Executive Director, American Press Institute
Executive Director of the American Press Institute, a think tank on the future of news media; Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a non-political research organization, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, that evaluates the performance of the press; former reporter for the Los Angeles Times from 1983-1995; co-author of Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload
New rules for journalism in a new era How can journalists best serve their audience in a world where facts are up for grabs? A media expert has a plan.
Should the Media Have Declared Clinton the Nominee? The announcement that Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee is historic – it’s the first time a woman has captured a major-party nomination for US president. And yet the moment has been overshadowed. Many people were angered that the announcement came on Monday , the night before a huge day of primaries in which n early seven hundred pledged delegates are up for grabs in California, New Jersey, and four other states. Furthermore, the tallies media outlets used to determine that Clinton clinched the nomination include superdelegates, party insiders who Bernie Sanders says could still change their minds. So should the media have declared Clinton the nominee already? Did they make the news or just report it? And will the announcement affect voter turnout Tuesday ?
Trump and the Media It may be popular for presidential candidates to bash the “lamestream” media, but Donald Trump actually owes us a big thank you. During this campaign, he’s had so much media attention he’s barely had to spend any money on advertising. Yet he remains at odds with news outlets that recently have been fact-checking his campaign statements. Will negative media stories hurt him — or help him?
Bill O’Reilly’s Brian Williams Moment? Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News show is the top-rated cable show. But now O’Reilly’s been accused by the liberal magazine Mother Jones of inflating his wartime experience in Argentina during the Falklands War. In the magazine, David Corn wrote that O’Reilly has repeatedly claimed to have reported from the Falklands war. O’Reilly says he reported on the war but from Buenos Aires, 1,200 miles away. Today, new allegations have come out about O’Reilly embellishing his reporting career. Another liberal publication, Media Matters, says O’Reilly has repeatedly lied about being present when an associate of Lee Harvey Oswald committed suicide. What’s the merit of the allegations, and how much do they matter?
Goodbye, Bill Thomas William Thomas has died. As the editor of the LA Times from 1971 to 1989, he helped realize the paper’s ambition to be a nationally recognized news organization. The Times scored 9 Pulitzer Prizes under his leadership, launched its Sunday magazine, Book Review, and Business and Calendar sections -- and opened 11 new domestic and foreign bureaus.
WikiLeaks: Is the Internet Creating a New World Disorder? WikiLeaks has shaken up the US, its allies and its enemies by dumping hundreds of thousands of classified documents on the Internet for anybody to see. Yesterday, because of what it called "massive cyber attacks," the company that provided its domain name cut off service. But WikiLeaks has already re-appeared using different addresses. Can it ever be stopped? We put that question to the computer scientist who sent the first Internet message. Is the WikiLeaks document-dump an act of journalism or something else? Are news consumers now on their own? Will WikiLeaks produce greater efforts at secrecy or greater transparency, both public and private?
Iraq News and Your Evening News The conflict in Iraq is now the third longest war in America's history. For tens of thousands of US soldiers and countless Iraqis it's a matter of life and death. But America's newspapers and broadcasters have now reduced Iraq and Afghanistan to just 3% of the stories they are reporting. Is it too dangerous for Western reporters? Is it too expensive? Conversely, has a decreased level of violence made it a non-story? Has the taxpaying, patriotic American audience lost interest? Why do the presidential primaries get so much more attention?
The Future of the News The reports coming in from American newsrooms are ominous: budget cuts, staff layoffs, rollbacks in reporting and falling circulation, with a slump that's hitting newspapers and newsmagazines alike. Meanwhile, more and more former readers are migrating to the web, clicking their news online, downloading podcasts and videos onto their iPods and personal cell phones. Anyway you look at it, there's a seismic shake-up in the world of print journalism. Is Google replacing Time magazine? Does the New York Times really have to compete with the Drudge Report ? Are American newspapers doomed? Will they be replaced by online publications? Or is this much to do about nothing? (An extended version of this discussion was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.) Marc Cooper guest hosts.
The Future of the News The reports coming in from American newsrooms are ominous: budget cuts, staff layoffs, rollbacks in reporting and falling circulation, with a slump that's hitting newspapers and newsmagazines alike. Meanwhile, more and more former readers are migrating to the web, clicking their news online, downloading podcasts and videos onto their iPods and personal cell phones. Anyway you look at it, there's a seismic shake-up in the world of print journalism. Is Google replacing Time magazine? Does the New York Times really have to compete with the Drudge Report ? Are American newspapers doomed? Will they be replaced by online publications? Or is this much to do about nothing? Marc Cooper guest hosts.
Previewing James Comey's blockbuster testimony Former FBI director James Comey testifies Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but his opening statement has been released. In it, he says he felt pressured by Donald Trump to declare loyalty to him and publicly clear him of any wrongdoing in the Russia investigation.
Industry insights and lessons learned from memorable guests We have interesting guests on The Business, and sometimes our conversations are too long to fit into one show. This week we give you stories that were too good to leave on the cutting room floor, including some sharp insights on making it in the industry from David Mandel, David Simon, Shawn Levy and Matt Reeves.
Accusations of lying fly between James Comey and White House During his testimony Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey accused President Trump and other White House officials of lying when they said the FBI was in disarray and its staff had lost confidence in him. President Trump’s lawyer said Comey was wrong -- that the president never asked for his loyalty, and never asked him to back off the investigation into former NSA director Michael Flynn.
Securing Public Spaces, Super Wealthy Asians Vehicles are increasingly being used as weapons, as seen in the London Bridge attack over the weekend and in New York’s Times Square last month. The Compton-based company Calpipe is designing security bollards to help make public spaces safer. And novelist Kevin Kwan satirizes the “crazy rich” Asian jet set and their luxurious tastes in his latest book, “Rich People Problems.”