Blogs and Stories
Phil Donahue Returns to TV (Tomorrow)
What should journalists be doing?
Show the pain. Don’t sanitize the war. The president is saying we can’t take pictures of the coffins and the whole press goes “okay.” If you’re going to send a nation to war, we have a responsibility to show our fellow countrymen, our fellow Americans, what other families are doing to become part of the American experience, and obey the Commander-in Chief, obey his lead.
Did the all the election coverage distract us from the war, or is it something more?
This is a hard call. Sarah Palin was what has to be called a “Holy Cow” story, to paraphrase Bob Woodward. You know, all these years, we’ve had all these males stride mightily towards that big brass ring. And all of a sudden, in 2008 a woman comes out from behind a tree, carrying a gun, and holy cow, she gets within one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. This is a great story. It’s got everything: First Dude, pregnant teenage daughter, a state most of us don’t think about, way up there.
You said Obama will change how Americans think about the war. Will he change how the media thinks too?
Well, the protection that the media offered Bush is gone now. This war was a huge defeat for the American journalist establishment. This is embarrassing. We didn’t do any kind of pushback. We just took the handouts, we took the generals who were coming from Rumsfeld’s office directly to CNN and Fox and telling us the strategy we were executing in Iraq. We didn’t know that.
But we’re still going to have corporate media. And you know, the corporate media doesn’t like dissent. It’s just not good for business, and that’s why you have so little pushback to his war. Every major metropolitan newspaper in this country supported this war. Think about that. We have no more evidence, we need no more evidence than that, to understand corporate media is literally undermining democracy. General Electric, News Corp, all of them, Disney, Time Warner—you know, they don’t want to oppose the President who’s calling a war.
And now here we are. 160,000 troops remaining in Iraq, and more than 4,000 killed. For what? For how long? And what have we read recently about Afghanistan? Tomas, the subject of our film, says he watches TV and he just sees Britney Spears getting into a limousine and out of a limousine.
Miriam Datskovsky is the assistant editor at The Daily Beast. Her work has also appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio, New York magazine, and nymag.com.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Tony's Reluctant Host
Miriam Datskovsky is an associate editor at The Daily Beast. She has written for Conde Nast Portfolio, New York magazine, and nymag.com.
Adam Scott: Life of the Party
Miriam Datskovsky is an associate editor at The Daily Beast. She has written for Conde Nast Portfolio, New York magazine, and nymag.com.
Kara Cutruzzula is an assistant editor at The Daily Beast.
Friday Night's Bright Light
Miriam Datskovsky is an associate editor at The Daily Beast. She has written for Conde Nast Portfolio, New York magazine, and nymag.com.
I have always admired Phil Donahue and I am sure that this is a documentary which is well worth seeing. What I don't really understand though is why he can't just post the documentary online?
smdunne: perhaps it was not placed online because Mr. Phil wanted to recoup some of his money for making the film and for it to get the widest possible showing and buzz. YouTube has really devalued the value of filmed content.
I had the distinct pleasure of attending a screening of "Body of War" at the Guild theater in Albuquerque, NM where Mr. Donahue was present and spoke extensively and answered questions afterward. It was an incredibly informative and moving experience, and I would reccomend the film to anyone. Mr. Donahue has been utterly sincere in his effort to get this story out and it is a commendable and patriotic effort he is making. Support him in any way you can with it.
Of course i have my tevo set for tomorrow nights showing, but this article left me disappointed because i hoped the title meant Phil Donahue had a new regular show. Who is going to apologize to Donahue, Maher and the Dixie Chicks? Put them on Obama's Medal of Freedom list.
Phil is a good man and I have missed his presence on TV. It is good to see him take on a project like this. A name, contacts, experience, and a goal should make this a good show. Tulky2 is exactly right. Can you imagine Biden calling the president of a network demanding that a celebrity be fired?
Thank you.
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