Apologevents Cuban says "Please make me apologize… The FCC as Marketing Partner" and he hits on the latest network trick.
posted by billsaysthis
on Nov 17, 2004 -
7 comments
News 14 in North Carolina had an online system where people could post school closings, etc that would scroll on the screen. The postings all got reviewed before they went live, but after they’d been reviewed/approved, the system was open for the original poster to go back and
change the copy, so you could essentially submit something benign, then go back and monkey with it.
Screen shots of the results.
posted by jonson
on Mar 9, 2004 -
44 comments
"The Media vs. Howard Dean." Salon (subscription or Flash ad viewing required) observes that the media have been doing everything in their power to attach negative labels to US presidential candidate Howard Dean. Will the adage that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" prevail? Meanwhile, the Internet is increasing in relevance as a
news source, according to a recent survey. Which websites do you peruse for political coverage, if any?
posted by Eloquence
on Jan 13, 2004 -
67 comments
Future of the Net: "Information wants to be free" vs. "truth costs extra" "...a coalition that included Amazon.com, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, Disney and others....spoke of "tiered" service, where consumers would be charged according to "gold, silver and bronze" levels of bandwidth use. The days where lawmakers once spoke about eradicating the "Digital Divide" in America has come full circle. Under the scenario presented by the lobbyists, people on fixed incomes would have to accept a stripped-down Internet, full of personally targeted advertising. Other users could get a price break if they receive bundled content -- news, music, games -- from one telecom or media company.
Anybody interested in other "non-mainstream" news, software or higher-volume usage, could pay for the privilege. The panel's response was warm, suggesting that the industry should work this out with little federal intrusion. That approach has already been embraced by the industry-friendly Federal Communications Commission." For more, see
The Center For Digital Democracy
posted by troutfishing
on Aug 5, 2003 -
38 comments
This 'news'... it vibrates? Yes, more than six months after it appeared
here on MeFi, New Scientist has just found out about the vibrating broom. I can feel my confidence in them dripping away...
posted by twine42
on Apr 3, 2003 -
6 comments
Not All Iraqis Dancing in the Streets. To watch the
neutered embedded reporters, you would think that every Iraqi is overjoyed to see America in his or her country. But the reality seems to be quite different: "Why are you here in this country? Are you trying to take over? Are you going to take our country forever? Are the Israelis coming next? Are you here to steal our oil? When are you going to get out?"
posted by owillis
on Mar 22, 2003 -
35 comments
ABC's blog "The Note" suspends operations, citing lack of resources needed for war coverage, the blog's humorous style not being "the right national tonic," and this shocker: "We suspect that the amount of strictly political news — the kind of stuff that is the meat and starch of The Note — is likely to dramatically decrease in the coming days."
GUH? Aren't blogs now more important than ever? Aren't
politics now more important than ever? What message is being sent by the mainstream media here? (Via the indispensable
Lloyd Grove of the Washington Post.)
posted by PrinceValium
on Mar 11, 2003 -
10 comments
Like Slate’s
International Papers, the US Department of State collects
foreign media reaction to a policy or event. Instead of blatant propagandizing (like some other State Department pages) there is simply a lot of useful translation and short descriptions of the newspapers.
posted by raaka
on Mar 4, 2003 -
6 comments
CNN Wins Ratings for Shuttle Coverage Despite the absence of chief anchor Aaron Brown, CNN scored a significant ratings victory over rival Fox News Channel on Saturday when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated
Reading that immediately reminds me of what I hate about the news media.
One can only imagine how they are salivating over the pending Iraq situation.
posted by a3matrix
on Feb 4, 2003 -
17 comments
The Massey Lectures are the CBC's annual effort to give exposure to eminent minds working on 'big ideas' in the realm of social criticism. This year's lecturer, Margaret Visser, undertakes a very engaging attempt to explain and undermine fatalism. The site links to transcripts and audio files of some past lectures. Some Canadian book-learnin' for those of you who aren't sleepily digesting your Thanksgiving turkey!
posted by stonerose
on Nov 28, 2002 -
3 comments
Want to listen to the World Series on the Web?
Pay $9.95. I know, it's a sports post, so (most) everyone will hate it, but I see a disturbing trend of no more free media lunches on the Web. CNN
went subscription months ago, and most other places I've gone for free video/audio are drying up. All I wanted was to listen to the game. But I can't find it anywhere. All the regular stations I listen to that carry the game are silent. And how will the Angels make a valiant comeback if I can't cheer them on? (sigh)
posted by TheManWhoKnowsMostThings
on Oct 26, 2002 -
25 comments
I guess the media does have some good qualities after all. Yesterday was 9/11. Much of the media spend the day remembering what took place a year ago. A local pop radio station here in Pittsburgh
B94 did something a little different. Yes they did the remembering but they also did something that went along the lines of "going about our business". They organized a little something called Operation Jumpstart Pittsburgh. They collected faxed and emailed resumes and hooked people up with companies that were hiring on the spot. It's nice to see the media doing something constructive for a change. I just wonder if anyone else might have some information about things that media outlets in other cities might have done like this.
posted by whirlwind29
on Sep 12, 2002 -
5 comments
Israeli backlash to Ted Turner's comments prompts CNN offer a series of pieces focusing on the toll Palestinian terror has taken.
"Ted Turner apologized, CNN's executives were quick to disassociate themselves from him and to announce he has no influence over the content of the broadcasts, and Eason Jordan, news director for the network, hurried to fly over to Israel and offer 'compensation' - a series of reports on the victims of terrorism.". Indeed, a visit to
CNN's website this morning uncovers a series of focus items reporting on Israeli casualties and victims. Is this a case of journalism caving to political and commercial interests, or is Israel effectively combating the liberal bias of Western media?
posted by astirling
on Jun 24, 2002 -
15 comments
ClearChannelSucks.org has launched with the goal of being the "premier source for information about Clear Channel, its corporate mentality, and its practices, on the Internet." Site owern Clint Sharp alleges that Clear Channel strategically uses its monopolistic position as the largest owner of radio stations, the largest concert promoter, and largest outdoorsignage company to stifle competition and set their own tangible price tag on what it takes to have any success as an artist in the music industry.
posted by tomorama
on Jun 11, 2002 -
40 comments
This evening
20/20 broadcast a
report on the new payola.Names are named. This explains a lot about the current state of music radio. Ironically, one of those complaining the loudest was good ol' Hilary Rosen of the
RIAA who are doing their damnedest to
destroy internet radio, along with college and public radio, the only alternative to the institutional corruption she decries. But in this case, she's on the side of the angels, it would seem. This report is timely though and does illustrate what's wrong with concentrating media power in too few hands.
posted by jonmc
on May 24, 2002 -
22 comments
A Weblog Foundation proposal aninteresting proposal via http://aintnobaddude.blogspot.com/ to help sustain blogging as an important aspect of media and online community. Any ideas for or against this proposal?
posted by Postroad
on May 13, 2002 -
56 comments
Media Silent on Pipe Bomber's Leftism So newsmax says The same media establishment that is quick to label right-wing extremists refuses to call admitted pipe bomber Luke John Helder a left-wing extremist.
I did a little (very little) digging, and they might have something there, more below.
posted by Blake
on May 9, 2002 -
55 comments
When I was a newspaper-slinger back as a youngster, I became acquainted with that odd funnypages subgenre-the
soap opera comic strip(i.e.
Winnie Winkle,
Rex Morgan, M.D. and the pinnacle of the genre
Gasoline Alley).
Moving at the brisk pace of 4 panels a day, these entertainments must have seemed quaint even in their early radio days infancy, yet they gained devoted followings and
Dr. Rex and
Skeezix and the Gang are actually still active. While the strips are published on the web, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a whole-hog revival of the genre. Heck,
Brenda Starr could be truly funky hip modern woman if the right person retooled her a bit and I imagine many web community administrators could relate to
Mary Worth at times.
posted by jonmc
on Apr 28, 2002 -
25 comments
French culture in crisis ? After the
Vivendi Universal french CEO
Jean-Marie Messier fired
Canal+ chairman Pierre Lescure yesterday,
many questions arise in
France. Will Vivendi, through Canal+, continue to help French cinema the way Canal+ did in the past ? Is this the last straw in a long series of acts and declarations from Vivendi's CEO against "Franco-French cultural exception" ? Has The Man finally won in France ? What's to happen in all the other countries were Vivendi (or any of the BigCo) basically
owns the culture through local companies ?
posted by XiBe
on Apr 17, 2002 -
10 comments
WebLogs bring less traffic than major media sites. There isn't any surprize there, but what
kind of traffic does each bring?
...those Google/Scientology articles I wrote didn't get nearly as many links from blogs... but they were of much broader interest to readers than the blog articles, so when a few major media sites linked to them, they got a ton of traffic.
Major media sites have to appeal to a common denominator, while smaller sites (MeFi) can focus on quality and thought provoking content. Is there any wonder there's less people interested in the specifics?
posted by KnitWit
on Apr 5, 2002 -
12 comments
Media Torrent: ""I think this is one of many weird phenomena that contributes to a national attention deficit disorder."The crawl -- that stream of info-morsels and promotional hooks that seemed so urgent right after Sept. 11, but now seems so annoying and distracting -- seems to carry Gitlin's point with it as it creeps across the screen."
Is this a real problem, or is it just the old guys not hip to the kids' video world? (via
i want media)
posted by owillis
on Apr 1, 2002 -
22 comments
E Online (via Yahoo news) just can't seem to get enough of itself. I'm all for creativity in presenting light-news pieces, but one line in this piece strikes me as over the top:
"The feds launched their, um, probe into the matter after fielding dozens of viewer complaints about the salacious commercial cum fall-sweeps stunt."
Did a major news organization just use a pun on the word "c*m" in one of their stories? Is this what our media has sunk to?
posted by gsteff
on Mar 26, 2002 -
9 comments
Court of Appeals Rules That the Media Belongs to Those Who Can Buy It: Today, the CoA has just declared that the 35 percent ownership cap (applicable to broadcasters who reach more than 35% of the American public) was a prohibition "capricious and contrary to the law," meaning that Viacom and Fox, who were over the limit, are now in the clear to monopolize the airwaves. What does this mean for the future of media conglomerates? Discuss the implications.
posted by ed
on Feb 19, 2002 -
13 comments
Al-Jazeera Severs Ties With CNN: Does it strike anyone as particularly rich that Al Jazeera, the Arab television network, decided to sever ties with CNN after CNN broadcast portions of a video showing bin Laden making his least ambiguous statements yet on al Qaeda's alleged involvement in the terrorist attacks of 9/11?
[more inside...]
posted by verdezza
on Feb 1, 2002 -
3 comments
S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse So, in the face of our media's shameless propaganda campaign, we have taken it upon ourselves to intuit what the intentions and goals of this war truly are. In what is surely a departure from our traditional NewsVideo format, GNN presents S-11 Redux: (Channel) Surfing the Apocalypse. Culled from over 20 hours of television footage recorded over a one month period and across 13 networks, S-11 Redux is a sound-bite blitzkrieg that challenges the messages we have been fed from our mainstream media and the government it serves. Be warned - this video moves quickly and will require at least two viewings to digest its full impact. You may never be able to look at the coverage of S-11 and its post-impact coverage the same way, ever again
posted by Niahmas
on Dec 24, 2001 -
31 comments
What is the future of online news. Will subscription eventually win through? Is there a viable business model that will allow independent publishers (such as Salon) to survive, or will we see further media consolidation? Where does blogging fit into this spectrum?
posted by RobertLoch
on Dec 19, 2001 -
9 comments
Here Comes the Sun Beware NY Times. Watch your flanks NY liberal establishment.
Lord Conrad Black to back
Smarter Times Ira Stoll and co in new conservative daily paper. Will they make it? (PS. Apparently are looking for editorial staff "willing to work long hours in an entrepreneurial, start-up environment") Start spreadin' the news, these little town blues are melting away, it's up to you, New York, New York...
posted by Voyageman
on Dec 4, 2001 -
15 comments
In death, J.D. O'Neal leaves few with fond memories “Jerry Dow O’Neal II owned
The Current News, a small gay magazine. [...] By last month, when J.D. O’Neal committed suicide to avoid prosecution and shame, hardly anyone in Kansas City considered him a good friend. The 37-year-old white-collar crook and gay-rights opportunist had created enemies throughout the community. [...] ‘It was important for [J.D.] to appear successful.’ [...] ‘I’ll believe he’s dead when I see the body’ ”
posted by joeclark
on Nov 24, 2001 -
3 comments
