TopicsOn The Media is produced by:
How involved reporters should become in a story is one of journalism's age-old ethical dilemmas. But the question was anything but hypothetical in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rachel Smolkin, managing editor of the American Journalism Review, describes to Brooke how some major journalists reassessed their codes of conduct in light of what they experienced then.
For tourists in Rio seeking an experience beyond Carnaval and the Copacabana, there are tours of favelas, the infamous Brazilian shantytowns. An enterprising Argentine imported the idea, offering visitors a drive though the villas miserias of Buenos Aires. Reporter Ian Mount looks at what happens when there is a "poverty tour," and only journalists show up.
Every day, journalists turn to "experts" to predict the outcome of current political trends. How often are these professional prophets right? Psychologist Philip Tetlock, author of Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?, followed-up on the prognostications of a few hundred "experts." He tells Brooke that being an expert is often the best predictor... of being wrong.
Last week, the British tabloid The Daily Mirror alleged that in the spring of 2004, President Bush suggested bombing the Qatar headquarters of al-Jazeera. The U.S. press has trod lightly on the story, which was based on a leaked memo that has not yet been published. But the rest of the world clamored for answers. Bob talks to Joel Campagna, senior program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Ten years ago, the philosophy known as neo-conservatism was on the outs among Republicans in D.C. But these days, the "neocon" agenda is reflected in much of the Bush Administration's foreign policy. What changed? For one, there was 9/11. But there was also the rise of a certain forum for neoconservative thinking called The Weekly Standard. Brooke talks to Bill Kristol about his magazine's first ten years. And she hears from American Conservative editor Scott McConnell, who's none-too-happy about the Weekly Standard's success.
One year ago, the world witnessed what appeared to be a spontaneous uprising by angry voters in the streets of Kiev. But for months, Ukrainian activists had been carefully honing their message and tactics. They did it with the help of American-backed "uprising consultants" - veterans of opposition movements in Serbia, Belarus, and Georgia. Bob speaks with one of them, Serbian student activist Ivan Moravic.
The Washington saga that has gripped journalism watchers for many months has taken another unexpected turn. Seems that storied scribe Bob Woodward may have been the first journalist contacted by the notorious Valerie Plame leaker. And he kept mum until this week. Brooke reflects on the transformation of Watergate Bob into White House Bob.
