On today’s Wilshire & Washington, we ask the question: Who’s on top, the MSM or Digital Media? Who’s leading the discussion, why, and is it a good thing? To help us navigate this tricky landscape, we’ve got New York Times reporter Brian Stelter with us; Stelter covers television and digital media, and spent over three years as the editor of TVNewser.

We start with the health care debate, and how digital media has been driving a lot of this debate. Without the blogs, would the public option have lasted this long? Probably not. We tackle Obama’s First 100 Daysâ„¢. Remember how CNN covered that “story” and then how they covered Obama’s first 200 days as well? They called it news; I call it basic arithmetic. Obviously these stories are moves for higher ratings (isn’t CNN behind the Fly Fishing Network at this point?) but did it work? Is it good for us?

We continue our beat-down of CNN with the coverage of the Iranian Election. Digital media was all over that story, yet CNN – which wants to be a “serious” news channel – defended its lack of coverage (remember #cnnfail?) As Stelter notes, cable news needs to be a live stream, and once Iran became a story, CNN should have followed. But isn’t it a little unfair to bash CNN? Our standards for them are so high (we don’t expect the same from MSNBC or Fox) but when CNN covers silly issues like Michael Jackson’s funeral so extensively, it just confuses us.

While digital has had its moments this year, Stelter believes the MSM is still driving the story most of the time, especially with topics like Afghanistan and Iraq, which – because of cost and safety – are impossible for bloggers to really cover. Then again, the major networks didn’t even have Kabul bureaus for years, even though we had a war going on in Afghanistan. Good job, guys. This begs the question: Should the MSM actually cover active US warzones? No? Err…

Finally, we discuss a couple of those nutty stories in the past year – balloon boy, the arrest of the Harvard Professor for being black and in his home, what kind of beer Obama is drinking… you know, real stories. With things like these dominating MSM coverage, don’t we need a filter for all these non-stories? (I’m told this filter is usually called “editors.” Never heard of ‘em.) And as we distribute, and redistribute, news and content, shouldn’t we ourselves take some responsibility and ask, “Is this news good for us?”

Listen to the show here, subscribe to the iTunes podcast, or use the Blog Talk Radio player to the right.

Wilshire & Washington, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program that explores the intersection of politics, entertainment, and new media, features co-hosts Ted Johnson, Managing Editor of Variety; conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein (www.teresacentric.com), and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry (www.maegancarberry.com). The show airs every Wednesday at 7:30am PST on BlogTalkRadio.com.

As the SCOTUS nomination of Sonia Sotomayor continues to dominate the news cycle, CNN’s Leslie Sanchez joins us to get right to the heart of the matter: what’s up with Newt Gingrich withdrawing his “she’s racist” comments? Can’t the guy just stand up for what he believes? But seriously, how many controversies does Sotomayor need to go through just to get on the Supreme Court? Any errors on her tax returns? Let’s just check to make sure, okay?

Sanchez, a Republican strategist and former advisor to President George W. Bush, gives us some serious thoughts about the historic nature of Sotomayor’s nomination to the Latino community, how the GOP can talk about identity politics without turning people off, and how it’s actually President Obama who made this nomination all about race and ethnicity when he spoke so glowingly of her empathy and background. She also addresses the relevancy of those comments about a “wise Latina” – it is justice for all, without favoring one group over another.

The second big story of the last week is Doctor George Tiller, the Kansas-based abortion doctor who was killed in his own church by an anti-abortion activist. A devastating story all around, Sanchez speaks to the controversy over how certain media pipelines push angry vitriol against figures like Tiller and how that can lead to violence. Finally, Sanchez weighs in on former VP Dick Cheney’s thoughts on gay marriage. Does this mark a point of moderation for the GOP on the issue or is this fight just going to get worse? And how do Latino voters enter into the equation?

Listen to the show here, subscribe to the iTunes podcast, or use the Blog Talk Radio player to the right.

Wilshire & Washington, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program that explores the intersection of politics, entertainment, and new media, features co-hosts Ted Johnson, Managing Editor of Variety; conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein (www.teresacentric.com), and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry (www.maegancarberry.com). The show airs every Wednesday at 7:30am PST on BlogTalkRadio.com.

When you look at that $825 billion bailout, what do you see? Massive government spending? Necessary infrastructure changes? Something shiny? It’s like a Rorschach test for political dogma. So if you’re confused by Rush Limbaugh’s explanation – who isn’t? – here’s a balm: stop listening to self-involved blowhards and listen to people who actually studied economics! Listen to Ali Velshi, CNN’s top business correspondent and author of the new book, Gimme My Money Back. He joins Wilshire & Washington hosts Ted Johnson, Maegan Carberry, and Teresa Valdez-Klein for a spirited discussion on Obama’s big bailout, nationalizing the banks, using new media and social networking, the difficulties of explaining such complex financial issues to the public, and what people can do to improve their own financial position in this struggling economy.

Maegan introduces her new bipartisan project with MediaLizzy (found here), The REAL 100 Days, which will track the media’s coverage of the Obama’s first few months in office and highlight common ground between Republicans and Democrats. Ted, Maegan, and Teresa also tackle Rush as the Republican opposition (they can do better), the hilarious media blitz put forth by Governor Rod Blagojevich (Oprah, really?), and the difficulty of filling open Senate seats (where’s the special election, people?). Join us for this fascinating episode of Wilshire & Washington.

Listen to the show here, subscribe to the iTunes podcast, or use the Blog Talk Radio player:

Wilshire & Washington, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program that explores the intersection of politics, entertainment, and new media, features co-hosts Ted Johnson, Managing Editor of Variety; conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein (www.teresacentric.com), and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry (www.maegancarberry.com). The show airs every Wednesday at 7:30am PST on BlogTalkRadio.com.

On Tuesday morning, at approximately 11:42 am, Southern California was hit by a sustained earthquake that government officials proclaimed a 5.4 on the Richter scale. Immediately following the quake, the mainstream media across the country held its breath, hoping for LA’s demise. Headlines popped up on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News, declaring “The End of Los Angeles,” “The Big One is Finally Here,” and “God Smites The Devil-worshipers.”

Felt as far away as Las Vegas and San Diego, the earthquake’s epicenter was around Chino Hills, about 30 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. While media coverage quickly announced a major earthquake had hit California, very little damage has been actually reported, with absolutely no fatalities.

“We’re shocked, really,” says Mitch Dunning, head newswriter for CNN Online. “We thought we were going to have a real story on our hands. I mean, finally, the earthquake to end all earthquakes has hit Los Angeles. Millions should be dead. People should be at least fleeing on the streets in terror. Where’s the looting? The violence? The horror?”

Shaking his head, Dunning added, “Honestly, we’re all pretty disappointed. New Orleans gets all the luck.”

When details first began trickling in about the quake, CNN interrupted its coverage of a squash match between Vladimir Putin and indicted war criminal Omar Bashir. The network spent the next seven hours replaying a four second clip of the infamous 1994 Northridge Earthquake, under the lead: “Hollywood’s Deserved End?”

CNN and MSNBC have both promised round the clock coverage of the quake, especially now that it has ended and won’t be returning. They have also set up a hotline for any residents to please call to report any injuries, no matter how minor.

“Hangnails and up, that’s all we’re asking,” says Rick Mountainstorm, show producer at NBC’s local affiliate. “And if you have any good video footage of people freaking out during the quake, or even footage afterward of people crying, or you know, of a dog on a skateboard, sent it to us. We’re grasping at straws here.”

Many Southern California residents took a rather light approach to the whole ordeal. Most, since the quake occurred during working hours, took the chance to mock old ideas of earthquake preparedness. Workers hid under their laptops and cardboard boxes, laughed it up while mocking old brick buildings for not falling, and generally went on with their regular lives.

Dean Eckhart, an investment banker, said he and his friends made the most of the opportunity. “We knew that the earthquake meant no work for at least an hour or two, so we went to the hotel bar down the street and started tossing back martinis. It was awesome.”

After drunkenly hiding under the table in mock fear, Eckhart and his friends departed the bar, tanked and declaring, “Now that we’ve made fun of old traditions of safety, we’re going to go piss on bibles and the Constitution, if we can find some. Oh, and I would like to make a shout out to God. Thank you for leaving us alive. We look forward to trampling on the morals and cultural values of the rest of the country for many years to come.”