Posts Categorized Media

Net Neutrality Coalition Crumbling?

In Media, Technology on Dec-15-2008 with
no comments

Well this is not good news for those of us that want a free and “open” Internet. From a Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) article in today’s edition:

Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic with a proposal to create a fast lane for its own content, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google has traditionally been one of the loudest advocates of equal network access for all content providers.

[....]

One major cable operator in talks with Google says it has been reluctant so far to strike a deal because of concern it might violate Federal Communications Commission guidelines on network neutrality.

“If we did this, Washington would be on fire,” says one executive at the cable company who is familiar with the talks, referring to the likely reaction of regulators and lawmakers.

Separately, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have withdrawn quietly from a coalition formed two years ago to protect network neutrality. Each company has forged partnerships with the phone and cable companies. In addition, prominent Internet scholars, some of whom have advised President-elect Barack Obama on technology issues, have softened their views on the subject.

Setting Back Feminism Since 1983

In Culture, Media on Dec-2-2008 with
no comments

Over at Hullabaloo there is a short, but interesting post about Maureen Dowd’s Vanity Fair cover story on Tina Fey:

I think there’s a good article in this profile of Tina Fey by Maureen Dowd, but it’s nowhere to be found on the page. Instead, I would rather read Fey’s reaction to this mental patient with a notepad bursting into her house, demanding a cocktail (there are references to the alcohol they’re drinking throughout) and asking questions almost entirely confined to her looks, her weight, her mostly unnoticeable scar, her love life, who she flirts with, and whether she was cool in high school. The questions reveal a series of insecurities so transparently that it reads like a psychiatric evaluation. I agree with Amanda that Fey comes off well regardless, but what I’d really like to hear from her is “Yeah, what the hell was that, a celebrity profile by Freud?”

It has never ceased to amaze me that the New York Times gives Dowd billing as one of their lead editorial page writers. It is not that I disagree with some of her opinons, but instead her analysis is usually based on what a person looks like, the cloths they wear, car they drive, and what type of scotch they drink. Personally I could care less 99.9 percent of the time. This is a perfect example of her style of reporting (if you can call it that).

MSNBC Extends Keith Olbermann’s Contract

In Media on Nov-12-2008 with
no comments

News that is a couple days old, but still good news:

The announcement came less than two years into Mr. Olbermann’s current four-year deal. MSNBC essentially tore up his Feb. 2007 contract (reportedly worth up to $4 million a year) and wrote a new one, according to two employees with knowledge of the agreement. The new contract is valued at about $7.5 million a year, one of the people said.

Mr. Olbermann will continue to anchor “Countdown” and co-host NBC’s “Football Night in America.” Reinforcing Mr. Olbermann’s value to MSNBC, the network said he would “play a prominent role” in “all major news events.”

Mr. Olbermann has anchored “Countdown,” the most popular program on MSNBC, since 2003. The program now draws more viewers than CNN in the 8 p.m. time slot.

Evolution Of The Front Page Of LA Times (1881 to 2003)

In Design, Media on Nov-2-2008 with
no comments

I selected a front page from every other decade, starting with the very first edition of the paper in 1881. Note the shifting hierarchy of images (yellow), advertising (orange) and editorial content (blue). The small black arrows are links to related content elsewhere within the paper.

Greg also takes a look at the home page of the LA Times from 1996-2006.

[Found via Serial Consign]

US Ranks 36th On Press Freedom List

In Media on Oct-24-2008 with
no comments

My gosh this is just flat out depressing. Reporters Without Borders has released their annual Press Freedom Index. Despite being told by our elected leaders the press in the United States is “a beacon for the rest of the world” the US ranked 36 out of 173 countries, Right there with great “free” press nations like Bosnia and Herzegovina. Iceland ranked number one. Ghana, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam, and Jamaica all ranking higher than the US.

Just In Case You Were Wondering

In Media on Sep-12-2008 with
no comments

How MSNBC planned to cover the anniversary of the attacks on 9/11 yesterday. Rest assured, they didn’t have much of an orginal idea. In fact their idea was void of any and all class or grace. They decided to just re-air their live coverage of those attacks throughout the day, multiple times.  So, if you wanted to re-live the horror of that day all over again, I guess MSNBC’s was your place.

Changes Are Afoot At MSNBC

In Media, Politics on Sep-8-2008 with
no comments

MSNBC is removing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as the anchors of their live political event coverage, “bowing to growing criticism that they are too opinionated to be seen as neutral.” Former Senior White House correspondent David Gregory will take over the anchor seat for upcoming events such as this fall’s presidential and vice presidential debates and election night coverage.

You will be hard pressed to find somebody that is a bigger fan of Olbermann. But even to a liberal like myself it was clear Olbermann inserted far too much opinion into his coverage. Couple that with the sniping back and forth between the anchors and it made MSNBC’s coverage appear like the “amateur hour” to say the least.

There are also bigger issues at play here. Matthews contract is up this year and I don’t think it will be renewed. And I’ve always felt Gregory would eventually take over Russert’s role at Meet The Press. By giving Gregory this high-profile position it helps introduce him to the public before he begins hosting the most popular Sunday morning talk show.

Update: Matthew Yglesias at Think Progress expands on what I was thinking but did not mention directly:

I think they’re recognizing at MSNBC with the success of Countdown and the looming Rachel Maddow show that the smart move for the network is to become a progressive-friendly alternative to a cable news landscape dominated by Glen Beck and Sean Hannity. At the same time, however, MSNBC is necessarily going to be a little brother to NBC News. But while progressive branding is smart for MSNBC, it’s not smart for NBC’s Nightly News or for Meet The Press. But on big occasions, MSNBC wants to be able to take advantage of high-profile NBC News personalities. This sets them up for a lot of dilemmas that wouldn’t exist for a cable news channel like Fox News or CNN that doesn’t serve as a co-branded junior partner to a broadcast news operation.

Interesting, Wonder How That Happened

In Culture, Media, Politics on Sep-3-2008 with
no comments

Digg Dialog Launches

In Media, Social Networking on Aug-29-2008 with
no comments

This is pretty darn cool. Digg has just launched a new service called Digg Dialog. The concept is pretty simple. It is announced that a specific person will attend, users submit questions, and people digg the questions just like normally do with news stories. Those that hit the stated requirements and receive the most diggs get asked. For the launch event they partnered with CNN iReport and Digg CEO Jay Adelson peppered Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi with a number of questions that you never hear addressed by the traditional media. Social networking and community involvement at its best.

Finally, Rachel Maddow Get Her Own MSNBC Show

In Media on Aug-19-2008 with
no comments

For the life of me I have no idea why this took so darn long:

Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the longtime host Dan Abrams—its onetime general manager—from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has emerged as a favored political commentator for the all-news cable network.

The moves, which were confirmed by MSNBC executives on Tuesday, are expected to be finalized by Wednesday, with Mr. Abrams’s last program on Thursday. After MSNBC’s extensive coverage of the two political conventions during the next two weeks, Ms. Maddow will begin her program on Sept. 8.

Rachel’s show will follow Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. The Olbermann/Maddow 1-2 punch will be potent. Now, we just need to get a decent lead-in for Keith, we’d have a serious three hour block of programming.