Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Conservatives and liberals alike are concerned by growing media consolidation, notes Jack Bradigan Spula, but he warns that "this outrage is being channeled into a national debate about 'indecency,' 'values' and moral policing." The Federal Communications Commission, headed by Michael Powell, recently announced large fines for broadcasters whose programming is deemed indecent.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
According to The Hill, nearly half of the Voice of America's staff signed a petition complaining that the Broadcasting Board of Governors launched "new services in the Middle East with no editorial accountability" while cutting back VoA programs in the region.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Perhaps no list of reporters has commanded such attention in Washington since Richard Nixon compiled his enemies list more than thirty years ago," writes Douglas McCollam, discussing the reporters whose names and phone numbers appear in a confidential July 2002 memorandum from the Iraqi National Congress (INC). The memo lists 108 news stories that were influenced by INC-supplied defectors.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"When he appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel show last week, Georgetown law professor David Cole was impressed that the hard-charging host played, as part of his opening commentary, 'a balanced sound bite' from the chairman of the 9/11 commission," reports Howard Kurtz. "Cole was less impressed when an aggravated O'Reilly stopped the taping of 'The O'Reilly Factor' and killed the sound bite. And when Cole brought up the incident during his interview, he says, O'Reilly 'exploded,' called him an SOB and declared he would never be invited back."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
After New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau wrote a story reporting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had collected extensive information on antiwar demonstrators, FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler sent around a memo urging agency officials to "please avoid providing information to this reporter," and the Justice Department revoked his press credentials.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Not only are major news organisations rolling out blogs of their own, but in the past 12 months the influence of bloggers over their print, television and radio counterparts has grown massively," observes Paul Carr. "Consider a decision made by organisers of this year's Democratic National Convention (DNC), next month in Boston.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Australian blogger Tim Lambert has taken a closer look at some of the think tanks that have emerged as critics of open source software, which threatens Microsoft's position in the marketplace. "Why are all these think tanks so down on Open Source?" Lambert asks. "Well, the Small Business Survival Committee is concerned that using open source will expose small business to the risk of lawsuits.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The New PR Wiki, a website for PR pros, is organizing a "global PR blog week," scheduled for July 12-16. Public relations pundits will use the event to discuss questions such as "Why do you blog?" and "Why is blogging important for PR?" The event will cover topics including, "PR in the Age of Participatory Journalism," "Corporate Blogging" and "Crisis Management," and will be hosted at globalprblogweek.com.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Michael Moore's previous films have generated a cottage industry of conservative commentators eager to find examples of sloppiness and exaggeration, but as New York Times reporter Philip Shenon observes, "if 'Fahrenheit 9/11' attracts the audience Mr. Moore and his distributors are predicting, Mr. Moore may face an onslaught of fact-checking unlike anything he - or any other documentary filmmaker - has ever experienced.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"If your calling is journalism, you enter the job market at the same time that that the long and honorable history of American journalism is traveling through the digestive tract of the disinfotainment industry," declared writer Howard Rheingold in his recent commencement speech at Stanford University. "But at the same time, you arrive on the scene just at the moment something broader, faster, and perhaps more democratic than the invention of journalism is emerging. ...
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