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How did Al Jazeera respond to the detention of one of its employees? For over a year, they didn’t. Al Jazeera producer Ahmad Ibrahim produced a documentary about al-Hajj’s case. He says there was no response because Al Jazeera had little information and a lot of fear.
Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj is the only journalist in Guantanamo, detained without charge for more than five years. Recent court decisions could affect his and other detainees' challenges to their imprisonments. Washington Monthly editor Rachel Morris tells al-Hajj’s story in this month’s Columbia Journalism Review.
Only one thing stands in the way of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of Dow Jones and its Wall Street Journal: The Bancrofts. The family is a tangle of second cousins, complicated trusts, and divergent political views. WSJ reporter Sarah Ellison says their decision could come as early as next week.
Iraqi insurgent groups are mostly shadowy bands of nationalist or Islamist factions from whom we never hear, except in internet posts. Guardian reporter Seumas Milne says that some now wish to open a dialogue with Western media. And he believes that journalists are obliged to listen.
The U.S. Army has a field manual on just about everything, but FM 3-0, known as Operations, is key because it teaches soldiers what to do on and off the battlefield. An updated version of FM 3-0 will be released this fall and lead writer Michael Burke describes its new focus on influencing civilians.
There were decisive movements in the ongoing battle over the image of the war and its soldiers this week. For some, an image of heroic soldiers tells the right story. For others, images of soldiers’ bad behavior tells the real story. Brooke tallies the score.
For as long as Hollywood has been making movies it has turned its eye to the Russians. Harlow Robinson, author of Hollywood's Russians, Russians in Hollywood, discusses Russian portrayals in American film and what those portrayals reveal about ourselves.
Russia’s film industry has returned the favor with its own portrayals of … us. From “The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks” (1924) to “Brother 2” (2000), we’re sometimes naïve, sometimes criminal. But Russian film historian Kirill Razlogov says that we’re also sympathetic.
Highlights from Past Shows
As a media liaison for the Marines during the early days of the Iraq War, Josh Rushing was stuck between his military superiors and reporters at Al Jazeera. Four years later, Rushing is a reporter for that very network. In his new book, he writes about his unusual career path from marine to war correspondent.
Radio Liberty, once a crude propaganda tool designed to pierce the Iron Curtain, has remade itself into as a respected news outlet. But with the Kremlin blocking it in most regions of Russia, and possible budget cuts at home, Liberty is fighting to be heard.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
