As long as this doesn't become yet another Conventional Wisdom Hour. ====== AIM/Gmail Chat: damonbeau www.facebook.com/damonbeau www.twitter.com/damonbeau
On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 09:18, Kevin G. Barkes <[email protected]> wrote: > > danny burstein > > Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2010 7:15 PM > > To: wnn > > Subject: [alum] Bill Moyers, in final PBS show, talks about.... > > > > ... he talks about the show that will be replacing his > > public affairs program, and it will be hosted by... > > > > ... hosted by... Allison Stewart > > > > video clip, 3 minutes, 12 megs, h.264 QuickTime > > > > http://www.dburstein.com/video/moyers-on-stewart.mov > > > May 2, 2010 > How, Exactly, Do You Follow Bill Moyers? > > By ELIZABETH JENSEN > IT'S hard to imagine Bill Moyers bantering with a co-host. But the first > thing that jumped out during a recent rehearsal of "Need to Know," the new > Friday night public affairs program on PBS replacing Mr. Moyers's, was the > repartee between its co-hosts Alison Stewart and Jon Meacham, mixed with > bits of irreverence in the script. "Need to Know" is no "Daily Show With > Jon > Stewart" by any means, or even the 11 p.m. local news, but there's no other > PBS program likely to let its anchors riff on the name of the Icelandic > volcano Eyjafjallajokull. Could PBS, home to "Frontline" and "NewsHour," be > lightening up? > > Until "Need to Know" has its premiere on May 7, it's a work in progress, > Shelley Lewis, the executive producer, cautioned, and the kibbitzing may > well be trimmed. But the comedian Andy Borowitz will definitely close out > each program, with "Next Week's News" (one rehearsal segment: "Next week at > the box office, here are the Top 5 Tyler Perry movies.") Ms. Lewis said, > "To > have wit in the show was important for all of us." > > "Need to Know," which will tape at a new studio at Lincoln Center, arrives > to plenty of apprehension from PBS viewers, thousands of whom, riled up by > the advocacy group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, have already > protested. Their fear: the new hourlong show will fail to live up to the > programs it is replacing: "Bill Moyers Journal" and "Now on PBS," which ran > a combined 90 minutes. Mr. Moyers, the lion of PBS, wanted, at 75, to step > back from the grind of a weekly show, and was set to sign off on Friday, > promising to return with specials. "Now" was cancelled. > > In a March 25 online column Michael Getler, the PBS ombudsman, called the > new program "a pretty big gamble for PBS" given the "fear, as expressed by > many viewers in recent months, that PBS may be pulling in its horns and > shying away from controversy." One letter writer said, "I have the distinct > impression that PBS is moving towards kinder, gentler documentary > programming so as to avoid offending the powerful and upsetting the > political right." Another complained of Mr. Meacham's "right-of-center > stance on world events," as evidenced in Newsweek, of which he is the > editor. > > Mr. Meacham, the winner of a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for his biography > "American > Lion: Andrew Jackson and the White House," dismissed talk of his supposed > partisan leanings: "I'm a journalist and a biographer who calls them as I > see them." Mr. Meacham, who is a regular on MSNBC - where he mostly stays > out of the fray when the partisan shouting gets too intense - is a frequent > target of conservatives, who decry what they say are Newsweek's "liberal" > leanings. > > "I think it is a shame that people are already jumping to conclusions," > said > Neal Shapiro, the president and chief executive of WNET.org in New York, > which is producing "Need to Know" for PBS. "There's no replacing Bill > Moyers," he added, but "the issues that Bill raises" will be among the > show's topics. Maria Hinojosa, senior correspondent for "Now," which took > tough looks at issues like the Iraq war and maternal health in Haiti, is > among those reporting for "Need to Know." > > The new program will feature an eclectic mix of reports and interviews, > revolving mainly around the economy, health care, the environment and > energy, national and international security, as well as high and low > culture. Mr. Meacham has already recorded essays for the show on the > history > of anger and hate in American politics and the religious case for > separation > of church and state. Meanwhile Ms. Stewart has reported a history of the > birth-control pill. She will be the face of the extensive Web site > pbs.org/needtoknow, intended to be an integral part of the program, > soliciting both input and feedback from the audience. > > Executives met with a half-dozen candidates before settling on Ms. Stewart, > 43, and Mr. Meacham, 40, said Stephen Segaller, the vice president for > content at WNET.org, who led the show's development. The unknown is whether > Ms. Stewart's longtime fans - she won a Peabody Award for her MTV "Choose > or > Lose" work covering the 1992 presidential election, then had stints at CBS, > ABC and MSNBC before working for NPR's short-lived morning show "The Bryant > Park Project"- will make the leap with her. On Friday nights, she said, > "you > really have to give people a reason to watch." That's where the ad-libbing > comes in, she said, adding, "We want to let people get to know us." > > Mr. Meacham, whose books have been best sellers, has his own fans, which > PBS > is also counting on. He calls the new program "a parallel bet" to the one > made at Newsweek: "that there is an audience for serious political and > cultural coverage that feels - despite all the programming options out > there > - that feels underserved." > > > Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company > > > Regards, > > KGB > > ----- > Kevin G. Barkes > Email: [email protected] > KGB Report: > http://www.kgbreport.com > Commentwear by KGB: > http://www.commentwear.com > National Temperature Index: > http://nationaltemperatureindex.com > DCL Dialogue on line: > http://www.dcldialogue.com > Random Quotations Generator: > http://www.goodquotations.com > Over 13,000 searchable quotations. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "World News Now Discussion List" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] <wnndl%[email protected]>. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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