April 27, 2005
This Just In...
Rupert Murdoch predicts the end of newspapers as we know them.
Posted by dmliu at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
Here's your chance
Anybody interested in joining up with Ohmynews International as a citizen journalist? Here's your big chance!
Posted by dmliu at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Al-Jazeera reruns
For those who missed the Al-Jazeera lecture and would like to see it on TV, I will be re-broadcasting on the internal Princeton University cable Channel (#7 on campus cable, #27 on Patriot Media in town) at 5pm for a week.
Posted by dmliu at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2005
Example of an Experiment
Here's one way in which MSM is experimenting with news.
OK, now someone else post one.
Posted by dmliu at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2005
Al-Jazeera lecture
There will be a presentation on Al-Jazeera in Dodds at 430pm Tuesday. I encourage WWS309 students to attend.
Posted by dmliu at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2005
Nation panel
You might be interested in going to an upcoming panel on
THE STATE OF THE NATION
Come meet and ask questions of a special Nation magazine panel on the media, politics, the war and the Bush Administration.
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 8:00 to 9:30pm
McCosh Hall, #50-. Seating Limited. please arrive early. Doors open at 7:30.
Featuring:
Katrina vanden Heuvel, '81, Nation Editor
William Greider, '58, Award-winning author, Nation National Affairs Correspondent
Juliet Eilperin, '92, McGraw Professor in Writing, Princeton University, Washington Post reporter
Sean Wilentz, Dayton-Stockon Professor of History, Princeton University
Plus a panel of student questioners. (Audience questions to follow.)
Staged by The Nation and sponsored by The Daily Princetonian, The Progressive Review, The Idealistic Nation, Whig-Clio, the Organization of Women Leaders and The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
(Thanks to Justin Cohen for bringing this to our attention)
Posted by dmliu at 11:38 AM | Comments (1)
March 30, 2005
News Bits
I see Ed Felten's students are following the Grokster case closely.
In other news, this from the NYTimes on PBS looking more commercial by the minute.
Posted by dmliu at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2005
more on blogging from berkman
Anybody interested in the current debate over blogging and journalism should look over the transcript of a recent Berkman conference.
Posted by dmliu at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2005
Comment on this
Watch this mockumentary and comment, please.
Posted by dmliu at 01:25 PM | Comments (7)
March 13, 2005
Changes at the FCC
To watch in the coming week: the Bush administration is set to name a replacement for Michael Powell, who stepped down as chairman of the FCC last Thursday.
Posted by dmliu at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)
Bush and the VNRs
A propos our discussion last week on the success of Video News Releases in disseminating propaganda, the NYTimes today offers this comprehensive account of the practice.
One of the most notable aspects of this increasingly effective means of persuasion is the fact that it arises out of a symbiotic relationship between news source and news outlet, with the consumer being the ultimate target and dupe.
Posted by dmliu at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2005
Watch this
Posted by dmliu at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
PBS in crisis
Posted by dmliu at 10:13 AM | Comments (1)
February 16, 2005
Confidentiality of sources
Two reporters face imprisonment because they won't disclose their sources. (see NYTimes)
This case goes to the heart of a crucial part of reporter-source relationships, and that is the understanding that a journalist will protect a source who asks that his/her identity be kept secret. Without that understanding, sources would "dry up". As Sulzberger notes in his reaction, it threatens to erode freedom of the press.
A couple of odd features to this case:
- the reporter who published the original article "outing" Valerie Palme, Robert Novak, seems to have escaped unscathed
- Judith Miller never even published an article, but was still subpoenaed to disclose her sources
Posted by dmliu at 09:55 AM | Comments (2)
February 14, 2005
More on blogpower and CNN
A summary of what happened, on the NYTimes.
Posted by dmliu at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2005
The Spin Industry
Read this, and we'll talk about the P.R. industry later.
Posted by dmliu at 12:37 PM | Comments (2)
Journalists killed
The Committee to Protect Journalists keeps a tally of how many journalists are attacked in the line of duty.
Posted by dmliu at 10:39 AM | Comments (2)
February 12, 2005
Blog scandal
A top CNN executive has resigned over a storm of controversy, admittedly generated by him, but magnified in the blogosphere to the point where he felt he had to leave in order not to tarnish CNN's credibility. It centered on comments he made at Davos regarding the possible targetting of journalists by military.
Eason Jordan's comments at the World Economic Forum were first publicized via the Davos blog, which was maintained by a group of WEF attendees including a former CNN employee. The original blog entry was picked up by many other blogs, including some well-known and credible media watchdog sites with many regular visitors. From there, the story made it to the mainstream media. Fox News, CNN's biggest rival, had a heyday. It may be the only time they would ever invite Daniel Schechter (who calls Fox "the evil empire")for an interview.
At the beginning of the Easongate affair, bloggers admitted they did not have an exact transcript of Eason's words. But when it surfaced that a tape did in fact exist... the question became: did Eason review his own words, and decide they were indefensible?
An interesting aspect to this story is that one of Jordan's points was a missile attack on Al-Jazeera headquarters in the early days of the occupation, which the U.S. military says was a mistake, but the Al-Jazeera audience largely believes was deliberate. Islamic online news mentions this in their coverage of the CNN resignation. The U.S. sites that I visited do not.
There should be some after-buzz in the blogosphere today, debating whether this is a case of citizen power up-ending Mainstream Media, or whether it is a case of wolf-pack sensationalism blowing one person's statements out of proportion. How many of us have said things we wished we could retract? Why Jordan has not defended his specific wording is a puzzle to me, but is largely interpreted in the blogosphere as an admission of guilt.
Aside from all the object lessons about the power and responsibility of blogs, this episode saddens me on a personal level. Having known Eason for more than 20 years, I believe he is as sincere a news executive as one could hope for, and I expect it was a very difficult decision for him to make. CNN was his life. He rose up from being a tenacious overnight assignment editor on the International Desk, to head of all newsgathering operations.
Posted by dmliu at 05:33 AM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2005
Fox on Outfoxed
I will also post this in Blackboard, but here is Fox's official response to "Outfoxed".
Posted by dmliu at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)