This week on CounterSpin: The Huckabee surge is officially the campaign story of the moment. How did the supposedly second-tier Republican contender become the man to beat? And what has the national media done to boost him to front-runner status? We'll speak with a reporter who's covered Huckabee up close for years—Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times.

Also on CounterSpin today, as the U.S. and NATO confront a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan with increased bombing and even talk of a military surge there, civilian casualties are growing. Despite the changes, the American press is no less dependent on official views than it was when the White House and American journalists were counting Afghanistan in the "win" column. We'll talk to Professor Marc Herold of the University of New Hampshire and author of "The AP Speaks Newspeak," about U.S. reporting on Afghanistan.

Links:

— Huck’s Week That Was, by Max Brantley (Arkansas Times, 12/13/07)

— The AP Speaks Newspeak, by Marc Herold (Cursor.org, 12/12/07)