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In Other News

Think you know the real Barack Obama? The McCain campaign has no idea who he is or what his plans are for America. Baltimore City Paper columnist Vincent Williams believes “unknown” is code for “other.”


  • "Vive Solo" Juana Molina

Father Figures

As markets tumble, everyone looks to Warren Buffet for cues. The world’s richest man has advice to go around but make no mistake, he is not your Daddy! Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life, discusses the man and the mythology.


  • "Final Day" Young Marble Giants

The Abrams Doctrine

As the senior vice president and first ever chief innovation officer of the Tribune Company, Lee Abrams is spearheading some major changes in the newspaper business. This is Abrams' first foray into journalism and his leadership style is, well, different. Abrams discusses his infamous staff memos and his vision for the future of the newspaper business.


The Last Straw

Since being named editor of the Spokane Spokesman-Review in 2002, Steve Smith led major innovative efforts at the paper while dealing with cutbacks and layoffs. But last week, faced with yet another round of job cuts, he resigned. Smith talks about his decision.


  • "Afro Harping" Dorothy Ashby

Instruments of War

As reported in The New York Times last year, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and others turned, again and again, to military analysts – retired members of the armed forces hired by broadcast and cable networks – for their supposed expertise on the war. Only, it turns out, the analysts were often coached by the Pentagon in what the Times said were “hundreds of private briefings.” As the FCC launches an investigation, we thought we'd replay our interview with Maj. Robert Bevelacqua, a former Green Beret and Fox News contributor through 2005.


  • "Aging Astronauts" Helium

Ad Infinitum

Free television has never been exactly free. In exchange for programming, viewers have always been subjected to commercials. But with Tivo changing the rules, advertisers are integrating products into shows, even the smartest, most-acclaimed shows, like never before. New York Magazine editor Emily Nussbaum explains the unsettling collision of ads and art.


  • "Styles That Fade Away With The Collonade" Prefuse 73

Smear Campaign

There's been a lot of coverage of attempts to convince voters that Barack Obama is a Muslim. But according to a report released by the liberal watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, no one's talking about the underlying presumption: Muslim is a pejorative term. FAIR's senior analyst Steve Rendall explains.


Reign of Terror

Last year, actor Sayed Badreya told us what it felt like, as an Egyptian-American, to always be cast as the terrorist. “Why not for one day I can be a hero?” he said. “Why not for one day I can have the girl?” Well, there’s always tomorrow.


highlights from past showsHighlights from Past Shows

He Said, She Said

October 03, 2008

It was billed as nothing less than an epic battle - Palin v. Biden. Expectations were raised and lowered, gaffes and non-answers were played and replayed, moderators were accused of bias. But according to Mark Jurkowitz, associate director of the Pew Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, the real winner isn’t so much a presidential ticket as cable news itself.


A Week in the Life

September 26, 2008

Brooke and Bob reflect on some of the McCain campaign's challenging media moments this week. Some highlights? A near mutiny by reporters, a much criticized interview performance, and the wrath of Letterman.


On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.