Of the many TV shows past and present that have attempted to address the media, I have yet to see one that’s as lively, topical and compelling as the weekly public radio series “On the Media,” which WBEZ-FM (91.5) plays at 6 a.m. Saturday, apparently in hopes of catching the give-the-baby-its-first-bottle-of-the-day crowd.
Case in point: the occasional PBS magazine series “Media Matters.” Although it plays at a more friendly time (9 p.m. Thursday, WTTW-Ch. 11), “Media Matters,” hosted by academic and ex-New York Timesman Alex Jones, displays little of the sass and spunk of “On the Media.”
But it is, in Thursday’s new episode, a competent and very earnest examination of some of the issues that those of us in the media world discuss and modestly assume all of you are interested in, too.
Thursday’s first piece examines the government’s barriers to covering the terrorist war, and does quite a nice job of it, considering the complexity of the issue and the time allotted.
A second, solid piece, reported by Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden, spotlights the tensions inherent in covering a major college basketball program. Rhoden focuses on two journalists at the Fresno, Calif., Bee and the Fresno State University team under the leadership of less-than-pristine coach Jerry Tarkanian.
Of more local interest is the profile of Exito! reporter Jorge Mota. Mota, who spent two years in a Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detention camp after failing to escape Cuba by raft, eventually got to the States and got a job with the Chicago Spanish-language paper (owned by this newspaper).
The story is less effective in its stated goal of using Mota as an example of the rising influence of the ethnic press, more effective simply in introducing a dedicated journalist whose demanding life experience has guided his work.
Mota’s philosophy when he sits down to write a newspaper article: “I’m writing for a guy that is reading my article 400 years in the future. I try to explain the issue to someone who is not here right now.”
