On the Media

There’s comedy, and there’s news, and then there’s that amalgamation of the two -- call it satire or lampoonery or, in the parlance of Jon Stewart, “Fake news.” But how does it get made? And does it help or hurt if your background is in  real news? Last month Brooke moderated a discussion put on by the Journalism + Design  program at The New School  in New York City featuring writers and producers...

What's worse: potentially biased humans controlling the news you see or a "neutral" algorithm? Accusations that Facebook's Trending Topics feature isn't purely data-driven have highlighted the platform's power.  Plus: Margaret Sullivan, the former public editor of  The New York Times , is on her way to the  Washington Post . How much did she change at the paper of the record?  Also: Bob's take on...

Last Tuesday Donald Trump won the Indiana primary and became the presumptive nominee of the Republican party. In the days that followed, hands were wrung over the question “how did we get this so wrong?” New York Times columnist Jim Rutenberg was particularly critical of data journalism , which one election cycle ago seemed so heroic but in Trumpworld turned out to have feet of clay. Singling out...

Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, the nay-saying pundits have one last-ditch idea: a centrist third party candidate to save the day! Just like they said in the last election, and the one before that... This week On the Media explores the media's recurring fixation on a technocratic third party candidate and why exactly it's bogus. Plus, how the US helped create Puerto Ri...

The story of a man's rise from local media firebrand to out-sized TV personality superstar to political demagogue. Sound familiar? It's actually the plot of Elia Kazan's 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd", which charts the dramatic ascent of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, played by Andy Griffith. WNYC's Sara Fishko, host of the Fishko Files, explores what the film's story about a rise and fall can tell us...

The alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich to stop Trump was over before it began, but it's just the latest in a long history of political plots. We examine the shadowy history of election scheming, and trace the origins of the notion that the people, not politicians, should get to pick the president. Plus, how the haunting disappearance of 43 students in Mexico may finally prompt a reckoning w...

The Belfast Project is an archive of interviews with militia members from both sides of Ireland's "Troubles," the war that raged in Northern Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s. The archives, which are housed at Boston College Library, are off-limits to the public and law enforcement, due to the fact that those interviewed agreed to speak on the condition that their testimonies not be published un...

It's been four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare, and the Bard is as popular as ever... and just as mysterious. For centuries, a war has raged over the question: who  is  Shakespeare? We explore how the answer has evolved through the ages, and what that tells us about our changing perceptions of class, art, genius, and religion. Plus, a look at Shakespeare's enduring global rele...

With an aging listenership and the rise of podcasts, the future of NPR is thrown into question. Bob digs into the recent conversation about how the public broadcasting giant is reacting to changes in the industry, and what member stations want from the network.  Then, a work of lewd satire has strained Germany's understanding of free speech -- and highlighted an uneasy relationship with Turkey. An...

Last August, Flibanserin -- or "Addyi" -- became the first FDA-approved drug aimed at treating sexual dysfunction in women. Sprout, the company that developed the so-called “female Viagra” was understandably excited, and even more so the next day when they were bought by pharmaceutical giant Valeant, for one billion dollars. But after a rocky year, Valeant announced Monday that they had dismissed...

One week after the Panama Papers thrust the shadowy world of the ultra-rich into the spotlight, the massive trove of data is still being sifted as world leaders scramble to explain-away offshore accounts. How 400 journalists from 76 countries worked in secret for over a year to decipher the largest leak ever, and how we got here in the first place. On the Media is supported by listeners like you....

The Panama Papers is by sheer volume of documents the largest whistle-blower leak in history. With over 100 news organizations from over 80 countries involved it is also the largest journalistic collaboration ever. And it has already claimed its first scalp. On Tuesday, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned over revelations of undisclosed investments in three of Iceland’s failed b...

This week President Obama criticized journalistic irresponsibility in a speech, but critics note that he has consistently worked to block press access. We take a look at the plight of public information under an opaque administration. Plus, the ethics of reading the news; dissecting the notion of "momentum" in election seasons; seeking posthumous fame for a cult filmmaker; and a Ghanaian undercove...

How do our assumptions about people affect our assumptions about their food? And how do their assumptions about our food affect how we feel about ourselves? What happens when chefs cook a cuisine they weren’t born into? And what happens when there’s a backlash? Our friend Dan Pashman,  host of WNYC Studio's The Sporkful , has launched a  special series of episodes called "Other People's Food ," wh...

European Union leaders declared this week’s attack in Brussels an act of war; one former ISIS hostage says those declarations play into the terrorist group’s game plan. We look at what’s behind an unprecedented crackdown on press freedom in Turkey, and examine the significance of President Obama's "other" Latin America trip-- to Argentina. Plus, a special On the Media guide to how  not  to cover C...

A jury in St. Petersburg, Florida, found that Gawker Media must pay $140 million in damages to the wrestler Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Bollea). The case is about Gawker publishing an excerpt of a tape showing Hogan having sex with his friend's then-wife -- a tape Hogan claims he did not know his friend was filming. The case has raised concerns about First Amendment protections because Gawker is c...

For the first months of the Trump campaign, the media wondered incredulously, "What kind of person thinks he can act like that and get elected?" Now that Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, a new question has arisen: "What kind of people could support a person who acts like that?"  We take a look at how the media have attempted to understand (and suppress) the mythical Trump supporter --...

In 1993, the photojournalist Paul Watson took three photographs of Somali dragging the body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu. As he took the shots, he thought he heard the soldier, William David Cleveland, whisper: "If you do this, I will own you forever." The moment and its aftermath is the subject of a play, "The Body of An American", on through March 20 at the Cherry Lane...

A special hour on the publishing industry and the resurgence of print--from Amazon’s flirtation with brick-and-mortar bookstores to the success of wholesale suppliers shilling books by the foot as decorative objects. Plus, South Korea’s well-funded quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature, the subversive history of adult coloring books, and more.    On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Su...

Political commentators have repeatedly, reliably, been wrong this election season. There was the improbable Bernie Sanders. The inevitable Jeb Bush. The passing-fad Donald Trump. Now that we've landed so far from where we began, we examine why pundits make such bad predictions, and why they probably won't stop. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today ( https:...

President Obama's latest attempt to close Guantanamo Bay prison has been met with fierce opposition from Congress. We look at what the prison has come to mean to the American public...and what it means for jihadists. Plus: a look at vigilante groups fighting to uphold their version of the law on both sides of the US-Mexico border, the Apple/FBI showdown, and the GOP "front-runner" who has yet to a...

A political battle is raging over Justice Scalia's replacement on the high court. But what does the public really know about how the court operates? We revisit our special hour on the Supreme Court, from the unknowable impact of the decisions to the justices' peculiar traditions. Plus: how popular culture frames our understanding and the not-so-evolving position on cameras in the courtroom.  On th...

The threat of the Zika virus has been covered extensively, but the reality is still largely unknown. A look away from the panicked headlines at what we know and don't know about the virus, as well as how Zika serves as a window into global questions surrounding climate change and reproductive rights. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today ( https://pledge.wn...

A former reporter turned opposition researcher offers an insider’s perspective on the work of unearthing political dirty secrets. Also, the real story of the Dean Scream-- the unforgettable, unscripted moment blamed for ending Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential bid. And, a new documentary chronicles the life of the late conflict correspondent James Foley.  On the Media is supported by listeners like...

A certain candidate was conspicuously absent from this week's Republican debate. But Donald Trump's presence on conservative talk radio has never flagged. We look at the influence of Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts on this election season. Plus, why the government's plan to build an algorithm to spot terrorists is doomed to fail, and a deep dive into the legal controversies surrounding Planned Paren...