S P O N T A N E I T Y
EIGHT QUESTIONS WITH
BOB SOMERBY

Al Gore recently purchased a news channel. Will he give you a show (say, "The Education Of A Common Rube, With Bob Somerby") or a regular spot somewhere?

I have no idea what Al's plans are for the station. I doubt that he would have any such thoughts. Because we were friends in college, any such collaboration would meet the inevitable critique-by-recitation-of-personal-trivia that characterizes so much of our discourse.

Your site, The Daily Howler, has no ads. May we ask, what puts food on your table?

I'm a comedian. Sorry, a humorist. A "humorist" is a comedian whose audience isn't drunk.

David Brock, Joe Conason, and Eric Alterman, among others, have written books on the right-wing bias in the media. Have you thought about writing a book of your own?

I've done about 80 percent of a book about the coverage of Campaign 2000. I plan to finish it next year. It lost a good deal of currency when Gore dropped out on the 2004 race, but it tells a startling story that people need to read in detail. Very few people understand the way that election was "covered." The episodes are endless and amazing.

I've also considered some shorter, punchier books about the press corps.

What's the last book you've read?

I don't read books--they take too long. Seriously though, I just read the easy-reader Boston Globe bio of Kerry. I also like Einstein-made-easy books, like Brian Greene's current The Fabric of the Cosmos. The good news: These books are always so incoherent conceptually that you can't really read past page 5.

The book I've really been thinking about lately is In America: A Portrait of the Film, a screenplay-plus-essays look at Jim Sheridan's film from last year.

You specifically critique the NY Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe quite often. What else do you read regularly?

I'm reading fewer news sources all the time. I've stopped expecting to learn things in them.

Describe the American mainstream media, as succinctly as you can, in one word.

"Nonexistent." They're no longer there.

Where is Osama?

Nowhere you and I have ever been.

Will John Kerry win in November?

I'm telling friends to bet Kerry by eight. You can get good odds on that now.

--Counterbias.com.
Published May 17 2004