I've just finished watching the 4 -part documentary series on the New York Times. It should be mandatory viewing for any aspiring journalist and recommended viewing for citizens wanting to become more media literate. Whatever you think that you knew ab…
I’m still coming to terms with the sudden death of my lifetime friend Phil Wasmuth who died last week in his sleep at his home overlooking beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. We grew up together in small town Huntington, Indiana. …
As we watch the tumultuous events taking place in Zimbabwe and find out what will be Mugabe's ( and his wife's) fate, I think about courageous Zimbabwe journalists who were driven out of their beautiful country and paid a terrible price for trying to r…
In his brilliant (and lengthy) new New Yorker piece, correspondent Evan Osnos, on the ground in Pyongyang, writes about having dinner with a Foreign Ministry official who wants to know: "...what is the power of the President to launch a war?" He then…
Watching BBC's excellent documentary about Diana ( Diana, 7 Days) brought back many memories of that astonishing week following her death in the car crash in the tunnel in Paris. No one has ever completely understood the collective psychic numbing of t…
Is something happening out there? Only signs I spotted ( very small survey mind you ) in Tory stronghold of Chingford are Labour. Studio audiences for various TV debates including last night's BBC debate minus Theresa May but featuring her stand-in jee…
Heartbreaking reading and some outstanding reporting in the British papers ( including the tabloids) I spent much of yesterday in the company of a plumber ( water problem where I live) who happens to be a devout Muslim, a refugee from Algeria, and…
A momentous day as the UK formally begins its withdrawal from Europe. The front pages of British newspapers reflect this badly divided country. For the cheerleading pro-Brexit papers it's a new day. But for The Guardian one of the very few papers that …
Last week, I appeared via a London studio link on an Arabic language programme hosted by the greatly admired Egyptian broadcaster Yosri Fouda. Yosri had asked me to take part in a discussion about President Trump's war on the media and his characteris…
What a blast from the past when I read about demonstrations held yesterday outside the media offices of two Canadian broadcasters CP24 and CTV. Anti-Fur protesters carried placards demanding that TV reporters stop covering the news clad in their stylis…