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The media have wasted no time in getting to work on the past record of John Roberts Jr. But with only two years' experience as a judge, the Supreme Court nominee has left relatively few clues as to his judicial philosophy. Is he a traditionalist? A strict constructionist? A judicial activist? What do these labels mean anyway, and do they really tell us what we need to know? Bob talks legal language with literary theorist and legal scholar Stanley Fish.
Wen Ho Lee's legal troubles began in 1999, when he was fired from Los Alamos National Laboratory under suspicion of espionage. But the charges turned out to be unsubstantiated, and Lee sued the government for leaking his personal information to journalists. Last year, five of those reporters refused to testify about their sources, and were held in contempt. Brooke discusses the case's latest turns with Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum.
The true story of any conflict, from Gettysburg to Fallujah, is mostly lost forever, left behind on the battlefield. What remains is the stuff of history books - the letters and recollections of survivors. It is this material that seven Army historians are racing to preserve in Iraq. Judging the value of their work will fall to future academics, when their records are declassified. But until then, we have the accounts of participants in the project, like Lt. Col. John Boyd. Boyd talks with Brooke from Baghdad.
When it comes to war, our perceptions often hinge on how conflicts are portrayed on television. But until now, no TV series has ever explicitly portrayed a U.S. military conflict occurring at that time. Next week, the FX network will premier Over There, a new series about soldiers in the current Iraq war. Bob speaks with Time Magazine's James Poniewozik about this television first.
At the same time that events on the battlefields of WWII were being documented by newspapers and radio, Hollywood was re-framing the wartime sentiments of the homefront. In his memoir, Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip, film critic Richard Schickel examined the myths that wartime America built for itself on the silver screen. He shares some of his favorite clips with Brooke.
Even after it became clear that White House spokesman Mike McCurry had unwittingly lied about Clinton's relationship with Monica, McCurry managed to stay on the media's good side, with attempts at candor and even a little remorse. But such good rapport more often eludes presidential press secretaries. Witness, for example, Scott McLellan's current plight in the hot seat of the Valerie Plame case. Brooke reflects on press secretaries of yore with Senate Historian Donald Ritchie.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan made his semi-annual pilgrimage to Capitol Hill last week, and it may have been his last. The mandarin of monetary policy is scheduled to retire in January. True to form, the media saw plenty of thunderous implications in the chairman's remarks. As Bob first observed in 2001, there's hardly a question about the economy for which, in the media at least, Alan Greenspan isn't the answer.
Highlights from Past ShowsEver since the prosecutor in the Valerie Plame leak investigation started targeting journalists, many have worried about a resulting chilling effect that would shackle investigative reporters and gag would-be whistleblowers. Two weeks ago, it appeared the chill had arrived, in the form of a column by the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It said his newspaper would hold two stories, fearing legal ramifications for several anonymous sources. Bob talks to the editor, Doug Clifton, about the decision. And Brooke recaps the week's developments in the search for the leaker.
In the end, the two reporters who refused to divulge their sources met very different fates. The New York Times' Judy Miller stuck to her guns, and was thrown in jail. After receiving what he described as last-minute permission from his source, Time's Matt Cooper spilled the beans. Cooper said the entire ordeal could have been prevented by a federal law protecting journalists from having to testify. Is he right? University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone discusses the limits of "shield laws" with Brooke
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
