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It's that time of year, when presidential candidates' thoughts turn to misstatements of fact. But with more and more news outlets taking the pols to task for their public speeches and ads, might accuracy be gaining the upper hand? Brooks Jackson, director of factcheck.org, explains his quest to make the political landscape a more truthful place.
Try as they might, publishers and broadcasters can’t help making mistakes now and then. Craig Silverman, of the website and book Regret the Error, makes his third annual visit to our show for a round-up of the year in errors and corrections.
New Jersey abolished its death penalty this week. An upcoming Supreme Court case may change the way states administer lethal injections. With the highest number of U.S. executions, Texas will be most affected by these developments, but as Bob reports, executions have become a grim routine for the Texas press.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin helped push through two rulings this week - despite opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, pro-business lobbyists, media watchdogs and all of his fellow commissioners. Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times says the contentious rulings reflect Martin's go-it-alone style.
2007 was the deadliest year for journalists around the world in over a decade. We look at the ultimate consequence of reporting the news.
Listener's weigh in on last week's stories about the FEC, the New Hampshire primary and ads beamed at your head.
Between 1929 and 1976, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, aka Hergé, penned the Tintin series. On the occasion of Hergé’s 100th birthday, cartoonist R. Sikoryak talks about why the books, hugely popular around the world, never gained a mass following in the U.S.
Since they were first broadcast some four decades ago, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” have become as much a part of the season as tinsel and mistletoe. Reporters Alex Goldmark and Rachel McCarthy explore what makes the classic Christmas specials so ... special.
Highlights from Past Shows
There's a good chance that the Federal Election Commission will head into 2008 without enough confirmed members to act. What then? Former FEC Chairman Brad Smith and Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center weigh in. Plus, a campaign reform loophole as big as the Ron Paul blimp.
The release of a new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran prompted mea culpas and soul searching from pols and the press. Bob talks with two White House correspondents, the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Silva and US News and World Report’s Ken Walsh, about how the President and his press secretary, Dana Perino, reacted to the news on Iran.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
