Transcript
BROOKE GLADSTONE: And now for a few of your letters. Mark Kometzko from Cleveland Heights, Ohio wrote: "I enjoyed your story on embedded campaign reporters and was glad to see that you raised the issue of a journalist's potentially losing his or her objectivity when so wedded to a single candidate. The same thing bothered me over the last two election cycles when NPR assigned one reporter each to the two main candidates and then allowed the winner to go on to become the White House reporter. Tying a reporter's professional success to helping sell the electability of his or her news object sends the wrong signal. NPR and other media who follow this trend ought not to reward reporters in this way.
BOB GARFIELD:Steven J. Worsin from Ridgecrest, California complained about author Peter Biskind's comments about the movie Cold Mountain. Worsin wrote: "He said that this film is essentially about a man walking through the woods. Your critic may be an authority on independent films, but you should send him back to school to read the great books. Cold Mountain is a lot more than a man walking through the woods. It is a retelling of the Odyssey. Tell your critic to borrow a copy of the Odyssey and take it on a walk in the woods."
BROOKE GLADSTONE:And finally, this from a listener who signs off as Mary Lou. She writes: "Who handles the media feed for the State of the Union? I felt a distinct Republican bias in the feed. I was wanting to see long shots of the whole chamber's reactions to the speech, when instead I received many closeups of applauding Republicans, and I began to wonder who was making those choices for us."
BOB GARFIELD:Well, more on that in a second, but first I want to remind you to send your emails to onthemedia@wnyc.org, and don't forget to tell us where you live and how to pronounce your name. Your whole name, Mary Lou.
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