Bill Moyers and Dennis Kucinich

Bill Moyers had Dennis Kucinich on his show, Bill Moyers Journal, this week. Here's the link:

the Kucinich interview

Video and transcript. Some about him and the campaign, and some about the media and their actions during the campaign, such as this exchange

Well, you have to realize that the media, you know, first of all, the media's not a monolith. I mean, we're here. You're part of the media. And I'm glad for it to have this opportunity. But I think that we have to, first of all, cause media corporations to divest of any other interests. Media ought to just be media.

Media shouldn't be Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Media shouldn't be defense contractors, okay? Media should be media. And when the media has the responsibility, it has to adhere to the principles outlined in the Federal Communication Act of 1934. They should serve in the public interest, convenience, and necessity. And that measure has often been lost.

BILL MOYERS: So is media reform just as important to you now as campaign finance reform used to be?

DENNIS KUCINICH: Of course it is. Of course it is. I mean, this is something I taught years ago at Case Western Reserve. I understand the role--

BILL MOYERS: You've got your master's in communications.

DENNIS KUCINICH: I do. And I understand the role of the media. I respect the role. But I -

BILL MOYERS: Yet all your career you've been up against the mainstream media.

DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, you know, - Bill, I could have chosen a role a long time ago to support the status quo and take the fast route to political success. And I was mayor of Cleveland 30 years ago. I could have sold a city's municipal electronic system and been on a fast track to a governorship at age 32, 33. But you know what? I represent the public interest. And the media often, you know, is supporting private interest groups which are also called-- sometimes called advertisers and also called other corporate connections. And you know what? We've got to have media reform in this country because, otherwise, we're never going to really feel the full expression of the power of the First Amendment.

The electronic broadcast media is licensed to, you know, and to operate the airwaves in a public trust for the public. They don't own those airwaves. And we have an obligation to expect that they're going to function in the public interest. And when they don't, there has to be some changes.