What a year. There was a never-ending presidential election, a bottomless pit of government bailouts and that Beyonce video.
Over these past 12 months, our team has watched, read and tried to decipher the news. Our show set out to pull the news apart and attempt to understand it -- How does it happen? Where does it come from? Who tells the stories?
In the end, we went behind the scenes of the missing white girl phenomenon, tried to figure out what we can't say about Israel, and outed an unethical editor at one of the nation's largest newspapers. We've talked to Valerie Plame, Tucker Carlson, and Morley Safer. And we found out even the Partnership for a Drug-Free America thinks the war on drugs is a silly idea.
Tonight, our show's first season comes to a close (IFC, 8pm). The sixth episode puts on some magical goggles to peer into the future and see where the news is headed. Oh, and we go behind the scenes with The Yes Men and their cohorts as they carry out a massive prank on the New York Times.
As we look back at our first season, we'd love to get your feedback -- not just on the show itself, but more importantly on what you think the show could be and where we should go. If you have a juicy tip or an inside take on how the media works, we'd love to hear from you. If you know of an amazing story in your hometown that has gone unnoticed because the news media, both big and small, won't give it the time of day -- do please tell us about it.
Your thoughts, tips and stories... all are welcome, drop us a line, anonymity protected:
feedback@honestenginetv.com
And now a question for the comment box...
What was your favorite news story of the year? The AP just released their list and Time magazine last week put out a list of the most underreported stories (along with a list for everything else that exists in the world).
But who cares what Time magazine thinks, right? What do you think?
It's a tough game to play, but we put our heads together and while we really enjoyed how NBC softballed its China reporting during the Olympics in deference to their corporate overlords at GE, two other stories were way more interesting.
The Michelle Obama secret bombshell tape where she rants angrily about "Whiteys":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxMDb-NOmnk
We're still waiting for that one to drop.
And the other story, voted the 2008 Story of the Year by the IFC Media Project, was the sad tale of Addie Polk, a 90 year woman in Akron, OH, who -- on the very day Wall Street got its bailout -- was served with an eviction notice. As the cops banged on her door to remove her from her foreclosed home, she turned a gun on herself. Rather than face the humiliation of being kicked out of her home, Addie Polk decided to try and bail herself out.
But what do you think? Which stories really got to you? What stories did the press not cover enough? What were some of the best stories they DID do? Hit the comments and share your thoughts.
And from all of us at the Media Project, Happy New Year! May the news in 2009 be just as amazing.