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The Media Project
Fridays, 3-3:30 p.m.; Sundays, 6-6:30 p.m.

The "Media Project" is an inside look at media coverage of current events, featuring veterans of Capital District news coverage, including former Times Union Editor Rex Smith, Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld, former Daily Gazette editor Judy Patrick, and the former editor of The Saratogian, Barbara Lombardo, as well as Ian Pickus and David Guistina of Northeast Public Radio. The panel explores how the news media covers the issues of the day, challenges facing the industry, and whether journalists are meeting the ethical standards we expect. It's a half-hour of lively conversation that you won't want to miss if you care about how the news media is performing its essential task in our democracy.

Twitter: @_mediaproject
Email: media@wamc.org

  • (Airs 03/21/25 & 03/23/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and WAMC News Director Ian Pickus. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ian talk about what the White House Press Corps needs, the difficulty of reporting on what’s going with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, why local and regional reporting is so important, and much more.
  • (Airs 03/14/25 & 03/16/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Daily Freeman Publisher Emeritus Ira Fusfeld. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Ira talk about the difficulty of covering news under the Trump Administration, Jeff Bezos and what’s happening at the Washington Post, the threat to libel law, and much more.
  • (Airs 03/07/25 & 03/09/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, Daily Gazette Editor Miles Reed and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Barbara, Miles and David talk about the increasing need for public media, the challenge of covering the local angles of the Doge cuts, what’s happening at the Washington Post, and much more.
  • (Airs 02/28/25 & 03/02/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Jimmy Vielkind, a reporter for WNYC and The Gothamist. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Jimmy talk about the evolution of media coverage at the state capital, the intimacy of radio news, whether we need more working-class journalists, and much more.
  • (Airs 02/21/25 & 02/23/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Daily Gazette Editor Miles Reed. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara and Miles talk about how efforts to suppress a local editorial, the continuing controversy over the AP reporting on the Gulf of Mexico, and much more.
  • (Airs 02/14/25 & 02/16/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Daily Gazette Editor Miles Reed, and WAMC News Director Ian Pickus. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Miles, and Ian talk about how the media might respond to the flood of information from the White House, how the media should be handling falsehoods, whether Saturday Night Live engages in truth-telling, and much more.
  • (Airs 02/07/25 & 02/09/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and David talk about what’s on the horizon for public broadcasting, why companies that own media are giving in to attacks on journalism, and much more.
  • (Airs 01/31/25 & 02/02/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and former Editor of the Saratogian, and Daily Gazette Editor Miles Reed. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and Miles talk about why there’s no woman on the newly--formatted CBS Evening News, why Newsday is suing Nassau County government, and much more.
  • (Airs 01/24/25 & 01/26/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Judy Patrick, former Editor of the Daily Gazette and Vice President for Editorial Development for the New York Press Association, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Judy, Barbara, and David talk about when the TV “standup” is a mistake, the Trump Administration and the FCC, A-I’s influence on journalism, a cat named Mittens and the Golly Martha, and much more.
  • (Airs 01/17/25 & 01/19/25 @ 6 p.m.) The Media Project is an inside look at media coverage of current events with former Times Union Editor, current Upstate American, Substack columnist Rex Smith, Barbara Lombardo, Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany and former Editor of the Saratogian, and David Guistina, Media Project Producer, Morning Edition Anchor, and Adjunct Professor at the University at Albany, and Daily Gazette Editor Miles Reed. On this week’s Media Project, Rex, Barbara, Miles and David talk about when and whether it’s okay for a journalist to insert themselves into a story, practicing journalism in the Trump era, the impact of reporting on a journalist’s mental health, and much more.