Special Issue: FAIR Studies PBS’s Top News Shows

U.S./CANADA $4.95 NOVEMBER 2010 Vol. 23, No. 11 Can Need to Know Replace Now? Who Owns NewsHour? Charlie Rose’s Insiders Inside-the-Beltway Week Extra!The Magazine of FAIR—The Media Watch Group Taking the Public Out of Public TV Extra! Contents Volume 23, Number 11 November 2010 The Magazine of FAIR—The Media Watch Group 3 SoundBites

EDITOR Jim Naureckas MANAGING EDITOR Julie Hollar 4 Letters to the Editor PUBLISHER Deborah Thomas

PROGRAM DIRECTOR Janine Jackson S P E C I A L I S S U E SENIOR ANALYST Steve Rendall ACTIVISM DIRECTOR Peter Hart SHIPPING & SALES Sanford Hohauser

WEBSITE CONTRIBUTOR Gabriel Voiles

Associates Hollie Ainbinder, Robin Andersen, Kim Deterline, Laura Flanders, Carolyn Francis, Karl Grossman, Edward Herman, Jim Horwitz, William Hoynes, Sam Husseini, Norman Solomon

Interns/Volunteers Krystle Manintveld, Michael Morel

Advisory Board 5 Public TV? It Would be a Good Idea James Abourezk, Edward Asner, Ben Bagdikian, Jackson Browne, Helen Caldicott, Noam Chomsky, But the system is stacked against fulfilling PBS’s mandate Mark Dowie, Barbara Ehrenreich, Susan Faludi, by Jim Naureckas Phillip Frazer, Herbert Chao Gunther, Doug Henwood, Dolores Huerta, Nicholas Johnson, Paula Kamen, Casey Kasem, Frances Moore Lappé, Katha Pollitt, 6 What PBS Thinks You Need to Know Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Stacey Sher, Replacement for Now & Moyers fails to fill their shoes Bob Siegel, Eleanor Smeal, by Julie Hollar Steven Van Zandt, Helen Zia

FAIR FOUNDER Jeff Cohen 8 Does NewsHour ‘Help Us See America Whole’?

CounterSpin is engineered at Mercer Media. A FAIR study of PBS’s flagship news show by Steve Rendall and Michael Morel LEGAL COUNSEL William Schaap, Joel Kupferman

FAIR/Extra! Editorial Office 11 What’s ‘Public’ About Public TV’s News Flagship? 104 West 27th Street, Suite 10B Publicly supported, corporately owned New York, NY 10001-6210 by Janine Jackson Tel.: 212-633-6700; Fax: 212-727-7668 [email protected] http://www.fair.org 13 Charlie Rose’s Elite Meet-and-Greet For them, by them Subscription Inquiries: by Peter Hart [email protected]

Newsstand circulation through Disticor: 15 This Week in Beltway Think Magazine Distribution Services. Public TV’s font of conventional wisdom For more newsstand information call 905-619-6565, or fax 905-619-2903, or e-mail [email protected] by Peter Hart

Extra! (ISSN 0895-2310) is published monthly by FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Inc.). U.S. & Canadian Cover art by Jem Sullivan. subscriptions are $25 per year (foreign $48), write to FAIR/Extra! Subscription Service, P.O. Box 170, Congers, FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism NY 10920-9930, call 800-847-3993, or email extra@cambey of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First west.com. Periodicals postage paid at NY, NY 10001 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing changes to FAIR’s 10920-9930 address. © FAIR 2010. All media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. rights reserved. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglom- erates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.

2 N November 2010 Extra! SoundBites

Public’s Longstanding home salaries: somewhere between Opposition to Roads $700,000 and $1.1 million dollars for When Haters Are Best Ignored the first one, and almost $3 million and Bridges ack in the 1980s, I went down to the state capitol steps in for the second. Matt Bai wrote of the Obama admin- BMontgomery, Alabama, to cover for my newspaper an event that was istration in the New York Times ‘Divisive’ Is billed by the press release as a “rally and press conference.” It turned (9/9/10), “Little was achieved by way out to be a one-man show by an out-of-town Ku Kluxer who was trying of investing in 21st-century infra- Mediaspeak for ‘Overwhelmingly Popular’ to get publicity for his newly published racist hate screed. No one structure, largely because the public showed up except me, two radio reporters and one local TV news crew. “As the first full week of the 2010 never seemed open to the idea of When it became clear how we were being played, I caucused with my general election season opens across huge new spending.” Really? When colleagues and asked them if any of them thought this was a news the country on Monday, Washington is Bloomberg (12/10/09) polled on this event worth covering. Nope. Then why would we cover this non-event, scheduled once again to debate last year, its write-up began: letting this racist jerk hurt the feelings of many of our good local folk immigration and gay men, lesbians “Americans want their government to and offending everyone except like-minded racists? No reason, we all and bisexuals in the military, two create jobs through spending on pub- agreed. As the s.o.b. began to spout, the TV guys folded up their gear, deeply divisive social issues that lic works, investments in alternative the radio folks hit the off button and I pocketed my notebook. We all threaten to polarize the conversation energy or skills training for the job- turned on our heels and walked away, hearing the desperate pleas of on the campaign trail,” the New York less.... Two-thirds of Americans back the ignored racist, first pleading for us to come back and then calling us Times’ Michael Shear reported boosting spending on infrastructure. the usual names. We laughed and returned empty-handed to our news (9/20/10). The most recent national Six of 10 also support more spending outlets. Not one of our editors disagreed with our call. poll (CBS, 8/20–24/10) found 75 on alternative energy to stimulate job —reporter Tom Gardner (FAIR Blog comment, 9/12/10) growth.” But maybe Bai knows about percent support for repealing Don’t a national referendum that was con- Ask Don’t Tell—deeply dividing the ducted that we somehow didn’t hear vast majority from the 19 percent ian anti-immigrant law (Extra!, 7/10), Over the past three years, that peace about. who oppose it. Immigration is a more yet the actual assistance U.S. gun has killed 92 West Bank Palestinians, actually polarizing issue, but when dealers are providing to violent crimi- according to B’Tselem figures. Pundits Were people are polled on the currently nals on the other side of the border is Depressing Then, Too pending legislative proposal for seldom noted in media accounts. Publishers, To read the newspapers just now is immigration reform, 70 percent Not E-Books, Are to see Bedlam let loose. Every person support it (Texas Tribune, 6/30/10). Vanishing Palestinians Pinching Authors in the country of super asinine pro- The Brookings Institution’s Martin “The digital revolution that is pensities, everyone who hates social Violence ‘Spills Over’— Indyk wrote a New York Times op-ed disrupting the economic model of the progress and loves deflation, feels From North to South (8/27/10) suggesting reasons to be book industry is having an outsize that his hour has come, and triumph- U.S. corporate media often treat hopeful about peace talks between impact on the careers of literary antly announces how, by refraining Mexican drug violence as a phenom- Israel and the Palestinian Authority— writers,” the Wall Street Journal’s from every form of economic activity, enon that threatens to “spill over” starting with, “First, violence is down Jeffrey Trachtenberg (9/28/10) reported we can become prosperous again. into the U.S. (Extra!, 6/09)—as in considerably in the region.” He point- in “Authors Feel Pinch in Age of —John Maynard Keynes (9/14/31; New York Times headlines like “Drug ed out that while 452 Israelis were E-Books.” “Priced much lower than quoted in Fabius Cartel Violence Spills Over killed in the violence during the hardcovers, many e-books generate Maximus, 6/21/10) From Mexico, Alarming Intifada back in 2002, only eight less income for publishers.... As a U.S.” (3/23/09) and “Wave Israelis have been killed since 2009, result, the publishers who nurtured Depends of Drug Violence Is and just two so far this year. generations of America’s top literary- What You Creeping Into Arizona From Completely unmentioned were fiction writers are approving fewer Mean by ‘Small’ Mexico, Officials Say” the roughly 1,500 Palestinians that book deals and signing fewer new To illustrate Republican (2/24/09). A report from have been killed since the Israeli writers. Most of those getting pub- claims that allowing the Mayors Against Illegal Guns assault on Gaza in December 2008— lished are receiving smaller Bush tax cuts to expire (9/10) underscores how the vast majority of whom were advances.” Trachtenberg is engaging for the wealthiest tax- this “spill over” metaphor minors or noncombatant adults, in sleight-of-hand here: While payers would hurt small distorts reality, noting that according to the Israeli human rights e-books generate less income for businesses, ABC World News “90 percent of guns recovered and group B’Tselem. publishers, they produce more profits, reporter Jonathan Karl (9/8/10) intro- traced from Mexican crime scenes A similar disappearing trick was since their per-copy costs are duced two small business owners: originated from gun dealers in the performed by the Washington Post dramatically lower (Extra!, 8/10). If One said he’d lose $20,000 to United States.” An imaginary crime editorial page (9/8/10), which publishers lowered their e-book $40,000 if his taxes went up, the wave supposedly caused by unautho- described shooting attacks that killed profits to what they make on a other said he’d be out $120,000. Karl rized immigration from Mexico has four Israelis on the West Bank as hardcover, there’d be enough money didn’t point out that if this was true, been frequently offered by pundits as “interrupting what had been nearly left over to ensure that authors went his guests had astronomical take- a rationalization for Arizona’s dracon- three years of peace in the territory.” unpinched. I Extra! November 2010 N 3 Letters to the Editor

to learn a new way of thinking. quotations. The only quotations Hundreds of thousands go No, I can’t explain structure you listed were ones derogatory bankrupt because of excessive within the confines of a para- of the USSF! How could that costs. For starters, how about graph. I hope my comment go unnoticed? Considering the repealing “Newt’s Law,” which opens the door on new debate nature of your work, I find this forbids Medicare from negotia- by simply saying, “We have totally unacceptable. For people ting volume discounts with been looking all these years oer who log onto this article (who pharmaceutical companies? here (at actors and pseudo- may very well have not heard of 3) A radical branch of the psych) when we should have the Social Forum because of Islamic religion in Mecca looking over there (structural lack of coverage), these quotes inspired the 9/11 attack. Bin change).” are the ones they are going to Laden’s followers were funded Robert Leski carry away from that? And I by the Saudi royal family under Former President, Wyandotte wouldn’t be surprised if Glenn the guise of charity. Why did September 2010 Federation of Teachers Beck picks up on that and we let them off the hook after Monroe, Mich. makes note of what FAIR con- the 9/11 attack? Education Needs sidered comments worth includ- 4) Bush and his cronies lied Structural Change Thanks for the article about ing. Shame. about Iraq having weapons of The reforms I hear bandied teacher-bashing [“First, Bash A correction (and, I think, mass destruction. Why aren’t about today are reheated ver- the Teachers,” 9/10]. It is a real- apology) need to be made for they being held accountable for sions of those I observed during ly scary time to be a teacher. this failure to follow your own the murders of 100,000-plus my 50-year teaching career. For The masses are getting stirred standards. As I said, I’m such a innocent civilians and millions all their good intentions, up by Duncan and the media. big fan of your site on most of refugees who have been driv- reformers do not have a clue on The truth is rarely seen, so occasions that this was a real en from their homes? how to bring about substantive thanks a million. I doubt any disappointment. At very least 5) Mussolini defined fascism fundamental change. This teacher will vote for Obama you can provide some links to as an agreement between corp- includes Randi Weingarten and again. additional sources of coverage orations and government for Arne Duncan—two sincere Terrified in California, and history of the Social Forum. their mutual benefit. Some individuals. Jonathan Kozol Melody Priceman A few balancing quotations 36,000 corporate lobbyists in [“A Deeper Truth Than Novato, Calif. wouldn’t hurt, either. our nation’s capitol spent more Newspapers and Networks Are Thanks for your attention to than $3.6 billion to influence Likely to Provide,” 9/10] Why Only Negative this. politicians and elections in graphically reveals the flaws in Quotes on Social Forum? Carolyn Caffrey 2009. They have upped the ante education, but he has not laid I am such a great fan of the via Internet this year. out a road map for changing work that you do at FAIR that I Bob Fisher education at its core. was stunned that, particularly The editors reply: Encinitas, Calif. No reform has fundamental- considering the thrust of the As you note, the report was on ly changed education for the article [“Tea Party vs. U.S. the lack of coverage of the U.S. better because all reforms have Social Forum,” 9/10], the fol- Social Forum; it was not CounterSpin lowing could slip through unno- intended to serve as alternative The News Behind focused on the actors: teachers, the Headlines students, parents, unions. The ticed or uncorrected by the coverage of the gathering. The author or editors! disparaging quotes were chosen problems of education lie in its Recently on Your article is dead on to illustrate the dismissive tone structure. Structure is in the FAIR’s regarding the outrageous lack of what little coverage there realm of sociology. It lies out- weekly radio show: side the understanding of most of coverage for the USSF, par- was. ticularly proportional to the Tea reformers and it lies outside the • Jodi Jacobson on Party coverage. There was also Media Ignore Urgent Issues purview of educational psy- Tea Party & social issues, no coverage of the people who Why aren’t these urgent issues chology, much of which is T. Christian Miller on military walked to the USSF over three being addressed in political pseudo-educational psycholo- contractor deaths weeks from New Orleans, stop- debates or the media? gy. Unless reformers grasp the • Rick Ayers on Waiting for ping along the way at locations 1) Why do we have more meaning and implications of Superman, Vivian Stockman of historical importance to the than 700 military bases in 38 changing the structure of educa- on Appalachia Rising tion, we will waste billions of Civil Rights Movement. But nations? What percentage of that is not my complaint with our budget is dedicated to the dollars in the next decade just to To visit our archives, the article. military-industrial complex? come to the realization that to find a station near you, In mentioning the news 2) Some 46,000 of our citi- charter schools and blaming the or to listen online, sources that did give coverage zens die annually, because they actors were all for naught. please go to fair.org To grasp structural change is to the USSF, you provided three don’t have access to healthcare.

4 N November 2010 Extra! Special Issue: FAIR Studies PBS’s Top News Shows But the system is stacked against fulfilling PBS’s mandate Public TV? It Would Be a Good Idea by Jim Naureckas

hen asked by a reporter what he of PBS public affairs shows found that PBS—examining not just Need to Know, thought of Western civilization, three times as many corporate spokespeo- but also the system’s flagship news pro- Gandhi is said to have replied, “I ple appeared as guests as citizen activists gram, the NewsHour, as well as public TV Wthink it would be a good idea.” The (Extra!, 9–10/93). warhorses Washington Week and Charlie same could be said about U.S. public tele- Rose. Taken together, do these shows pro- vision. espite the stacking of the deck, there vide viewers with the alternative to com- Public TV was born 40 years ago of an have always been people at PBS pro- mercial programming that public TV was understanding of the limitations that adver- Dducing work that genuinely strives to born to broadcast? Or do they merely dupli- tiser funding and the profit motive put on fulfill public television’s mandate. In recent cate the same establishment guestlists that commercial broadcasting. Only a system years, two of PBS’s most reliable outlets can be found on the commercial end of the freed from these strictures, the pioneers of for hard-hitting journalism and underrepre- dial? public broadcasting understood, would be sented perspectives ended their runs, with The findings from four new source stud- able to air corporate-unfriendly viewpoints the host of Bill Moyers Journal retiring ies of public TV programming are laid out and include the full spectrum of society, not and Now being cancelled. To help fill the in the pages that follow. They reveal a sys- just advertisers’ preferred targets, in its public affairs gap, PBS announced the tem that is named “public” and gets funding audience—and in so doing, radically trans- launch of Need to Know—with co-host from the public—but where the same elite form the entire structure of U.S. media. Jon Meacham, a for-profit media fixture voices dominate the conversation, and the Unfortunately, the transformative poten- whose selection raised serious doubts about same white male biases squeeze out diver- tial of an independent public broadcasting how much the program intended to contin- sity, as on corporate TV. No doubt there are system was neutralized early on. The fund- ue in its predecessors’ footsteps (FAIR still people working at PBS who want it to ing structure was arranged so that most Action Alert, 3/10/10). carry out its original mission, but at this shows needed to rely on corporate under- FAIR decided that the Friday night point the dream of a network that truly writing, allowing big business to play much change offered a good opportunity to take a serves the public seems further away than the same gatekeeping role that they do in look at how public affairs were faring on ever. I for-profit media (Extra!, 9–10/93). Rules against funders having a direct interest in the shows they bankrolled have not been ‘A Bleak Future for enforced when the donors are powerful members of the establishment (FAIR Press Truly Public Television’? Release, 4/3/02; Activism Update, 7/20/10). Conservative threats to choke off public leaked resignation letter (5/21/10) from longtime WLIW/WNET writer/producer Sam Toperoff in- funding left PBS management leery of any Acluded this observation: sign of progressive content (Extra!, 3–4/95). The Corporation for Public The most galling offense and the saddest part of the story is how bleak the future looks for truly Broadcasting, which was supposed to be a “public” television in this city. On my commutes to work on the E and F lines and occasionally on “heat shield” protecting public broadcast- the Number 7 train, I’d ask people if they watched PBS. Almost no one does. They said there was ing from political influence, instead became very little on the air that spoke to their lives. The New York public is not merely the “Upper” East a tool to police programming for signs of and West sides. It is these “others” too, millions of them. And during those rare times we do pro- ideological unorthodoxy (Extra!, 9–10/05). gram for this other New York, we do it embarrassingly, in stilted, patronizing “other” fashion. These sorts of pressures have been In spite of my left-wing bona fides and my high falutin’ doctoral degree, I see our general pro- effective in leaving little to distinguish gramming for the wider public as elitist and offensive in the extreme. (Not many of us, you realize, most PBS public affairs programming from can afford those good seats at “The Home of Champions.”) But of course, when stations run on for-profit offerings, as FAIR has document- very rich people’s and corporate money, how could it be otherwise? And when the Corporation [for ed for years. As an early indication of how Public Broadcasting] is directed by those very clever and very ambitious fellows whose careers will far short the network fell from providing a float them to good places no matter what, what else could we reasonably expect? forum for the voiceless, a 1993 FAIR study Extra! November 2010 N 5 Replacement for Now & Moyers fails to fill their shoes What PBS Thinks You Need to Know by Julie Hollar

hen Bill Moyers announced last intellect, neither are people you can pigeon- were coded by gender, nationality, ethnicity, November that he would be stepping hole left or right.” By Shapiro’s logic, of occupation and, in the case of political pro- down from Bill Moyers Journal, course, anyone who is actually on the left or fessionals, partisan affiliation. Wand PBS decided to cancel its other right can’t be very bright, an insult to PBS’s Need to Know’s website describes the Friday night news show, Now, the network progressive and conservative viewers. program as “not a television broadcast with lost two hard-hitting independent programs Shapiro later told the New York Times a secondary online presence. Rather, the site from its lineup. To fill the hole, New York (5/2/10) that while “there’s no replacing Bill and the TV program work together to com- PBS station WNET—which had produced Moyers…the issues that Bill raises” would plement each other.” However, as of the two Friday shows—announced the be among the show’s topics. Stewart simi- November 2009, the show’s Web audience launch of a new one-hour program, Need to larly told the L.A. Times blog Show was only around 3 percent the size of its Know, hosted by Newsweek editor Jon Tracker (8/5/10): “Obviously, you can’t broadcast audience on New York’s WNET Meacham (who has since left the magazine) replace Bill Moyers. That’s just a ridiculous (Current, 4/5/10)—which itself makes up and former NPR, MSNBC and MTV host notion.…We’re just doing what he set out to only a fraction of the show’s audience on Alison Stewart. The show rolled out on do: seek out the truth.” PBS stations around the country. This more more than 90 percent of PBS stations in Of course, Moyers leaves big shoes to influential on-air content was the focus of May (Broadcasting & Cable, 3/22/10). fill, but he actually was replaced once—by Extra!’s research. FAIR (3/9/10) issued a statement David Brancaccio and Maria Hinojosa, who Need to Know’s U.S. sources in the expressing concern that Meacham’s hire took over Now when Moyers left to period studied were 78 percent white (196 “sends a clear and troubling message about relaunch Bill Moyers Journal. Both shows of 250). With seven appearances, Latinos PBS’s priorities,” given that the then-editor featured subjects and voices often missing made up only 3 percent of all U.S. guests, of Newsweek was a fixture on commercial from corporate media. In recent years, for though they account for 15 percent of the TV pundit shows and a consummate pur- example, Moyers interviewed Jim U.S. population. Only three Asian-Ameri- veyor of middle-of-the-road conventional Hightower and Howard Zinn on people’s cans (1 percent) and no Native Americans or wisdom with a conservative slant—not movements and struggles against powerful Americans of Mideastern descent were fea- exactly a face or a perspective that needed interests; single-payer advocates Dr. Marcia tured on Need to Know. yet another media platform, particularly not Angell and Wendell Potter; and Cornel African-Americans made up 12 percent on public television. West, Serene Jones and Gary Dorrien on of U.S. sources (29 sources), on par with Meacham’s approach to journalism faith and social justice. their representation in the population. Two seemed to be antithetical to the hard-hitting Such subjects and sources admirably ful- segments during the study period focused approach of Moyers and Now; he had called filled PBS’s purpose as set forth by the on race, one interview with Root journalist on journalists to “cover other institutions as Carnegie Commission of 1967: to “provide Terence Samuel (7/23/10) and one with you would want to be covered,” with “char- a voice for groups in the community that Harvard law professer Charles Ogletree ity and dignity and respect” (Meet the may otherwise be unheard,” to serve as “a (7/30/10). However, more than half of Press, 1/1/06). This Golden Rule approach forum for controversy and debate,” and to African-American sources appeared in seg- to news was illustrated when he intervened broadcast programs that “help us see ments on prisons and on drug abuse. Three in a Newsweek online story about Joe America whole, in all its diversity.” of the seven Latino sources appeared on a Scarborough, a personal friend who often Meacham actually expressed a similar segment about the U.S./Mexico drug war. invites Meacham onto his cable show, to understanding of PBS’s role (Globe and That one of the show’s hosts is an remove from the lead the fact that Mail, 8/8/10), explaining that it’s meant “to African-American woman is certainly a step Scarborough had served as the defense fill the spaces created by network and cable in the right direction, but women of color attorney for the murderer of an abortion news.” How well is Need to Know fulfill- were particularly underrepresented as sources, provider (FAIR Blog, 6/11/09). ing that purpose? at only nine total (4 percent). They were WNET president and chief executive outnumbered by men of color more than Neil Shapiro defended the choice of o find out, Extra! studied Need to 3 to 1. Meacham and Stewart. “They are both Know from the program’s debut on May Seventy percent of the show’s sources incredibly smart,” he told Broadcasting & T7 through July 30, 2010, a total of 13 were male. That male bias was more heavi- Cable (3/17/10). “And I think, given their one-hour shows with 297 sources. Sources ly skewed on stories about foreign affairs, at

6 N November 2010 Extra! or judges, while half of the Republicans hen Need to Know discussed the U.S. Population were local officials. One independent— WikiLeaks document release (7/30/10), New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Wa trove of classified information show- 18% nonwhite 32% —was featured, and one guest, McGurk, ing, among other things, military doubts female white male served under both Republican and about the Afghanistan War, Stewart intro- 17% nonwhite Democratic administrations. duced the show: “Much ado about nothing male Need to Know typically features one or or putting lives at risk? The effects of the 33% white female two lengthier in-studio interviews, followed WikiLeaks on the war in Afghanistan.” The by produced segments with taped sources. circumscribed choices—what about much The sources in these extended interviews ado about something?—made the choice of were slightly more skewed toward white guests unsurprising: Joshua Foust, a blog- men than sources overall: Among the 31 ger/writer who was a critic of WikiLeaks people given the show’s higher-profile plat- and was generally skeptical that there was 80 percent, versus 65 percent male sources form, only eight (26 percent) were women, much of value in the leaked reports. on domestic stories. and of the 27 U.S. sources, only four (15 The oil spill segments featured 50 percent) were people of color—all African- sources. Five were people of color (10 per- eed to Know featured several segments American men. No women of color were cent), all but one of whom were male. on hot-button subjects like birth control, featured. At 12 sources, journalists were the Twelve of the oil spill sources were women Ngun control and medical marijuana, but most represented group in these extended (24 percent). Source occupations varied it couldn’t break out of the narrow commer- interviews, followed by government offi- widely; the most-represented category was cial media box with its guest lists. The mar- cials with four sources. corporate sources (12), followed by environ- ijuana segment (on the “runaway beast” of mental experts (7) and government officials, medical marijuana clinics in California) fea- Need to Know artists, journalists and people on the street tured exclusively white men, seven of the (five each). Two were activists, one of whom 4% nonwhite female eight gun control segment guests were white 13% was an unnamed community leader (7/2/10) men and seven of the eight birth control seg- nonwhite male saying only, “People are breaking down.” ment guests were white women. There were surprisingly few segments Need to Know’s source list drew fre- 26% 57% white female white male related to the economy, given the ongoing quently from U.S. government officials (15 economic crisis during the period studied. percent) and journalists (9 percent), though Three segments looked at financial regula- it also featured a number of “person on the tion (5/28/10, 7/16/10), one at drug money street” interviews (10 percent), which were laundered through U.S. banks (5/28/10), typically very brief and often anonymous and one at the “tiny house movement” opinion or reaction soundbites. Every U.S. Total: 235 U.S. sources among people looking to save money and journalist source but one (Terence Samuel) help the environment (7/30/10). Every was white; aside from Barack Obama’s four he most frequently discussed topics were source in these segments was white. Men appearances in file footage, only two of the Afghanistan and Iraq (12 segments, outnumbered women eight to five; of the 40 other U.S. government sources were peo- Tincluding four in-studio interviews) and three in-studio interviews on the economy, ple of color. the BP oil spill (seven segments, including one (7/16/10) was with Elizabeth Warren, Corporate representatives outnumbered seven in-studio interviews). The war seg- chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel. public interest activists 20 to 12. Activists ments featured 43 sources, nearly half of represented perspectives ranging from gun whom were associated with the military: 14 ournalism is the first rough draft of his- rights advocates and the anti-immigration were current or former military and seven tory,” Meacham told the L.A. Times group Federation for American Immigration were family of military. Another nine were “J (8/6/10). “And some drafts are rougher Reform to advocates for the environment government sources, including those with than others.” and reproductive rights. Only two think tank military backgrounds like John McCain. There’s time yet for Meacham, Stewart representatives appeared during the period Unlike on most news programs, though, and Need to Know to smooth out their studied—Charles Stimson of the conserva- the majority of the military sources were not draft, but their record so far provides little tive Heritage Foundation and Brett McGurk top brass but rather ordinary soldiers; one encouragement that it will ever serve as an of the centrist Council on Foreign Relations. segment (6/25/10)—a followup to a segment adequate replacement for Now and the Bill Need to Know featured relatively few originally reported by Now—looked at the Moyers Journal. I professional politicians, but of those who relatively undercovered story of injured vets appeared, Democrats outnumbered Repub- and the family members who care for them. Research by Michael Morel and Steve licans 18 to 12. However, all but three of the Thirty of the 43 war segment sources Rendall; research design by Steve Rendall. Democratic sources were shorter taped were white, five Afghan, four black and one clips, while six of the Republicans were live Latino. (Three could not be identified by guests. Five of the Democratic sources were ethnicity.) Eight were women (22 percent), FAIR Action Alerts brief historical clips featuring former presi- all of whom were white. No activists and & Media Advisories dents and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Most of only two academics (one of whom, Andrew online at fair.org the Democrats were federal elected officials Bacevich, was also military) were featured.

Extra! November 2010 N 7 A FAIR study of PBS’s flagship news show Does NewsHour ‘Help Us See America Whole’? by Steve Rendall and Michael Morel

new FAIR study of the PBS tunately, the NewsHour seems to have sources. This was down from 50 percent in NewsHour finds that public televi- made little effort in that direction. 2006. sion’s flagship news program contin- FAIR’s new study of the NewsHour Corporate voices, ranging from multina- Aues to feature sources drawn largely examined the program’s guestlist over a tional CEOs to small business owners, dou- from a narrow range of elite white male two-month period spanning May and June bled from 2006 to 10 percent; journalists experts. The study, the third FAIR has con- 2010. We recorded every on-air source and think tank experts held steady at 10 per- ducted of the NewsHour since 1990, docu- appearing on the show, including live and cent and 3 percent, respectively. Academic ments a pattern of failure by the PBS news taped guests, for a total of 1,006 sources sources dropped to 7 percent from 8 percent show to fulfill the mission of public televi- appearing in 245 segments. The 813 taped in 2006. These five occupations totaled 742 sion to provide a broader, more inclusive sources were 81 percent of the total. sources, or 74 percent of the program’s alternative to commercial news programs. Each source was classified by occupa- 2010 total. The 1967 Carnegie Commission Report tion, nationality, gender and ethnicity. Party The NewsHour’s five most frequent on public television, which spawned 1967’s affiliation for politicians and association individual sources all came from these elite Public Broadcasting Act and gave birth to with political think tanks were noted where categories: Government officials President PBS, suggested that public television applicable. Barack Obama (34 appearances), Admiral “should be a forum for debate and contro- Allen (17) of the U.S. Coast Guard and versy” and called on the medium to “pro- Sources Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (10), cor- vide a voice for groups in the community porate officer Doug Suttles (11) of BP and that may be otherwise unheard” and to “help Elite occupations journalist Marcia Coyle (10) of the us see America whole, in all its diversity.” As in our 2006 NewsHour study, five elite National Law Journal. With the exception In 1990, when FAIR first studied the occupations dominated in number of of Coyle, these sources appeared primarily NewsHour (then called the MacNeil/ appearances. Current and former govern- in taped segments. Lehrer NewsHour), we cited public TV’s ment officials, including military officials, Among guests in live segments, journal- mission, the program’s longer format and its continued to have the greatest representa- ists dominated the ranks. The top guests in aversion to sensationalism as reasons we tion, accounting for 44 percent of total live segments were Coyle (with 10 appear- thought it might offer a broader spectrum of views than commercial television news NewsHour: Partisan Sources shows. 2006 2010 However, the study (Extra!, Winter/90), 66% published alongside a study of ABC’s Nightline for purposes of comparison, 60% 61% found the opposite: 55% Despite the fact that MacNeil/Lehrer is the nightly news show of the public broadcasting service, we found that, in 40% most respects, its guestlist represented 36% 35% an even narrower segment of the polit- 33% ical spectrum than Nightline’s.

When FAIR revisited the NewsHour in a 2006 study (Extra!, 9–10/06), we found lit- n n n n t t t t a a a a a a a tle change in its elite-leaning guestlist. PBS a c c c c r r r r i i i i l l l l c c c c b b b b o o o ombud Michael Getler (PBS.org, 10/6/06) o u u u u m m m m p p p p e e e e e e e concluded from FAIR’s 2006 study that the e D R D R R D D NewsHour staff “probably need to do bet- R ter” at diversifying their guest list. Unfor- All Sources Live Sources All Sources Live Sources

8 N November 2010 Extra! ances, she was the only source to appear in People of color were more likely than NewsHour the top five live segments in both the 2006 whites to appear as general public sources and current studies), Mark Shields of 4% nonwhite female and less likely to appear as authorities on 13% NewsHour (8), David Brooks of the New nonwhite male the NewsHour. Of U.S. sources, people of York Times (8) and Amy Walters of NPR color constituted 28 percent of general pub- 16% (4). Dan Balz of the Washington Post tied lic sources but only 15 percent of authorita- white female 67% for fifth place with the most frequently white male tive sources. People of color appeared even appearing non-journalist, Admiral Allen; less frequently among NewsHour’s more Balz and Allen each had three live appearances. extensive live interviews, representing just 10 percent of live U.S. sources, with women Public voices of color at 3 percent. In segments about Public interest advocates—sources repre- Total: 731 U.S. sources organized crime and gangs, people of color senting civil rights, labor, consumer, envi- accounted for 36 percent of U.S. sources. ronmental and other citizen-based advocacy appear live, representing 26 percent of in-stu- groups—provided just 4 percent of the dio guests. Partisan sources NewsHour’s guests (43 appearances). The proportion of female sources varied In FAIR’s 2006 study, when Republicans Despite their comparatively few numbers, significantly across subjects. In discussions controlled the White House and Congress, these sources represented a range of per- of economics, military affairs, terrorism and their politicians outnumbered Democrats on spectives, from environmental groups like foreign policy, the proportion of women the show by 2 to 1 (66 percent vs. 33 percent the National Wildlife Federation, interna- declined to 18 percent of sources. On the of all partisan sources). While this was part- tional NGOs such as Human Rights Watch subject of education, women accounted for ly attributable to the NewsHour’s heavy and conservative advocacy organizations only four of 12 sources. This marks a reliance on taped soundbites from adminis- including Freedom Works and the National decrease from our 2006 study, when women tration officials, Republicans outnumbered Rifle Association. With 13 sources, human accounted for just over 50 percent of sources Democrats among live guests as well by a 3 rights/humanitarian groups were the largest in education stories. Women outnumbered to 2 ratio. subset of public interest groups. Represen- men 55 percent to 45 percent in discussions of This year, with Democrats controlling tatives of environmental organizations were health-related topics, including healthcare the White House and Congress, the overall the next largest subset, with 10 appearances. reform, obesity and malnutrition. numbers have reversed: Democratic sources The public interest representatives who outnumbered Republicans on the NewsHour might best serve as a counterweight to the Ethnicity by nearly 2 to 1 (61 percent vs. 36 percent 10 percent of NewsHour sources who were White sources continued to dominate at the of all partisan sources). However, the rever- corporate voices—sources representing NewsHour, though as with women’s sal was not complete: Among live segments, labor, environmental groups and consumer appearances, the percentage of people of Republicans still dominated, accounting for rights organizations—combined for only 2 color has risen over the years. Non-Hispanic 55 percent, while Democrats provided only percent of the NewsHour’s guestlist with 16 whites accounted for 82 percent of U.S. 35 percent. (Ten percent worked for both appearances. Three sources were labor rep- sources, down from 85 percent in 2006 and parties.) resentatives, one of whom was a member of 90 percent in 1990. White males, who make Eight sources worked for both a union in Greece. up 32 percent of the U.S. population, pro- Democrats and Republicans, making up 3 The general public—such as workers, vided 67 percent of U.S. sources, down percent of all partisan sources. There were students and persons on the street— from 72 percent in 2006. But while percent- no third-party partisan sources, but there accounted for 16 percent (164 sources) of ages of women and people of color both was a single appearance by an independent, appearances, up from 14 percent in 2006. increased slightly, appearances by women Sen. Joseph Lieberman. The remaining 6 percent (those not counted of color actually decreased by a third, among the general public, public interest accounting for only 4 percent of U.S. Think tanks advocates or the elite groupings) consisted sources. (Women of color make up 18 per- Think tanks provided only 3 percent of the of a variety of sources, including artists, cent of the U.S. population.) NewsHour’s total sources; however, they actors and healthcare professionals. Latinos represented only 1 percent of contributed 14 percent of live sources. Fully U.S. sources, down from 2 percent in 2006, half of think tank sources were from right- Gender even as their percentage of the population leaning groups. With just four sources (13 As 201 sources, or 20 percent of the total, increased from 12 to 15 percent. Asian- percent), left-leaning think tanks were out- women continue to be dramatically under- Americans represented 3 percent and people numbered by right-leaning ones 4 to 1. This represented on the NewsHour. This number of Mideastern descent represented 1 percent. disparity doubled from the 2006 study, has been slowly rising, from just 13 percent Eleven percent of U.S. sources were African- when right outnumbered left 2 to 1. Centrist in 1990 and 18 percent in 2006. American, up from 9 percent in 2006 and think tanks constituted 37 percent of Not only did women appear one-fourth nearly matching their proportion of the U.S. sources, down from 44 percent in 2006. as often as men, they were three times more population (12 percent). Forty-two percent of The most frequently featured think tank likely to be “general public” sources instead those appearances, however, were by a single on the NewsHour was the centrist Brook- of experts: 30 percent of women represent- person, Barack Obama. Without the presi- ings Institution, which provided five sources. ed the general public, versus only 12 percent dent, African-Americans would have repre- Second place was a 3-way tie between of men. Women were slightly more likely to sented only 6 percent of U.S. sources. the conservative Center for Strategic &

Extra! November 2010 N 9 International Studies, the conservative lyze the Obama administration’s military the segments dealt with either the blockade Peterson Institute for International Economics strategy.) Also missing from NewsHour’s of Gaza or the Israeli raid on a Turkish and the centrist New America Foundation, guestlist were sources representing human flotilla attempting to break the blockade to with three appearances each. rights or humanitarian groups, or the U.S. bring aid to Palestinians. Eleven Israeli general public. sources were featured, all current or former Issues in the News Only three sources on Afghanistan (5 government or military officials, while just percent) were women. Of U.S. sources, two Palestinian sources appeared (one cur- BP Oil Spill Barack Obama, think tank analyst Zalmay rent and and one former official). There More segments (54) were dedicated to the Khalilzad, and Washington Post editor were seven Turkish sources, including five BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico than to Rajiv Chandrasekaran were the only people official sources, one flotilla passenger and any other story in the study period—rough- of color. one human rights advocate. In addition, ly one out of every five segments. Corporate The NewsHour’s discussions of the fir- U.S. Free Gaza activist Adam Shapiro sources (ranging from multinationals to ing of U.S. Afghanistan commander Gen. (5/31/10) was interviewed, paired with small businesses) accounted for 18 percent Stanley McChrystal and his replacement by Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael of the total, while sources representing envi- Gen. David Petraeus demonstrated the haz- Oren. ronmental organizations made up just 3 per- ards of excluding representatives of the U.S. The truncated nature of the NewsHour’s cent of appearances. Testimony from BP antiwar majority. McChrystal’s firing fol- Mideast discussions was illustrated by the and other oil companies accounted for 13 lowed a Rolling Stone exposé (6/22/10) program’s June 2 examination of the legali- percent, meaning viewers were over three that disclosed criticism and insults ty of Israel’s flotilla raid, featuring legal times more likely to hear from an oil indus- McChrystal and his staff had aimed at vari- experts Ruth Wedgwood of Johns Hopkins try representative than someone represent- ous administration figures. More important- University and Northwestern’s Anthony ing environmental organizations. Though ly, however, the exposé revealed that the D’Amato. Wedgwood defended the raid at dramatically unbalanced, these numbers are military was far more pessimistic about the sea, while D’Amato said Israel should have an improvement compared with NewsHour’s war than officials publicly admit. boarded and searched the flotilla when it coverage of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, The NewsHour devoted 10 segments reached port in Gaza: “Israelis had a right to in which not a single environmentalist was with 35 sources to the story—exploring the wait on the beaches, as they first tried to do, featured in the seven spill segments reviewed wisdom of the personnel decisions, what actually, and wait for those ships to come in FAIR’s 1990 study (Extra!, Winter/90). they would mean politically, for morale and in.... Then they could say, we now want to Among total partisan sources in oil spill for the continuity of the war. But not a sin- search you because you might be carrying segments, Democrats outnumbered Repub- gle antiwar guest was featured, and there contraband.” licans 57 to 38, though most of these were was virtually no discussion of the exposé’s The views of those who oppose the Gaza brief taped clips. Among live, longer format more fundamentally damning revelations or blockade itself were missing from this appearances, Republicans outnumbered the wisdom of continuing to fight the war. “debate”—as with so many NewsHour dis- Democrats 6 to 3. Though these sample The live, long-format interview seg- cussions where the panel conforms with a sizes are small, they mirror the pattern of the ments featured 14 guests, including pro-war narrow Washington-insider consensus, but NewsHour overall, featuring more Repub- neo-cons (such as Eliot Cohen and Kim- fails to represent the broad range of licans than Democrats as in-studio sources. berly Kagan), military officials (like gener- American public opinion. I The study’s time frame probably under- als Merrill McPeak and Dan McNeill) and states the NewsHour’s reliance on corpo- Washington, D.C., media insiders (Washing- Research by Alex Kane, Krystle Manintveld rate sources to cover the spill. Greenpeace’s ton Post columnist David Ignatius, Time and Zachary Tomanelli. Kert Davies, appearing on the NewsHour Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson). on the first day of the study (5/3/10), was Jessica Mathews (6/23/10) of the Carnegie the first environmental advocate brought on Endowment for International Peace voiced to discuss the spill, which began two weeks a typically pro–status quo opinion, praising earlier (4/20/10). the firing and hiring decisions, in part because they wouldn’t affect the direction of Daily posts with FAIR’s signature Afghanistan the war at all: media criticism and, most Ten percent of NewsHour segments (24) importantly, a way for you to concerned the war in Afghanistan. Of the 60 And if there was a way for this to hap- join in the conversation. guests appearing in these segments, 70 per- pen with minimal consequences for the cent were current or former government and war, he found it in the appointment of This blog will be most military officials. Although public opinion Petraeus...to make a personnel change has consistently opposed the Afghan War without a hint of policy change, this successful with your participation for over a year (PollingReport.com), public was the only person. And Petraeus was —so make sure to bookmark our television’s primetime news show featured willing to do it.... I thought the presi- blog, post your comments and let no guest identified as an opponent of the dent hit every note right today. us know what you think… war or expressing antiwar views. (One guest, historian and retired Col. Andrew Israel /Palestine www.fair.org/blog Bacevich—6/15/10—though known as an The NewsHour featured seven segments on opponent of the war, appeared only to ana- the Mideast conflict, with 32 guests. All of

10 N November 2010 Extra! Publicly supported, corporately owned What’s ‘Public’ About Public TV’s News Flagship? by Janine Jackson

n air and on its website, the PBS lars of risk capital for the public interest, Robert Goldberg (Wall Street Jour- NewsHour acknowledges its funders. you know. I mean, one would be fired as an nal): One of the great stories, if I can Along with PBS and the Corporation executive of a profit-making company if he just jump in, is that when Levin and Ofor Public Broadcasting, the show gets took that stance.” Malone came on board Ted Turner’s money from some usual-suspect corpora- A few observers (Variety, 12/5/94) board in 1987, they became partners. tions, like Chevron and Bank of America, noted that “for Malone, M/L Prods. is a Robert MacNeil: Malone, John and a dozen or more foundations—in vari- prestige buy that is likely to earn him some Malone, is the head of TCI, Telecom- ous amounts and arrangements worthy of good will in Washington; TCI has been a munications Inc. examination in themselves. But who owns frequent target of lawmakers.” As Verne Richard Clurman (author): The public TV’s flagship nightly news program? Gay (Newsday, 12/5/94) put it, “The new third leg of the stool. Hint: It’s not Viewers Like You. Republican-controlled Congress may be MacNeil: The third leg of the stool It’s not PBS either, or any affiliate sta- less willing to bash Malone, even less so whose Liberty subsidiary is the big tion. The program known as “public televi- now that he owns NewsHour. Washington shareholder in Turner and had to be sion’s nightly newscast” (New York Times, types, you see, adore NewsHour.” consulted on this deal. 3/21/84) is in fact owned by a private, for- But most found nothing troubling in an Goldberg: That’s right. profit conglomerate, Liberty Media, that industry bigfoot gaining controlling interest MacNeil: We should also declare bought 67 percent of MacNeil/Lehrer in a politically influential news program our own interest here. MacNeil/ Productions in 1994 (L.A. Times, 12/5/94). (not to mention one on a network meant to Lehrer Productions in its other activ- Liberty Media is controlled by John serve public over corporate interests). ities outside the NewsHour has a part- Malone, who in 1994 was the owner of TCI, New PBS president Ervin Duggan issued nership with Liberty Media. the country’s largest cable operator. (TCI was a release (12/2/94) celebrating the “welcome Goldberg: That’s interesting. subsequently bought by AT&T.) Malone and infusion of capital,” but transcripts suggest MacNeil: But outside the scope of TCI were infamous for “ruthless policy the NewsHour didn’t announce their new this program. But, anyway, you were designed to muffle critics, smother competi- ownership on air. Having praised the private about to say— tion and saddle local governments with huge takeover of its flagship program, Duggan legal bills” (Rocky Mountain News, (Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/24/95) was nev- Liberty, though, doesn’t think the News- 12/13/94), collecting the title of “worst dis- ertheless in high dudgeon a month later Hour is outside its scope. Liberty had clear criminator in the telecommunications indus- when Senate Republicans suggested that knowledge of what it was buying from the try” from the NAACP and League of United public broadcasting might be privatized outset, with then-president Peter Barton Latin American Citizens along the way. wholesale. “Will the American people be telling the Washington Post (12/5/94), TCI provoked regulators’ interest by happy with the transmogrification of non- “These guys have established a reputation for taking brazen advantage of its monopoly profit television into just another TV chan- solid, fair, serious journalism, and we want power—driving down the price of the nel, driven by ratings, the lowest common our cable viewers to share their approach.” Learning Channel with a threat to take it denominator of public taste and the appetite PBS’s claims that it’s lost nothing are off its systems, then buying it at bargain of advertisers?” gainsaid by Liberty’s obvious belief that price (New Yorker, 2/7/94); forcing GE to One of those reportedly interested in they’ve gained something—something drop plans for an all-news cable channel moves to privatize the whole network? John valuable. At the 2008 stockholder meeting, that would compete with CNN, which it Malone. Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei (Malone invests in (Extra! Update, 10/95); sending still chairs the group’s board) broke away a memo telling cable operators to raise rates ess than a year after the takeover, momentarily from “incremental liquidity” and “blame it on re-regulation and the gov- MacNeil hosted a roundtable (9/22/95) and the pursuit of “tax efficient, hopefully ernment” (Extra! Update, 2/95). Lon Time Warner’s merger with Turner tax free, restructuring” to say (Fair Just a year before acquiring a majority Broadcasting. Well into things, a guest Disclosure Wire, 9/26/08): stake in the NewsHour, Malone declared brought up the often adversarial relationship (ABC World News Tonight, 9/30/93): between major players Ted Turner, Time I’d like to talk about one very small “Nobody wants to go out and invent some- Warner’s Gerald Levin and John Malone, business in the context of Liberty that thing and invest hundreds of millions of dol- leading to this exchange: doesn’t get a lot of play in our finan-

Extra! November 2010 N 11 cials. But certainly, it’s getting a lot of That’s being recognized in the mar- enterprise? Duggan (12/2/94) swore that the play in the market. There is scheduled ket place. They won an Emmy on NewsHour is “ours and ours alone,” but to be a presidential debate tonight.… Tuesday for best coverage of a break- what if the NewsHour began fulfilling pub- That’ll be hosted by NewsHour’s Jim ing news story and news magazine for lic broadcasting’s mandate—airing views Lehrer.… And then Gwen Ifill, senior their reports on the turmoil in Pakistan. that corporations were not interested in pro- correspondent of NewsHour, will Their national convention coverage moting? How would Maffei’s shareholder moderate the only VP debate, which is drew the only prime time broadcast meeting go then? scheduled for October 2. news, and attracted an average of 3 That the private ownership of “public If you ask around—and I was million viewers over three nights. So, broadcasting’s nightly newscast” provokes recently at a very interesting panel I—while it’s not our largest holding, little media interest perhaps is testament to which had Tom Brokaw and Brit Hume it’s not our largest business, I think it’s the acceptance of public media as a failed and Katy Kay of BBC, and they’re all one we’re very proud of, that it’s get- project: Private ownership just goes along saying, well, the media is biased either ting so much viewership, so much with commercials, corporate sponsorships, left or right. Pretty much uniformly, attention and so much respect. and the surfeit of “business” shows that both on that panel and in the audience, we’ve come to see as the best we can do. But the only thing that came forward was Why, after all, would a company run by a public broadcasting was not intended to the view that the most unbiased, clear- guy who thinks the public interest is a joke reproduce, in calmer, “classier” form, the est place for news today is the buy a “public TV” show, if not for influ- practices and priorities of commercial media, MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. So we’re ence, and the patina of elevated disinterest it and in no area is its unfulfilled mandate more very proud to be a part of that. adds to what is in fact a deeply interested pressing than in news and public affairs. I

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP 1. Publication Title: Extra! 2. Publication no.: 003-341. 3. Filing Who Owns Public TV’s date: September 29, 2010. 4. Issue frequency: monthly. 5. No. of issues published annually: 12. Annual subscription price: $25. 7. Nightly Business Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 104 Report? West 27th Street, Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business None of Your Business office of publisher: 104 West 27th Street, Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001. 9. Names and addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher: Deborah Thomas, 104 West he Nightly Business Report has been 27th Street, Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001; Editor: Jim distributed by PBS for over three Naureckas, 104 West 27th Street, Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001; Managing Editor: Julie Hollar, 104 West 27th Tdecades, making it the de facto busi- Street, Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001. 10. Owner: FAIR ness show of the public television system. (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Inc.), 104 West 27th Street, But who exactly owns the show became Suite 10B, New York, New York 10001. 11. Known bondhold- ers, mortgages, and other security holders owning or holding 1 murky last August, when it was revealed (Broadcasting & Cable, 8/19/10) that Nightly percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other se- Business Report was being sold by Miami public TV station WPBT to a private company called curities: None. 12. The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of NBR Worldwide. The company is headed up by Mykalai Kontilai, whose resumé includes some this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. educational video projects, a sports energy drink company and management of mixed martial Publication name: Extra! 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Be- arts fighters. Kontilai also runs a company called Public Media, Inc., which has been trying to low: August 2010. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Average develop a public TV show called Collectors Cafe, that would assess the value of collectibles Number Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months: a) To- tal Number of Copies Printed: 10,000. b) Paid Circulation: 1) and serve as the inspiration for coffee/collectible franchise establishments of the same name Mailed Outside-County: 7,000. 2) Paid In-County Subscriptions: (New York Times, 8/19/10). none 3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails: 1,000. 4) Paid Dis- The idea that a private company could buy a public TV show raised some eyebrows; as tribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS: 200. c) Total Paid Distribution: 8,200. d) Free or Nominal Rate Distribu- Hollywood Reporter noted (8/18/10), this is “the first time that a major nightly news broad- tion: 1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies: none. 2) cast produced for PBS and owned by one of its affiliates has been acquired by a private enti- Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies: none. 3) Free or Nomi- ty.” (The NewsHour was already privately owned—by its co-anchors—when Liberty Media nal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS: 150. 4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail: 300. bought a controlling stake.) Nightly Business Report had reportedly been struggling to raise e) Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 450. f) Total Distrib- additional corporate sponsorship, so presumably Kontilai has some plans in this regard. ution: 8,650. g) Copies not Distributed: 1,350. h) Total: 10,000. No one involved will say how much NBR Worldwide paid for the show; WPBT said it was i) Percent Paid: 94.8%. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Number of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: a) To- not a “huge windfall” (New York Times, 8/19/10). The new owners won’t say who put up the tal Number of Copies: 10,000. b) Paid Circulation: 1) Mailed money, telling Current (9/7/10) that the funding was “provided almost entirely by a New York- Outside-County: 6,936. 2) Paid In-County Subscriptions: none 3) based institutional investor.” Paid Distribution Outside the Mails: 1,050. 4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes Mailed through the USPS: 197. c) Total Paid So what is arguably the main business show on public television—and by some accounts Distribution: 8,183. d) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 1) in the country (NYTimes.com, 8/19/10)—is now owned by a private company, and we’re not Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies: none. 2) Free or sure who paid the bill. PBS told Current that they weren’t part of the negotiations and are Nominal Rate In-County Copies: none. 3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS: 148. 4) Free merely the distributor of the show. Over the years, PBS has taken a keen interest in who’s fund- or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail: 310. e) Total ing particular programming, but as FAIR has documented (e.g., FAIR Press Release, 9/1/99), Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 458. f) Total Distribution: those rules seem mainly to apply to shows of the sort that corporate sponsors aren’t interest- 8,641. g) Copies Not Distributed: 1,359. h) Total: 10,000. i) Per- cent Paid: 94.7%. 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership ed in paying for—i.e., the kind of programming PBS was intended to distribute and to pro- will be printed in the November 2010 issue of this publication. mote.—Peter Hart 17. Signature and title of publisher: Deborah Thomas, Publisher. Date: September 29, 2010.

12 N November 2010 Extra! For them, by them Charlie Rose’s Elite Meet-and-Greet by Peter Hart ublic television host Charlie Rose One corporate guest, Kevin Sheekey, enjoys a reputation for highbrow talk. was identified as a “political strategist,” a “A Larry King for Mensa members,” he nod to his former role assisting Michael P“conducts a conversation, not an inter- Bloomberg’s political campaigns. But view,” according to the New York Times Sheekey shifted over to Bloomberg’s pri- (4/25/07). The paper added that Rose is “a vate company in early 2010. He appeared to facilitator, creating a comfortable ambiance discuss the government response to the BP where important people and opinion-makers oil spill, but viewers were unaware that he can speak at length and make more than one works for the company that provides Rose point.… For viewers interested in thought- with his TV studio. ful talk, Mr. Rose’s stark studio is the best Rose interviewed relatively few U.S. place in town.” government officials during the two The Charlie Rose show is where “the months: two appearances by U.S. Sen. John intelligentsia come to share ideas,” wrote Kerry and one each by Vice President Joe David Kaplan in “Why Business Loves Biden, White House chief of staff Rahm Charlie Rose” (Fortune, 9/28/09). Kaplan Emanuel, and “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg. quoted New York Times columnist Thomas One New York City official—police chief Friedman—the show’s most frequent guest all three nightly network news anchors, as Ray Kelly—and three former military offi- —praising Rose’s interviewing style, which well as PBS’s MacNeil and Lehrer. The cials also appeared. gives his high-powered guests “the best slogan that currently appears on the Rose There were two anomalies in the period chance to make your case for your point of website—“Stay on the Inside with Charlie that FAIR surveyed. Foreign leaders, partic- view.” The Fortune article pointed out that Rose”—gives a markedly different indication ularly from Mideastern countries, accounted the show’s audience “is probably well under of the show’s intended audience and purpose. for seven appearances, part of a Rose spe- a million,” but that “few would dispute” the cial titled “Middle East Journal.” And there program’s impact in elite circles: “Nobody Who gets a seat at the table? watches Charlie Rose except everybody So who actually does appear on the Charlie Charlie Rose you know.” Rose show? The guestlist in May and June 2% nonwhite female That, of course, would depend on your of 2010 confirms how far Rose has strayed 15% 5% nonwhite male definition of “you.” from his onetime pitch. Out of 132 guests, white female When mega-investor Warren Buffett 28 percent (37) were journalists from major needed an outlet to send a calming message media outlets. The outlet providing the most 78% about the Wall Street meltdown, he went to guests was the New York Times, whose white male Charlie Rose—and announced that he would reporters made 11 appearances, far more be investing in Goldman Sachs. Buffett than any other news outlet. (The Washing- explained that the moment “really was Pearl ton Post was next with three.) Repeat jour- Harbor,” and that Rose’s show was a vehicle nalist guests included Newsweek’s Jonathan “to say something to the American public.” Alter—a regular on MSNBC—and Al Hunt Total: 100 U.S. sources Again, “the public” would seem to be rather of Bloomberg, the company that donates narrowly defined. studio space to Rose. (See sidebar.) were 13 medical/science guests, who Charlie Rose used to make the kind of There were seven mostly well-known appeared as part of the show’s ongoing promises one would hope to hear from a academics (e.g., historians Doris Kearns series on the human brain and mental illness. public television program host. In a promo- Goodwin and Sean Wilentz). Seven corpo- Out of the 132 guests who appeared over tional pitch for the show, Rose explained rate guests appeared, most of whom were the course of two months, just two guests— that he came to public television to do a pro- affiliated with Wall Street/financial firms. environmental activist/writer Bill McKibben gram featuring “people who don’t ordinari- There were also four appearances by corpo- and James Tripp of the Enviromental Defense ly appear on television.” As Extra! noted rate philanthropists (Bill Gates, Melinda Fund—might reasonably be considered rep- (5–6/96), though, at that point the show’s Gates, Warren Buffett and his sister Doris resentative of the types of public interest opening credits highlighted appearances by Buffett). voices (representatives of civil rights, labor,

Extra! November 2010 N 13 consumer, environmental and other citizen- based advocacy groups) one should expect ‘I Don’t Know What Independent Means’ to see on public television. Those two appearances equal the number of celebrity Amy Goodman: We need public media now. In a time of war we need independent reporting. chefs who appeared over the two months. The only other guest who came close to this Charlie Rose: I don’t know what independent means—independent in contrast to what? public interest category was John Hofme- ister, the former president of Shell Oil who Goodman: It means not being sponsored by the corporations, the networks like CBS, ABC, NBC owned now runs a non-profit called Citizens for by General Electric—or CBS owned by Viacom or Disney is ABC. Affordable Energy, which stresses the abun- dance of available coal and oil resources. Rose: Just a moment.… My point would be in response to that is we do need you, because you bring a The Rose show often features non-polit- quality of reporting and a quality of broadcasting, and more people ought to have access to the media in ical cultural discussions. Out of the 132 order for more voices reporting. Having said that, I promise you, CBS News and ABC News and NBC guests on the program, 31 could be included News are not influenced by the corporations that may own those companies. Since I know one of them in this category, including 15 performers very well and worked for one of them. (actors and musicians), four novelists and —Charlie Rose Show, 3/12/03 two chefs. Ten guests appeared on the show to discuss sports. dles personally. Kaplan found that many of are able to connect as completely with con- The list was heavily male, with just 20 Rose’s backers will not speak about their sumers” and declaring it a privilege to be appearances by women (15 percent of total donations, but there is “a web of peculiar associated with “the Coca-Cola family” guests). Of the 102 U.S. guests, 92 percent interconnections between Rose and the peo- (Extra! Update, 6/02). Shortly after the were white. Of the six African-American ple he covers.” news about the shareholders’ meeting sur- guests, five discussed arts or sports. Only Media mogul Barry Diller and fashion faced, some viewers noticed that the mugs two women of color appeared during the designer Diane von Furstenberg are both on the show’s interview table featured the study period, Nnenna Freelon and Viola backers of the program—as well as guests. distinctive red-and-white Coke logo on one Davis, both African-American artists. The same is true of Rupert Murdoch. But side and the Charlie Rose logo on the other the level of disclosure falls far short of what (Orange County Weekly, 1/24/03). Not Corporation for one might expect from a show that is so Another controversy surfaced after an Public Broadcasting—just corporations closely associated with “public” broadcasting. August 1, 2006, interview Rose conducted The Charlie Rose show does not take Kaplan also reported that Rose is a limited with Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott inside one money from the Corporation for Public partner in a venture capital firm (Kleiner of the executive’s New Jersey outlets. A few Broadcasting; instead, it gets it entirely from Perkins Caufield & Byers); another partner months later, Rose was among the New corporations. Exactly how much is not in the firm, John Doerr, has been a guest on York media industry hosts at a party cele- entirely clear, nor are the amounts that come Charlie Rose at least three times (1/6/06, brating Scott’s environmental work—some- from the likes of Coca-Cola (the show’s 12/29/06, 10/20/08), but Rose only disclosed thing Rose had asked Scott to discuss on the largest sponsor), Rupert Murdoch’s News that he had a “business relationship” with his show, as the New York Times (10/23/06) Corp and a handful of investment firms and guest in the second of these appearances. noted. PBS ombud Michael Getler cau- financial institutions. Rose drew critical attention after he was tioned that Rose had “an obligation not to In his 2009 Fortune piece, David the master of ceremonies at a 2002 Coca- do anything that could be seen by viewers as Kaplan reported what is known about the Cola shareholders’ meeting. Rose sang even a possible conflict of interest, or as fundraising for the show, a task Rose han- Coke’s praises, gushing that “few companies diminishing the integrity or credibility of public broadcasting.” Getler (10/23/06) later pointed out in his ombud column that the A Gift From Michael Bloomberg Times report on the controversy misrepre- sented the matter in its headline, “Interview fter his show was launched by New York public station WNET and distributed by PBS, Charlie Rose and Then Dinner Crowd PBS’s Comfort received an offer in 1994 to move the show into a production facility owned by media mogul (and Zone.” Actually, Getler noted, Rose’s cor- Anow New York City mayor) Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg’s commercial media company gives Rose porate cheerleading didn’t seem to bother a free studio and office space to produce a show bankrolled by large corporate interests and investment anyone else at PBS—though, as he put it, “I firms—which nevertheless remains a fixture on the nation’s “public” television system. The advantages think it should have.” I of free facilities are clear for Rose, but there are some less obvious benefits for Bloomberg. As noted in Fortune, at the time the deal was arranged, Bloomberg “understood that famous folk Research by Krystle Manintveld. coming into his offices gave the growing company more visibility.” The New York Times reported (7/1/01) that Bloomberg has been known to be “star-struck”; a former public relations executive recalled that Bloomberg kept tabs on the show’s guestlist, and that he “would hang around if he wanted to meet the guest.” Intern Applications forms It is difficult to imagine a billionaire media executive showing much interest “hanging around” a pro- are available by going online: gram that regularly featured guests who were not A-list celebrities, CEOs and high-profile establishment figures. Starting in 2009, Charlie Rose began re-airing on the Bloomberg Channel, which makes perfect www.fair.org/internships sense. Why the show is still on public television is harder to fathom.—P.H.

14 N November 2010 Extra! Public TV’s font of conventional wisdom This Week in Beltway Think by Peter Hart

f any PBS show perfectly captures the Washington Week guestlist for the show, though she indicated problem with public TV’s public affairs that this is someone else’s fault: programming, it might be the oldest one: 3% nonwhite female IWashington Week. Billed as the “long- 3% nonwhite male I have a constant pet peeve about diver- est-running news and public affairs program 36% sity. But the truth of the matter is, in on public television,” Washington Week is white female 58% Washington, covering big beats, the big a half-hour chat show where familiar faces white male newspapers and networks haven’t spent from commercial media outlets give view- a whole lot of time putting people on ers an inside-the-Beltway, who’s up-who’s- those beats from diverse points of view. down take on Washington politics. Like some other PBS fare, the show is a public/ In the same interview, Ifill agreed that commercial hybrid; since 2005, Washing- “groupthink and conventional wisdom” are ton Week has been a co-production with the a problem in the D.C. press corps, but sug- for-profit Washington insider magazine n a Washington Post feature (5/9/10), gested that new media could help change National Journal. New York University journalism profes- that: “I think we are actually in a better posi- Press materials for the show declare that Isor Jay Rosen declared the show’s format tion right now to explode groupthink than the panelists “are reporters—not pundits— “exhausted”: “Five insiders (journalists) we have ever been in Washington journal- shedding light, not heat.” But what the display their understanding of what other ism. So I’m not really troubled by it.” reporters offer on the show is mostly a for- insiders (politicians) did this week for an gettable mush of conventional wisdom, a audience of wannabe insiders (the show’s view of national and international affairs assumption about viewers).” viewed through the prism of Beltway power He added: “Because the boundaries of struggles. Whether the topic is the Deep- political debate in Washington are also the water/BP spill or Mideast peace, the focus is horizons of the discussion on Washington narrow and laser-like: How do these stories Week, the show has no grace, mystery, edge impact Beltway debates? or dissonant voice.” On the Washington Over four months of the program studied Week blog (5/13/10), host Gwen Ifill derided by FAIR (5–8/10), 29 reporter/panelists made “self-appointed media critic” Rosen’s take a total of 64 appearances; only one guest as a call for “more noise, not less; more (Elizabeth Shogren from NPR, who appeared cacophony and less understanding.” twice) did not represent a corporate media Of course, that wasn’t his point at all. outlet. The Washington Post was the most Nor was Rosen alone in arguing that public The upshot would seem to be that other, frequent outlet represented, with 11 appear- TV discussions about Washington political newer outlets can challenge conventional ances. Reporters from the New York Times developments ought to go beyond corporate wisdom, while public television, every and ABC made eight appearances each. media reporters. As Forbes MediaCritic Friday night, will help to cement it. It’s not National Journal reporters appeared twice. pointed out in its Summer 1995 issue, guests exactly how one would imagine PBS could ABC’s Martha Raddatz made six from ideologically oriented magazines like live up to its professed mission of bringing appearances, making her the most frequent the Nation or the National Review “almost diverse and underrepresented views to the guest over the 17 broadcasts FAIR exam- never appear” on Washington Week. The airwaves, but it’s a great way to attract cor- ined. Several reporters appeared four times: only question to be asked of the current ver- porate sponsors—Washington Week is the Post’s Dan Balz and Karen Tumulty, sion of the show is whether the “almost” is currently funded by Boeing and Exxon/ AP’s Charles Babington, NBC’s Pete even necessary. Mobil, and previous funders include Chevron Williams, CNBC’s Eamon Javers and As Ifill put it in an interview with and the National Mining Association (“the Time’s Michael Duffy. Mother Jones (3/29/09), “My goal is to try voice of the American mining industry in Of the 64 guest appearances, only four to stay away as much from opinion journal- Washington, D.C.”). Washington Week were by non-whites (6 percent): ABC corre- ism as possible. And if one of our panelists provides exactly the type of apolitical dis- spondent Pierre Thomas appeared twice, comes on and says, ‘Well, this is what I cussion such deep-pocketed corporate inter- New York Times reporter Helene Cooper think,’ they generally don’t get invited ests want to see on public television. I and Nancy Yousseff of McClatchy. The back.” Ifill acknowledged that this rule guest list was 61 percent male. “narrows pretty dramatically” the potential Research by Krystle Manintveld.

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