Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Under the Bridge
Keith Olbermann had on Air America’s Rachel Maddow to discuss the meta-ramifications of our crumbling infrastructure, as evidenced by the collapsed bridge in MN. “There aren’t Republican bridges and there aren’t Democratic bridges and there aren’t Republican sewers and Democratic levees. We’re a country that, as a whole, is paying this incredible, deadly price for a brand of American conservatism that hates and demeans government… And while they may be benefiting from it politically, we’re all paying the price for it in terms of a country that’s just falling apart. It’s a national disgrace.”
Click through to watch the video.

The Fundamental Truths of Our Business
It is time to listen less to consultants and more to our conscience, observes a leading educator and media writer. For one thing: We need more interaction and less interactivity.

Everyday innovation (by Jeff Jarvis)
I’m working on the idea of an incubator for innovation in journalism and media and wonder what form it should take: who should come with what ideas and what needs and how their work should be nurtured but also exposed to the hard problems they are trying to solve — and how to relate them and their work to the organizations that so badly need their innovation.  I’d be eager to hear your thoughts on that.

On Responsibility, War Guilt and Intellectuals
Noam Chomsky: “Tom Wicker is a famous example, one of the ‘left commentators’ of the New York Times. He would get very angry when critics would tell him he’s conforming to power interests and that he’s keeping within the doctrinal framework of the media, which goes back to their corporate structure and so on. And he would answer, very angrily—and correctly—that nobody tells him what to say. He wrote anything he wanted—which is absolutely true. But if he wasn’t writing the things he did, he wouldn’t have a column in the New York Times.”

NYT on Housing Market Meltdown Scenarios
The New York Times has a nice set of graphics outlining the factors in the housing market that provided the basis for the bubble and how this bubble could deflate in the months ahead. The NYT has been far better than the rest of the media in alerting the public to the dangers of the housing bubble, although its coverage was still not appropriate to the enormity of the problem.

Debts and Deficits: Is the Post a Serious Newspaper?
[A Washington Post] Outlook piece by visiting scholar Michael Zielenziger tells readers that Japan’s “fiscal deficit tops 170 percent of gross domestic product.” Actually Japan’s fiscal deficit is less than 2 percent of GDP… Obviously Mr. Zielensiger was referring to Japan’s government debt, the accumulation of all prior deficits, which is more than 170 percent of GDP… It is worth noting that the mistake is consistent with the demographic crisis story that is a regular feature of the Washington Post editorial and news pages… I would ask whether the Post is as careless when printing columns that disagree with its editorial position on the impact of aging populations, but there really isn’t any basis for making such an assessment.

Media Climate Pushes Brides to Say ‘I Do’ to Lavish Wedding Spending
Wedding costs have doubled in 20 years and lavish destination weddings are up five-fold from a decade ago. The bridal media are courting women to consent to fantasy-land spending.

Rupert Ready: You Bet He’s Got a Plan
Look for All His Best Tactics to Grow Circ as a Way to Boost Advertising and Undermine Rivals

Stand-Alone News Brands Are Doomed
A News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal begs a question: In a world where the attention of consumers and hence advertisers is divided among video games, “American Idol” and LOLCats, can a business built solely to deliver news — especially long, serious articles about complicated topics — remain independent and successful?

Self-service mag subscriptions
Rohit Bhargava passes kiosks on his commute. And he sees the new copies of all the magazines he subscribes to before snail mail delivers them to his home. He calls for magazine publishers to provide subscribers with coupons so that they can grab the latest issues at stores or kiosks.

Old Issues of Playboy and Rolling Stone Will Be Available on DVDs
Bondi Digital Publishing is planning to offer separate DVD-ROM editions with page-by-page reproductions of the Playboy and Rolling Stone archives.

Cassettes linger long after expected demise
Tapes remain popular in at least three uses: Audio books for the blind, court recordings and religious messages.

Broadcast’s Summer Ratings Swoon as Cable Blooms
The Big Four broadcast networks are once again treading water this summer, with cumulative live-plus-same-day DVR viewership down 2.3 million per night or 9 percent lower than last summer, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
The cable channels have new shows for the summer, while the broadcast networks show reruns.  It’s pretty easy to figure out where the audience will be.

Nothing to Watch on TV? Streaming Video Appeals to Niche Audiences
The potential of new streaming video services is unleashing a torrent of programming aimed at narrowly defined audiences.

Bridge Disaster Revives a Quiet Web Site, Making It a Source for Original Reporting
When the I-35W bridge collapsed last week in Minneapolis, staff members at nearby Internet Broadcasting revived a nearly defunct Web site to publish their coverage.

Democrats court liberal bloggers
Plunging headlong into the Internet era, Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday fought for the support of powerful and polarizing liberal bloggers by promising universal health care, aggressive government spending and dramatic change from the Bush era.

Wikiversity Gains Momentum
The online collaboration that has made Wikipedia one of the most used sources of information on the Internet is also being used to build a school and offer classes across the online world, and the project is taking off.

Hackers: Social networking sites flawed
LAS VEGAS – Social networking Web sites such as MySpace.com are increasingly juicy targets for computer hackers, who are demonstrating a pair of vulnerabilities they claim expose sensitive personal information and could be exploited by online criminals.

Public Wi-Fi: Past its Prime?
For the average Internet user, wireless means Wi-Fi. Most routers used in offices and at hot-spots in local cafes and-libraries use Wi-Fi technology. However, the increasing development and use of the fledgling WiMAX technology has some questioning whether cities should invest in the older standard.

It’s an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World
Hoping to deliver personalized messages to consumers, advertising giant Publicis is pursuing an ambitious global digital ad strategy.