On The Media is produced by:
Bush and Kerry spent most of the week preparing for their first big showdown, leaving the campaign press with little to do but spin their wheels in anticipation. “Spin” being the operative word. The net effect of a week’s worth of prognosticating pundits and campaign talking points was an overall lowering of expectations, resulting in a surprising level of surprise in a lot of the post-debate analysis. Brooke reflects on the pre- and post-debate spin.
If all the campaign’s a stage, then all the candidates are merely players. But so are the journalists mediating the political race, as are the voters watching at home. The Atlantic Monthly’s James Fallows returns to OTM to parse the performances of the various characters in Act III, Scene 1 – The First Presidential Debate.
In one week, people throughout Afghanistan are expected to line up at the polls for their country’s first national election in 35 years. But election season in Afghanistan, where 28 percent of the population have access to TV, and even fewer read newspapers, is a very different beast than it is in the media-saturated U.S. Brooke talks to Washington Post correspondent Pamela Constable about how Afghans are getting information about the upcoming elections.
The Bush administration is touting the upcoming elections in Afghanistan as proof of a successful intervention. Others aren’t so sure, and point to the degenerating security situation and resurgence of warlords there. One test of the new democracy’s stability is the degree to which Afghan journalists are able to operate freely. OTM’s Miranda Kennedy went to Kabul to take the temperature of Afghanistan’s most popular media source – the radio.
CBS is finally crawling out from under the scandal that erupted after its airing of what was most likely a forged document last month. Now, the network appears to be bending over backwards to keep the charges of liberal bias at bay. Last week, CBS announced that its finished story about the Bush administration’s own use of forged documents won’t air until after November 2, saying it would be “inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election." Bob gets the scoop from Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball.
Japan has the world’s second largest economy and a flourishing democracy. But one thing this democracy lacks is a responsible press. The country’s dailies provide little more than government-approved press releases, and the weekly tabloids offer shocking exposes of dubious truth. That’s according to the new book “A Public Betrayed: An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West.” Brooke talks to the authors, Adam Gamble and Takesato Watanabe.
For years, the AM dial has been dominated by right wing talkers. In March, it tilted ever so slightly in the other direction, as Air America Radio went live. The goals of its lefty loudmouths are clear, and focused squarely on Democrats winning back the White House. But six months after its launch, has the network made any difference? Bob considers Air America’s impact with Washington Post reporter Paula Span.
Highlights from Past ShowsThis week representatives from 191 nations gathered for the 59th meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. President Bush gave the traditional welcome, drawing a "polite" reception from those gathered. His remarks came less than a week after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed that the US-led invasion was illegal. Brooke reviews the response to Bush's speech in the global media with Martin Walker, editor in chief of United Press International.
Since CBS weighed in last week with its own expose of George W. Bush's National Guard service, the rest of the media have been consumed with the story behind that story. But while the talking heads went back and forth over the authenticity of the CBS documents, did they lose sight of the bigger picture? And was the kerfluffle the best thing the Bush campaign could have hoped for? Bob takes a look at media scandal-as-diversion.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
