Gideon Yago interview, IFC 'Media Project' new episode Dec. 16

The Independent Film Channel has had another great year of original compelling documentaries and series. "The IFC Media Project," which launched on November 18, continues the excellence in a six-part series designed to help decipher truth from hyped-up sensationalism in the newspaper or on television.

Series producers Meghan O'Hara and Nick McKinney previously worked with documentarian Michael Moore. The IFC Media Project examines issues, failures and biases in the media in an effort to reduce the risk of prejudice and misinformation that often corresponds with complacent media consumption. This series takes an in-depth look at the influences that affect journalistic integrity, and reveals biases, corporate influence, news for profit and ratings, outright propaganda and hidden agendas. “The average American spends 70 percent of their waking day consuming, or exposed to, some form of media, but goes on autopilot when it comes to thinking about the message behind the media,” said Evan Shapiro, president of IFC. “This series gives viewers a first-hand look at why we should think twice about everything we see, read and hear, and spotlights the importance of being informed, critical media consumers.”Peabody and Emmy Award winning news correspondent Gideon Yago brings a forthright perspective on a variety of issues affecting accurate, balanced reporting from leading news outlets. Yago, 30, is a writer and former correspondent for CBS and MTV news. Yago segued his career from music news to politics and began writing and producing award-winning documentaries on sexual health, the 9/11 attacks, fighting in Afghanistan, hate crimes and the war in Iraq. In 2005 he focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the devastating Kashmir Earthquake in Pakistan and India. Yago's written political pieces for Rolling Stone and other magazines.Throughout his career he has interviewed President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, Senator John Kerry, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Vice President Al Gore, and Senator John McCain, as well as other prominent figures including former Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III and Bill Gates. The review copy of the first "Media Project" episode showed a revealing interview with Tucker Carlson; the media obsession with missing white girls; how the pro-Israel lobby influences the narrative in press coverage of Israel, and how the government uses propaganda in the media to sell policy decisions to the American public.

Yago, courtesy IFC

Yago covered the American media’s dance with Israel. This segment revealed that there was a partisan feel to it, even more than the political coverage in Israel. Former Los Angeles Times reporter Ken Silverstein, who fought with his editors over material deemed "pro-Arab," was interviewed as well.“One of the most important issues I’ve touched upon throughout my career is how messages put out by news sources often conflict with the truth, or have an agenda behind them,” said Meghan O’Hara, (who partnered with Nick McKinney of HonestEngineTV) creator and executive producer of The IFC Media Project. “My goal in creating this series is to give a sobering wake-up call to anyone who takes the media at face value.”The fifth episode of "The IFC Media Project" will air this Tuesday, December 16. Titled “The Anatomy of a Story,” this latest installment looks at how the narrative of the drug war has been played and replayed in the press.From IFC: Reefer. It's the dangerous drug that leads to even more dangerous drugs and if you smoke it, you'll amount to nothing and quite possibly end up dead. Or so goes the story. And it's a story that's enjoyed amazing staying power – even though huge numbers of Americans have smoked it and lived to tell the tale. Fed by the US government and nearly unquestioned by the mainstream media, the anatomy of this story is hilarious.Upcoming Episode Guide The Anatomy of a Story EPISODE 5
Premieres Tuesday, December 16 @ 8:00 PM ET
This episode follows a Spanish language reporter from El Diario La Prensa as she criss-crosses the country on a Greyhound bus seeking out Latino stories. The feature piece looks at how the narrative of the drug war has been played and replayed in the press. The Future of News EPISODE 6
Premieres Tuesday, December 23 @ 8:00 PM ET
This episode will involve a post election stunt, which will look at issues surrounding news and information on the Internet. Another installment of “The Media Encyclopedia,” an animated “News Junkie,” a video essay on George Saunders’ book The Braindead Megaphone, and a feature interview with a well-known journalist will be included in this episode.

Yago, courtesy IFC

Monsters and Critics had a chance to talk to Gideon Yago about the new series.The first episode treads in some interesting water, especially with regards to the powerful Israel lobby that effectively controls the media and many politicians in this country. What was your feeling as a journalist, did you come away from that investigation more discouraged, or more optimistic that the information will be less one-sided coming from the region? Gideon Yago: "I think what we were trying to do with that piece was talk about not just how uniform the dialogue and coverage in America has been about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We also wanted to raise questions about why there are so many more voices heard about the issue in the Israeli media than here in the US. I think part of it is that Israelis, living with the issue every day, have a much more nuanced understanding of it. But given that the US has such an alliance and partnership with Israel, we questioned aloud whether it is in both countries best interest to continue to report on Israel in the American press without questioning some fundamentals about how we cover that story.As for AIPAC, I don't think they're a shadowy cabal pulling the strings and conspiratorially suppressing anyone who is not a stridently pro-Zionist journalist. It's not like some conservative lobbies who have hit lists and concerted strategies to take out media (Family Research Council, Focus on Family, etc). Jews are used to arguing with one another. It's 5 thousand years of scholastic tradition. We don't retaliate on that. So, I'm certainly not afraid of AIPAC.
But I think the American dialogue about Israel hits only one note, over and over because so many American Jews validate their own assimilating Jewish identity through a reflexive (and often pretty disinterested and disengaged) support of Israel and AIPAC, by proxy. And you have to wonder, if we can't have a dialogue about Israeli policies that isn't critical in some way, are we ultimately jeopardizing the long term good for that country?"

Do you think Barack Obama's willingness to conduct direct conversation with the Palestinians and other Arab groups will enrage the Israel lobby in this country? Gideon Yago: No. Not at all. North of 75% of American Jews voted for Obama. If AIPAC doesn't take note of that, it's stupid.

The missing white girl syndrome really illustrated the cherry-picking the media does with respect to certain stories. When did the new media start pandering to the soap opera mentality of Americans, can you pinpoint a specific time in our recent history this shift from delivering real news to repetitive maudlin harping on certain stories occurred?
Gideon Yago: Well, we have a history of a tabloid press that predates the Revolutionary War. And guys like William Randolph Hearst made a killing on cheap, soap-opera serialized content. In broadcast, I think the first O.J. Simpson Trial, and the numbers it brought in for CNN, was a watershed moment. But you can also trace contemporary broadcast news' style to the tabloid news magazines like 'Inside Edition' and 'A Current Affair' and their success in the 80's. But now, with internet sites like the Huffington Post and Drudge, that tabloid mentality, where the headline and its implication is often more important than the story, has absolutely reigned supreme. And it gives me the fear.

Of all the networks, who is the worst offender, in your opinion? Gideon Yago: Cable is far, far worse than broadcast news. But you're sort of asking me which is better, the broken leg or the broken neck.

Tucker Carlson came of both compelling and a touch strident in his piece. Comic DL Hughley as his own pundit show on CNN now. What do you make of Carlson in comparison to others like him on the air? Gideon Yago: Carlson is a very bright, working guy who has crafted a very successful career for himself. But what I have problem with is that the successes of guys like Tucker - and the other pundits gunning to be him - are bought at the expense of employing working reporters. You make far more money these days branding yourself as a pundit - with radio deals, book deals, TV deals - than you do as a journalist. Which is why there are so many pundits on air in infotainment. But I'll take a journalist over an analyst any day of the week because I was always of the impression that news was supposed to be news, not a tsunami of opinion.

Of all the pundits - who should hang it up immediately? Who do you wish was a pundit - someone you respect for their insight and knowledge of politics? Gideon Yago: Nancy Grace. I wish Tom Frank was on TV more.

Other than "allegedly", what are the other favorite "get out of jail" free cards out there for journalists?Gideon Yago: "Reportedly", "It's been said", "A lot of people in this country" - anything that isn't concrete or assumes a vast, undefined authority...