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What are fringe politicians who want to stand out on Capitol Hill to do? Or a politico with a pet issue for the national stage? Here’s an idea: announce a run for president. New Republic Senior Editor Michael Crowley tells Brooke some of the many reasons why a hopeless candidate announces a big run.
Former Virginia governor Mark Warner hasn’t launched a presidential campaign; neither has Senator Chuck Hagel. But both have been featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine as potential candidates. Is Warner the anti-Hillary? Is Hagel the un-McCain? Somehow the vetting process for 2008 has already begun. NYT Magazine editor Gerald Marzorati talks timing with Brooke.
Recent studies suggest that food and beverage marketing to kids is making them fat and sick. But the Federal Trade Commission recently concluded just the opposite. Food companies breathed a sigh of relief and health advocates cried foul. Bob speaks with Michele Simon, director of the Center for Informed Food Choices, about whether the kids are all right.
To the pediatric establishment, no amount of TV is healthy for children under two. But this week we were reminded what a pipe dream that recommendation is. The creators of the new channel BabyFirst TV say that as long as toddlers are tuning in, they may as well be watching age-appropriate content. Bob speaks with BabyFirst TV co-founder Sharon Rechter.
Numbers justify fear. 50,000 abducted children, for example, or 50,000 predators prowling for children online. That last figure appeared in a recent introduction for NBC’s “Dateline.” And last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales cited Dateline’s number. But where did it come from? So far as statistics go, it turns out that 50,000 is something of a Goldilocks number in the media – not too big and not too small, but for scaring the public - just right.
When Canada’s National Post reported that Iran was instituting a color-coded system of badges to identify religious minorities, many sat up and took notice. It turned out the story was bogus, but Amir Tehari, the columnist who “broke” the “story,” is sticking by it. Bob speaks with Eleana Benador, the P.R. consultant who placed Tehari’s column, as well as the columns of many regime-change hawks in the months before the Iraq war.
The legislative response to Nipple-Gate continues – last week a souped-up indecency bill was unanimously approved in the Senate. If signed, it will raise broadcast indecency fines to ten times their current level. Bob speaks with the bill’s sponsor, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback.
Perhaps the surest way to gauge “community standards” is to run afoul of them. That’s what Hustler publisher Larry Flynt did in Cincinnati in the 1970s. And in New Hampshire in the 1980s. And again in Ohio in the 90s. The story is chronicled in a new book by one of Hustler’s longest employees, Allan MacDonell, who worked his way up from deckhand to editorial captain of Larry Flynt Publications. He shares some recollections with Brooke.
Highlights from Past ShowsIf they don’t already, government insiders with a tidbit for the press might now think twice before dishing over the phone. This week, two reporters at ABC News said that the Feds were gathering their phone records, most probably to sniff out the source of government leaks. OTM guest host Mike Pesca asks ABC chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross about the possible implications for Ross’ reporting.
For months, the Bush Administration insisted that NSA surveillance is strictly targeted on terrorists and their associates. But this week came allegations that the NSA is also collecting the phone records of ordinary Americans. Critics question the program’s legality, but the president insists that the only ones acting improperly are the people who exposed the program. Brooke speaks with George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley about the latest assault on the press.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
