When the leading newspapers finally joined the Swift Boat fray this week, they helped to expose the ads as unsubstantiated smears against Senator Kerry's reputation. But the ad campaign itself has also exposed a fundamental weakness in our contemporary press culture. The American Prospect's executive editor Michael Tomasky tells Brooke what's wrong with the he said-she said convention of political journalism.
It's campaign season, which means that we are inundated every day with new results from public opinion polling of "likely voters." But rarely do these reports include information about the polls' margin of error. And even when they do, it's often obvious that the reporter doesn't understand what the margin of error really means. CJR Campaign Desk reporter Thomas Lang explains what's being lost in all the numbers.
Just in time for the end of summer, OTM reaches back into the vaults to retrieve this day-in-the-life tale of struggling public radio station WACLU. The extended parody chronicles the tribulations of WACLU ("87.1 - All the way to the left"), which broadcasts its news-and-dulcimer music format from small studios in the bowels of a suburban mall. Considering the financial straits the station is constantly mired in, and the quirks of the WACLU news department, it's a miracle "Blandon Park Edition" ever gets on the air. An OTM encore production.
Highlights from Past Shows
Fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf appeared to be reaching a resolution on Friday, after a tense standoff between U.S. forces and followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr. But two week's worth of headline coverage hardly made a dent in the prevailing image of Al-Sadr here at home - a renegade fanatic with motives unclear. Iraq expert Juan Cole speaks with OTM guest host Mike Pesca about the questions that aren't being asked by the Western press.
September has been dubbed National Preparedness Month, and features a slate of events intended to raise public awareness about what to do in the case of a terrorist attack. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will inaugurate the month will an official announcement on…September 9th? Blogger Bob Harris tells Brooke that the timing of Ridge's kick-off makes it obvious that National Preparedness Week is really all about election season shenanigans.
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