Welcome to Season 8: The News. This 8-part series explores the deep challenges facing American journalism, and the nation’s news and information crisis. It seems everyone’s mad at the media, but we’ll ask, what’s really wrong with the news? Is it what we think it is? What would a more independent and democratic media look like? By John Biewen and co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika.
The Story Editor for The News is Diane Hodson.
Season 8 Trailer: The News
Welcome to Season 8: The News. Just about everyone is mad at the media, and Americans seem helpless to solve our problems, in large part because we have no shared narrative and few shared facts. Producer and host John Biewen and returning co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika will examine the deep crises facing American journalism, how things got this way, and ...
S8 E1: The Myth of the Echo Chamber
Americans have access to a flood of news, and yet we’re in a deep information crisis. What’s really wrong with the news media? Is it what we think it is? And what about us news consumers? We may not trust the media, but can we trust ourselves? By John Biewen with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews: Ethan Jordan, Dannagal Young, ...
S8 E2: When the News Dies
Many people know that the journalism industry is struggling financially, especially at the local level. But the disastrous depths of that crisis, and its impact on communities and American democracy, are not as well understood. We visit a news desert in southeastern North Carolina. By John Biewen with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews: Penny Muse Abernathy, Mark DeLap, Angelica Das, ...
S8 E3: About That Liberal Media
For generations, many on the political right have claimed that major news media in the U.S. have a pronounced liberal bias. Is it true? And why does it matter? We take a fresh look. By John Biewen with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Michael Massing, Peter Beinart, and William Youmans. Story editor: Diane Hodson. Assistant Producer, Arlene Arevalo. Fact-checking by ...
S8 E4: What About Us
Scene on Radio requests and receives an independent analysis of its own journalistic “biases.” We then return the favor, examining the examiner. The exercise leads to revealing insights into the muddled ways people often think about bias. By John Biewen, with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interview with Vanessa Otero. Story editor: Diane Hodson. Assistant Producer, Arlene Arevalo. Fact-checking by Anna ...
S8 E5: Follow the Money
The early history of the news in Europe and the U.S. offers surprising lessons about the best traditions of journalism, and about the news we need in our own time of crisis. By John Biewen, with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Pascal Verhoest, Rachael King, Joseph Adelman, and Victor Pickard. Story editor: Diane Hodson. Assistant Producer, Arlene ...
S8 E6: What Could Have Been
Ever thought about whether America’s overwhelmingly corporate, for-profit news system is working as it should? It didn’t have to be this way. In the 20th century, reformers fought for a more democratic and more accountable news media in the United States. They won victories, including the creation of the nation’s public broadcasting system. What happened ...
S8 E7: Can We Blame the Media For THIS?
Many people in the United States and around the world view the rise of Donald Trump and his MAGA movement as a grave crisis. At the same time, most Americans are angry with the news media. What role did the news media play in making a President Trump possible? By John Biewen, with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. ...
S8 E8: Making Media Democratic
This season we’ve explored how the news media are failing the American people and our democracy. In this concluding episode, we look at solutions — how to help good journalism survive, and how we might imagine a better, more democratic media system. By John Biewen, with co-host Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Les High and Victor Pickard. Story editor: Diane ...
