew Center for the People and the Press, and the other is from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). The findings – and Brooke’s conclusions – shed some light on where journalists stand in a deeply divided America.
There’s a certain kind of story that calls for a few words from “the man on the street.” Greg Packer has been that man for over a decade. Counting individual articles in the Nexis database since 1994, Packer has been quoted or photographed at least 16 times on separate occasions by the Associated Press, 14 times by Newsday, 13 times by the New York Daily News and 12 times by the New York Post. And he’s still counting. Reporter Amy O’Leary went on rounds with the media’s favorite vox populi.
Highlights from Past Shows
In a closed session with the 9/11 Commission, a former FBI translator named Sibel Edmonds reportedly made an explosive charge. She described documents that crossed her desk in the summer of 2001, detailing plans for an Al Qaeda attack on U.S. skyscrapers with hijacked airplanes. Her allegations were picked up by news media throughout the world, but hardly at all in the U.S. And the Justice Department is doing its best to keep it that way. It has blocked Edmonds from testifying in a 9/11-related lawsuit, and this week took the rare step of retroactively classifying records about her given to Congress two years ago. Bob talks to washingtonpost.com staff writer Jefferson Morley about the Edmonds story.
Images of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US military have been circulating for a couple of weeks - now they are joined in the newspapers and on television, by images of the horrific beheading of an American civilian in Iraq. UPI Senior Editor Martin Walker spoke to Brooke about reactions of the world 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.
