Media Matters
What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
Dan delivered a dose of Courage tonight.
A classy though dated farewell. "Courage." Well, he clearly was speaking for himself but I also detected a wistfulness: a reminder of the courage it took to get through the broadcast, leave under a cloud and appeal to those whom he would like to embrace who just might share his qualities of ballsiness.
As The New York Times put it tonight:
At the close of his final broadcast, Mr. Rather was given a standing ovation by dozens of CBS employees gathered around his desk, a show of solidarity that clashed with the peevish mutterings of newsmen and executives higher up in the network chain of command. The network's grumpy old men, from Mike Wallace to Don Hewitt, took potshots at Mr. Rather at his most vulnerable moment, undermining any lingering claim they had to being the Wise Men of the Tiffany Network. Walter Cronkite was the worst, emerging from his twilight to tell CNN that he wished Bob Schieffer had replaced Mr. Rather years ago.
I thought the on camera applause by colleagues was wonderful and moving. None of the sterile adios from Tom Brokaw, talking into studio cameras controllled--literally--by computer.
Hey Hey Hezbollah
Oh terrific.
The Bush administration is swallowing hard and might accept a role for Hezbollah in Lebanon. So much for those who practice or support terrorism.
Reason for Excitement
My good colleagues Christopher Lydon and producer Mary McGrath will soon be practicing their style of intelligent, cutting edge and challenging journalism with a new public radio program called Open Source.
They and the good people at PRI, Public Radio International, are making this possible along with some key public radio stations.
As The Boston Phoenix put it:
The new, one-hour show — to be called Open Source — will be heard Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m., and will be distributed through Public Radio International (PRI), National Public Radio’s smaller rival. [Lydon] expects it to be similar to The Connection, the WBUR program that he and McGrath launched in the early 1990s. The main difference, Lydon says, is that the new show will be more tightly integrated with the Internet, through streaming audio, podcasts, e-mail, and blogs, which will give him a potentially international audience right from the first day, and will lend Open Source an interactive flavor as well. Indeed, he says he and McGrath may begin to offer the program over the Internet even before going on the air. Open Source is scheduled to debut locally [in Boston] on May 30, and to be offered nationally through PRI starting on July 4.
"I hope the range of the listenership will basically be global. Through a very active Web site, we’ll be engaging people before, during, and after the program on each subject," Lydon says, declaring himself to have "a blogger’s enthusiasm about this." He adds: "We just want to make the show incredibly zesty and original and fresh.... We’re just happy to be cranking." Says McGrath: "It’s an incredible opportunity for us, and we’re enormously grateful to everybody" — that is, PRI, WGBH, and UMass Lowell.
Chris and Mary and PRI will deliver a superb show that will rock your world. Listen, participate, critique--and spread the word!
Dan delivered a dose of Courage tonight.
A classy though dated farewell. "Courage." Well, he clearly was speaking for himself but I also detected a wistfulness: a reminder of the courage it took to get through the broadcast, leave under a cloud and appeal to those whom he would like to embrace who just might share his qualities of ballsiness.
As The New York Times put it tonight:
At the close of his final broadcast, Mr. Rather was given a standing ovation by dozens of CBS employees gathered around his desk, a show of solidarity that clashed with the peevish mutterings of newsmen and executives higher up in the network chain of command. The network's grumpy old men, from Mike Wallace to Don Hewitt, took potshots at Mr. Rather at his most vulnerable moment, undermining any lingering claim they had to being the Wise Men of the Tiffany Network. Walter Cronkite was the worst, emerging from his twilight to tell CNN that he wished Bob Schieffer had replaced Mr. Rather years ago.
I thought the on camera applause by colleagues was wonderful and moving. None of the sterile adios from Tom Brokaw, talking into studio cameras controllled--literally--by computer.
Hey Hey Hezbollah
Oh terrific.
The Bush administration is swallowing hard and might accept a role for Hezbollah in Lebanon. So much for those who practice or support terrorism.
Reason for Excitement
My good colleagues Christopher Lydon and producer Mary McGrath will soon be practicing their style of intelligent, cutting edge and challenging journalism with a new public radio program called Open Source.
They and the good people at PRI, Public Radio International, are making this possible along with some key public radio stations.
As The Boston Phoenix put it:
The new, one-hour show — to be called Open Source — will be heard Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m., and will be distributed through Public Radio International (PRI), National Public Radio’s smaller rival. [Lydon] expects it to be similar to The Connection, the WBUR program that he and McGrath launched in the early 1990s. The main difference, Lydon says, is that the new show will be more tightly integrated with the Internet, through streaming audio, podcasts, e-mail, and blogs, which will give him a potentially international audience right from the first day, and will lend Open Source an interactive flavor as well. Indeed, he says he and McGrath may begin to offer the program over the Internet even before going on the air. Open Source is scheduled to debut locally [in Boston] on May 30, and to be offered nationally through PRI starting on July 4.
"I hope the range of the listenership will basically be global. Through a very active Web site, we’ll be engaging people before, during, and after the program on each subject," Lydon says, declaring himself to have "a blogger’s enthusiasm about this." He adds: "We just want to make the show incredibly zesty and original and fresh.... We’re just happy to be cranking." Says McGrath: "It’s an incredible opportunity for us, and we’re enormously grateful to everybody" — that is, PRI, WGBH, and UMass Lowell.
Chris and Mary and PRI will deliver a superb show that will rock your world. Listen, participate, critique--and spread the word!
posted by John Barth at
12:34 AM
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