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While the gatekeepers of American media hem and haw over what to do with the gory footage of war, news consumers in the Arab world are getting a steady stream of those very images via satellite television. And when it comes to things like hostage executions, says Arab media critic Mamoun Fandy, commentators on many of those stations provide nothing in the way of condemnation, and so they fan the flames of ignorance and hatred. Fandy makes his case for Brooke.
In April of 2002 in the Russian city, Togliatti, a newspaper editor was shot to death in his car. Valery Ivanov was murdered following a series of stories in the Togliatti Observer exposing ties between the local mafia, businesses and corrupt law enforcement agencies in the region. Although shocking, the assassination wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary. Ivanov was the sixth journalist targeted in Togliatti since 1995 - killings documented in the film "The Russian Newspaper Murders," to air as part of the PBS Wide Angle series this week. Bob spoke with the film’s director, Paul Jenkins.
When the so-called handover of sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority takes place in Iraq on Wednesday, the Iraqi Media Network will be one of the institutions that changes hands. Network officials say it will form the backbone of a new public broadcasting service in Iraq, but critics counter that its independence has already been nipped in the bud by excessive regulation on the part of the CPA. Brooke talks to the CPA's head of media development and regulation, Simon Haselock.
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia this week joined the ranks of those who disapprove of the FCC's recent decision to relax media ownership caps. Bob and Brooke give a brief update on the status of the deregulation skirmishes.
On Wednesday, a judge in Florida heard arguments in a case brought by CNN against the State of Florida. At issue is the list of convicted felons in the state, who under Florida law, must be purged from the voting rolls. State law allows the press to view the list, but not to copy or disseminate it. Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who has joined CNN in its lawsuit, tells Brooke why he thinks it's so important that the media have full access to the list
Clear Channel Communications has agreed to pay the government $1.75 million, in exchange for the FCC scrapping all pending indecency complaints against the radio conglomerate. It's the largest indecency settlement ever, but it could have been even larger. Lawmakers have proposed boosting fines for broadcasters to 500 thousand dollars, which could then be multiplied by the number of stations which aired the material. Then again, the prospects for any indecency legislation reaching Bush's desk this year aren't what they were a few months ago. The New York Times' Jacques Steinberg updates Bob on the campaign against broadcast indecency
The digital evolution will be televised. Whether or not you can see it depends on whether you are still watching an analog tube. Seven years ago, Congress created a plan for the government to take back the analog spectrum, making television a strictly digital affair. Now, the FCC has proposed speeding up that process, and broadcasters are none too happy. Former FCC chief economist Tom Hazlett joins Bob to discuss the winners and the losers of the high-def changeover.
The Freedom of Information Act, known as FOIA, can be a lean mean fighting machine in the battle against excessive government secrecy. The FOIA request is not a difficult tool to wield – it takes just a little know-how and a lot of patience. Russ Kick knows the drill. Independently, he’s filed hundreds of FOIA requests and they have yielded some unforgettable results. Russ Kick offers Bob a how-to lesson on freeing information from secrecy.
