I have been watching this tonight on PBS for the past 50 minutes (it’s still on, and it is an excellent episode…lots of stuff in this episode about Internet journalism.
In a four-hour special, News War, FRONTLINE examines the political, cultural, legal, and economic forces challenging the news media today and how the press has reacted in turn. Through interviews with key figures in print, broadcast and electronic media over the past four decades — and with unequaled, behind-the-scenes access to some of today’s most important news organizations, FRONTLINE traces the recent history of American journalism, from the Nixon administration’s attacks on the media to the post-Watergate popularity of the press, to the new challenges presented by the war on terror and other global forces now changing — and challenging — the role of the press in our society.
Source: FRONTLINE: news war: watch the full program online | PBS (the so-far broadcast segments, parts 1 and 2, are available in full)
Part 1 Secrets, Sources & Spin (a closer look at the unintended consequences of the Valerie Plame investigation, a confusing affair that ultimately damaged both reporters’ reputations and the legal protections they thought they enjoyed. Segments include:
- How Bad Is It?
Seymour Hersh, Bill Keller, Bob Woodward, Len Downie and others on the Bush administration and the press. - Washington’s Culture of Secrets, Sources & Leaks
It’s an old story, as this 1971 affadavit by reporter Max Frankel, filed in the “Pentagon Papers” case, shows.
Part 2 Secrets, Sources & Spin (examines recent First Amendment battles between the federal government and the press — how much can the press reveal about secret government programs in the war on terror without jeopardizing national security?)
- National Security v. the Role of the Press
A rundown of past and present conflicts between the federal government and the press over the publication of national security information.
Part 3: Tonight: What’s Happening to the News?
