Media
14-Dec-07
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Blogs to be Included in Google’s Universal Search (by Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins at Mashable)
PC Magazine is reporting that Google is expanding its “Universal Search” initiative next week by officially including blog results in the general search results… Blog results have long been a part of the general search results, and typically favored over other types of content. As such, it is difficult to see this move as very groundbreaking, but it will further thrust the view of New Media journalists into the forefront of the average web surfer, whether they regularly read blogs or not.
Unfettered ‘citizen journalism’ too risky (by David Hazinski, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
There are literally hundreds of Internet hoaxes and false reports passed off as true stories… It’s just a matter of time before something like a faked Rodney King beating video appears on the air somewhere. Journalism organizations should head that off. Citizen reports can be a valuable addition to news and information flow with some protections.
Absolutely. There should be protections against people trying to spread false information. Even if they work for our government, which you mainstreamers have done a poor job of questioning, David.
Unleashing The Beast (by Digby)
People and societies don’t just wake up one morning to find they no longer recognize themselves. It’s a process. And we are in the process in this country of “defining deviancy down” in ways I never thought possible. We are legitimizing torture and indefinite detention — saying that we will only do this to the people who really deserve it. One cannot help but wonder what “really deserves it” will mean in the years to come as we fight our endless war against terror… Once a society unleashes this beast everyone in it is changed and twisted by it — victim, perpetrator, cheerleader, dissenter and bystander alike.
And it will be easy to find the members of the next group that “really deserves it”, thanks to a client of Rudy Giuliani’s. See below.
Rudy: All Business
Not long after he stepped down as mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani received an intriguing offer. A group of officials from a Florida company called Seisint Inc. asked him to promote a powerful new database technology capable of tracking potential terrorists and other criminals… Seisint’s premier product — MATRIX — … proved controversial. The databases it searched contained personal histories of millions of Americans, their relatives, past addresses, property records and credit ratings. Civil-liberties groups said MATRIX would create detailed data profiles of innocent Americans.
They Thought They Were Free (Excerpt from pages 166-73 of “They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45″ by Milton Mayer, first published in 1955, thanks to Information Clearing House)
“What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security… You see,” my colleague went on, “one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse… [T]he one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes.
“That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.
“And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all.
There’s more to character than being charming (by Gene Lyons)
Pundits and TV anchorcreatures love pronouncing about politicians ’ “character,” when all they’re really talking about is personality… This year’s GOP Prince Charming is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. When it comes to ingratiating himself, few surpass the one-time Baptist preacher. He’s witty, he’s warm, and doggone it, people like him. Character consists of something deeper. That’s why it’s important to know the truth about Wayne DuMond, the serial rapist and murderer Huckabee freed from the Arkansas penitentiary to kill again. Unfortunately, that’s the last thing you’ll hear from the candidate himself.
Click through for the details about the Wayne DuMond case from the journalist who knows Arkansas the best.
Same News Outlets Who Said Bill Would Be Liability To Hillary Now Say He’ll Need To “Rescue” Her (by Greg Sargent at TPM Horse’s Mouth)
As predicted here [Wednesday], the very same news outlets that pushed the idea that Bill Clinton’s presence could prove a liability to Hillary’s Presidential campaign are…now saying that he’ll need to rescue her.
Click through for specific quotes.
White House Rejects Right-Wing NIE Witch-Hunt: The Intelligence ‘Should Be Supported’ (Think Progress)
Since the Iran NIE was released, conservatives have desperately tried to discredit it. Former Vice President Cheney aide David Wurmser questioned “how much it can really be banked on.” John Bolton called for congressional investigations into the “politicized” intelligence community. Some conservatives in Congress are following these calls… [Thursday], White House Press Secretary Dana Perino rejected the partisan witch-hunt into the intelligence community. “They assessed all of the intelligence,” she declared. “I think that they should be supported”.
They should be supported, but they should be ignored. Bush wants to bomb Iran anyway. Click through to watch the video.
Conservative Military Journal Slams Giuliani And Mukasey’s ‘Tacit Support For Waterboarding’ (Think Progress)
When asked about the practice of waterboarding at a recent debate, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani declared that he would allow “every method [interrogators] could think of and I would support them in doing it.” Attorney General Mike Mukasey consistently refused to render a legal opinion on the matter. In its December issue, the military magazine Armed Forces Journal chastises Giuliani and Mukasey for “their tacit support for waterboarding”:
Circling the wagons: The Obama story, Perry Bacon and the “thin blue line” of American journalism (by Will Bunch at Attytood)
[W]hat is the issue that has engaged the top editor of the Washington Post, several well-known national political writers and the former president of the prestigious Poynter Institute, among others? A new model for the outdated newsroom? Changing the sorry state of issues-free horserace political journalism? The jailing of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer by the American military in Iraq? Some of the astounding ethical breaches in recent weeks…? No, what has awakened the slumbering lions … is the thing that we journalists continue to best as our world crumbles around us: Play defense. In particular, rise up to defend one of our own — Washington Post reporter Perry Bacon Jr. — against a kind of personal attack, even though few if any of these people had much to say about the appallling journalistic lapse by Bacon’s editors (including Downie himself) that is really at root of the controversy.
SPECIAL REPORT: How, Years Ago, Baseball Writers Blew the Drug Scandal
Today’s report by former Sen. George Mitchell on drugs in baseball quotes several newspaper articles from years ago to prove that this problem was not totally ignored. But in a lengthy probe last year, E&P’s Joe Strupp found that, in fact, baseball writers mainly ignored the warning signs.
Gosh, ignoring warning signs seems to be an epidemic.
Savage: 90% of Nobel board is ‘into child pornography.’ (Think Progress)
On his radio show yesterday, right-wing talker Michael Savage attacked former Vice President Al Gore’s recent Nobel Peace Prize, saying that it was awarded to him by “the socialist perverts in Norway.” “90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation,” proclaimed Savage.
Click through to listen to the audio.
O’Reilly declares victory in war on Christmas.
Celebrating Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) House resolution on the “importance of Christmas and the Christian faith,” Fox News host Bill O’Reilly declared victory in the “war on Christmas” last night. He called his show’s reporting on the issue “one of the most important things we’ve done,” and bragged, “We won” and secular progressives “lost.”
It’s always about somebody winning and somebody losing with these people. They always have to put someone down. Click through to watch the video.
Conservative Christmas hypocrisy.
[Wednesday], Rep. Steve King (R-IA) attacked the nine “liberal Democrat” “naysayers” who voted against his resolution on the “importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.” Today, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) responded, explaining his vote: “While the Republicans are passing a resolution celebrating Christmas, the president was vetoing health care for children. There’s a little bit of irony going on around here.” King was one of the lawmakers who voted against expanding SCHIP.
The Fatal Cost Of The “Ex-Gay” Movement (Joe.My.God, thanks to AMERICAblog)
The young man who last Sunday shot and killed two people at a youth ministry training center, then killed two more and himself at Colorado’s New Life Church (Ted Haggard’s former home), was a cast out from the youth ministry, probably because he failed their attempts to make him “ex-gay”.
Media Matters for America headlines
While moderating GOP debate, Des Moines Register editor cited McCain’s “maverick” reputation
Pakistan’s government threatens media
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The government’s intolerance of public dissent isn’t easing ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections, with TV executives warned they could go to jail and pay fines if they give the president’s critics a live forum.
“w00t” crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary
BOSTON (Reuters) - “w00t,” an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.
Twitter Posses for Reporters (by J.D. Lasica at MediaShift Idea Lab)
Our small group suggested having reporters at newspapers or magazines begin using the immediacy and interactivity of Twitter. A beat reporter could enlist a dozen or two dozen passionate, driven readers to serve as a kind of Twitter posse. Whenever she was about to tackle a big story or difficult interview, the reporter could begin a mobile dialogue with her posse members, who could pose questions, much like the “backchannel” IRC feed at conferences such as AlwaysOn or Supernova… It brings readers into the conversation, albeit in a limited way. It expands the reporter’s field of vision. The posse could be structured in a way to reduce noise and solicit the most thoughtful participants.
Online media second to traditional news outlets, [Canadian] poll finds
Canadians are still relying heavily on newspapers, television and radio news programs, according to a countrywide industry survey that also found online media outlets dogged by credibility issues… Fifty per cent of Canadians in the 18 to 24 age bracket are likely to use online sources, the survey found.
EXCLUSIVE: Our Monthly List of 30 Most Popular Web Sites — With First Year-Over-Year Comparison
The New York Times still reigns but Newsday grew the most in unique users out of the top 30 newspaper Web sites for the month, according to new data from Nielsen Online.
[The top 5:]
NYTimes.com — 18,930 — 51.5%
USATODAY.com — 9,563 — (-6.0%)
washingtonpost.com — 9,516 — 16.8%
Wall Street Journal Online — 5,630 — 57.4% -
Newsday — 5,350 — 182.1%
News Corp. Completes Takeover of Dow Jones
Shareholders of Dow Jones & Company gave their blessing to a takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, the News Corporation.
Murdoch ad squelched by FT, Chinese daily
The papers so far have refused to publish ads celebrating the media mogul’s latest coup, The Wall Street Journal, and other career triumphs.
Prof: Murdoch’s WSJ could end up looking like USA Today
Fordham University’s Paul Levinson predicts Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal will have shorter articles, more pictures, graphics and human interest stories. “What he will be hoping to do is to attract the television and Internet generations, who are reading less and less newspapers anyway, but who are interested in business,” he says. “Right now the Wall Street Journal has almost a Victorian, New Yorker magazine flavor to it. That’s like nothing that Murdoch does.”
Days-Old News, Competently Delivered
Media Reviews for Media People: Dobrow on Newsweek
Three U.S. Lawmakers Back XM and Sirius Merger
The Justice Department is evaluating whether the merger of the only two U.S. satellite radio companies would hurt competition.
Indie filmmakers can score Moby freebies
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Dance musician Moby has launched a Web site that gives his music away — to the right people, of course. He is licensing his music for free via mobygratis.com to help out indie and student filmmakers.
Discovery Holding to Become Public in 2008 Offering
The owners of Discovery Communications, Advance/Newhouse and Discovery Holding, have agreed in principle to combine their stakes and turn the company, an operator of cable TV channels, into an independent, publicly traded company.
Gitmo troops vandalise Wikipedia
US military personnel at Guantanamo Bay called Fidel Castro a transsexual and defended the prison for terrorism suspects in anonymous web postings, an internet group that publishes government documents said today. The group, Wikileaks, tracked web activity by service members with Guantanamo email addresses and also found they deleted prisoner identification numbers from three detainee profiles on Wikipedia. Julian Assange, who led the research effort, said the postings amount to propaganda and deception.
PimpMyNews: Fun for 10 Minutes (by Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins at Mashable)
PimpMyNews is the latest service to come out with a site that scours the popular blogs and news wires for content and reads it to you… There clearly hasn’t been a whole lot done yet to customize the voice dictionary, as the TTS stumbles on common words like “Google” and “anyhow.”… My friend Bill Burke at Adondo does quite a bit of work with TTS applications, and if memory serve[s], from his usability studies, the average consumer only spends 10 or so minutes listening to a computer voice before deciding they’d rather be watching paint dry.
‘E&P’ Audio/Podcast: ‘Wall’ Coming Down on the Web?
Our subject this week is the venerable “wall” that supposedly separates editorial and business decisions at newspapers. Online newspaper sites have been introducing new advertising formats and tricks. Many are annoying, but are they also ethically suspect?
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