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As reported in Roll Call Monday, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested mid-June on suspicion of lewd conduct in an airport restroom. Since the early 1980s, rumors of Craig’s sexuality, and honesty, have followed him everywhere – everywhere, that is, but the Idaho Statesman. Managing editor Bill Manny explains why his paper held the story.
As Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzales has exhibited a complex and often antagonistic relationship with the truth. Few media outlets, however, have invoked the term ‘liar’ to describe this trait. Clark Hoyt, public editor of the New York Times, discusses the power of the ‘L’ word.
This week, a copy of the Government Accountability Office's Iraq assessment was leaked to the press, apparently for fear that the final version would be watered down. This not to be confused with the White House assessment from July … not to be confused with the upcoming … well, Washington Post reporter Karen DeYoung parses the flurry of official reports.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s food critic, Craig LaBan, opts to keep his identity under wraps to better serve his readers. When he was sued for libel over a strip steak, Philadelphia Magazine decided that printing his picture was fair game. Was the choice well-done or rotten potatoes? We asked editor Larry Platt.
When the FBI wanted to track down two suspicious Seattle ferry riders recently, it first tried good old-fashioned investigating. But when the trail ran cold it released a photo to the local newspapers. Editor Suki Dardarian explains why the Seattle Times decided to print the image and join the manhunt.
Bob reads listener mail about our "sanctuary city" word watch.
Chauncey Bailey, editor of the Oakland Post, was killed last month allegedly for investigating Your Black Muslim Bakery, an establishment long connected to violent crime. East Bay Express editor Steven Buel says the murder has brought much needed attention to a dangerous organization that his paper covered in 2002.
Presidents have always been in the business of managing public relations, but it’s not often we get proof of the strategies they employ. For the current administration, such proof came two weeks ago when its Advance Manual surfaced during a lawsuit. Slate senior editor Dahlia Lithwick provides a close reading.
Highlights from Past Shows
In the parlance of Republican-primary politics, “sanctuary” – as in sanctuary city – has become a bad word. In our occasional series we call Word Watch, ABC News political correspondent Jake Tapper and linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explain how a term rooted in religion was turned into an epithet.
Presidential Adviser Karl Rove announced this week that he would be stepping down at the end of the month. Portrayed as everything from genius to puppet-master, in the end the press seemed mostly in awe of his political cunning. We take a look back at the man affectionately known as... Turd Blossom.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
