BOB GARFIELD: The magazine The Week and the web site I Want Media are polling their readers to determine who will go down in history as the media person of 2003. This year the winner is--well, we don't know yet. The polls closed on New Year's Eve, and the results haven't been tallied. But it has been a big year for the integrity of newspaper journalism, for deregulation in broadcast, for bloggers, for war reporters, for the Freedom of Information and for the First Amendment. It is an impressive list of nominees that represents the good, the bad and the grotesquely ugly in American media. Patrick Phillips is the founder of I Want Media dot come, and he joins me now. Patrick, welcome to the big show.

PATRICK PHILLIPS: Thank you very much.

BOB GARFIELD: As you looked over the early polling, did you find less than obvious candidates who, when you saw their names, made you go "Hm. Now that, that -- there's a thought."

PATRICK PHILLIPS: The guys from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I wouldn't have thought of them, but they did have an impact -- an impact on popular culture at least, this year. And some people even nominated TiVo, which obviously is not a person, but-- then again, is, is expected to have a tremendous impact on, on the media landscape, not only this past year but in, in the coming years. So there are some surprises in there, absolutely.

BOB GARFIELD: This is all kind of a parlor game. There, there is necessarily no single media person of the year, right?

PATRICK PHILLIPS:Well, absolutely. We just thought doing this poll would be a fun way to take a look back at the year in media by recognizing some of its most outstanding figures, from some very visionary, powerful CEOs at media companies to a number of media troublemakers, so to speak -- some people who stirred up the media landscape from Jayson Blair at the New York Times and Rosie O'Donnell and the situation with her magazine, and people like Al Franken who appeared to have got under Bill O'Reilly's skin a bit this year.

BOB GARFIELD: Who's leading the pack so far?

PATRICK PHILLIPS:You know, the poll has already closed, so I'd really hesitate to give it away, because we're going to be announcing it later this month. But the people who have received the most votes are Jayson Blair at the New York Times and also Bonnie Fuller who helped revive Us Weekly and then moved on to another high profile position with American Media--

BOB GARFIELD: With a newspaper tabloid, right?

PATRICK PHILLIPS: Yes, exact--

BOB GARFIELD: Star Magazine and--

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Exactly. Anyway, those two figures are at the top of the list.

BOB GARFIELD:Okay. And in fact they would have been at the very top of my list. Jayson Blair, I guess, would be my choice and maybe Bonnie Fuller, or Michael Powell, the chairman of the FCC or-- Now let me ask you about how you win. Now, you know, we've discussed Jayson Blair, so maybe, maybe he will turn out to be media person of the year; maybe he won't.

PATRICK PHILLIPS: Maybe. [LAUGHS]

BOB GARFIELD: Last year was Martha Stewart. Who on the list are there because of their achievements, and, and not because of some controversy surrounding them?

PATRICK PHILLIPS: [PAUSE] Well, that's a good question, because-- [LAUGHTER]

BOB GARFIELD: And your pause--

PATRICK PHILLIPS: Yes, a long pause, cause I was--

BOB GARFIELD: -- and your pause speaks terrible volumes about our -- the year in media. [LAUGHTER] Patrick, thanks very much.

PATRICK PHILLIPS: Okay, thank you.

BOB GARFIELD: Patrick Phillips is the founder of I Want Media dot com, which along with The Week magazine is sponsoring The Media Person of the Year. [MUSIC]