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These days, there seems to be no shortage of government officials who would prefer a media-free democracy. But for much of American history, Congress and the press have existed symbiotically, with each alternatively shaping the actions of the other. National Security Archive founder Scott Armstrong joins Brooke to discuss the recent breakdown in this symbiosis, and the consequences for the democratic process.
Since September 11th, the White House has done its best to keep secret the names of some 1200 people detained in the so-called 'War on Terrorism.' This week a Federal Appeals Court agreed with the Administration's argument that the secrecy is essential to national security. Jane Kirtley, the Director of the Silha Center at the University of Minnesota, joins Brooke to discuss the ruling.
For almost 30 years, the identity of the Watergate figure known as Deep Throat has remained a secret. Now a journalism class at the University of Illinois claims to have definitively solved the mystery. Professor William Gaines and his students fingered Fred Fielding, a lawyer in the Nixon White House, as the anonymous source who provided information to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Bob talks to Professor Gaines about the project.
Despite the rapid spread of SARS in China, until recently there was a virtual media blackout about the disease there. Earlier this week, the International Press Institute condemned China's suppression of reporting about the SARS epidemic. Bob discusses China's handling of the crisis with UC Berkeley J-School Dean Orville Schell.
A week into the war in Iraq, the picture we are getting from the domestic press is quite different from that portrayed by the foreign press. This gulf is especially large when it comes to the Middle Eastern media. United Press Chief Correspondent and inveterate media watcher Martin Walker is in Kuwait, and gives us a view from the ground.
Earlier this month, The New Yorker printed a story about Pentagon advisor Richard Perle, suggesting a conflict of interest between his business interests and his influence over policy. In response, Perle threatened to sue the article's author, Seymour Hersh, for libel…in England. Solicitor David Hooper joins Bob from London to explain what's driving Perle, and others like him, across the ocean.
A campaign in British Parliament to reclaim the English language is turning heads in the U.K. And its organizers are happy about that. Never mind that their real concern is the foreign ownership of British television stations. Campaign for Press and Broadcast Freedom spokesman Granville Williams explains his group's drive against 'Americanisms.'
When activists mounted a media campaign to condemn Nike's labor practices, Nike used the media to respond. But the activists cried foul, and California's highest court agreed. Now, it's up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide where free speech ends, and advertising begins. Brooke discusses the case and its implications with Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe, who is defending Nike in court.
