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Eight senior staff members of the Santa Barbara News-Press have now resigned after that paper’s private owner, Wendy McCaw, broke down the wall that traditionally separates the executive suite from the newsroom. Fortune Magazine editor-at-large Justin Fox tells Bob that the whole affair is a reminder that the publicly-held model is, more often than not, simply better for journalism.
The press took a tongue-lashing from politicos this week for reporting how the government tracked terrorists through the global banking industry. Bob talks with Heather Mac Donald, of the Manhattan Institute, who believes the New York Times in particular is a national security threat. Not so, says Scott Armstrong of Information Trust. This program, he tells Bob, was public all along.
It’s hardly controversial to say newspapers should reflect their communities. But not everybody agrees on the best way to broaden the range of news-sources. Some reporters at the Detroit Free Press, for example, were surprised when editors asked them to compile a list of minority sources. They feared the “rainbow rolodex” could ultimately privilege ethnicity over expertise. Free Press editor Paul Anger tells Bob why they have nothing to worry about.
Once on the fringes, the alternative weekly has become an institution. Between its pages are investigative reports; close coverage of the cultural avant-garde; and sharp commentary. The granddaddy of alt-weeklies is The Village Voice, which for 50 years has proffered its downtown view to New Yorkers and the world. Last November, The Voice was acquired by the New Times chain of alt-weeklies. Bob reports on the ensuing turmoil that raises questions about the future of the form.
With a new mayoral candidate poised to unseat New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, there’s been much talk about the extent to which Hurricane Katrina changed the complexion of the city. But the floods also wrought deep changes to the decades-old contours of the local newspaper and broadcasting scenes. Last week, Brooke and OTM producer Jamie York visited New Orleans, and brought back this report about a vastly transformed media landscape.
February, 1957: Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro is assumed by his government and many news outlets to be dead. In fact, Castro is hiding in the jungle and eager to meet with an American journalist. A cable is sent to New York Times editorial writer Herbert L. Matthews, urging him to come to Cuba. But was Matthews, who had a tendency to over-sympathize with his story subjects, the best man for the job? Brooke speaks with Times reporter Anthony DePalma, author of “The Man Who Invented Fidel.”
This week, the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. Almost immediately, some slammed the awards as showing an anti-Bush bias. Escaping the controversy was Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan, winner of the prize for criticism. But a closer look at her writing shows that in Washington, even getting dressed in the morning can be a political act. Brooke chats with Givhan about what’s under our leaders’ clothes.
To many Latinos, the immigration policy debate is plagued by all sorts of misunderstandings about immigrants themselves. But a columnist for the OC Weekly in Orange County, California is doing what he can to change that. Gustavo Arellano started inviting readers to “Ask a Mexican” as a joke, but has continued to provide real information to combat stereotypes. Bob Asks-a-Mexican about the power of a column.
