Radio especially Talk Radio, has a reputation for being conservative. Here is a station in Detroit where Clear Channel has unleashed Lefty Liberal Talker Nancy Skinner and others on "Detroit's Progressive Talk" 1310. Illinoisans will remember seeing Skinner's name during the primaries last year when she was running (unsuccesfully) against Barak Obama to be Demcratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. It is good to hear Nancy is on the air again, as she is articulate, bright and not afraid to talk out. Liberal talk radio strikes back - 02/26/05

My personal hero as far as journalists go is interviewed and speaks frankly. cover

Transparency is a virtue in a world hurtling toward "pomodality" but with transparency some strategies are exposed as just plain ugly. The Republican Luntz playbook might work, but are people going to like to know they were snookered into voting by what we used to call "lies" in the days when there were some things we believed were true and good and beautiful. Daily Kos :: Think Progress on the Luntz Playbook

OhmyNews reflects on its first year and gives its European reporters a chance to talk about why they write for OhmyNews. Very interesting. One German fellow writes because his editor helps him perfect his English. Read more.OhmyNews International

Podcasting is the buzz these days. I have my first "proof of concept" podcast in the can, but the cats even laugh at how dorky it is. Now that I know how to do it, I am working on better content. Wired 13.03: Adam Curry Wants to Make You an iPod Radio Star

Blogs, blogging and the economic models that are evolving on the web to support bloggers is always interesting. Here is one bloggers story of how he is eschewing ads, quitting his day job, and trying to make a job of blogging. Wired News: Quit Your Job to Blog, Blog, Blog

Found on the way to looking up something else....Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

Podcasting is turning into a meme. My first podcast was completed this Saturday night about 2 a.m. but it has not passed the "partner doesn't burst out laughing" test, so I can report I have verified that the software and hardware work, I have no link to an audio file yet. Just wait. In the meantime, read all about it at the NYTIMES (registration required) or try bugmenot. The New York Times > Technology > Tired of TiVo? Beyond Blogs? Podcasts Are Here

I just couldn't resist posting a link to this one. The newsworthy question "How did a guy with an alias get a security clearance?" hangs in the air after the laughter passes. Why won't any Republican congressional leaders investigate a breach of security like this? HBO Bill Maher 021805

News is coming unbundled and unwrapped. People want to be connected and waiting for the paper in the morning, much less having time to sit and read it with breakfast (did you have time for breakfast this morning?) is problematic. Give the v/users what/when they want is going to be the new mantra.Poynter Online - Convergence Chaser

Modern culture manifest in soldier rap. For my generation's soldiers who were male, Jimi Hendrix supplied the beat and backdrop to war. For soldiers today, raps and rap music bring them some temporary solace. I am not sure I agree that country and rap are so similar, but maybe under fire the differences between them fade. Will the ambiguity in the rap which embraces fellow soldiers but decries a seemingly purposeless war bleed into the streets as soldiers return home? If they see Iraqis getting jobs, big Corporations like Haliburton profiteering on the war and return to find no work or McJobs, what will these thoughtful young men and women do? t r u t h o u t - GIs Rap Their Anger:

Blogs, blogging and bloviation.t r u t h o u t - Frank Rich | When the Real News Debunks Fake News: "Is the banishment of a real newsman for behaving foolishly at a bloviation conference in Switzerland a more pressing story than that of a fake newsman gaining years of access to the White House (and network TV cameras) under mysterious circumstances? As Olbermann demonstrated when he borrowed a sharp 'Daily Show' tool to puncture the 'Jeff Gannon' case, the only road back to reality may be to fight fake with fake."

Blog, blogging while black and his idea might extend to blogging while female, blogging while progressive, blogging while a citizen, etc. AlterNet: MediaCulture: Blogging While Black

Blogs, blogging and how it can look like a journalism site, but fail to be a journalism site, as conservatives get a "-gate" in the form of "Gannon-gate."HoustonChronicle.com - Web CEO in midst of political scandal

Blogs, blogging and junkets, freebies, bzzz agentry and ethics are discussed in this piece by J. D. Lasica. So, young (or old) bloggers, remember that CSN&Y song "you, who are on your own, must have a code, that you can live by..." and look to your blogging and the behaviors you develop around your blogging. The cost of ethics: Influence peddling in the blogosphere

Blogs, blogging is the topic of the day. The question of what, if any legal protections bloggers have in regard to protecting sources is in question. This witty and informative piece from Wired covers the topic in a way that makes the issues clear and still brings up the nagging question of why Judith Miller has to go to jail while Robert Novak (in his p.j.s or not) is out and about. What do you think about the law protections and communication activities? Are protections only for those who are getting paid? Wired News: No Protection for Bloggers

Blogs, blogging and danger in the physical world isn't what many people link up in their minds. For Iranian bloggers, who have multiplied as they realized the power of expression that blogs can yield, speaking out can mean going to prison and even torture. Listen to The World radio story recently featured a story about these bloggers who put more on the line than their reputation.      

FAIR.org bashes MSM when it fails to back up the "dry meticulous" investigative reporting of Sy Hersh who was attacked in the media by Richard Perle. I guess I will do my part as a blogger to point out that the charges against Perle appear to be good journalism and factual. Why aren't other reporters and news organizations decrying this cynical insider dealing that just costs working stiffs like me more money, either in taxes or in the deficit I will end up paying when interest rates go up and stagflation hits again? Perle, who is described as follows, by FAIR

As the chair of the Defense Policy Board Perle was indeed well-placed to broker influence in the military establishment. The board, which consists primarily of well-connected former government officials like Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle (Perle was himself an assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration), exists in that twilight realm that allows ex-bureaucrats to continue to exert influence on their former colleagues. Though not officially part of the civil service, members of the Defense Policy Board are expected to abide by the same code of ethical conduct that governs all federal employees, which prohibits using official positions for personal gain.

seems to think that if he attacks Hersh with enough vehemence, that he can produce "the big lie" and cover up his shenanigans. When Journalism Becomes "Terrorism"

Podcast related item. Since I have a fancy camphone with wireless and Internet capability but I don't yet have my own iPod, I am looking at the podcast to phone paradigm. Here is news about it from Nokia and Microsoft.

DRM or digital rights management is one of those topics that slip in and out the news and one's mind, but ultimately it determines so much of the "ground" against which our worklives figure...

Apple Computer and Sony are to appear in court over claims that their respective music download sites have been deceitful and have forced consumers to buy products because they are tied together.

Blogs and Education must seem to be linked at least in this "the new publication in town" and only competition facing the Chronicle of Higher Education. They have a feature on blogging academics from the MLA and a feature called "The Blogora." Inside Higher Ed :: Home

Consolidation in corporations seems to lead to a host of ethical and legal problems. Here is an example from Public Relations, focusing on Armstrong Williams and Ketchum that explains problems that plague the P.R. industry as a whole today as the information spin business is transformed (and disrupted) by an information age. "Public relations specialists are scrambling to adjust to a time in which the Internet revolution and a boom in alternative media sources are rewriting the parameters of the communications industry and challenging traditional sources of authority. So, despite an avalanche of freely available information, the truth is becoming harder to discern." The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Spinning Frenzy: P.R.'s Bad Press

RFID in clothing is one of my threads, as I recently discussed when I bought trousers from J. Crew. Here school kids are tracked with RFIDs but the school kind of forgot to tell parents about it. Now the school administrators admit that electronic tracking of students (even in the bathrooms) is problematic. Are you being tracked with RFID? If you said "no" check your clothes and think about what you may have bought from Walmart, which uses RFID tags on all goods they sell. Wired News: School RFID Plan Gets an F

“There used to be a time when our government would let the facts speak for themselves,” lamented Richard Durbin, a Democratic senator from Illinois, during one Congressional debate. “It apparently is the position of the Bush administration that the facts in and of themselves are not articulate.” This article is horrifying and disgusting at the same time. Tax money going for blatant propaganda is bad enough, but the idea that the political arm of the administration will "rank" reporters on their coverage of stories and possibly subject them to "re-education" is chilling, though it is only suggested so far, not proven. I'm with Dick Durbin--let facts speak for themselves and get PR out of government information. Another interesting angle here is how the author used the Wayback Machine (Internet archive) to investigate what Ketchum was trying to do on its web site with the "influence the influencer" application. CorpWatch: Spinning Media for Government

"The revolution, he says in his pitch, will be televised." I am just trying to get up to speed with iPodcasting, and here comes LPTV for just a few hundred dollars...broadcasting audio via cellphone and bcasting on the skirts of other stations... Pirate of the airwaves takes crusade to television:

Blogs, blogging and the opportunity to meet F2F and talk about blogging at a conference in North Carolina. heraldsun.com: Bloggers gathering outside cyberspace

Copyright conundrums are preventing one of the most important documentaries made about the Civil Rights Era from making it to DVD and thus into the eyes and classrooms across the USA. Who owns our collective history seems to be at stake in the wrangle over rights and licensing. To understand this problem in the context of our culture and our legal system, try Lessig's site and his books. Here is the story about Eyes on the Prize: Wired News: Putting Eyeballs on Copyright Law Geek tech transforms to chic at some point. iPodlounge will help you outfit your iPod in the latest high fashion style.

Blogs, blogging news as "Ask Jeeves" buys the company that owns Bloglines in an attempt to compete better against Google. In the interest of full-disclosure, I note that I have a bloglines account and use it to track blogs I am currently interested in reading. CIO Today - Worldwide Technology - Ask Jeeves Adds Full-Featured Bloglines: "The short-term gain is that Ask Jeeves improves its search service,' says Daniel Read, vice president for products at Ask Jeeves. 'The long-term gain is that a large number of people will be consuming information through blogs and RSS technologies.' " Here is an interesting look at how "industry analysts" use blogs and what they have found out about their use. This is from the Tekrati site Special Report: The State of Analyst Weblogs, Part 2 | Tekrati Research News

Money in politics and its influence is a staple of journalistic thinking and writing. Here is the latest on Howard Dean's quest to be Leader of the Democratics.The Buying of the President 2004 - The Center for Public Integrity

Media ethics be damned for some Republican operatives. Here is the latest of the sordid stories of journalists taking money to shill or otherwise acting unethically. t r u t h o u t || The Jeff Gannon Experience

Objectivity or not? I am still on vacation, but found this worth noting.The Long Tail: The end of objectivity