To the Point
Popular Culture and Propaganda
Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth is explicit about taking sides on global warming. With a hero who uses torture, the TV show 24 sends a message of a different kind. Entertainment and propaganda. Do audiences distinguish between truth, fiction and political argument? Also, Vice President Dick Cheney travels to Pakistan and Afghanistan and, on Reporter's Notebook, civil rights leader Al Sharpton is linked by slave ancestors to one-time segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond.
By Warren Olney • • 1h 0m ListenAl Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth is explicit about taking sides on global warming. With a hero who uses torture, the TV show 24 sends a message of a different kind. Entertainment and propaganda. Do audiences distinguish between truth, fiction and political argument? Also, Vice President Dick Cheney travels to Pakistan and Afghanistan and, on Reporter's Notebook, civil rights leader Al Sharpton is linked by slave ancestors to one-time segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond.
In this episode
3 storiesOn Surprise Visit to Pakistan, Cheney Warns of al Qaeda Return
Vice President Dick Cheney is in Kabul, Afghanistan, where a meeting with President Hamid Karzai has been cancelled by weather.
Read the story6 minPop Culture's Affect on Politics
The TV show 24 portrays a hero who saves the country by violating the law. His use of torture is part of a hit program. An Inconvenient Truth is Al Gore's power-point lecture on global warming.
Read the story34 minContemporary Politics and the Legacy of Slavery
In 2004, Rev. Al Sharpton ran for President on a civil rights platform. In 1948, South Carolina's late Senator Strom Thurmond ran as a segregationist.
Read the story9 min
