Media

David Westin has served as the president of ABC News for about eleven years. He oversees the journalism of “Nightline,” “World News with Charles Gibson,” and “20/20.” The Walt Disney Company owns ABC, however, and, at times, Westin has seemed to struggle to police the foggy border between news and entertainment. For example, in 2000--two Presidential-election cycles ago--he permitted the actor Leonardo DiCaprio to film a talk with President Clinton, to commemorate Earth Day.

On the third annual "Earth Day for the Internet", communities across the country are holding events to learn about and advocate for that marvel of modern infrastructure, the Internet. In the nation's capital, advocates, experts and government representatives will honor OneWebDay, September 22, with a tribute to the Internet's role in politics and the politics of the Internet.

Don't do it. Don't tune in to this year's political conventions.

Journalists often forget that conflicts of interest may biasthe opinions of their expert sources. Jeanne Lenzer and ShannonBrownlee explain how, in an attempt to disentangle commercialmessages from science, they have compiled a list of nearly 100independent medical experts to whom reporters can turn.

...But there is wide agreement that as the press corps diminishes, there is an increasing lack of quality state political information. "The importance of having an independent journalism that played a watchdog function is extremely important in keeping government honest and responsive," said Mark Paul, deputy director of the New America Foundation's California program... LINK

The policies set by the U.S. federal government on media ownership have tremendous impact on community media that traditionally has played an important role in fostering community awareness and involvement. For local municipalities and constituencies, the on-the-ground media ownership rules ultimately boils down to the question of how diverse the opinions expressed in local media will be and how representative of topical issues the local news will be.

I ask Taylor Marsh whether she really keeps a gun to protect herself from her detractors, as she claims on her website. So, she escorts me into her bedroom to show the proof: an HK 9mm handgun. "I know how to use it," she says, pointing the weapon briefly in my direction (it's unloaded) before walking over to the other side of the bed. There, she holds up her husband's firearm, a Ruger Mini-14 rifle. "I am just reviled everywhere," she declares with more than a hint of pride.

Amid all the national debate over immigration, at least one firm consensus has emerged: Newcomers to the United States should learn English because it remains the lingua franca of our civic life. All three remaining presidential contenders say that the ability to speak English should be a requirement of U.S. citizenship. And last year, the immigrant governor of California told a convention of Latino journalists that immigrants should watch only English-language TV so they can understand the language and news of their home state. "You've got to turn off the Spanish television set," Gov.

A few weeks ago, devoted listeners of National Public Radio were treated to an episode of the award-winning radio series The Infinite Mind called "Prozac Nation: Revisited." The segment featured four prestigious medical experts discussing the controversial link between antidepressants and suicide. In their considered opinions, all four said that worries about the drugs have been overblown.