On The Media

July 10, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:54 GMT

Show Summary: MJ mania, Wiki collusion and Khrushchev's wild ride around America

A King's Farewell (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:03 GMT

For the past two weeks, coverage of Michael Jackson's death has dominated the news, arguably at the expense of more pressing stories. Bob takes a look at how the media have handled the superstar's passing.

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:05 GMT

A collective ethical gasp was heard when Politico reported the Washington Post’s intention to hold sponsored salons, during which lobbyists could hobnob with administration officials and Post employees for a price. Washington Post staff writer Paul Farhi, who has been reporting the story, says the salon idea was likely the result of a really bad case of groupthink.

The Silent Treatment (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:07 GMT

Last month, New York Times reporter David Rohde escaped from the Taliban, which held him hostage for seven months. The Times was able to keep the news of his kidnapping out of traditional media, but it appeared on Rohde’s Wikipedia page almost immediately. So the Times asked Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales to help redact the information. Wales talks about the ethical dilemma.

Do Unto Others (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:08 GMT

In 2004, Micah Garen was filming a documentary in Iraq when he was kidnapped by a Shi’ite terrorist group. The kidnappers released videos of Garen, threatening to kill him within 48 hours if the U.S. did not meet their demands. Garen talks about what it’s like when the press does report on your abduction, and discusses whether the media have two sets of ethics: one for their own, and one for everyone else.

Time and Space (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:11 GMT

Forty years ago the U.S. put a man (well, two actually) on the moon. The landing capped a decade of NASA trial-and-error, Cold War jockeying with the Soviets and negotiating an uneasy relationship with the press. Harlen Makemson, author of "Media, NASA and America’s Quest for the Moon" charts the ongoing coverage of the space program.

Heart of Stone (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:12 GMT

Was I.F. Stone a Soviet agent who passed secrets? Or a justly celebrated icon of American muckraking from the left? Jackson Lears, a professor of history at Rutgers University who discussed some newly published claims in the New York Times Book Review recently, says Stone is the victim of posthumous character assassination.

Mr. Khrushchev Goes to Washington (On The Media: Friday, 10 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:16 GMT

In 1959, with the Cold War in full throttle and MAD the doctrine of the day, Nikita Khrushchev crisscrossed America in a whirlwind circus of a tour, from Harlem to Hollywood. Peter Carlson, author of “K Blows Top,” sifted through the newspapers of the day to piece together an account of the visit.

July 3, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

Debunking popular myths about President Obama, Kitty Genovese and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Debunk This! (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:07 GMT

This week, OTM talks about popular cultural myths that refuse to die. The first is a newbie but it seems to have staying power: the rumor that President Obama is a Muslim. A recent Pew study found that many Americans still believe it to be true, and many more simply don't know the President's religion. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan explains how misperceptions spread and says we can be incredibly stubborn in the face of facts.

Tabula Rosa (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:03 GMT

Most obituaries of Rosa Parks focus on the story we all know: how the humble seamstress changed history by refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. But while that account is accurate, it's only part of her story. In this interview we originally aired in 2005, Bob talks with Duke historian Tim Tyson about the construction of an American hero.

Ghost of Bradley Effect (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

We recorded this interview during the presidential campaign when the "Bradley effect" was getting a lot of media play. The term comes from Tom Bradley's 1982 California gubernatorial campaign, in which the discrepancy between polling (which predicted he was ahead) and the actual result (he lost) was attributed to white voters not being able to pull the lever for a black candidate. But Democratic and Republican strategists who worked on that campaign tell us there was no Bradley effect even for Bradley. And Nate Silver of the blog 538 says the misnamed phenomenon hasn't been observed since the early 1990s.

The Witnesses That Didn't (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

Forty-five years ago, Kitty Genovese was murdered in Queens and, as the story goes, 38 witnesses watched the assault for half an hour but no one intervened. We spoke with historian Joseph De May earlier this year. He says the truth is a bit more complicated.

Great Expectorations (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00 GMT

Controversy over a 2007 news account about a war protester spitting on an Iraq vet at a peace march unearthed a trope that dates back to Vietnam. Fifteen years ago, sociologist and Vietnam War veteran Jerry Lembcke researched spitting stories in the media during the 1960s and 70s. He told us two years ago that not a single first-hand account was published.

Missile Crisis Memories (On The Media: Friday, 03 July 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:13 GMT

The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most politically tense moments of the Kennedy presidency, and one of the most memorable media moments of the Cold War. In an interview which originally aired in 2002, Fred Kaplan talked about how the media covered the Missile Crisis then, and how we interpret that coverage today.

June 26, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:06 GMT

Charges of coziness between the news networks and the White House; NPR's policy on the word "torture"; adventures in ambushing potential interviewees

Getting A Second Opinion (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:55 GMT

When ABC broadcast its exclusive health-care-reform town hall meeting with President Obama on Wednesday, one group cried foul. The Media Fairness Caucus, newly formed with some 40 Republican House members, wrote to ABC News president David Westin to complain that Obama wouldn't, couldn't be challenged enough to satisfy them. Both Westin and Caucus head Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas weigh in.

Torturous Wording (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:45 GMT

Last week, NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard caused a minor uproar after responding to angry emails from listeners over NPR's use of the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques" to describe treatment of terrorism suspects under the Bush Administration. Shepard talks about NPR's policy and her own opinion on the use of the word "torture."

Leaving the Story (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:16 GMT

This week, the Iranian government continued a harsh crackdown on protests and on news outlets covering them. Journalists were expelled from the country. Some were arrested. Others, like Tehran Bureau's Jason Rezaian, were under such severe restrictions that they couldn't effectively report. So Rezaian decided to leave and explains why.

Moving On Up? (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:25 GMT

Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein are two new opinion writers at the New York Times and the Washington Post. Both started out in the blogosphere, and both are young - Klein 25, Douthat 29. The two discuss whether they may have actually lost a measure of influence by moving from the net to traditional media.

Help Line (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:36 GMT

A few weeks ago Ron Lieber, the New York Times "Your Money" columnist, faced a predicament. He'd undertaken an ambitious research project about student loans that he couldn't possibly finish by his deadline. So he came clean and asked readers for help. Lieber explains his journalistic experiment in mea culpa, crowdsourcing and subtly expanding the print pages of the Times.

Ambushing the Ambushers (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:50 GMT

In the past few years, "The O'Reilly Factor" has adopted an old tradition from "60 Minutes"-era TV journalism: the ambush interview. We talk to John Cook, investigations editor for Gawker, who says that Bill O'Reilly uses the ambush to settle personal scores. Plus, OTM producer PJ Vogt describes shadowing Cook as he tried to ambush an ambusher.

The Art of the Ambush (On The Media: Friday, 26 June 2009)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:58 GMT

Legendary producer Lowell Bergman worked for "60 Minutes" for nearly fifteen years. He describes the ambush interview's surprising origins and thorny legal history. He also explains why reporter Mike Wallace eventually stopped using the technique.