• by John Gaffney , April 11, 2003

Other People's Riffs For The Week That Was:

I'm Not Sure Editorial Objectivity Is A Big Selling Point For Mike These Days: On April 24, the first night of the sweeps period, the Fox Network will air "Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies," a two-hour special built around his family movies and a new interview with the star. Jackson hasn't yet been interviewed, according to several sources. The Daily News reported "the show will be produced by the entertainment division, not Fox News, meaning the standards of editorial objectivity will not be applied."

Faith Popcorn For President: The futurist came out with her vision of post-Iraq Conflict America this week. Among her predictions of new behavioral trends is "patri-eroticism- Unbridled sexuality, coupled with drug and alcohol usage at home, have traditionally paralleled combat abroad, and this war will be no exception. The fear of HIV, drug addiction, or alcoholism will be overwhelmed by the desire to find protection from reality through these addictive vices."

Is He Buying DirecTV Or Attacking With Cruise Missles?: The Washington Post coverage of Rupert Murdoch's purchase of DirecTV aired the concern of many industry observers who thought it gave Murdoch too much access to consumer airtime. "He could target cities one by one, threatening orbital obliteration for those who won't play by the new Murdoch rules, predict the most alarmist. News Corp. said the terms of its purchase of DirecTV guard against such tactics."

I'm Sure Both People Who Care About This Are Thrilled: Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America has introduced the Mitsubishi Alpha 82-inch Widescreen HDTV featuring 1080 x 1920 resolution, Featuring Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) reflective LCD technology, super-high precision optics, and the highest performance digital receiver and processing circuits ever created by Mitsubishi Electric. This new Alpha television surpasses all previous standards of performance. Suggested value pricing for the Mitsubishi Alpha is $20,999.