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When President Obama won his fight on Thursday to keep his beloved Blackberry, White House communications leapt headlong into the 21st century. But technology and open-government expert Ari Schwartz says that with technological progress comes great responsibility.
The Obama administration has big plans for the internet, but Wired contributor Evan Ratliff says having a Web 2.0 presidency may not be easy. Antiquated computer systems, unruly comments and federal statutes could present some technical difficulties.
At inaugural festivities this week, attendees honored civil rights leader Rosa Parks. But popular culture has painted a picture of Parks that doesn't accurately portray who she was. In this excerpt of an interview that originally aired in 2005, Duke Divinity School Professor Tim Tyson explains that Parks was far from a meek old woman who just happened to change history.
Last year, 49 state attorneys general created The Internet Safety Technical Task Force to study the problem of how to keep kids safer online. A year later, the task force's findings have caused some controversy. Namely that the biggest threat to kids on the internet comes from their peers. Task force member and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute Stephen Balkam discusses the study.
Is taking naked pictures of yourself a crime? If you’re a minor, some judges say yes. Cyber-crime specialist Mark Rasch explains how the combination of teenagers and technology creates a challenge for current child pornography laws.
As the last of the Israeli Defense Forces left the Gaza Strip this week, we wondered how coverage by Al Jazeera might look through the eyes of a Westerner. Eric Calderwood, a Harvard graduate student living in Syria, wrote in the Boston Globe recently that, as an American, he was accustomed to “bloodless war journalism,” the kind you see on CNN. And so he was shocked by the unflinching, often gruesome footage he saw in Damascus.
In one of its last acts, the Bush Justice Department affirmed the legality of a controversial but pain-free interrogation technique: the polygraph test. Despite its track record, the lie detector still offers a false promise of impartial, mechanical justice. Back in 2006, Brooke talked with UCLA law professor Jennifer Mnookin about the persistent popularity of the polygraph.
The new FOX show "Lie To Me" follows a psychologist who can detect a lie by watching a person's minute facial gestures and body movements. Sounds implausible, except that much of it is real. The show's main character is based on the life and work of Dr. Paul Ekman, who serves as the program's scientific adviser. Ekman explains what it's like to watch his life's work on TV.
Highlights from Past Shows
President Bush bid his final farewell to the White House press corps on Tuesday. “Through it all,” he told reporters gathered in the briefing room, “I have respected you.” Really? Let’s look at the record.
In what the Foreign Press Association has called an “unprecedented restriction of press freedom,” the Israeli military has barred foreign correspondents from entering the Gaza Strip and thereby covering the war close-up. New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner says that in order to understand the current crackdown on media you have to think back to the summer of 2006.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
