On The Media from NPR/WNYC
In an era of information overload, On the Media helps you make sense of it all. A weekly program from National Public Radio and WNYC, New York Public Radio. Includes MP3 Podcast enclosure.
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November 6, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
The ethical dilemma of reporting from Waziristan; say hello to pay walls; the real story of a famous Berlin Wall moment
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Covering the Third War (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
The US is (unofficially) at war in Pakistan, where reporters face pressure to cover the search for Al Qaeda in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan. But the area is virtually inaccessible to most journalists and information is tightly controlled by the Pakistani military. Journalist Shahan …
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A Higher Power (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
While there were only a handful of U.S. unmanned aerial drones in 2003, there are now some 7,000 that the military relies on for many of its objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century explains that these …
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TV's Unlikely Ally (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
As the DVR became more and more popular, many in the TV industry feared that commercial-skipping would destroy the medium. But it turns out many DVR-users still watch commercials. Bill Carter of the New York Times says the numbers are startling and the DVR actually helps ratings.
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Is Paid Content Nigh? (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
News Corp and The New York Times have suggested they might start charging for web content. Last week Newsday did start charging for access to its website. Does this mean the days of completely free news websites are over? Steven Brill is founder of Journalism Online, a company that works with over a …
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Refusing to Pay (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
Accessing full Newsday articles online costs $5 per week if you don't subscribe to the print edition or Optimum Online. When Newsday columnist Saul Friedman found out he quit. After 13 years of writing for the paper, Friedman says many of his readers will no longer be able to read his column and so …
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Finding Utopia (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
Last month, John Harris, a legendary reporter for the National Enquirer, died at the age of 76. One of his colleagues, David Wright, talks about Harris's most famous assignment for the Enquirer: a search for Utopia.
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Update (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
The photos depicting the mistreatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners shocked the world. New photos of detainee abuse are known to exist, and the Obama Administration initially said they would share them with the public. But then Obama changed his mind, arguing the nature of the images could endanger U.S. s …
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Shields Up (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
This month, the White House and the Senate reached a compromise that makes it likely the nation will pass a federal shield law. CW Andersen, a blogger for Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab, talks about who the law will cover, and the compromises journalists have made to get it enacted.
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Tear Down This Quote (On The Media: Friday, 06 November 2009)
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. While President Ronald Reagan famously told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," another more mysterious quote attributed to Gorbachev would dominate the narrative of the Velvet Revolution. WNYC reporter Brian …
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October 30, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
A judge demands to see the grades of journalism students working to free prisoners; A local TV news director explains why she had to air footage of a savage murder and what happens to the unfinished work of famous authors after they die.
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Investigating the Investigators (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
The Medill Journalism School and the Cook County District Attorney in Chicago are locked in a legal battle over a murder investigation conducted by Medill students as part of the Innocence Project. The DA has subpoenaed the students' academic records. Medill Dean John Lavine says the students a …
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The Innocence Mission (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
Pete Shellem, a reporter for the Central Pennsylvania paper, the Patriot News, died last week. Shellem was best known for his investigative journalism, which directly led to the freeing of four prisoners serving life sentences for murder. Mike Feeley, Shellem's editor at the paper, recalls Shellem's …
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Take For Granted (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
A recent report from the Columbia School of Journalism included a half dozen ideas for how to salvage the Fourth Estate. One in particular – that local news outlets be allowed to apply for government-funded grants – prompted many skeptical responses. Leonard Downie, former executive editor of The Wa …
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News Ex Machina (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
Online content provider Demand Media has found a formula, literally, for generating its many, often instructional, articles and videos. Think of it as a cut-rate Associated Press, except instead of human beings thinking up story ideas an algorithm does. Wired magazine’s Daniel Roth explains.
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The Right Place at the Wrong Time (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
The story of 16 year-old Chicago student Derrion Albert being beaten to death outside his high school became a national story after video surfaced of the beating. The video is horrifying even in today’s violence-soaked media landscape. Fox Chicago was the first outlet to acquire the footage and news …
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The Fear Factor (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
Is our fear of biotechnology impeding the scientific progress we once revered? Michael Specter thinks so. In his new book Denialism, Specter says irrational thinking has led the opposition of vaccines and genetically modified food. The internet and the news media aren’t helping either.
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Last Words (On The Media: Friday, 30 October 2009)
When Vladimir Nabokov died he left explicit instructions to burn his unfinished novel. But The Original of Laura will be published this month. Slate's Ron Rosenbaum, a huge Nabokov fan (and perhaps one of the reasons why the book will be published), says he's conflicted about whether publishing is …
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October 23, 2009 (On The Media: Friday, 23 October 2009)
Special: The Future of the Music Industry
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Facing the (Free) Music (On The Media: Friday, 23 October 2009)
For 10 years, music execs have waged a war against digital file sharing -- and software like Napster and websites like The Pirate Bay -- which have decimated the industry’s profits. But recently, there are signs from Europe that the battle over free music may be changing.
On The Media from NPR/WNYC
