David Zurawik
The Sun's TV/media critic since 1989, David Zurawik earned a Ph.D. in American Studies (pop culture-media studies) from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin in specialized reporting (pop culture) and is the author of "The Jews of Prime Time," a look at 50 years of Jewish identity in network TV (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, 2003). He was previously TV critic/columnist at the Dallas Times Herald.
Recent Articles
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'Charm City' on PBS will make you feel hope, outrage over our deeply troubled Baltimore
“Charm City,” a PBS documentary focusing on some of the citizens who are trying to save Baltimore one day at a time from its culture of crime and corruption, could hardly come at a better time. Don’t miss it tonight at 10 on PBS where it airs as part of the Independent Lens series. (Locally, on...
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Zurawik: April Ryan is right to call for firing of Sanders for lying and slander at White House podium
While the right-wing messaging machine is trying to make it sound like a personality spat, April Ryan’s call for White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to be fired is a righteous and important one bigger than either of the people involved. What Ryan’s call highlights is the way lying, smearing...
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Zurawik: TV's unblinking eye sees through William Barr
If the sight of Attorney General William Barr on TV Thursday looking and sounding more like a campaign spin doctor for President Donald Trump than the chief law enforcement officer of the United States made you as angry as it did me, take heart. Barr and Trump have been using media and the considerable...
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Zurawik: Cable TV owns 2020 race with town halls, candidate interviews. Mostly, that's a good thing
Critics of prime-time cable news often dismiss it as an empty-headed noise machine, a partisan shout-fest that mainly confuses and polarizes its audience as it makes more and more prime-time money at the expense of democracy. Look at the cosmic failure of cable news in 2016 in covering the candidacy...
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PBS documentary offers intimate, moving look at human toll of deportation
In a sea of disinformation, lies, spin and social media hate mongering, it’s hard to find any clarity these days on the issue of immigration on our Southern border. This week, coverage of the forced resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security offered a keen...
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'Fosse/Verdon' on FX: Looking back at a celebrated show biz marriage through a #MeToo lens
Bob Fosse, the celebrated and tormented choreographer and director, sure looks different in the #MeToo era to me. That’s the thought that has stuck with me since screening the first two hours of eight-part limited series “Fosse/Verdon” that premieres at 10 tonight on FX. As a college student, after...
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Baltimore Sun reporting on Pugh 'Healthy Holly' deals highlighted on CNN
Brian Stelter, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” highlighted The Sun’s coverage of Mayor Catherine Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” book deals Sunday, saying it showed the importance of local journalism. The Sun “has been able to uncover an incredible City Hall scandal involving Catherine Pugh,” Stelter...
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Zurawik: Fix the corruption (and crime and schools and blight) and Baltimore's image will follow
It has been a brutal month for Baltimore’s image. The March 17 cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine featured two row houses in shadows and darkness with the headline: “The Tragedy of Baltimore.” The subhead written as if it might be graph showing steady decline said: “How an American City...