On The Media

This week, two police officers were shot in Ferguson, MO, bringing in yet another wave of reporters. We examine whether the constant media presence has turned the town of Ferguson into a symbol and a brand. Plus: Brooke charts the history of nihilism. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

We’ve seen more horrific videos from ISIS, but this time the cruelty is directed at priceless artifacts. This week we examine the media's reaction to the videos after it turns out that most of the smashed antiquities were fakes. Also, Hillary Clinton’s email habits as secretary of state have reporters scrambling to understand the Federal Records Act.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

This week, after years of debate, the FCC voted to treat the internet like a public utility. On the Media examines what the decision means for the data flowing through our devices. Also, as the situation in Libya continues to deteriorate, a look back at the people who helped end Muammar Qaddafi's rule in 2011. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Why the language of terrorism is so divisive. Also, how Fifty Shades of Grey introduced America to the kink community. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

An exploration of the term “whistleblower”, from its origins as a sports reference to its current status as a moral mantle. Plus, reframing the legacy Jim Crow-era lynchings. And a farewell to venerable media satirist Jon Stewart.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

In the wake of a US measles outbreak, the media, politicians, and even celebrities have quarantined the country in a vortex of paranoia and fear. The combination of false science and government distrust has given a pedestal to the irrational, and the self-evident necessity of vaccines has come under attack. Bob inoculates with a little history and a lot of common sense on the anti-vaccination "controversy."   On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

The content of a new ISIS video shocks the world. Also, vaccinating children stokes faux controversy, again, and a new documentary has the Church of Scientology on the offensive.   On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Meet our friends from down the hall. The podcast New Tech City about technology and human behavior has kicked off a fascinating project that anyone can join in on. And, we want you to know about it. This episode of New Tech City kicks off the Bored and Brilliant Project. The goal is to get you rethinking your relationship with technology and to start thinking more creatively by testing your tech habits in a series of challenges. Since the spread of smartphones began, boredom has become an endangered species. Spare moments where daydreaming used to manifest have become extra email checks or candies crushed. That might be a problem, because, as you will hear in the audio, boredom can in fact beget creativity. You can join the Bored and Brilliant Project, take the challenges, and even track your phone usage as you go through the process here. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @on

Whether to name the perpetrators of mass shootings, the myth of defensive gun ownership, and the "Ebola Doctor" Craig Spencer. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A video threat from ISIS to Japan, debunking conventional wisdom in Congress, and a newly published memoir from a Guantanamo Bay inmate. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

On the narratives we expect after a terrorist event, double standards for free speech in France, and the eerie technology of Black Mirror's not-so-distant future. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

After the massacre at the French weekly Charlie Hebdo, a look at the symbolic weight of French satire and true freedom of speech. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A special hour on the enthralling genre of true crime.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

OTM looks at the great decline in beat reporting.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

The ethics of publicly exposing private emails, the demise of Cat Fancy magazine, and a farewell to the Colbert Report.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A special hour from Liberia, where Ebola figures into every issue, in ways both painful and profound. Brooke and OTM producer Meara Sharma shadow reporters at FrontPage Africa, the country's finest paper, to see how Liberia's story is reported by Liberians themselves.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

On police body cameras, the conservative reaction to events in Ferguson, and the con men who charm the media. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Here's FrontPage Africa reporter Mae Azango commenting on Liberia's low profile in the United States. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

An exploration of Hispanic media todayOn the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

A special edition of On the Media examining the media's reaction to the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].