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Plenty of observers on the political Right think they know who's responsible for the recent outburst of democracy in the Middle East - President Bush. Observers in the region give credit to opposition movements closer to home. But some see the catalyst of freedom as close as their own living rooms, in the programming of Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and 150 other satellite channels that blanket the region. Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem makes the case for Bob.
Pending congressional approval, the U.S. will soon expand its Farsi-language satellite transmissions into Iran. The U.S. has been using media to win foreign hearts and minds for many years. But the timing of this latest move has some people alarmed. Bob speaks with Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the government agency that coordinates America's "broadcast diplomacy." He is also joined by Nancy Snow, propaganda expert and senior fellow at USC's Center for Public Diplomacy.
When former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer held his final press briefing, he said he wanted to be remembered "fondly" by the press. That's doubtful, at least for those reporters who spent two and a half years trying fruitlessly to pin Fleischer down. In his new memoir, Taking Heat, Fleischer explains how things looked from his side of the podium. He talks to Bob about the intersection of politics and the truth.
The more people come to rely on the Internet for news and information, the more we all wrestle with the question of what makes a journalist a journalist. In his new book, Reporting from Washington, U.S. Senate historian Donald Ritchie gives some historical perspective, demonstrating how technology has driven the changing definition of the White House correspondent. Bob and Ritchie discuss the credentialing process and the evolution of the capital's press coverage.
This week, for the first time ever, a blogger was granted access to the all-important White House briefing room. And in true blogging fashion, Garrett Graff blogged all about it. Bob chats with Graff, editor of the gossip weblog "fishbowlDC."
A few weeks ago, President Bush kicked off the annual game of political football known as the budget process. His $2.57 trillion spending proposal now goes to Congress, which will revise it with the help of the Congressional Budget Office. Meanwhile, the rest of us, including a small cadre of Washington reporters, will try to sift through the five-volume document and the politics surrounding it. CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin tells Bob where the press is most likely to fumble.
For years, gun ownership has been one of the most persistent and polarizing aspects of America's "culture war." But have the media done justice to both sides of the issue? Some journalists have admitted that mainstream media tend to stereotype hunters and gun collectors as raging lunatics. Which, in turn, has led many gun owners to believe in media conspiracies to repeal the Second Amendment. OTM's John Solomon sets out to find some common ground.
Highlights from Past ShowsLast Veteran's Day, 66 ABC affiliates cancelled a scheduled broadcast of "Saving Private Ryan," because of its spattering of profanity. The affiliates said they were uncertain, in the post-Janet, post-Bono climate of decency enforcement, about what would pass FCC's muster. This week, the Commission unanimously ruled that "in light of the overall context of the profanity," the movie was not indecent. Brooke speaks with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein about where the FCC draws the line.
President Bush was on tour this week in Europe, meeting with heads of state in an attempt to bridge a transatlantic gap that has grown wider in recent years. With the Iraq war looming as a backdrop to the official visits, Bush and his counterparts discussed dicey issues like nuclear proliferation in Iran, the arms embargo on China, and the state of democracy in Russia. Brooke joins Susan Caskie, contributing editor of The Week, for a roundup of what the European papers had to say.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
