Best of US Media

[Spectabilis]

I have a question for you Count. I have just discovered a US channel called PBS - Public Broadcasting Service. I have found some excellent series here - One on prohibition and I am currently watching a three-part series on Clinton. (Channel 166 on Sky)
I think some of their programming is aimed at shools at a certain time of the day, and am wondering how it is regarded. Is it seen as very supportive of the status quo or conservative or does it offer an independent critique?

[Count Bobulescu]

Spec, apart from the Sunday political shows, PBS is usually the only US TV I watch, with a few exceptions. Most of what I’ve posted up thread originates on PBS. Charlie Rose airs on PBS. Ideologically, they are required to be like the BBC/RTE, but they are funded very differently.

They are not a “national network” in the sense that the same programming is not broadcast nationwide at the same time like the commercial networks. I have access to three PBS affiliate stations, a Md. DC, and Va. one. Md. and Va. carry much the same schedule in primetime, DC is very different. And since they survive on corporate, foundation, and private individual donations, (no advertizing, license fee, or government money), they are not nearly as comprehensive as say the BBC. So instead, they try to do a few things well, and fill in the rest of time with kids programming and old British comedies etc.

There is always plenty of stuff to watch directly from their site.

http://www.pbs.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS

Since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as America's most-trusted national institution.[3] However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public TV stations; in fact, stations usually receive a large portion of their content (including most pledge drive specials) from third-party sources, such as American Public Television, NETA, WTTW National Productions and independent producers. This distinction is a frequent source of viewer confusion.[4]

Political/ideological bias

• The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 [1] required a "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature". It also prohibited the federal government from interfering or controlling what is broadcast.

• Banned by PBS: Muslims Against Jihad On July 19, 2007, Fox News (outside link) published "Banned by PBS: Muslims Against Jihad," which accused the network of liberal bias.

• In at least one instance (a 1982 broadcast of the United States Information Agency program Let Poland be Poland about the martial law declared in Poland in 1981), Congress has expressly encouraged PBS to abandon its conventional position of non-partisan neutrality. The program, a protest against the imposition of martial law by a Soviet-backed régime, contained commentary from many well-known celebrities. While widely viewed in the U.S., it met with skepticism on the part of European broadcasters due to concerns that the show, "provocative and anticommunist," was intended as propaganda.[20][21]

• Individual programs have been the targets of organized campaigns by those with opposing views, including former United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.[22]

• Kenneth Tomlinson, who took over at Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 2003, began his tenure by asking for Karl Rove's assistance in overturning a regulation that half the CPB board have practical experience in radio or television. Later he appointed an outside consultant to monitor the regular PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers. Told that the show had "liberal" leanings, Moyers eventually resigned in 2005 after more than three decades as a PBS regular, citing political pressure to alter the content of his program and saying Tomlinson had mounted a "vendetta" against him.[23] Moyers eventually returned to host Bill Moyers Journal, after Tomlinson resigned. Subsequently, PBS made room temporarily for conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, formerly of MSNBC and co-host of CNN's Crossfire, and The Journal Editorial Report with Paul Gigot, an editor of The Wall Street Journal editorial page (this show has since moved to Fox News Channel) to partially balance out the perceived left-leaning PBS shows.[24] On November 3, 2005 CPB announced the resignation of Tomlinson amid investigations of improper financial dealings with consultants.[24]

[Count Bobulescu]

Charlie Rose had a Presidents Day discussion with some prominent historians about US Presidents beginning with Obama. Fifty minutes.
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12164

[Spectabilis]

Many thanks for the PBS information Count. I will be looking out for more from there now.

PS. I am just watching 'Obama's Deal' I had forgotten how shocking it was that Ted Kennedy's seat went to a Republican.

[Count Bobulescu]

Cross posting in US media/Coulson scandal
Here’s the Frontline program that ran Tuesday night. The site also has additional info like interview transcripts that were not broadcast. Not really sure if there is anything new here, or whether anything similar has been broadcast in the UK. Bear in mind it is designed for a US audience who only had half an eye on it at the time.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...dochs-scandal/

[Count Bobulescu]

Nowhere appropriate to stick this and it certainly doesn’t qualify as “Best”.
Keith Olbermann Fired Again. Replaced by ex NY Gov Eliot Spitzer. Olby’s staff moving to Spitzer.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74686.html

More
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74693.html

When Al Gore and Joel Hyatt snapped up Keith Olbermann last year following his spectacular exit from MSNBC, they knew what they were getting: a ferociously talented, famously difficult broadcaster with a track record of taking networks to the next level.
But as their relationship with him disintegrated rather publicly over the last six months – to the surprise of absolutely no one in the television business — it became clear that they were getting all of the drawbacks and none of the benefits.

Olbermann to sue (yawn)

http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/...tv-119218.html

[Count Bobulescu]

This American Life is a quirky weekend radio program. This week they focused on how politicians raise money in Washington. It runs 53 minutes and if you have the time it’s worth a listen.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Prologue.
Host Ira Glass plays a voicemail containing something very common but very rare to hear: an elected official directly asking a lobbyist for money. (4 minutes)
.
Act One. The Hamster Wheel.
Planet Money's Alex Blumberg and NPR Congressional correspondent Andrea Seabrook take a tour through the world of money and politics, discovering just how much time members of congress spend raising money and which committee assignments yield the biggest campaign donations. They also try to figure out what all this money is actually buying.
For an interactive map of Washington DC fundraiser locations, charts of the best and worst types of fundraisers, and other online extras, visit Planet Money's website. (27 minutes)
.
Act Two. PAC Men.
Everything about political fundraising is changing right now, because of the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. Since then, "Super PACs" have been able to funnel huge amounts of anonymous money into races. Producer Ben Calhoun shares the example of Ami Bera, whose run for Congress was dramatically affected by money from a Super PAC. (15 minutes).


Song: "If You've Got The Money, I've Got the Time", Jo Stafford


Act Three. The O.G.s
Ten years ago, Congress voted to reform campaign finance, after Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold took up the cause. Here they reunite on the radio, to reminisce and lament how that reform failed. Senator Feingold is author of the book While America Sleeps. (7 1/2 minutes).

[Kev Bar]

Many thanks for the PBS information Count. I will be looking out for more from there now.

PS. I am just watching 'Obama's Deal' I had forgotten how shocking it was that Ted Kennedy's seat went to a Republican.

PBS on the telly. NPR on the radio.

[Count Bobulescu]

Here are some programs that recently aired in the PBS science series Nova 50 minutes each unless noted. All are viewable online.

1: Hunting the Elements………the building blocks of nature….two hours.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics...-elements.html

2: Cracking your Genetic Code……….Personalized Gene Based Medicine

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/cr...etic-code.html

3: Japan’s Killer Quake

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/j...ler-quake.html

4: Extreme Cave Diving

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/e...ve-diving.html

5: Bombing Hitler’s Dams……….A reconstruction

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/militar...tler-dams.html

6: 3D Spies of WW11

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spies-3d.html

7: Mystery of a Masterpiece……….Lost Leonardo?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

8: Deadliest Volcanoes

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

9: Ice age Death Trap

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

10: Separating Twins

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/separating-twins.html

Frontline Law & Disorder An investigation into the shooting dead and subsequent cover up of two men by police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This week four police officers were sentenced to between 38 and 65 years.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/law-disorder/

[C. Flower]

This American Life is a quirky weekend radio program. This week they focused on how politicians raise money in Washington. It runs 53 minutes and if you have the time it’s worth a listen.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

Sounds like any disgruntled DCC Councillor, overlooked by Dunlop

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play...play=461&act=0

[Count Bobulescu]

Sounds like any disgruntled DCC Councillor, overlooked by Dunlop

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play...play=461&act=0

Sleaze knows no borders.

[random new yorker]

my opinion on the episodes i have seen:

Here are some programs that recently aired in the PBS science series Nova 50 minutes each unless noted. All are viewable online.

2: Cracking your Genetic Code……….Personalized Gene Based Medicine

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/cr...etic-code.html

Excellent


3: Japan’s Killer Quake

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/j...ler-quake.html

Excellent


4: Extreme Cave Diving

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/e...ve-diving.html

Scary



7: Mystery of a Masterpiece……….Lost Leonardo?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html


Excellent

9: Ice age Death Trap

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html


Unremarkable


10: Separating Twins

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/separating-twins.html

Inspiring

[Count Bobulescu]

ta for that.

[eamo]

Here are some programs that recently aired in the PBS science series Nova 50 minutes each unless noted. All are viewable online.

1: Hunting the Elements………the building blocks of nature….two hours.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics...-elements.html

2: Cracking your Genetic Code……….Personalized Gene Based Medicine

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/cr...etic-code.html

3: Japan’s Killer Quake

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/j...ler-quake.html

4: Extreme Cave Diving

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/e...ve-diving.html

5: Bombing Hitler’s Dams……….A reconstruction

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/militar...tler-dams.html

6: 3D Spies of WW11

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/spies-3d.html

7: Mystery of a Masterpiece……….Lost Leonardo?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

8: Deadliest Volcanoes

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

9: Ice age Death Trap

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/my...sterpiece.html

10: Separating Twins

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/separating-twins.html

Frontline Law & Disorder An investigation into the shooting dead and subsequent cover up of two men by police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This week four police officers were sentenced to between 38 and 65 years.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/law-disorder/

Some of them look very interesting but when the links are clicked I get a message saying "we are sorry, video is not available in your region due to rights restrictions". The one exception is the last link "law and disorder" the pbs frontline program. Which I am now watching. Thanks for the links, can anyone from the UK or Europe access them? just curious.

[eamo]

Powerful documentary on New Orleans Police Department, their culture, and response to Hurricane Katrena.


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/law-disorder/