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There's a certain kind of story that calls for a few words from "the man on the street." For over a decade, Greg Packer has been that man. A quick search for his name on the Nexis news database will turn up dozens of appearances by Packer in local and national news stories. Reporter Amy O'Leary went on rounds with the media's favorite vox populi.
Conservatives have long complained about what they perceive as a left-wing tilt in public broadcasting. This week, a front-page story in the New York Times reported that Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is among the critics, and is taking steps to right the leaning ship. Tomlinson tells Bob that he's not politicizing public broadcasting, but rather balancing programming to serve more Americans
You don't have to be an obsessive TV watcher to have noticed recent runaway coverage of a certain would-be bride. When Jennifer Wilbanks got cold feet, she made tabloid headlines and left tracks all over the cable news channels, including CNN. But when Jonathan Klein took over as president of that network last year, he promised more "roll up your sleeves" style journalism. Klein butts heads with Brooke over what constitutes news, and whether stories need justification.
It's election time again – in England. And fresh from watching the political strategy employed during our elections, Tony Blair is facing many of the same criticisms that Bush did. But the similarities stop there. Chief among the differences is that the kind of deference afforded to the president here by the media is notably absent in the U.K. So does a critical national press result in a more informed electorate, a more engaged voter? Bob speaks with Michael Goldfarb, senior reporter in Britain for WBUR.
Like any agency whose board is appointed by the President, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is vulnerable to accusations of political bias. Lately, such accusations have surfaced over staff shake-ups, the appointment of new ombudsmen, and a push to enforce CPB’s "objectivity and balance" mandate. Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, is worried that the CPB is in the midst of a coup. Karen Everhart, senior editor of Current, isn’t so alarmed. Both make their case to Bob.
Michael Jackson’s trial was expected to be the white-hot celebrity trial of the season. The media are camped out by the courthouse and ready to go, but curiously enough, the public does not seem to be biting. LA Times reporter Robin Abcarian tells Brooke that the case has yielded such icky information that even the tabloids, talk radio shows and celebrity mags are shying away.
As the electronic media universe becomes more fractured, and less bound by the physical confines of TVs and radios themselves, traditional methods of gauging audiences are quickly becoming defunct. Enter Arbitron, with a brand new device that will be worn by volunteers, and record every second of audible media they encounter throughout the day. New York Times Magazine contributing writer Jon Gertner tells Brooke about the ramifications of the "portable people meter." ARTIST: Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel TRACK: Kush ALBUM: Third Eye LABEL: Palmetto Jazz
Ever since the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon has been etched in the minds of many Americans as a dangerous mix of factions and infighting. The competing interests there have created a story that's often hard for Western media to untangle. And so we wondered how Lebanese journalists have been portraying the recent turmoil in their own country. Michael Young, opinion editor for the Daily Star in Beirut, sketches the picture for Brooke.
