Examining the role that the media has played this primary season, a look at the athletes and media skipping out on the games, more on the history of potty politics.
Did the media blow it for Bernie?
Many supporters of Bernie Sanders were furious when the Associated Press announced Monday that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee. The news came just one day before the six states — including California — went to the polls.
For many Bernie-boosters, the news was a shock, but not necessarily a surprise. In an election cycle that has been branded the "year of the outsider," two of the most celebrated outsiders, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, have shared two common adversaries: Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media.
As the race winds down for Senator Sanders, many are left wondering if the press did — in fact — keep the Democratic underdog down. Take Two put that question to two media watchers.
TLDR: It's complicated. Consider Donald Trump's candidacy, fiduciary duties, a competitive media landscape, and demographic-centric coverage.
Guests:
- David Uberti, staff writer for the Columbia Journalism Review
- Henry Jenkins, Professor of Journalism at USC's Annenberg School and author of the book, "By Any Media Necessary: The New Youth Activism."
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)
How does the coverage Hillary Clinton has received compare to Bernie Sanders?
Henry Jenkins: Early on, the media started with a frame — maybe plausibly — that Hillary Clinton was going to be the frontrunner all along and took a while to catch up with the base of support that Bernie Sanders received.
Looking at this generationally, most of Bernie Sanders' younger supporters get the bulk of their news from online sources, not from broadcast or traditional journalism. There they would have seen more videos of live speeches, and more direct communication from the candidates; they would be frustrated by the fact that Hillary supporters, who are mostly watching the news or reading newspapers, are going to be seeing very little of that coverage.
In many households, you have parents who are Hillary supporters, offspring who are Bernie supporters and they would have seen a radically different media ecology between what was on television and what was online.
I think a lot of people — when they look for whatever their media is — it's whatever aligns with their values or maybe gives them what they want to hear. Are we not searching for the right kind of media — one the at will inform us and do what we think the media is supposed to do?
David Uberti: It's a very difficult period because a lot of main street outlets have had their business models upended. So you have a person like Trump come along and essentially provide a shot in the arm for cable news outlets. They can gravitate towards entertainment as opposed to education and really help their bottom lines.
With regard to ideological outlets, this stems in part from social media and how people get their news now. I think news literacy as a society is something we need to address more and more going forward.
Earlier this week at a technology conference in San Francisco, CBS CEO Les Moonves said this about Donald Trump's candidacy: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." What message do you think people who are skeptical of the media are taking away from something like this?
Henry Jenkins: It may be one of the most honest statements made by a media executive in a long time. Networks have done what's good for them. Trump was good ratings to the point that he was bartering with networks.
I think we've also seen with the Bernie Sanders coverage that it's not in the network's interest to publicize some of the positions that Sanders has taken, particularly on media ownership issues. So the networks have done what's in their best interests, not in the national interests, for most of this, and I think that's partially what troubles young people about what they see when they turn on their TV sets.
David Uberti: There's an old mantra in the business that 'dog bites man' is not news, but 'man bites dog' is news and that's essentially what we see in 2016. At the end of the day, Donald Trump is an incredibly interesting story. The problem is that we have traditional media outlets that are now competing with entertainment options such as HBO or BuzzFeed's viral content, so you do have a tendency from a lot of executives to gravitate to that territory.
As to Trump's benefit toward their bottom line, I think a lot of journalists within those organizations that are trying to do capital-J journalism and do a good job on the campaign trail, cringe.
In March, The New York Times tallied up the time and value of media attention the candidates have received so far, and Donald Trump had received about two billion dollars worth of free media. Bernie Sanders got about one-fifth of the attention. Both candidates have fervent supporters. Why would Bernie Sanders get so much less attention?
Henry Jenkins: We can only speculate. I agree that Trump has been the story of the year: that he continually gives colorful commentary that generates discussion and buzz. I think he also appeals to the core demographics that are watching those networks far more than Bernie Sanders does, whose support skews younger and on different demographic groups. So it's a question of feeding the viewers what they think they want, as opposed to giving a balanced coverage of the election cycle.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full discussion.
When it comes to severe child abuse cases, how much information should be disclosed to the public?
The numbers are sobering. Between 2008 and 2015, more than 850 kids in California were abused so badly that their cases were deemed near fatalities.
During those same years, nearly a thousand more did die from abuse, this according to the California Department of Social Services.
The question being debated now is how much information should be available to the public in severe cases of child abuse. It's one that Laurel Rosenhall is writing about in Cal Matters. She joined the show to discuss the issue.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.
USC Zika Symposium seeks to educate Angelenos
The Zika virus has been at the forefront of American minds, ever since news of an outbreak in Brazil reached the U.S.
There's a lot of information out there about the disease, and also a lot of misinformation.
To spread the right info, USC is hosting a Zika symposium Thursday at their Health Sciences campus.
Jae Jung organized the event. He's chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine, and he talked with Josie Huang about why he felt it was necessary to host a symposium about Zika in LA.
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)
Interview highlights
Why is it necessary to hold a symposium on the Zika virus now?
"I got a lot of requests, regarding the Zika virus. I found that the public wants to directly hear from experts regarding safety or prevention...And especially summer time is coming and temperature raise, so mosquitoes are going to arrive, number one. Number two, it's vacation time so now people will travel."
Why host the symposium in L.A.?
"Los Angeles is the second largest city, nearly every single day there are millions of people in and out of LAX and number of ships arriving, so for us we call Los Angeles: gateway of germs."
On finding a vaccine:
"Based on the...CDC and NIH, both are government institutes, they report that they'll start clinical trials next year. So, I'm sure that the vaccine will be available by around this time of next year, or maybe a little bit later."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Is the Zika threat enough to delay or end Olympic dreams?
The Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are less than three months away.
That means it's about time to finalize travel plans -- for spectators, journalists, officials and others who support the games.
Plus, the athletes themselves. For many of the major events, like swimming, track & field and gymnastics, the finals to decide the US team will be held in the next few weeks.
There's a lot to consider this year, with the threat of Zika, political instability, even water quality.
A Martinez talked about this with Steve Mason, co-host of "Mason & Ireland" who will be covering the Olympics for NBC Radio this summer.
Interview highlights
On who's announced that they will be skipping the games:
"From what we can tell, people like Pau Gasol have wavered on whether they will go. He would play for the Spanish basketball team. Savannah Guthrie, an anchor at NBC who is pregnant, has elected not to go. And we've gotten a pretty strong warning that if you are a woman who is either pregnant or considering becoming pregnant, it's probably not a good idea to go. There was one report of a British athlete who has actually frozen his sperm because it will be then safe for him to have a child later on with his wife, so especially when it comes to people who are trying to get pregnant or who are pregnant, [there's a] pretty stern warning not to go.
On what's at stake for athletes if they don't go:
"If you think about it, Pau Gasol has been to the Olympics a number of times, so he's had this experience. At the same time, if you're somebody who's been training for a decade trying to get ready for these games, I don't think that the threat of the Zika virus is going to keep you away. For a lot of these athletes, this is their one and only chance to participate in the Olympics and to compete for a gold medal, I don't think the Zika virus is going to keep them away from that."
On taking steps to avoid the virus:
"There are steps that all of us are going to be taking that are unusual to try to be safe while we're there. I think the average athlete is probably going to wear long pants and long sleeves at all times despite the heat down there. That's been recommended. There's going to be an unbelievable number of mosquito repellant containers everywhere you go. Athletes and all of us are going to be washing our clothes in mosquito repellant before we actually go to Rio. There are certain hours of the day...that are the peak times when m are looking to bite, so you'll see a lot of people ... Athletes are going to have the sharpest and most crisp intel to avoid the virus.
On making the decision to go:
"This will be my seventh Olympics, it is my absolute favorite thing to cover and to do in sports hist, there was really nothing. I would have gone... it's a lifetime dream of mine. I'm also a single guy, not planning to have kids, I'm in my 50s, if I were to get Zika, I'd go down for two weeks but I don't have to worry about potentially passing that on to a child on some point...
On calls to postpone or cancel or move the Olympics.
It would be possible but it would be unprecedented. Especially because of the economic strife and the amount of money that Brazil has invested in these games, it would have been a disaster for that country to lose the games or delay those games. So I don't think it was ever a realistic option to move the games. I don't think there was any chance it was ever going to happen.
The Ride: Motorcyclin', crossbow totin', zombie killing Norman Reedus
In his role of Daryl Dixon, serious redneck with a big heart, he's a favorite of fans of AMC's The Walking Dead. And, now that Sons of Anarchy is now more, one of a very few characters on television who rides a motorcycle.
So, maybe it's not surprising that the folks who run AMC thought it would be a good idea to put him on a bike, and shoot a sort of two-wheel travelogue.
The result is Ride with Norman Reedus, which debuts Sunday, June 12. It features some well-known riders, such as Peter Fonda, and some completely unknown ones that Reedus met along the way.
In a conversation with The Ride's Susan Carpenter, Reedus reveals some of his bad boy childhood antics, and how they form the basis of his love for two-wheel transport. He shares some thoughts about his new TV show, and on the difference between playing a character, and playing yourself.
State of Affairs: What comes next after the California primary?
On this week's State of Affairs, Hillary Clinton wins California, Bernie Sanders meets with President Obama, and the U.S. Senate primary results in a historic same-party matchup.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Mary Plummer, KPCC's Senior Politics Reporter
- Ben Adler, Capital Public Radio's Capitol Bureau Chief
Limited edition NBA Pride merchandise will feature every team in the league
For the first time ever, the NBA will be selling LGBT-themed T-shirts featuring the logo of every single team, to celebrate Pride month. The limited edition t-shirts are solid black with a rainbow version of NBA team logos and will be exclusively available on teespring.com.
Celebrate LGBT Pride with the @NBA @GLSEN & @Teespring! Rep your team today at https://t.co/qGbfZYlEgl! pic.twitter.com/osIfQKXIJM
— NBA Cares (@nbacares) June 7, 2016
Pro-sports has marketed to LGBT fans in the past, but not on this level. The NHL, MLB and NFL have released Pride products before, but only for select players and teams. Never has an entire national league, meaning every team, been involved in the outreach, until now.
For more on this, Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications and an expert in LGBT marketing, joined the show to discuss.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
'This world runs on the shoulders of men like my father': Kao Kalia Yang's 'The Song Poet' honors father's struggle and gifts
Web Extra: Hear Kao Kalia Yang recite an excerpt from "The Song Poet"
Some of the best stories are right under your nose. In the case of author Kao Kalia Yang, she just had to look at her father, Bee.
He's a Hmong refugee who escaped war-torn Laos with his family after the Vietnam War. They moved to the U.S., like thousands of Hmong, who settled in hubs like Minnesota and Southern California.
Through his struggles, he managed to find beauty in the world for himself and his family through the Hmong tradition of song poetry. Kalia's book, "The Latehomecomer," was her first award-winning memoir about her grandmother. Her latest book is titled, "The Song Poet: A Memoir of my Father."
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KlClfB-EXVw
Kalia joined Take Two's Josie Huang to share more about her father's life and talents.
Interview Highlights
How her father became a song poet:
"I asked my father the same question. I said to him, 'How did you become a song poet?' And my father said to me that when he was a boy, there were very few people to say beautiful things to him. His father died when he was just 2 years old, and it was my grandmother and nine children. So she took to the gardens and the hilltops to feed them. My father was a lonely boy, so he used to go from the house of one neighbor to the next, collecting the things that people had to say to each other. By himself, he would whisper the words. One day, they escaped on a sigh, and a song was born. I had thought it was beautiful, so I said to my dad, 'That could be the beginning of my next book,' and he laughed. He said, 'Nobody wants to read a book about a man like me, when you could read books about men like Barack Obama written by themselves.' But I know that most of the world is made up of men like my father, and so I sought to document his form, and his life."
How Bee stopped singing — and how Kalia got him to start up again:
"My father's always said that it was in his heart where his songs were. When my grandma died, he said there was a hole in his heart, and all of the songs leaked out. So overnight, he stopped singing... My father had this ongoing ear infection, and a doctor said that he could get rid of the infection if he drilled into my father's ear. So he did, but the drill was so loud that it destroyed my father's hearing... It took a while for it to sink in. At first I thought he would come back to it, he would return. And I asked him one day, I said, 'Dad, where have your songs gone?' He thought about it for a long time. He went to work, and then he came back, and he said, 'If you cover the camera, if you turn on the audio recording, I'll sing a song for you guys.' And that song was like five minutes. He said it would be his last song. But two years ago I helped him with a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, and he got a grant to do an album of song poetry. I wanted to force him back into his music. And it worked."
Why we don't see many women writing books about their dads:
"I don't know how to speak for other people. I know that in the Hmong culture, there's a stereotype that Hmong men aren't very present for their daughters. But that's never been the case with me. As a little girl in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, he used to take me to the tops of the trees because we couldn't leave the 400 acres that we were on. And he'd tell me that the size of my hands and my feet were not going to dictate my life journey; that, one day, I would walk on the horizons my father has never seen. My father used to tell me that I was not a child of war, poverty, or despair, but that I was hope being born. I think to any outsider, I was one of thousands of refugee children waiting in the dust, but to my father, I was always the captain to a more beautiful future, the happy ending that he's been waiting for. I want the world to know that my father, too, is not just a refugee of war, or a machinist in the factories of Minnesota, that he has opened up the future. You know, push aside the limits and impress upon me my great possibilities, and that it is men like him who give birth to daughters like me that this country. Yes, there are the great Obamas of the world — this country and this world runs on the shoulders, and the hands, and the feet of men like my father."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.