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The Obama Administration announced this week that it would not release photos documenting the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, fearing that doing so would jeopardize the safety of U.S. troops. Jane Mayer, New Yorker writer and author of The Dark Side, says the photos are crucial evidence that should be made public.
It's no secret that politicians try to shape our understanding of major issues by controlling the words we use to debate them. Exhibit A: the Obama Administration's recent attempts to retool the way we talk about environmental policy. Green is out, clean is in. And don't mention "global warming." Chicago Tribune reporter Jim Tankersley explains.
Wolfram Alpha debuts this week. Its creator insists that it's not trying to take on Google and that it's not even a search engine, it's more of an answer machine. But the tech world is still abuzz about whether Wolfram Alpha is the next Google. All the hype made us wonder about the web's holy grail: the search for the next big thing in search. Brooke investigates.
Click here for the extended interview with Danny Sullivan, editor of searchengineland.com
Under mounting pressure from state attorneys general to curb illegal activities facilitated on their site, Craigslist announced this week that it would take down its “erotic services” section. It will be replaced by “adult services” where each ad will be reviewed by a Craigslist employee. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster both say the change is more than just a marketing ploy.
In September 1966, Gene Roddenberry dispatched the crew of the Starship Enterprise on its maiden voyage through space and time and into the American living room. It was an inauspicious start, but forty years later the Star Trek universe is still expanding. The new film debuted last weekend and shot to number one, with a nearly $80 million opening weekend. In a piece we originally ran in 2006, Brooke explored the various television incarnations of the franchise and the infinitely powerful engine behind it all: the fan.
Highlights from Past Shows
In light of yet another bad week for newspapers, it seems appropriate that a Senate committee held a Future of Journalism hearing. Publisher of the Dallas Morning News Jim Moroney testified there. He explains one idea he raised at the hearing: giving newspapers anti-trust exemption so they can collaborate on pricing and payment schemes.
While some news outlets have been trying to put the H1N1 flu virus in perspective, others just can't resist a good panic story. They've been contacting New York University Sociology Professor Eric Klinenberg asking him to talk about the widespread panic in reaction to the flu. Only problem, there is no widespread panic. Klinenberg explains.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
