Media Matters

     Robert Mueller is in the news again when he testified before Congress this Wednesday. Not that he was ever out of the news. But the real star of the show has always been The Mueller Report itself. And how to interpret it.     Three kinds of formats attempted to provide information about The Report, using different media and purposes. Consider MSNBC'S TV documentary," What You need to Know,"  on Sunday, July 21. Such exposure was a good idea. After all, how many people will ever read the original material and therefore really understand what it says or seems to say? But it was easy to lose interest in the documentary because it contained material we've seen many times on MSNBC's  cable news programs.      The Mueller Report took another form in Mueller's live TV testimony before the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on Wednesday, July 24.  It was more captivating then the documentary, because it was live, but it also called attention to the f

     Any essay, like a blog, should have a main idea, thesis  or hypothesis that is clearly apparent: providing proof of these should constitute the material's content and structure. Not so difficult  to grasp, right? Unless, of course, we don't have a firm clue as to what the main idea is. Such is the case with the two TV sessions featuring the Democratic Debates on MSNBC.      The morning after the second debate one definitive "headline"  got our attention, serving as a thesis: "Kamala Harris Breaks Out." Who stood out appeared to be the idea behind  this  round of debates.      Yet, other main ideas could have been different: for example, what was the "signature" or "identity" for those who were not well- known or even for those who were. We know now, therefore, that Kirsten Gillibrand will fight for women's rights; Joe Biden will combat President Trump, Eric Swalwell with take on gun violence. There were as many diverse id