Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has broken a decades-old epistolary freeze with the U.S., but the White House wants no part of it. Meanwhile, an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khomeini has sent his own letter to Time magazine; it strikes a very different tone from the President’s. Washingtonpost.com columnist Jefferson Morley joins Bob to survey the international press reaction to the high-profile correspondence.
This July, Mexican voters will elect a new president. Campaign season has reflected a general loosening of the government’s stranglehold on media during the past six years. But the opening has also made way for a new media phenomenon: negative advertising. It’s a tactic that reflects the influence of political consultants who come from north of the border. From Mexico City, Collin Campbell reports.
Four years ago, former Bolivian President Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez de Lozada eeked out a narrow re-election victory. It was due in part to the behind-the-scenes work of a group of Washington-based pollsters. It’s all documented in the new film Our Brand is Crisis, which tells the story of Goni’s rise and rapid fall from the point of view of the spin room. Mark Feierstein, one of Goni’s consultants, joins Brooke to discuss the globalization of campaign consulting.
Getting a candidate elected has its rewards, but losing isn't bad either. A media consultant for a congressional candidate, for instance, may get as much as 10-15% of the total spent on TV ads. Salon Washington bureau chief Walter Shapiro tells Bob that Americans might not fork over as many campaign contributions if they knew how much the consultants were taking.
A couple of months ago, we discussed the possibility that the Internet would become a two-tier system: a fast lane for websites willing to pay, and a slow lane for the rest. It appears that fateful day may be coming sooner rather than later, thanks to legislation making its way quickly through Congress. NYU professor Siva Vaidhyanathan explains to Brooke the stakes of the Communications, Opportunity, Promotion and Efficiency Act of 2006.
We received a mound of letters in response to last week’s commentary about Stephen Colbert’s Washington routine. Brooke and Bob read a few.
The major networks have seen their share of turmoil in the past year. The three nightly newscasts are each fronted by new faces. NBC, the longtime ratings king, has slumped to fourth place, behind Fox. CBS, a decade-long loser, has taken the lead. Behind every ratings rise and fall, every hit and miss, there’s plenty of drama, but not a lot planning. Bill Carter, TV reporter for The New York Times, talks with Bob about his new book Desperate Networks.
Highlights from Past Shows
This week, public hearings were held on the West Virginia Sago mine disaster that gripped the country back in January. It turned out 12 of 13 miners died after first having been reported saved. The risks associated with mining rarely catch the attention of journalists – until, that is, something goes horribly wrong. Brooke speaks with Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News, about the response to Sago.
With a new mayoral candidate poised to unseat New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, there’s been much talk about the extent to which Hurricane Katrina changed the complexion of the city. But the floods also wrought deep changes to the decades-old contours of the local newspaper and broadcasting scenes. Last week, Brooke and OTM producer Jamie York visited New Orleans, and brought back this report about a vastly transformed media landscape.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
