Mass media
Has Tucker Carlson created the most racist show in the history of cable news?
The NY Times did an exhaustive survey of the Fox News hosts' broadcasts. Reporter Nicholas Confessore says Carlson's show is based on ideas that were once "caged in a dark corner of American life."
In the Murdoch family succession battle, Fox News and democracy hang in the balance
A 91-year-old billionaire sits atop a global media empire, while his adult children vie to control the family company in the next generation.
It sounds like the plot of the HBO series Succession, but New York Times journalist Jim Rutenberg says the real-life drama involving Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch and his children, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, rivals anything a screenwriter could dream up.
'Fresh Air' Remembers Veteran Journalist Pete Hamill
Hamill, who died Aug. 5, was a columnist and editor at the New York Post and the New York Daily News, covering wars, crime and the people of NYC's boroughs. Originally broadcast in '94, '08 and '11.
Not Fit To Print? When Politicians Talk Dirty, Media Scramble To Sanitize
How the media reports on crude language when a public figure is caught using it on tape. . . for instance Donald Trump.
In Case You Missed It: Events And Trends Of 2009.
Vogue Magazine film critic John Powers talks about the year in media: the major events, the trending topics and the evolution of social networking.
Reporter Helen Thomas Gets An HBO 'Thank You'
Documentarian Rory Kennedy, who's won acclaim and awards for her documentaries American Hollow and The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, turns her lens on legendary White House correspondent Helen Thomas. David Bianculli has a review.
Frank Rich on 'The Decline and Fall of Truth'
New York Times columnist Frank Rich's new book is The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina. Rich has been with the Times since 1980, when he was named chief theater critic.
Journalist Bill Moyers
His new book, Moyers on America (The New Press) is a first-ever collection of his essays and speeches. Moyers is the host of Now with Bill Moyers on PBS. He was one of the organizers of the Peace Corps, spokesperson for President Lyndon Johnson, a senior correspondent for CBS News, and producer of many public TV series. Moyers has won 30 Emmy Awards.
Critic-at-Large John Powers
Powers looks at religion and the media in the wake of public reaction to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
TV critic David Bianculli
TV critic David Bianculli previews the HBO docudrama Live from Baghdad. It's a behind-the-scenes story about how CNN scooped its rivals in covering the first night of the Persian Gulf War 12 years ago. The show premieres on Saturday.