The Heat discusses US media and celebrity journalism

The Heat

Celebrity Journalism is a part of American culture. The recent suspension of TV newscaster Brian Williams and allegations against commentator Bill O’Reilly of embellishing stories raises questions about the role of powerful media conglomerates. Is the U.S. media covering what’s popular instead of what’s relevant?

NBC Nightly News suspended Williams for six months after an investigation revealed his account of being on a military helicopter that was forced down by enemy fire while reporting in Iraq in 2003 was inaccurate.

Fox News Commentator Bill O’Reilly is facing scrutiny, after allegations that he embellished his experience covering the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina over the Malvinas, also known as the Falklands War, and also his proximity to an incident involving nuns being shot in El Salvador in 1980.

Both cases raise questions about the culture of celebrity in American news. The criticism is that powerful media conglomerates are branding journalists to become a part of the story while perhaps failing to pursue meaningful, relevant stories.

The Heat discusses the criticism of whether powerful media conglomerates are branding journalists to become a part of the story while perhaps failing to pursue meaningful, relevant stories with these media experts:

  • Simon Marks, the president and chief correspondent of Feature Story News.
  • Jeffrey Dvorkin from Toronto is the director of the Journalism Program at the University of Toronto-Scarborough.
  • Richard Fowler is the host of the U.S. syndicated talk radio program, “The Richard Fowler Show.”

The discussion continued with the guests discussing the mistakes made by the American press leading up to the U.S. led-invasion of Iraq in 2003.