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African Americans on the Networks; Boston Globe; Eyes Wide Shut; Rainbow Ruthie-The Sequel; Vanity Fair v Brill's Content; Sports Bra Seen Around the World

No major network has an ethnic minority character on its programs this fall. The NAACP is threatening legal action - I'm Brian Lehrer, on this week's On the Media - race, ratings and prime time Television - plus- Steven Bochco on his mostly black drama, coming in January. Also, "Brill's Content" at age one. That's this week on On the Media.

1 - BLACKS ON NETWORK TELEVISION
The trend of blacks and whites existing in different television worlds has gone one step further with the newly announced fall line up. Of the 26 new shows slated to run on a major network, none feature a black actor or actress in a leading role. The NAACP is protesting this development, the networks are apologizing, and the advertising community is scrambling for a slice of the same niche--young, affluent, and overwhelmingly white. Brian Lehrer examines what the NAACP calls the whitewash of television, including a talk with pioneering producer Steven Bochco whose upcoming series, "City of Angels," will attempt to become the first successful drama with a predominantly black cast.
Guests: Stacey Lynn Koerner: Vice President of Broadcast Research, TN MEDIA
Steven Bochco: Producer and creator of "Hill Street Blues," "LA Law," "NYPD Blue," and the upcoming CBS series "City of Angels"
Kristal Brent Zook: Professor of Cultural Studies, Cal State Northridge, author, "Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television"

2 - R.I.P. THE TAYLOR FAMILY NEWSPAPER
The Taylor family has been in charge of the Boston Globe since 1873. Their reign as Boston's most prominent newspaper family ended last week when "The New York Times," which bought "The Boston Globe" from the Taylors six years ago, brought in their own man to run the paper. Read more here.
Reporter: Monica Brady

3 - BROOKE AND BRIAN
Brooke and Brian take a look at this week's media stories.
GUEST: Brooke Gladstone, NPR'S Media Reporter

4 - EYES WIDE SHUT- THE LEGACY OF STANLEY KUBRICK
If you're older than fifteen, and you've been waiting for a film to open this summer, it's probably "Eyes Wide Shut," which Stanley Kubrick finished just before he died in March at the age 71. Kubrick's tale of sex and fantasy has had more advance publicity than anything the press-shy director has ever made. David D'Arcy reports on how Kubrick's latest and last film fits into his legacy.
Reporter: David D'Arcy

5 - RUTHIE II - THE REVENGE
Recently we told you about the budding young public access star - Rainbow Ruthie - who attempts to bring to TV real images of today's teenage girl. Reporter Marianne McCune discovered that a rival clique of girls at Ruthie's high school have their own public access show called "Wanna Bee TV'...and asks if Ruthie's image of teenage reality is similar to their own.
Reporter: Marianne McCune

6 - JAMES WALCOTT ON BRILL'S CONTENT; BRILL ON JAMES WALCOTT; WALCOTT ON BRILL··
The first issue of "Brill's Content," the self-appointed media watchdog, created a big splash. As the magazine turns a year old, many in the media world are turning a critical eye towards the magazine. In the tradition of "Brill's Content" Talk Back interviews, On the Media talks to James Walcott, contributing editor of "Vanity Fair," about the success, or lack thereof of "Brill's Content"·then to Steven Brill on Walcott's critique of his magazine·then back to Walcott on Brill's take on his critique.
Guests: Steven Brill, Editor and Chief, Brill's Content
James Walcott, Contributing Editor, "Vanity Fair"

7 - SPORTS BRAS IN THE NEWS
The day after the U.S. women won the world cup, pictures of Brandi Chastain in her Nike Inner Active sports bra graced the covers of magazines and newspapers across the country. A black bra hasn't caused this much commotion since Madonna took to wearing one on stage. Lucy Danziger looks at America's new fascination with the girl in the bra.
Commentator: Lucy Danziger, Editor in Chief, "Women's Sports and Fitness"

WNYC archives id: 225100

Monica Brady - The Taylors and the Boston Globe

The Taylor family has been in charge of the Boston Globe since 1873. Their reign as Boston's most prominent newspaper family ended last week when "The New York Times," which bought "The Boston Globe" from the Taylors six years ago, brought in their own man to run the paper.

Intro: This past week "The Boston Globe" got a new publisher-Richard
Gilman, former Senior Vice President of Operations at "The New York Times." He replaced Benjamin Taylor, who has been publisher for only two years, but whose family has managed the Globe since its inception. Taylor will continue as Chairman of the Globe Newspaper Company board. "On the Media's" Monica Brady reports.

MB: In 1873, Charles Taylor came to "The Boston Globe" to run it for only a few weeks. Those few weeks stretched into 126 years for the Taylor family. Their reign ended last week when "The New York Times," which bought "The Globe" from the Taylors six years ago, brought in their own man-a New Yorker-to run the paper. Jack Thomas has worked at The Globe for more than thirty years as a reporter, editor and now the ombudsman.

JT: A lot of people at "The Boston Globe" today learn suddenly they lose their favorite uncle... the news that Ben Taylor would be the great shock to all of us.

MB: The end of the Taylor era is part of a trend. It used to be most newspapers were owned by only a local family. In the '90s, the Taylors were one of a handful of families running newspapers, like the Grahams of "The Washington Post" or the Sulzbergers of "The New York Times." The family-owned-and-operated newspaper is a dinosaur, says Alex Jones, co-author of a forthcoming book on the Sulzberger family.

AJ: I'm from a newspaper family and my father is the publisher of the Greenville Sun, circulation15,000, Greenville, Tenn. He's in his mid-80s, gets up and goes to work every day, and my two brothers are in the business with him. And we are a dying species and we know that.

MB: Boston is in a state of mourning after losing the Taylor family at the helm of its newspaper. Thomas Winship, Editor from 1965-1984, says the Taylors cared intensely about their native city. Winship was also part of a family tradition at "The Globe," he followed in the footsteps of his father, Lawrence Winship, who edited the paper for the ten years before him.

TW: For me, this is personally a sad, sad day. It marks the end of an exciting and productive 65-year newspaper management relationship between the
Taylor family and the Winship family. What fun we had; and I believe the city did too.

MB: Under the Taylors, "The Globe" has been New England's largest newspaper since 1900. It has won 15 Pulitzer Prizes. "The Globe" was one of the first papers to editorialize against the Vietnam war, and it strongly supported the integration of Boston public schools...even when that opinion lead to shots being fired into the newsroom.

JT: As the voice of Boston over so many decades, they really have had a front seat in the history of this city.

Again Jack Thomas.

JT: I myself have worked for Four of them: William Davis Taylor, John I Taylor William Taylor and Ben Taylor. And what they've contributed to this city over those long years in terms of its politics, culture, history is something to reckon with. There have been a lot of great editors and writers, but without the Taylor family and the generosity they've exhibited over the years none of that would have been possible.

MB: The publishing dynasty of the Taylors started with Charles and was then passed to his son, then to his son, then to his son, and then to a second cousin. Other Taylor family members, from distant cousins to close family, have also worked as reporters, editors and on other posts at the paper.

Passing the publishing baton on to Richard Gilman of the New York Times is definitely not keeping it in the family, but it's not to Rupert Murdoch, either, Alex Jones says at least the management of the newspaper is being passed on to another family run corporation.

AJ: think that none of the surviving good family newspaper dynasties is the Sulzbergers, so in this situation I don't look at the Sulzbergers as the bad guys. I don't think they are doing something that is abusive. I think they are on the good side of this.

MB: But the Sulzbergers are not the Taylors and don't have any history with the paper and the City. This is what concerns some "Globe" writers, such as columnist Eileen Mcnamara, who worked with Ben Taylor when he was a reporter in Washington.

Mcnamara·
EM: Ben Taylor is someone those of us in the newsroom grew up with, and the City may not realize how much of a newsman he was. But he came out of the newsroom. He didn't come out of the business end of the operation. And I think for a lot of us Ben's great strength is that he was a journalist.

MB: Despite the City's emotional attachment to the Taylor's, "The Boston Globe" was losing circulation and the New York Times, which paid a little more than a billion dollars for the paper, wants a return on its investment-family run or not.

For On the Media, I'm Monica Brady in Boston.

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