Permanent link to MTA daily media news

I am not a Republican, and I am not a racist.  I will be voting for Cynthia McKinney for president.  So don’t threaten me with your post-partisan, post-racial, manipulative, coercive hate mail.

OINK (The Real Barack Obama—yes, it’s a conservative site, but the cartoon is funny)

New heights of stupidity (by Glenn Greenwald)
We’re fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we’ve fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc. But the Right and their media partners are striving to ensure that our election this year is going to be dominated and determined by whether John Kerry looks stupid in wind-surfing tights Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a “pig” when he invoked a meaningless cliché.

Dear Glenn:  The reason why Democrats keep losing is because they have apologists like you who either don’t see or won’t tell what’s really going on here.  Obama didn’t “invoke a meaningless cliché”.  It was a purposeful insult, as was the comment that quickly followed it about old fish.  John McCain is old, see?  SEE?  He’s last week’s smelly old fish.

When “career liberals,” as our friend Bob Somerby likes to call them, ignore the obvious sexism in Obama’s comment, they do their side no favors.  Obama meant a sexist slur, and his audience knew it.  They reacted accordingly.  Just as his audience for the “cheek scratching” episode obviously knew he was giving Hillary the finger.  For an astute observer like yourself to cover up this obvious intent is to do a disservice to your demand for truthful reporting by the mainstream media.  You have to live it yourself to demand it of others.  And you are not doing that when you blind yourself to obvious intent, simply because you do not WANT it to be true.

Obama’s race baiting and sexist slurs against Hillary worked with a certain element of people during the primary because she didn’t fight back against them.  McCain, on the other hand will fight, and so will all the members of the vast media network that the right has built over the last 40 years.  Democrats can not win the battle of the slurs until they have also built an infrastructure to support it—which would be a waste, though, because the same kind of infrastructure could promote progressive issues and truthful reporting and commentary, as opposed to smears.  It will take years of brand building to overcome the years of brand destruction that has been funded by right-wing billionaires.

See below for additional examples of wrongheaded attempts at attacking Palin.  This is why we keep losing.

Where she was saved (by Sarah Posner, Salon)
The church where Sarah Palin grew up and was baptized preaches some of the most extreme religious views in the nation.
Sarah, why do you invite the rehashing of Obama’s 20-year association with a pastor who cursed America and said hateful things about Hillary Clinton?

Sarah Palin and the victims-pay-for-rape-kits story (by Lynn Harris at Broadsheet, Salon)
How much did then Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin actually have to do with this? Who knows. Chances are we’ll never find that memo.
There’s no evidence, so we insinuate that there is evidence?  Is this the kind of truthful reporting that Democrats claim to seek?

Why is Palin winning over white women? (by Vincent Rossmeier at Broadsheet, Salon)
To clear up my confusion, I asked Broadsheet’s very own Sarah Hepola, an expert on all things women, if [Amity] Shlaes’ assertion [that "[w]omen want to have fun with other women”] was true. Her response: “Yes. I want a vice president I can have a pillow fight with.” Well, everything is clear now. Sarah Palin certainly seems like the right choice for women.
Yes, mock.  That’s certainly a good way to bring women to Obama.

S.C. Dem chair: Palin primary qualification is she hasn’t had an abortion (Politico)
South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today, saying John McCain had chosen a running mate “whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.”… Fowler told my colleague Alex Burns in an interview that the selection of an opponent of abortion rights would not boost McCain among many women. “Among Democratic women and even among independent women, I don’t think it helped him,” she said. Told of McCain’s boost in the new ABC/Washington Post among white women following the Palin pick, Fowler said: “Just anecdotally, I believe that those white women are Republican women anyway.”
Very un-classy.  SusanUnPC at No Quarter reminds us that “Carol Fowler is the wife of Don Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who a couple weeks ago was ROOTING for Gustav to turn into a massive and deadly storm so it would wreck the GOP convention. Don Fowler also infamously attacked Hillary Clinton supporters who wanted a fair count of delegates at the DNC. And Don Fowler also gave Obama permission to violate the DNC pledge that stipulated none of the candidates could campaign in FLorida before the primary.”  Carol Fowler has apologized, but I think we now know what kind of people she and her husband are.

McCain camp responds angrily to S.C. Dem (by Nathalie Gorman at War Room, Salon)
The McCain campaign, which has been all over this sort of thing this week, hastily organized a “Palin Truth Squad” conference call featuring Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Senator Graham expressed his shock — shock! — at “yet another personal smear on Governor Sarah Palin” coming from Carol Fowler, who he said is a personal acquaintance of his. He stressed that it was “not characteristic [for Fowler] to say something this out of bounds” and suggested “it shows that our Democratic colleagues are in a meltdown mode.”
I’m sorry, Salon, these people are expressing legitimate criticism of a stupid remark.  For you to mock them is not far from saying that you approve of the stupidity.

Go after Palin in areas where she has exaggerated her accomplishments.  You don’t have to make stuff up.
FREE LUNCH, NO STANDARDS: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
In the last twelve days, Palin has defined her outstanding character with three pleasing tales:
I told the Congress to take their bridge and shove it!
I sold (“put”) King Frank’s jet on eBay!
I got rid of the governor’s chef! Boy, do my kids ever miss her!
These pleasing stories have been used to define Palin’s wonderful character. But the “bridge to nowhere” tale is laughably bogus, essentially a lie—and the jet plane tale is so slickly misleading that she even fooled Saint John McCain into saying the plan was sold on eBay, at a profit! And she didn’t exactly “fire” the chef—although the actual facts of the matter still seem to be unknown.
But make sure you don’t have any skeletons in your own closet!  See below.

OBAMA AND BIDEN VOTED FOR THE “BRIDGE TO NOWHERE”!! And Kos slammed ‘em both! (by Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire)
Josh Marshall and the other lying progs are still hounding Sarah Palin on the earmarked funds for the so-called “bridge to nowhere.” They say that she supported the earmark before she turned against it. After all the smears they have leveled against Palin, this charge is the one that will stick — or so they think. Here’s the problem: Barack Obama and Joe Biden voted for H.R. 3058, which provided funds for the bridge to nowhere (as well as a lot of other things). McCain did not vote for H.R. 3058.. Representative Tom Coburn offered an amendment which would have transferred the bridge money to Katrina relief. That amendment failed, 15-82. Guess who stood among the 82 “Nay” voters? Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They preferred for the money to go that bridge, not to the victims of America’s worst disaster.
Joseph wants you to help spread this story far and wide.

NY Gov: McCain campaign is racist (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
Democratic New York Gov. David Patterson says the Republican campaign of John McCain is appealing to racist sentiment when it makes fun of Barack Obama’s work as a community organizer.  Patterson, an African-American, says the term “community organizer” is a racially loaded substitute for black. “I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama ‘black’ in a sense that it would be a negative,” Patterson says, according to a CBS story. “But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican convention, a ‘community organizer.’ They kept saying it. They kept laughing.”
This charge is insane.

Democrat: Obama’s like Jesus (Hot off the Trail, McClatchy)
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., today compared Barack Obama to Jesus and apparently likened Alaska Gov.Sarah Palin to Pontius Pilate. “If you want change, you want the Democratic Party,” he said on the House floor. “Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our minister just prayed about. Pontius Pilate was a governor.” The remark drew a strong rebuke from Republicans. “The Democrats have lost their minds, and all sense of moral decency,” said Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign group for House Republicans.
Puh-leeeze!  So how are these silly attacks and attempts at deification working out for you, Barack?

Gallup Daily: McCain 48%, Obama 43%
The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update for Sept. 7-9 finds little substantive change in the structure of the race, with John McCain at 48% and Barack Obama at 43% among registered voters… [I]t may take a few additional days before it is possible to determine if McCain’s modest lead over Obama — developed as a bounce out of the GOP convention — will be sustained, or if it will fade.

Even odds (by Paul Krugman)
At this point Intrade shows McCain 50, Obama 49. The poll average at Real Clear Politics has McCain +2. Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight calculates the probabilities at 52 Obama 48 McCain.

Strategic Vision: McCain Closes Gap in Pennsylvania (Political Wire)
Political Wire got an advance look at a new Strategic Vision poll in Pennsylvania that shows Sen. Barack Obama edging Sen. John McCain, 47% to 45% with 3% for other candidates and 5% undecided. Obama had a nine point lead in July.

Quote of the Day (Political Wire)
“They seem to be intimidated by the Palin pick. They seem to be intimidated by how the Republicans are coming at them on change. And you cannot win if you are constantly on defense.” — Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, quoted by the New York Observer, on the Obama campaign.
Yes, the desperation is showing.

Obama says Bill Clinton will soon be campaigning for him (On Politics, USA Today)
Former president Bill Clinton will be campaigning on his behalf between now and Election Day, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said during a taping of tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman. “There’s nobody smarter in politics,” Obama added.
This is the first positive comment I’ve heard from Obama about Bill Clinton.  Funny that it comes just as Obama’s poll numbers are tanking.

Biden bows to Clinton (Politico)
Biden, today in Nashua, NH, in response to an inaudible question from an audience member: “Make no mistake about it Hillary Clinton is as qualified as or more qualified than I am” to be vice president, Biden said. “And quite frankly, she may have been a better pick than me.”
This is the first positive comment I’ve heard from the Obama campaign about Hillary Clinton.  Funny that it comes just as Obama’s poll numbers are tanking. No Quarter has the video.

Obama Happy With Hillary’s Campaigning (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Via Todd Beeton: “So I was happy, if unsurprised, to learn from a source that Barack Obama called Hillary Clinton yesterday to thank her for what she’s doing on behalf of the campaign. During their conversation, I’m told he thanked her specifically for what she was saying on the campaign trail. The fact is the Obama campaign is working closely with Hillary Clinton on her role in the campaign and will continue to do so until election day.” This is not surprising in the least. Hillary Clinton’s message has echoed the Obama campaign’s concentration on McCain as Bush’ Third Term. Credit where due to the Obama campaign, they realize that fixating on Sarah Palin is a losing political strategy.
This is the second positive comment I’ve heard from the Obama campaign about Hillary Clinton.  Funny that it comes just as Obama’s poll numbers are tanking.

Where’s all that oppo research the Republicans have on Obama?
The Ammo Box (by Eastan McNeal at No Quarter)
I have it on good and direct authority that, if McCain’s internals show a 100 ECV (Electoral College Vote) lead, that is solid, then [none of the oppo research on Obama] will be used. 80 EC votes and some will surface. 50 and a little more will be used. If the mid to late October polls are close then they most likely pull out the stopper and, by the nature of modern American politics, all decorum will go down the drain. When I say good authority I mean it. I worked almost as many GOP campaigns as I have Democrat. Many of the operatives are my friends. Some are not. I met last month with one who was involved with something in 2004 that it has taken me until recently to forgive.

FREE LUNCH, NO STANDARDS: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
In the last twelve days, Palin has defined her outstanding character with three pleasing tales:
I told the Congress to take their bridge and shove it!
I sold (“put”) King Frank’s jet on eBay!
I got rid of the governor’s chef! Boy, do my kids ever miss her!
These pleasing stories have been used to define Palin’s wonderful character. But the “bridge to nowhere” tale is laughably bogus, essentially a lie—and the jet plane tale is so slickly misleading that she even fooled Saint John McCain into saying the plan was sold on eBay, at a profit! And she didn’t exactly “fire” the chef—although the actual facts of the matter still seem to be unknown…

Key point: No Democrat could ever tell three stories as bogus as Palin’s. The RNC would keen and wail, refusing to let such nonsense stand. The press corps would swing into action, applying a much-cherished narrative. But Howard Dean heads the DNC—and he doesn’t watch that much cable. And under the narratives ruling your press, this “problem with the truth” cannot stand.

Others seem to have the same problem: Others seem to have “problems with the truth” too. On MSNBC, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow keep making claims about that state chef—and failing to back their assertions… We’ve seen a lot of lying in the past ten years; we’ve seen a lot of grimy people who get a kick out of running us rubes. We’ve really come to dislike such people. We hate this stuff most when it comes from creeps on the pseudo-progressive side.

‘Celebrity’ dig reflects US culture, history (AP)
WASHINGTON – When John McCain decided to cast Barack Obama as a feckless upstart, an empty suit, he reached for the dirtiest word he could use: “celebrity.”

Still working on his Republican credentials:
Obama unveils plans for education reform (USA Today)
Barack Obama promised Tuesday to double funding for charter schools, pay teachers based on performance and replace those who aren’t up to the job, embracing education proposals normally more popular with Republican candidates.

Obama calls on US to renew 9/11 spirit of service (AP)
CHAMPION, Pa. – On the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called on Americans to renew “that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose” that followed the terrorist assaults that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Jubilant Alaskans welcome Gov. Sarah Palin home (AP)
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin arrived home to a chanting, cheering crowd, a blur of smiling supporters eager to embrace her after a whirlwind of national scrutiny since she was named Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate.

The press helps McCain whitewash Bush (by Eric Boehlert at Media Matters for America)
CNN.com announced last week that among McCain’s top political priorities for the Republican convention was his “need to make it clear that his first term will not be Bush’s third term.”… But how to erase Bush completely? Sitting presidents traditionally enjoy high-profile send-offs at conventions… Republicans in St. Paul seemed to catch a political break when, thanks to the threat of Hurricane Gustav, they were able to ease Bush out of the spotlight when Bush announced he had to monitor the storm and could not attend the convention… But if McCain did pull off the great escape, it was only thanks to the press and the way eager journalists pitched in to erase Bush from the political picture.

And here’s why: The press is just as anxious as McCain to have Bush go away. The press is just as anxious as McCain to forget about the failures of the last eight years. Why? Because the press, like McCain, is partly to blame for Bush’s White House misadventure. And that’s why Bush was a non-story in St. Paul and remains a non-story in the unfolding campaign.

Film shows McCain’s release from Vietnamese prison (AP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Swedish broadcaster SVT on Thursday released a previously unseen film clip purportedly showing the release of presidential candidate John McCain to the U.S. military in Hanoi in 1973.

CBS Tells YouTube to Pull McCain Ad
WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — A John McCain campaign web ad that used a clip of CBS News anchor Katie Couric to chastise Democratic candidate Barack Obama has been pulled by YouTube, because of CBS’s copyright complaints.Campaign officials did not immediately return a request for comment but the YouTube web site which had contained the ad now has a message saying “The video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by CBS Interactive.” The ad remains on the McCain campaign web site.

Critic: Couric, “The Daily Show” were convention “winners”
Paul Gough says “The Daily Show” did voters a great service by relentlessly mocking Democrats and Republicans alike. During the conventions, Katie Couric “got to show her quirky, fun side, one that was squelched when she joined the ‘CBS Evening News,’” writes Gough.

Young adults feel overwhelmed by election info on news sites
Young adults complain that news sites bombard them with too much information about the 2008 election, according to a Northwestern University Media Management Center study. To prevent overwhelming “millennials” (ages 17 and 22), the report recommends that news sites offer content in manageable layers and chunks, letting the reader decide how deep to go, and have a lot but display a little. “It’s better for this audience to be selective in what is presented (with links to more information) than to overwhelm with ‘too much,’” says the study’s release.

Chicago Tribune rejects “vote Democratic” request in death notice
The last line in a paid death notice for Ken Swanborn read: “In lieu of flowers, please vote Democratic.” Somebody at the Tribune deleted the request. “If it’s considered discriminatory or offensive, they take the line out,” explains a woman on the paper’s death notices desk.

MSNBC boss has had it with anchor switch rumors
MSNBC president Phil Griffin spent much of Tuesday knocking down a Page Six report claiming that GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt was involved in the anchor switch at the network. “This makes me so mad, because it’s so untrue,” he tells Felix Gillette. “Somebody is spreading rumors. It’s wrong. It’s getting into the echo chamber.”

“The very idea of SpinSpotter is wrongheaded”
“Is having a computer program scouring news articles and underlining each appearance of what it defines as bias going to improve any journalist’s work, or any reader’s understanding of the news?” asks Scott Rosenberg. “If Spinspotter succeeds in redlining every appearance of what it considers ‘bias’ from the news, surely the resulting gelded coverage will no longer be of interest to any reader more human than the Spinspotter code.”

“PBS shouldn’t be presenting Moyers as a journalist”
Like Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly, Bill Moyers is a political ideologue and propagandist — not a journalist, says David Zurawik. He wants PBS to make the distinction clear to its audience in the way that MSNBC is trying to do.

Lose your house, lose your vote (Michigan Messenger)
The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day. “We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

Statewide, the Republican Party is gearing up for a comprehensive voter challenge campaign, according to Denise Graves, party chair for Republicans in Genessee County… Whether the Republicans will challenge voters with foreclosed homes elsewhere in the state is not known.

D.C. Election Glitch Blamed On Equipment
D.C. election officials blamed a defective computer memory cartridge yesterday for producing what appeared to be thousands of write-in votes that officials say did not exist.

DHS official: America’s ‘No. 1 killer’ is bureaucrats — not al Qaeda. (Think Progress)
Yesterday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Robert Stephan claimed government bureaucrats are “more clever than al Qaeda in many respects” and are the “No. 1 killer in the United States” because they “focus more on themselves than they do the collective good.” CQ reports:

USA Today: Companies Lobby For Larger Profits (by Dean Baker)
That should have been the headline of a USA Today article telling readers that the heads of several major corporations went to Congress to push for approval for three pending trade agreements. Instead, USA told readers that the CEOs said that the trade deals “could help revive the ailing U.S. economy.” Of course lobbyists never publicly say that Congress should do “X” because it will make us richer. They always say do “X” because it is good for the country. Reporters should know this.
And they should make sure their readers know it.

Media Matters for America headlines

• MSNBC’s Brewer and PolitiFact’s Adair did not note that McCain falsely claimed Palin “sold” jet on eBay and “made a profit”

• Hemmer on Fox News’ treatment of Obama’s faith: “No one here is promulgating untrue rumors about anyone’s faith”

• CNN’s Foreman falsely claimed McCain was “getting Barack Obama’s record right” on military spending

• MSNBC’s Brewer aired McCain attack ad without noting its falsehoods

• NBC Washington bureau chief suggests media powerless in face of McCain campaign’s ability to “driv[e] the news cycle”

• Conservative radio hosts seize on Obama comment to revive false rumors about his faith

• Fox’s Garrett uncritically quoted from McCain ad mischaracterizing Obama’s position on sex education

• Fox News’ Cameron uncritically reported on McCain ad without noting DNC had denied allegations

• Scarborough: Media will talk about “[w]hatever the McCain campaign wants us to talk about, because the McCain campaign is assertive”

• Citing no evidence, AP’s Pickler purported to know how audience interpreted Obama’s remark

• NBC News political director: Media taking bait on “lipstick” comment “a joke,” “laughable”

• MSNBC poll about Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment precluded exoneration of Obama or assessment of McCain reaction

• Media outlets scrutinizing Palin’s “Bridge to Nowhere” statement haven’t noted her claim that “I told the Congress ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ ” is a lie

• Halperin: Media attention to “lipstick on a pig” comment “playing into the McCain campaign’s crocodile tears”

YouTube Reposts Anti-Scientology Videos
Ian Lamont writes “YouTube has reposted anti-Scientology videos and reinstated suspended YouTube accounts after receiving thousands of apparently bogus DCMA take-down notices. Four thousand notices were sent to YouTube last Thursday and Friday by American Rights Counsel, LLC. After YouTube users responded with counter-notices, many of the videos were reposted. It turns out that the American Rights Counsel had no copyright claim on the videos, and the group may not even exist, although the text of the DCMA notices have been linked to a Wikipedia editor. While filing a false DMCA notice is a criminal offense, prosecution in these cases rarely comes about.”

EU approves of Google web-search data change
BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Commission welcomed as a “good step” on Thursday the decision by Internet giant Google to halve the time for which it keeps certain private web-search data.

Tribune blames Google for UAL bankruptcy story
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tribune Co on Wednesday blamed technology owned by search engine company Google Inc for treating an outdated story about UAL Corp’s bankruptcy as current, breaking news.

The start of reverse syndication (and end of the AP?) (by Jeff Jarvis)
Nw Jersey’s Star-Ledger today put out an entire edition without anything from the Associated Press within. The sharp-eyed reader will notice lots of local news by staff plus articles from other papers–Washington Post, LA Times, McClatchy, the Glouceseter County Times–and content from online services such as Sportsticker… At the same time, Political announces that it will give stories to papers with ads attached that Politico and Addify sell and they will share revenue with the papers… The old syndication model in the old content economy just won’t work today when all the world needs is one copy of a story up in the cloud with links to it. Today, the more links that article can get, the more valuable it is. So sharing value with those who send links to it only makes sense.

AP Asks More Publishers To Re-Sell Its Content, 50/50 Rev Share (Paid Content)
Associated Press is to begin sharing advertising and syndication revenue with more of its subscribers, through an extension of a program that turns its clients in to online sales affiliates, according to iCopyright. AP already announced in April a deal that sees iCopyright links added to the wire’s stories, inviting readers of AP customers’ sites to themselves license out articles for new uses. But that deal was available only to clients who host AP content themselves – now it’s being extended to those who just take an AP feed, representing the majority of the wire’s clients.

More papers should send cancellation notices to AP, says ex-editor
The notices are the best way to open a genuine dialogue between editors and the AP, says former Star Tribune editor Tim McGuire. “I personally believe the AP/editor partnership is the best option for the struggling future of newspapers, but that relationship cannot continue in its current strained state.”

Advice for editorial cartoonists: Focus on local issues
Departing Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman says: “From my seat in a medium-sized newspaper, I can only advise cartoonists to focus their work on their communities as newspapers focus more and more on the local. That’s the franchise until the storm passes or until fresh minds figure out how to make the broader artform work again. The human need for graphic satire isn’t going away, but the future belongs to the flexible and nimble.”

Good Launching ‘Choose Your Price Campaign’
Radiohead tried it. Paste tried it. Now Good will offer new subscribers the chance to name their price. For the next three months, the magazine known for its “Good Choice” program, which donates 100 percent of subscription revenues to nonprofit organization, will allow new subscribers to pay whatever they want for a one-year subscription to the magazine.

Sirius XM Forecasts Slower Growth
Sirius XM Radio Inc.’s first estimates of subscriber growth fell below some analysts’ expectations, but the satellite-radio company increased its projection of how much money would be saved from its recently completed merger. Sirius XM said it would end this year with 19.5 million subscribers and expects to have 21.5 million subscribers by the end of next year.

VideoSurf hopes to ride Internet video wave
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – There are plenty of places to watch online video, but still no easy way to find a particular clip without suffering through a lot of trial and error. Now a startup led by a former Yahoo Inc. engineer is promising to simplify Internet video search with a complex technology that enables computers to recognize images, such as actors’ faces, and index them scene-by-scene.

Casting call for YouTubers: $25k for green ideas
YouTube might be best known for videos of cute animals and teens dancing with light sabers. But one nonprofit wants to use it as an idea factory.

Review: Peek is e-mail on the go, and that’s it
NEW YORK (AP) – It’s hard to remember now, but the first BlackBerry devices weren’t phones. They were two-way e-mail pagers that couldn’t be used for calls. Now a New York-based startup is betting it can fill the niche the BlackBerry abandoned.

Vibrant Media: Annoying In-Text Ads Now Annoying (If Slightly More Relevant) Content Service (Paid Content)
Anecdotally speaking, in-text ads tend to rank pretty highly on most users’ personal “annoyance meter.” But Vibrant Media, which provides some of those nettlesome rollover ads, is beta testing a new service that will show additional links to other related articles, music and videos on a site a user is already on. The New York company plans to test its Vibrant Related Content service with about 3,500 web publishers. As for the irritation factor users complain about, Vibrant suggests that users actually appreciate it.

Mobile carriers see opportunity in ‘tween’ market
SAN FRANCISCO–Nearly half of kids age 8 to 12 years old own cell phones in the U.S., in what could be the next big cell phone demographic for the mobile industry, according to a Nielsen report released here Wednesday at the CTIA Fall 2008 trade show.

Ads on Your Cellphone? Get Used to It
Although only about 9% of people agree with the statement that advertising on their cellphones is acceptable, 31% say it’s acceptable if it lowers their wireless bills, Paul Kultgen, director of mobile advertising at Nielsen Co., said during a presentation on Tuesday. “We’re at a tipping point,” he said.

AT&T Lets You Access Your Social Networks With New Mobile App (Mashable)
AT&T introduced a development this week, assembled by  mobile social networking software specialist Intercasting Corp, that allows its wireless subscribers to employ a new MEdia Mall option called My Communities, a $2.99/month extra, to connect with friends and other associates through services like MySpace, Photobucket, LiveJournal, Xanga, and Rabble, as well as niche and specialized networks like AsianAve, BlackPlanet, MiGente, FaithBase, and GLEE.

Elektrobit Launches Windows Mobile Satellite Phone
At the CTIA show on Wednesday, we caught up with Elektrobit, a small firm who’s doing their best to reinvent the formerly-clunky satellite phone into a sleek, Windows Mobile PDA/phone.

IBM Hopes To Spark Cell Sales By Targeting Medical, Graphics
The PlayStation game machine was the first customer for IBM’s Cell chip, but it won’t be all fun and games for that chip.