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In the parlance of Republican-primary politics, “sanctuary” – as in sanctuary city – has become a bad word. In our occasional series we call Word Watch, ABC News political correspondent Jake Tapper and linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explain how a term rooted in religion was turned into an epithet.
Only after the stock market tumbled did the so-called sub-prime mortgage market make its way to the top of newscasts and front page headlines. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says the story should have seen more coverage sooner and that discussion should increase as central banks intervene.
This week in Baghdad began another crimes-against-humanity trial for 15 flunkies of Saddam Hussein, accused in the massacre of Shia in the wake of the first Gulf War. Journalist Christopher Hanson says that – amid the euphoria of military triumph - the story was undercovered at the time, leaving the question of culpability a murky one.
As concerns over immigration rise, so too have fears over Latin American gangs. One in particular, MS-13, has received much attention of late, some dubbing them the world’s most dangerous gang. But Kevin Pranis, co-author of a recent report, found that MS-13 is less organized network than global brand.
This week Google announced its long awaited advertising strategy for YouTube. It hinges on a scroll at the bottom of the video that users can click, or ignore. Is it game changing? Advertising Age’s Digital Editor, Abbey Klaassen, offers her calculation.
Michael Deaver, who died this week, spent much of his career in the shadow of Ronald Reagan, managing the President's public image, from photo ops to his state funeral. Reagan biographer Edmund Morris discusses how Deaver influenced the way his boss was heard, seen, and remembered.
When the Indiana EPA granted a British Petroleum oil refinery permission to increase its industrial discharge into Lake Michigan, Chicagoans cried foul. But the Chicago Sun-Times went one step further, calling for a reader-boycott of BP. Editorial page editor Cheryl Reed explains why she’s going after the company's bottom line.
A California company has begun distributing a device called the "orb," a glowing sphere that changes color based on energy consumption. Writer Clive Thompson explains that the orb's ambient information proves how successful subtlety can be.
Highlights from Past Shows
Presidential Adviser Karl Rove announced this week that he would be stepping down at the end of the month. Portrayed as everything from genius to puppet-master, in the end the press seemed mostly in awe of his political cunning. We take a look back at the man affectionately known as... Turd Blossom.
This summer, Presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle have been debating the use of nuclear weapons. Mostly, though, they've argued about whether to keep the option "on the table." MIT research associate James Walsh discusses the rhetoric.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
