With the midterm elections over, all eyes are on congressional Democrats, and their plans for U.S. involvement in Iraq. Party leaders talk a lot about troop “redeployment.” Critics respond that “withdrawal” is not an option. The media use the two terms interchangeably, leaving many confused about what, exactly, is being proposed. Brooke examines the wordplay with the Council on Foreign Relations’ Les Gelb, and the American Enterprise Institute’s Fred Kagan.
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"What People Do All Day"
AiM
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Hinterland
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Grand Central
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"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
They Might Be Giants
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Flood
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Elektra
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"Riding the Nuclear Tiger"
Ben Allison
“Let’s be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled congress.” Those were the marching orders last week at Fox News Channel, the day after the Senate changed hands. It wasn’t the first time we’ve glimpsed an internal memo from FNC, but it struck us as a particularly noteworthy example of the journalistic method
at America’s Fair & Balanced news source.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger is somewhat obsessed with CNN’s Lou Dobbs. As executive director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, she shares many of Dobbs’ concerns about the middle-class squeeze. After writing him an open letter earlier this year, she was invited to be a guest on his show. It didn’t go well. She tells Bob the story.
Closing arguments are set for Monday in ACLU v. Gonzales, the latest chapter in the long saga of the Child Online Protection Act. Under the law, racy internet content would be put behind a virtual wall, which many websites argue would deter readers and slash ad revenue. But it’s more likely that COPA will die a quiet death in the courts. Reason magazine’s Kerry Howley tells Brooke that it’s no big loss.
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"'Long As You Know You're Living Yours"
Keith Jarrett
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Belonging
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ECM
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"Respiration"
Ben Allison
These are
dark days for the newspaper industry. Almost every week brings news of worse profits and more job cuts. But a handful of family-owned papers, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, have managed to insulate themselves from Wall Street’s pressure. Brooke speaks with New Yorker staff writer Ken Auletta about the battle between the market and the press.
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"Mary"
Supergrass
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Mary
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Toshiba EMI Japan
Move over, BBC – there’s a new game in town. This week, Al Jazeera finally launched its new English-language service. Al Jazeera English has correspondents stationed all over the world, and is fronted by some very well-known newsmen. But that wasn’t enough to win it a cable deal in the United States. Bob takes a look at the channel’s prospects with AJE anchor Dave Marash and Arab media scholar Marwan Kraidy.
