How did charisma-challenged David Brancaccio inherit Bill Moyer's NOW?

[omega minimo]

As fer MSM/PBS I like watching John McLaughlin (do his Dana Carvey impression: "WrONG!") and NOW. I don't get it. Moyers, with his low-key eloquence and thoughtful "I'm listening now" expression is replaced with someone who looks like a 7 year old that just woke from a nap? When DB opens his mouth, I don't see the synapses kicking in. Not to be unkind but...

Good story on corporate "individualism" scheduled for last night-- I didn't even turn it on.

How did Brancaccio get the gig? Is this the watering-down of PBS?



:kick:

[BrklynLiberal]

1. He was the co-host on the show with Moyers...and YES, this IS the

watering-down of PBS.

[TomClash]

2. Very much so

PBS is dying a slow death. It is moving to the right for financing. WSJ Roundtable, Tucker Carlson, Moyers gone - it's only a matter of time before they have that too.

[omega minimo]

3. It's sad when the show isn't worth turning on for the info.......

I remember DB as co-host of NOW and was willing to believe he could handle it when the training wheels came off. What's a polite way to say he appears to be a dolt?

So, Moyers pens "The Delusional Is No Longer Marginal" and steps aside. The last of the old-time anchors are stepping down. The replacements look like human cloning experiments. And act like it.

Looking for a positive comment to add here, about continuing the quest for good information... Like Biafra says, "Become the Media."

[Democrats_win]

4. Moyers is one of the best interviewers there is. Hard to replace.

[omega minimo]

6. Absolutely! My question is-- what recommends Brancaccio?

Unless PBS intentionally went for an innocuous, non-threatening, milquetoast (which it appears they did) or he's somebody's son, why him?

And dare I say, if there weren't any bright, animated, dignified and thoughtful men for the position, how bout a woman?

If PBS was not looking for a young interviewer with potential comparable to Moyers, are they trying to kill the show? or overwhelm it with cozy middle-of-the-roadness?

[mahina]

5. I donated every year with a thank you note for NOW,

always called in pledges during the show. For anyone who didn't catch it, it was the best reporting available in this country. Frontline is still good.
So my challenge and I think our collective challenge, is how to fight to preserve what is left?
And develop it?
I am tempted to write them and send a check for zero this year because they cut the best thing on tv to half an hour. I don't care if brancaccio is boring, Moyers needed to retire and he picked this guy. I want good programming, good journalism, and this is about it.
I just LOATHE tucker carlson
But if anyone was watching last night, Christine Todd Whitman spoke to Whole later about how worried she is that the Republicans are steering so far right into fundamentalism. Interesting.
Anyway please continue to support PBS and write them and let them know what you think.

[omega minimo]

8. Good point. If it's possible or worthwhile trying to nudge PBS

to "fight to preserve what is left." Frankly, after the MSM enabled Bush to retain the WH; while MSM buries all important stories and facilitates national brainwashing; while we meet on DU and search the Web for real news; and live our days beyond the looking glass...

it appears the forces that perpetrate this information war on us have the upper hand. Even at PBS. I'm interested in the psychological aspects of why they do it and how it plays out, how it affects people.

As fer nudging or fighting PBS or our "local" corporate paper, I'm tired of bangin me head on ta wall.



:headbang:

[glitch]

7. I always liked Brancaccio. On NPR Marketplace and on PBS Now

He's dry and just goes for the facts. Not as passionate as Bill Moyers, which is too bad.
Maybe he'll get that way. Who would you rather see instead?

[omega minimo]

9. Good to know. I am/was ready to look beyond the sleepy face

and see him develop his skills on NOW. My concern so far is that his line of questioning, the flow he gives to a discussion, seem a bit (forgive the shorthand) oversimplified or dumbed down.

I acknowledge that Moyer's unique combination of qualities is irreplaceable. That sort of low-key radicalism can't be imitated.

Who would I like to see? Someone sharper-- picks up on the most interesting aspect, the most insightful thread for the discussion to follow. Watching conversation go off on dull tangents is frustrating, given the potential. I admit to being one of those who find NPR stuffy and dull, too.

LIke I said above, there are probably plenty of women candidates who could have helmed NOW with a gracious, steady, balanced and kickass demeanor.

Okay, time to go zen and give up those expectations.

:evilgrin:

[glitch]

10. Don't give up! But I was hoping you had someone specific in mind

That I could seek out and listen to. I am always on the look out for real journalists and real news.

I agree with you about the dull tangents. It's a pervasive corporate media problem, NPR/PBS caught it years ago. Even, sad to say, Bill Moyers sometimes. Especially sad considering their time constraints.

That said, Brancaccio is not as insipid as most. Just IMO.

[omega minimo]

11. "Insipid"!!! Talk about shorthand--

and of course, insipid is preferable to "venal."

I don't have a candidate in mind for the NOW chair. The only thing I like about Terry Gross is I can imitate her helium voice. I LOVE the smooth as silk innocuousness (relevant for the context) of Margaret Warner on Jim Lehrer.

How bout a humorist? Essayist? PBS offers Roger Rosenblatt or Richard Rodriguez. How bout someone with a SENSE OF HUMOR?

For news I depend on Air America, newsdissector.org, truthout and buzzflash. TV is off mostly. 60 Minutes Sunday was about steroids in baseball. Who bloody cares.

Not that he would get the gig, but currently I listen to Mike Malloy, almost nightly since the Congressional debacle of Jan. 20th.

Some DU threads dub MM "over the top" but for many of us, he is spot on. On topic, on point, ON with the energy. Expresses exactly where we are-- politically, financially, emotionally, spiritually-- bankrupt as a nation.

He interviewed Ward Churchill last week and did an excellent job; strong, professional jouralistic skills evident in an extended phone interview. He doesn't usually have guests.

Who do you recommend?

[hollowdweller]

12. Bill Moyers is one of a kind - He has such a history in Gov't ,

Spirituality, Journalisim. Plus he's got that southern minister's type voice that really works to get his point across

I think Branccio is doing an OK job so far. However I'd love to see him have a co host like maybe Robert Reich.

I still watch NOW and think it's good. But only half an hour and after they have this kind of peckerwood guy Tucker Carlson? on now? Who the hell is this guy?? Is he famous from cable or something?? Even though he has some decent guests the show verges on the peckerwood too much for us.

[glitch]

13. I have a woman in my mind, I can see her face and hear her voice but for

the life of me I cannot remember her name. She used to be on PBS, always ended her commentary with 'so it goes'. She was terrific, lots of integrity. I think she was drummed out.
I like Mike Malloy too but his rants make me nervous. I have to turn him off when he rants. I appreciate them and know they are excellent, but I don't like to listen to them.
I like Thom Hartmann for radio.
But you know who would make a good NOW guest host? Joe Conason. I just thought of him. I've seen him on tv, he has a good tv presence. He doesn't take bull and he's not easily distracted. He's well up on the issues.
I would recommend Greg Palast but he gets too flip sometimes.
I also like Robert Parry a lot, although I've only heard him on the radio and read his articles.
Well, now I am going to cast NOW hosts to myself whenever I see or hear anyone good. Thanks for that!

Edited to add: Katrina vanden Heuvel or Naomi Klein would also be awesome.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. "So it goes"

You're thinking of Linda Ellerbe. She led the discussions after the program on Auschwitz a couple of weeks back.

[glitch]

15. Thank YOU! That was already driving me crazy. I love DU, ask and you shall

receive. :hi:

[omega minimo]

16. Malloy rants make me nervous too but what makes me more nervous

is that more people aren't more nervous. (Malloy would probably be the first to say, he wouldn't listen to himself rant every night in his home.) And I have yet to hear or see a good explanation for how we are supposed to "move on" to "next time" when we have had two hijacked presidential elections. I just don't get it. I understand we all have lives to lead. But complacency is how we got to where we are--

That complacency and surreal comfiness is why it's disturbing to see NOW get vague. This show is addressing urgent, timely (as in NOW) issues. It reaches the public nationwide. If this can't be a harder hitting show, if this voice is muffled, if not NOW, when? B-)

Here's a devil's advocate question: by bringing up these issues in a comfy wrap-it-up-in-half-an-hour with a somnabulistic host, does it allow people to sit in the hot water, not noticing that it is heating up?

:bounce:

Ya know, times change, the old guard journalists move on and pass on, and we now live in the "marketplace of ideas." It's just fine that people will see important stories on NOW and the word gets out. I just won't be one of them.