Goodbye Jerry! Seinfeld Signs Off; Nader vs. Microsoft; Letters to the Editor

Sunday, January 4, 1998
HOST: BRIAN LEHRER

FIRST TOPIC:
WHY IS MICROSOFT SEEN AS A THREAT TO COMMERCE AND TO FREE SPEECH?

DESCRIPTION:
An anti-trust suit and a recent conference, called "Appraising Microsoft's Global Strategy," have focused attention on Microsoft's enormous reach. Is Bill Gates unfairly controlling cyberspace?

GUESTS:
RALPH NADER, consumer advocate
MARK MURRAY, Corporate public relations manager, Microsoft

SECOND TOPIC:
A LOOK AT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

DESCRIPTION:
Whose letters get published - and why? Editors from a big city paper and a small-town daily talk about how they choose letters and discuss the influence letters have on their communities and on the news.

GUESTS:
JIM HAMPTON, editor, The Miami Herald
MICHAEL GARTNER, editor and co-owner, The (Ames, Iowa) Daily Tribune;
winner 1997 Pulitzer for Editorial Writing

THIRD TOPIC:
BYE-BYE SEINFELD: THE MEANING OF NOTHINGNESS

DESCRIPTION:
It might seem like much ado about nothing, but the news that Jerry Seinfeld is calling it quits after this season rated a page one story in the New York Times and a lot of headlines everywhere else. Why should a TV sit-com garner so much attention?

GUESTS:
ELIZABETH LESLY-STEVENS, assistant Editor for Business Week, covering media and entertainment
JOHN PODHORETZ, Editorial Page editor and former TV critic, The New York Post

WNYC archives id: 84886