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If you believe the coverage, Americans are using crystal meth at epidemic rates. Stories depict a killer drug that is instantly addictive, easy to cook up at home, and poised to tear apart families and communities. But Reason editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie is among the critics who say that the media are the ones with the drug problem. Gillespie makes his case for Bob.
Many activists are keenly aware that all the talking in the world may never succeed in opening the world's eyes to their causes. Seeing is believing, and pictures can make all the difference. Witness is an international human rights organization that provides video equipment and training to advocacy campaigns around the world. Executive Director Gillian Caldwell joins Brooke to discuss what she calls "tactical media."
Brooke muses on the sudden release of Judith Miller from a Virginia detention center, after 85 days behind bars for refusing to testify in the long-running CIA leak investigation. Did Miller waver?
Nick Sophocleous was staying at his girlfriend's flat in North Kensington last month when he realized that a full-scale bust of the London bombing suspects was in progress across the way. He captured the arrest on video, and sold it to the media for 60 thousand pounds. Now, you too can enjoy the satisfaction of being an amateur producer, if not the material bounty. Click here to join the ranks of OTM's citizen watchdogs.
Ten years ago this month, a pocket of hot air settled over Chicago. By the end of the week, 739 people had succumbed to the heat. And yet, the Chicago heat wave of '95 remains one of the most overlooked disasters in American history. Why do heat waves get so little attention, even though they kill more people than all other natural disasters in the country combined? Bob gets some answers from Eric Klinenberg, author of Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.
This week, Ukraine's President Victor Yushchenko chewed out a reporter for asking questions about his son's incongruously lavish lifestyle. In response, some 200 Ukrainian journalists signed a strongly-worded letter protesting the reporter's treatment. And Yushchenko responded with a letter of his own. A sign of tough times ahead for journalism in the nascent democracy? Or an indication that Ukraine's free press is alive and well?
Ever since the prosecutor in the Valerie Plame leak investigation started targeting journalists, many have worried about a resulting chilling effect that would shackle investigative reporters and gag would-be whistleblowers. Two weeks ago, it appeared the chill had arrived, in the form of a column by the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. It said his newspaper would hold two stories, fearing legal ramifications for several anonymous sources. Bob talks to the editor, Doug Clifton, about the decision. And Brooke recaps the week's developments in the search for the leaker.
The Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of reporters Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, the defiant duo who have resisted court orders to reveal their government sources. Miller appears headed for prison, a martyr to the end. But Cooper may still walk free. On Thursday, his bosses at Time Magazine caved and said they would hand over his documents. Brooke reflects on the case with First Amendment lawyer Geoffrey Stone, who says that Time is doing the right thing.
