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For years, reporters in Ukraine have been told by the government what news to cover and how to cover it. But after last month's deeply flawed presidential elections, a sort of media mutiny took place, as dozens of journalists publicly demanded the right to call the shots as they saw them. The owners capitulated, and suddenly Ukrainians are getting balanced news coverage. Brooke talks to Fedir Sydoruk, one of the first journalists to resign because of censorship.
For ten days, the world witnessed what appeared to be a spontaneous uprising by angry voters in the streets of Kiev. But for months, Ukrainian activists have been carefully honing their message and tactics, strategizing how best to sell themselves. And they've done it with the help of American-backed "uprising consultants" - veterans of opposition movements in Serbia, Belarus, and Georgia. Bob speaks with one of them, Serbian student activist Ivan Moravic.
Bob and Brooke offer updates on two legal cases against journalists. One is the libel lawsuit against New York Times columnist Nic Kristof. The other is the case against Rhode Island investigative reporter Jim Taricani, who was recently convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to identify one of his sources.
All indications suggest that U.S. Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales will have little trouble getting through confirmation hearings. But already, some press freedom advocates are raising concerns about the former White House Counsel's record in matters of government transparency. Bob speaks with one such skeptic, Lucy Dalglish of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
What does George W. Bush have in common with John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, and Lyndon Johnson? Each is a wartime president who took measures to quell dissent at home in the name of an American victory. And all of them, according to Geoffrey R. Stone's new book Perilous Times, went too far. Stone and Brooke discuss what happens to the First Amendment when the nation is at war.
In October a Marine spokesman told CNN that troops in Fallujah had "crossed the line of departure." CNN was soon reporting that the Fallujah campaign had begun, but the offensive was still three weeks away. It turns out that the announcement was an elaborate psychological operation to dupe insurgents and give U.S. commanders a sense of how guerrillas would react when the siege began. Bob talks to military analyst Bill Arkin about the risks of letting psy-ops permeate public relations. ARTIST: Ben Allison TRACK: Riding the Nuclear Tiger ALBUM: Riding the Nuclear Tiger LABEL: Palmetto
"We don't just entertain racist kids.... We create them." That statement appears on the website of Panzerfaust Records, a white supremacist music label based in Minnesota. This fall, the label launched "Project Schoolyard," an effort to distribute its music to kids through methods like direct mail and bus stop handouts. Minnesota Public Radio reporter Jeff Horwich compiled this profile of Panzerfaust.
You asked for it, you got it! A free, downloadable version of Bob's hit song "Tag You're It"....
Highlights from Past ShowsEarly this month, filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was brutally slain in Amsterdam. A Dutch-Moroccan Muslim extremist stands accused of killing Van Gogh because of a film he made critical of women's status under Islam. The murder has led many Dutch citizens, politicians, and journalists to reconsider their long tradition of tolerance. UPI editor in chief Martin Walker talks to Bob about how European papers are learning to handle the hard questions.
On Monday, the world learned that the United States would soon have a new representative in charge of diplomacy abroad. What's been the reaction to National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice's ascension to Secretary of State? Brooke turns for answers to our trusty foreign media watcher UPI editor in chief Martin Walker.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
