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Massive fires raging through Southern California dominated the news this week, with much of the coverage focused on airplanes soaring above the flames, dropping bright red fire retardant. Great TV to be sure. But Los Angeles Times media columnist James Rainey says the media focus too much on airplanes, to the detriment of the fire fight.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week about a controversial 2008 film, "Hillary: The Movie," whose broadcast was stopped when federal election officials determined it was paid political speech. But New York Times legal correspondent Adam Liptak says the case is about more then a movie, the court is actually looking to make a much broader decision about whether the precedent for campaign finance regulation needs to be rethought entirely.
Overstretched and short on recruits, the U.S. military has been going to great lengths to find out everything they can about potential enlistees. The only problem is most of these prospective soldiers are under 18 and, in many cases, are disclosing personal information without their (or their parents) knowledge. Mother Jones columnist David Goodman explains how the U.S. military is working behind the scenes to enlist the youth of America.
The very public court case between Liskula Cohen and Rosemary Port seemed absurd at first, in part because it rested on the definition of the word "skank." But along the way, it set a legal precedent in New York about what constitutes defamation online. The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Matt Zimmerman explains.
The Urban Dictionary, where anyone can look up some of the most clever and most vulgar words and phrases in the English language, turns 10 this year. Its founder Aaron Peckham talks about a few of his all time favorite entries.
Click here for a long version of Bob's interview with Aaron Peckham. A warning: some edgy language is used.
Over the summer Brooke hosted a conversation with Ethan Zuckerman, founder of Global Voices, and Clive Thompson, technology writer for the New York Times Magazine and Wired. The topic was homophily: the tendency for individuals to seek out others who share their preferences and ideas. While some would argue this phenomenon has existed forever, Brooke, Clive and Ethan discuss whether the internet exacerbates it or, instead, exposes people to new ideas.
Highlights from Past Shows
Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper serving U.S. armed forces worldwide, reported this week that the military is in effect screening journalists who wish to embed with troops. Triggered in part by an interview on this program, Stars and Stripes confirmed that a Washington PR firm has provided evaluations of reporters’ relative degrees of positivity. Stars and Stripes senior managing editor Howard Witt explains. Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, military spokesperson for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, says official DOD policy forbids restricting access to reporters based on their past coverage.
With Congress in recess, much of the fight over health care reform has migrated to the airwaves as millions of dollars of advertisements are rolled out, primarily by critics. But how accurate are these ads? Brooks Jackson, director of factcheck.org, says not very. He explains what misinformation looks like.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
