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Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski died this week. Kapuscinski built his reputation as an unobtrusive, lyrical observer of seismic changes taking place throughout the developing world. But his narrative style also led to charges of blurring the line between fact and fiction.
Last weekend, investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was found dead in the elevator of her Moscow apartment building -- shot in the head at close range. No one knows who killed her or why, though few doubt it had something to do with her documentation of human rights abuses. Dissident and journalist Boris Kagarlitsky tells Brooke that Politkovskaya's death may, contrary to claims, embolden the Russian press.
Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert emceed the White House Correspondent Dinner, giving a 20 minute irony-drenched jab at the president (who happened to be sitting next to him). Bob gives his take on Colbert sticking it to both the president and the press corps.
Over the course of several decades, investigative reporter Jack Anderson managed to break some of the era’s biggest political stories, and to alienate some of Washington’s most powerful men, among them J. Edgar Hoover. Now, it appears that Anderson’s antagonism with the Feds has followed him to the grave. The FBI is demanding access to Anderson’s papers… and the family is refusing. Brooke speaks with Anderson biographer Mark Feldstein.
Fresh off his on-air vendetta against a Vermont judge, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly last month set his sights on an Ohio judge who had sentenced a sex offender to probation instead of jail. The national media attention generated local media outrage in Ohio, as well as powerful calls for Judge John Connor’s impeachment. Never mind that much of O’Reilly’s reporting on the case included significant inaccuracies. Bob speaks with Judge Connor about the experience. He also hears from Bert Brandenburg of Justice at Stake, a nonpartisan group dedicated to preserving judicial independence.
Over the years, Bob Garfield has been many things. Shoe-leather beat reporter. Itinerant NPR storyteller. Acerbic columnist and take-no-prisoners critic; media and advertising big-shots cower at the rattle of his pen. He's aspired to country music stardom and Hollywood fame, and still, he doesn't rest. And so when the call went out last month for the Funniest Reporter on the Planet, Bob didn't miss a beat. Listen as he recounts his quest for the title.
Several days ago, it was revealed that James Frey's booze-and-drug-fueled memoir A Million Little Pieces was not, strictly speaking, based on truth. Frey took to the airwaves to defend his bestseller, and a frenzied press debated what, exactly, readers should expect from a memoir. Brooke discusses the uproar with Andrew Goldberg, managing editor of the website that broke the story, and with New York Sun book critic Adam Kirsch.
This week, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a severe stroke that threatened his life and effectively ended his political career. International Editor of the Week Magazine, Susan Caskie joins Bob for a look at how the news was covered in newspapers in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
