T A B L E__T A L K Would we be better served by an openly partisan press? Pick a side in the Media area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y How I learned to stop worrying and love Gloria Allred By Frank Sanello She may be the Queen of Overexposure, but hard-charging feminist attorney Gloria Allred is on the side of the (loudmouthed) angels (01/12/97) Uncle Sam to Unabomber By Bruce Shapiro Crazy or not, we're coming to kill you (01/09/97) Sleaze, smears and spleen: A Novak way of knowing By Eric Alterman Robert Novak has exhumed a slanderous lie that I.F. Stone was a Communist spy (01/08/97) Under the Covers By James Poniewozik 1997's wrap-ups, unwrapped (01/07/97) Sex please, we're Brits! By Sarah Coleman When it comes to book-cover illustrations, the Brits are fond of the naughty bits (01/06/97) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE MEDIA CIRCUS ARCHIVES

the People ___________A R E_ A L W A Y S_ W R O N G ON THE NEW "PEOPLE'S COURT," EVEN THE AUTOCRATIC RULINGS OF ED KOCH ARE PREFERABLE TO THE RANTINGS OF THE MOB. BY DAVID FUTRELLE | Blame it on O.J. Simpson. His endless trial seems to have awakened a seemingly limitless hunger for courtroom drama. So it's not too surprising that "The People's Court" has again opened its doors to the People. Enter Ed Koch, the new, improved "People's Court" judge. This is hardly Koch's first foray into the world beyond politics. At the moment, the ex-politician is perhaps even more visible than he was as mayor. In addition to the "People's Court" gig, which started last September, Koch is a radio host, a newspaper columnist, a movie reviewer and a mystery writer. He's been in Dunkin' Donuts ads; he was in a Muppet movie; he appears in bizarre little skits on the Conan O'Brien show. "I don't know anybody who's left public office and then went on to have a third career with the dimensions of mine," Koch acknowledged in an interview with Newsday. For many of Koch's critics, the show is yet more evidence of the growing "convergence" between politics and entertainment. Ironically, they might point out, Koch's main competitor in the syndicated simulated small-claims court business is "People's Court" clone "Judge Judy," presided over by Judge Judith B. Sheindlin -- a woman whom Koch, as mayor, appointed to the real, untelevised family court back in 1986. But the new incarnation of "The People's Court" is more than just a symptom of the degeneration of politics into infotainment. Indeed, one might see in it the stirrings of a new, interactive breed of democracy -- American democracy "improved" by cameras and computers. N E X T+P A G E+| It's interactive