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Hillary Clinton's victories this week barely dented Barack Obama’s delegate lead, but they did wonders for her momentum. That is if you believe in all that momentum stuff. Slate's Tim Noah says momentum is less a political reality than a narrative device for reporters.
John McCain's contentious history with his hometown paper, The Arizona Republic, has included bitter exchanges and periods when McCain refused to talk with the paper at all. Politico’s media reporter Michael Calderone talks about the evolution of the relationship.
After only 18 months as head of National Public Radio, CEO Ken Stern stepped down on Thursday by “mutual agreement” with the board. Current reporter Karen Everhart says Stern’s ideas about the direction of public radio, including an aggressive push into digital media, met with resistance from influential member stations.
Making its way through the New York state legislature is the Libel Terrorism Protection Act. The bill aims to mitigate the impact of libel tourism, which former civil-rights attorney Samuel Abady believes undermines our First Amendment.
Washington Post staff writer David Segal says stories about bedbugs generally follow a hyperbolic pattern: They’re back. They’re everywhere. They suck your blood and ruin your life. Segal talks about the hysterical coverage and explains why a bedbug story is every editor’s dream.
Listeners weigh in on the upcoming conversion to digital TV and the recent death of William F. Buckley, Jr.
Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax died this week. First published in 1974, the fantasy role playing game has been ridiculed as the pastime of supergeeks, but don't dismiss D&D. Time magazine columnist James Poniewozik says the game has had a profound influence on today's popular culture.
Last weekend, 23-year-old crossword puzzle phenom Tyler Hinman bested solvers from around the country to win the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for a fourth straight year. On the Media producer Mike Vuolo followed contestant Stella Daily to the competition in 2006 and came back with this report.
Highlights from Past Shows
Do the media have a crush on Barack Obama? National Journal columnist William Powers thinks so. Powers says that while Hillary Clinton has to work to recast herself against a pre-written narrative, Barack Obama is virtually a media blank slate.
In the windy realm of political oratory, boosting words or cadence or even whole sentiments is nothing new. Did it stick, then, when the Clinton campaign invoked the P-word after Obama borrowed a few sentences from Gov. Deval Patrick? Copy that!
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
