Transcript
Letters
April 14, 2001
BOB GARFIELD: Speaking of corporate media, the On the Media corporate anthem we aired last week inspired surprising appreciation from some of you. Listener David Parr [sp?] of Dallas, Texas took his admiration one step further. In honor of his current employer's impending merger with a California-based company called Maxim, Mr. Parr wrote his very own corporate anthem.
DAVID PARR SINGING WITH MUSIC: CAN'T WAIT TILL THIS MERGER GOES THROUGH THIS IS A SONG FOR [I DO ?] MAXIM OF LORDS YOU'LL ALWAYS BE RIGHT HOME WITH US. I HOPE THAT THEY ARE PRETTY [...?...] DON'T TELL BOB IT'S PROBABLY HIM.
BOB GARFIELD: Well, thank you David, that was both haunting and extremely pitiful.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Our discussion of Dan Rather's appearance at Democratic party fundraiser drew plenty of responses. Alan Nuner [sp?] from Boonetown [sp?], New Jersey wrote: journalists are like every other citizen - entitled to their own opinions, biases and beliefs! Jonathan Sando [sp?] of Fremont, California agreed and added the media's lack of credibility has more to do with what it hides than what it reveals. Larry Tegrin of Montgomery Village, Maryland dismissed the entire matter out of hand. Dan Rather isn't even a journalist he says. He is what the BBC more honestly referred to as a news reader. He is a personality figurehead who reads a script. As a footnote to our continuing coverage of Professor Gore's adventures at the Columbia School of Journalism, William Lutz [sp?], a real professor at Rutgers University wants us to ask is there a syllabus for this course? Are there any writing assignments? Are there any exams? On what basis will the students be graded?
BOB GARFIELD:And finally a listener in need of reassurance. Eric Pierce [sp?] from Bellevue, Washington confessed to feeling a trifle molested by the April 9th issue of Newsweek. The magazine listed as a catch phrase the tag line from NBC's not-yet-aired game show The Weakest Link. How can a catch phrase pre-date its source, he asks? And he also wonders if there's some sort of sneaky synergy going on between GE that owns NBC and the Washington Post company that owns Newsweek. Well the answer is no, there is no financial connection anyway between those two companies, but speaking of cross-promotion, next up On the Media's London Gareth Mitchell offers this report on the weakest link.