Shows / Archer's Line Podcast
Archer's Line Podcast
Talking about what's happening to broadcast news, radio, and the people who make them matter.
www.therobarcher.com
Episodes
Archer's Line PodcastJournalism's Job Isn't To Pretend. Where's the Evidence of Election Rigging?
President Trump says the Los Angeles and California elections were rigged. Spencer Pratt lost. Therefore, according to Trump and many of his supporters…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Cost of Losing the People Who Know Things
Institutions die long before they collapse. This may be happening to journalism right now. The first symptom is the departure of the people who know things…
Archer's Line PodcastWe'll Remember Who Stood Where
The audience remembers.That’s the problem facing CBS News, Paramount, and a growing list of media companies, universities, law firms, and corporations that…
Archer's Line PodcastUPDATE: The Fight for 60 Minutes: They're Staying
The rebellion inside 60 Minutes isn’t over. Three of the program’s remaining correspondents — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and Jon Wertheim — have announced…
Archer's Line PodcastScott Pelley Was Fired by Email
UPDATE: Scott Pelley responded to his firing. His statement to the staff at 60 Minutes is below. New statement sent to CBS News staff from Scott Pelley: There…
Archer's Line PodcastThe FCC's New Target
If you thought FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was only putting pressure on television networks, think again. The same FCC that’s been investigating network news…
Archer's Line PodcastBREAKING: Open Revolt at CBS
I’ve sat through more “meet the new boss” meetings than I can count. The script is almost always the same. The new boss introduces themselves. Employees ask a…
Archer's Line PodcastLiving In a Post-News America
The shutting down of CBS News Radio was big news. But there is a bigger story here, and it’s about jobs and the people who are disappearing behind the scenes…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Unmaking of 60 Minutes
The most successful news program in television just got handed to someone who has never run a television news program. Again. First, David Ellison installed…
Archer's Line PodcastThis Isn’t Supposed to Happen in America
There’s a growing rebellion inside journalism over the proposed merger between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery. Nearly 200 reporters, former…
Archer's Line PodcastStars Die
Ten years ago this month, I walked into the studios of KNX on Wilshire Boulevard for the first time as an employee. I passed by the CBS Radio logo, got my…
Archer's Line PodcastGoogle Zero
There’s a phrase quietly spreading through the media business right now that would have sounded insane just a few years ago: “Google Zero.” As in: prepare for…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Clock May Be Ticking for Bari Weiss at CBS
There’s an old rule in television news that eventually overrides everything else: ratings. You can survive criticism for a while. You can survive bad…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Long Goodbye
This is Stephen Colbert’s final week on CBS. The last show is Thursday. And for people who grew up loving television — especially smart television — it feels…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Most Dangerous Word in American Politics
Once again, the President of the United States is accusing journalists of “treason.”This time it happened aboard Air Force One, where Trump lashed out at New…
Archer's Line PodcastCBS Disaster in Taiwan
CBS Evening News had a rough night in Taiwan. The network sent anchor Tony Dokoupil to Taipei for special coverage tied to President Trump’s trip to China…
Archer's Line PodcastThe FCC’s Internal War Just Went Public
The FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner just did something almost unheard of. Anna Gomez publicly warned The Walt Disney Company that her own agency appears to…
Archer's Line PodcastGood Night — And Goodbye, CBS News Radio
CBS Radio News is dying in less than two weeks. For most people, that won’t mean much. Another media brand disappears. Another corporate restructuring. Another…
Archer's Line PodcastHere’s Why Your Brain Thinks the Chatbot is Real
The use of AI chatbots can be dangerous for people vulnerable to magical thinking — especially when they don’t understand what their own brains are doing…
Archer's Line PodcastABC Fights Back
For months, America’s major television networks have mostly responded to political pressure from the Trump administration the same way: compliance, caution…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Press Is No Longer Off Limits
Most of the time, law enforcement and local reporters can work hand in hand. After all, a lot of reporting comes from information given to them by the police…
Archer's Line PodcastOn the Beach
There’s a phrase in broadcasting for when you’re between gigs: on the beach. It sounds almost pleasant. It isn’t. It’s more like a kind of gallows humor. Like…
Archer's Line Podcast"If He Won't Leave"
The following is a fictional “what if” scenario. Day One — 9:00 a.m. | The House Floor The vote to impeach Donald Trump has been building for six weeks —…
Archer's Line PodcastGlobal Press Freedom Hits a 25-Year Low
Global press freedom has hit its lowest point in the 25 years that Reporters Without Borders has tracked it. Far from being a dip, it’s a trend. And there are…
Archer's Line PodcastThey Killed Radio. Small Towns Didn't Get the Memo.
Things aren’t looking good for radio. The audience is shrinking. Listening is at the lowest levels we’ve seen. But I still believe radio has a future, even…
Archer's Line PodcastBREAKING: The FCC Is Coming for ABC's Licenses — And Everyone Knows Why
The federal government is preparing to do something it hasn’t done in decades. The FCC is moving to call in all eight Disney-owned ABC station licenses for…
Archer's Line PodcastWhat's Killing CBS Evening News in Plain Sight
It’s time for a wellness check on CBS News. What’s happening at CBS Evening News right now looks like a slow-motion car wreck. And a Vanity Fair deep-dive…
Archer's Line PodcastA Supreme Court Case Most People Aren’t Watching — But Should
Arguments were heard last Tuesday before the Supreme Court in a little-noticed but very important case that cuts right into how federal power actually works…
Archer's Line PodcastFirst TV. Now Audio.
iHeartMedia and SiriusXM may be talking merger. That’s according to Reuters and Bloomberg, which report early, exploratory discussions about combining iHeart’s…
Archer's Line PodcastGuess Who's Coming to Dinner
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is this Saturday. The annual ritual — black tie, awards, scholarships, self-congratulation, a little gallows humor about…
Archer's Line PodcastWinds of Change at CBS
Something is shifting at CBS News. And not everyone inside the building likes where the wind is blowing. David Ellison — the Paramount boss trying to pull off…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Last Neutral Ground
If you spend enough time with national news, it’s easy to come away thinking the country is completely split in two — two sides, two realities, two versions of…
Archer's Line PodcastTerminal Dead Air
We’re in a period in the radio business where stations that can’t make enough money for their owners aren’t being sold — they’re just being… turned off…
Archer's Line PodcastEverything Trump Has Done Makes Perfect Sense
Everything Donald Trump is saying and doing in his second term makes sense — if you understand the one basic thing that motivates him.His need for revenge.Not…
Archer's Line PodcastHow Independent Media Led to Orbán's Fall
For years, Viktor Orbán showed how to take control of a country’s media without shutting it down. You don’t ban journalism. You buy it. Allies acquire major…
Archer's Line PodcastThe New Media Power Play Is Happening Right Now
In 1926, RCA helped launch NBC — not to inform the public, but to sell radios. More stations meant more content, more content meant more listeners, and more…
Archer's Line PodcastA Wellness Check on the Free Press
There’s a growing sense right now that the free press in America is under siege. Journalists, media critics, and even casual observers are talking about it…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Summer They Came for 60 Minutes
On May 17th, the 58th season of 60 Minutes ends. And it may be the end of 60 Minutes — at least as we know it. Inside CBS News, the expectation — based on…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Iran War You’re Not Being Told About
Something unusual is happening. Not just on the battlefield, but in the way Americans are being told about it — or, more accurately, not being told. This is a…
Archer's Line PodcastI’ve Been in the Layoff Meetings — Here’s What’s Really Happening to Radio
Another round of layoffs is hitting radio. Audacy. iHeartMedia. Different companies, same pattern. Jobs cut across markets. Shows disappearing. People finding…
Archer's Line PodcastCaught in the Clutches of Old Men
The median age of Americans is in the late 30s. But the typical president takes office in their late 50s, 60s, even 70s. Lately, it’s skewing even older. Both…
Archer's Line PodcastCNN Is Cosplaying as YouTube
Last week, CNN tried something new. Jake Tapper ditched his studio and anchored The Lead from his office — campaign posters on the wall, big podcast mic on the…
Archer's Line PodcastAmerica After Trump
In the heads of millions of Americans opposed to Trump, there’s a hopeful scenario: his collapsing poll numbers lead to a Republican wipeout in the midterms…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of One-Party States
It usually starts the same way—not with a declaration of dictatorship, not with tanks in the streets, but with a target. An opposition that isn’t just wrong…
Archer's Line PodcastThey Put Warning Labels on Cigarettes. Social Media May Be Next.
There was a time when cigarette companies insisted their product wasn’t addictive. They ran ads saying doctors smoked. Their brand, of course. You may recall…
Archer's Line PodcastA Brief History of CBS News Radio
Long before television flickered into American living rooms, before Walter Cronkite became “the most trusted man in America,” before even the idea of a nightly…
Archer's Line PodcastAmerica Is Losing the Moon
Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, looking into the future, once wrote that one day the United States would be mainly remembered for one thing: that it…
Archer's Line PodcastUpdate: Trump Turned a Fixable Crisis Into Airport Chaos
He was handed a solution. He chose chaos.There’s a part of the airport meltdown story that isn’t getting enough attention. Not the long lines, not the unpaid…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Last Trusted News Is Being Weakened
In a meeting with some radio and TV colleagues yesterday, something came up that stuck with me. People don’t trust the media like they used to. That’s not new…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Sting Is Gone: CBS News Radio Signs Off After Nearly a Century
If you worked in radio news, you know it immediately. That CBS News Radio musical sting — brassy, authoritative, urgent — punching in at the top of every hour…
Archer's Line PodcastDemocracy Needs a Wellness Check
The other day, we did a wellness check on the First Amendment. But democracy in America itself needs a wellness check. We can see movement inside the house…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Collapsing Broadcast System
Eleven years ago, when I started my job at KNX in Los Angeles, it was a CBS station. There was a huge CBS News logo when you got off the elevators. I was proud…
Archer's Line PodcastWhich St. Patrick Are You Celebrating? One Man, Two Legends, or a Myth
Every March 17th, the world celebrates St. Patrick. The world puts on something green, raises a pint, and toasts St. Patrick — patron saint of Ireland…
Archer's Line PodcastThis Is How It Happens
Let’s do a wellness check on the First Amendment. All my calls are going to voicemail. Let me explain. FCC Chair Brendan Carr took to X this weekend to warn…
Archer's Line PodcastWe Knew. We Always Know. We Do It Anyway.
If you spend enough time reading history, a strange realization starts to creep in. Human beings are very good at recording the past. We write books about it…
Archer's Line PodcastPalantir and Nvidia Just Built the Government a Surveillance Operating System
A major AI story slipped under the radar this week. It deserves attention. Palantir Technologies and Nvidia quietly announced something they’re calling a…
Archer's Line PodcastPeople Are Willing to Go to Jail to Protest This Government
Tax Day is coming. And some Americans have decided they’re not paying. Let me be clear: not paying your federal taxes is against the law. I’m not recommending…
Archer's Line PodcastWar Doesn’t Distract the Way It Used To
America has a long history of getting involved in the Middle East. It doesn’t have a great track record. Iraq. Afghanistan. Libya. Syria. The United States has…
Archer's Line PodcastThe Hour We Lost — And the Radio Stations That Lose More
Good morning. Or at least, that’s what they tell us. If you’re reading this right now and your eyes are held open by sheer willpower and the threat of a third…
Archer's Line PodcastWhy Are Influencers Telling Young Men Women Shouldn’t Vote?
International Women’s Day always puts men in a slightly awkward position. We can’t explain what it’s like to be a woman. We shouldn’t pretend we can. How dumb…