The Democratic presidential race is heating up, and judging by this week's candidate debate, so is its entertainment value. Might the surprising liveliness of Tuesday's event have anything to do with its unlikely co-sponsor - Fox News? Slate.com's deputy Washington Bureau Chief Chris Suellentrop attended the 9-way face-off, and recounts ...

The first TV ads of the campaign season are already on the tube…with variations on an extra line you haven't heard before: "That's why I approved this message." Its because of a new "Stand by Your Ad" provision that requires candidates to acknowledge responsibility for their ads. Brendan Koerner writes ...

Vermont Governor Howard Dean's weblog has set records for fundraising, and sped his rise from insurgent to frontrunner. Now, pundits have announced the dawn of the Internet Age in politics several times before, but as OTM's Raquel Maria Dillon reports, maybe, just maybe, the Internet and the political world are ...

A few months ago, presidential campaign pollsters were routinely ranking him in the low single-digits. But suddenly, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is popping up in the media more than any other Democratic candidate. Is the media simply following the money? Or is it that Dean has tapped a nerve ...

Radio stations with a political agenda are virtually as old the medium itself. Throughout the 20th century, these gadfly stations have irritated governments of the nations that receive their signals. Recently, more and more underground radio stations have begun operating above ground. Brooke talks with Nick Grace, Managing Editor of ...

The election is still a year and a half away, but the presidential candidates are already off and running the race. How well will the media perform this time around? Not very, if the last presidential election can be taken as a sign of things to come. That's according to ...

When it comes to criticizing the soap-operafication of Hitler, we at OTM dare not cast the first stone. In this hypothetical sketch written by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, the evil one himself bares all as a guest on Larry King's show. Mike O'Meara plays King, and Stewart is the voice ...

While much of Hollywood leans to the left, most of the actors elected to public office have been members of the G.O.P. According to On the Media's John Solomon, this is more than just a coincidence.

Just before Al Gore announced he would not be a candidate for president in 2004, he vented to the New York Observer that he and his fellow Democrats could not get a fair shake from media increasingly in the pocket of Republicans. But Al Gore has been flogged by media ...

Pummeled by political ads and starved for campaign coverage? You’re not alone. A recent study issued by the Norman Lear Center says local news viewers saw four paid political advertising spots for every one election news story this year. Brooke speaks with Paul Taylor of the Alliance for Better Campaigns ...

In the wake of the notorious exit-poll fiascoes of the 2000 election, news organizations this time around vowed to eschew old methods of gathering results. Last week, the detailed demographic breakdown of voting results were replaced by old fashioned, broad analysis of voter will. Producer-at-large Mike Pesca speaks with host ...

ABCNews.com’s The Note has asked viewers to be media watchdogs by sending in examples of questionable campaigning from negative ads to election-time inaccuracies. Mark Halperin is editor of The Note and he joins Bob to discuss what they have amassed so far.

When Texas Governor George W. Bush hit the campaign trial in his bid for the US presidency, the press, as always, tagged along. Led around the country, from one staged event to another, in chartered planes and buses, The Bubble—as they call it—developed into a strangely insulated netherworld between journalism ...

Anti-American sentiment is on the rise in Pakistan, and last week’s elections suggest that growing anger against the U.S. may have long term political consequences. Is the Pakistani press fanning the flames of some anti-American feelings? Host Brooke Gladstone speaks with Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic Studies at American University.

For 20 years, news organizations have increasingly acted as election-campaign truth squads. Now, to combat such guerrilla tactics, ABCnews.com is deputizing the electorate, asking readers and viewers to keep their eyes open for campaign excesses. Bob talks to Mark Halperin, head of the political unit of ABC News.

Presidential candidates rise and fall without most people knowing who they are. Take North Carolina Senator John Edwards: after a series of glowing articles and chipper talk show appearances, his climb may have been halted by a less-than-adequate Meet the Press interview. The National Journal’s Bill Powers reminds Brooke that ...

The Republican National Committee is launching a Spanish-language TV “news magazine” show to court the traditionally Democratic Hispanic vote. But can a program that has a decidedly non-partisan sponsor be relied upon to bring objective news to the Spanish-speaking community? Bob talks to Sharon Castillo, RNC Director of Communications and ...

In a recent article for slate.com, Walter Shapiro suggested that "not since Elvis Presley went to the White House to enlist in Richard Nixon's war on drugs has a Washington event inspired as much cynicism as the passage of campaign finance reform." Bob talks to him about the media coverage ...

So far California Congressman Gary Condit has two opponents in his bid for re-election: fellow Democrat Dennis Cardoza and The Media. A flurry of journalists still searching for answers about intern Chandra Levy’s disappearance hound the politician, but he refuses to divulge anything personal. Bob talks to New York Times ...

On Monday, a media consortium released the results of their Florida recount. OTM Producer-At-Large Mike Pesca took to the streets of New York with this question: who won the election?