Media

"Some of the nation's largest corporate advertisers, seeking greater control over television, are proposing to create their own shows to air on the major broadcast networks," the Los Angeles Times writes. With network advertising revenues down, some TV executives are open to corporate sponsored shows. Both Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola are developing TV shows to promote their products. Ford's "No Boundaries" premieres on the WB network in March. Coca-Cola's "Stepping Stones" is set for NBC's summer season.

A roiling debate over the United States' ties with Saudi Arabia took an ugly turn when the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz, publicly accused the "Zionist and Jewish lobby" of orchestrating a "media blitz" against the desert kingdom.

"The American economy has officially entered what promises to be the worst recession since the early 1980s and, conceivably, the worst since World War II," writes economist Robert J. Samuelson. "But you'd hardly know from the media, which have treated the economic story as a sideshow. ... Editors have subconsciously delegated their jobs to Wall Street," which refuses to stop hyping over-valued stocks. "Editors would no doubt resent being cast as Wall Street's lackeys. But that is the effect."

Many San Francisco listeners were outraged when media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications fired San Francisco radio personality David Cook (AKA "Davey D"). Cook was fired after leading a heated anti-war debate on his program. Was he the latest casualty of growing intolerance to independent views?