Further information on the net neutrality debate surfaced on April 27, 2007 with a press release from AT&T corporate offices. The current chief is stepping down yet his stand in does not boast positive thoughts for net neutrality. He stated “We’re going to control the video on our network. The content guys will have to make a deal with us.”
See the rest of the article on this site.
In another communications course we are looking at the influence of advertising on children. I know we have already touched on this in class but this site was very interesting as it showed the truth in numbers as to how efficient the companies are in attacking the psyche of children.
I have selected articles that feature just a few of the societal consequences of a culture that is obsessed with consumption. As we have learned in class, the problem of Americans equating happiness with the acquisition of material goods is of concern in today’s commercialized world.
Click here to read the story of a woman who racked up major credit card debt due to her “compulsive” shopping habits. Credit card debt is becoming an increasing problem in a world where much emphasis is place on what you own. Even those who cannot afford to “keep up with the Jones’s” feel the pressure to spend, even if it means taking on the burden of future debt.
McChesney makes the claim that “Advertising accentuates the class bias in the media.” We have seen examples of this not only in advertisements that target those who have the disposable income, but also in TV shows, where it appears that everyone leads a charmed life. Viewing these glorified settings leads Americans to think that everyone lives the way those we see on TV do. I found this article entertaining, which shows what kind of salary TV characters would be making if they were in real life.
An independent movie studio plans to release their movie “Hostel: Part II” which is the story of the torturing of college students. Even after the recent tragedies at VA-Tech, the movie is still planning to be released on June 8th.
Peter Dekom, an entertainment lawyer and author, said that “You can’t win this one.” Which is in reference to Martin Kaplan’s (a director at USC) comment on how this film could be in very poor taste. After the Columbine shootings, there was a political movement to study and decrease the amount of violent entertainment that is marketed towards children. This article ends with a few interesting and intriguing quotes left my Kaplan saying that even pop culture has a way of getting over ’shattering events’ and that “famously 9/11 was supposed to be the end of irony…if anything, irony has blossomed.”
Should the FCC, the FTC, or government be stepping in to say that this many be an inappropriate film to put out, especially after the VA-Tech tradgedy? It’s a thin line that is hard to cross either way, because there are ethical issues at hand…but also the people behind the film could argue freedom of speech.
this articleis about yahoo competing with google in the field of adverstising. Yahoo is paying 680 million to Right Media for the remaining ownership of its stocks. Right Media runs an exchange where advertisers and publishers buy and sell online ad placements. An interesting part of the article was about the competition between Google and Yahoo each dominating one segment of the online advertising market; Google sells more text ads and Yahoo sells more graphical ads. I liked this article because it’s interesting to see how competition works between large corporations and how the internet is continuously growing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/technology/30yahoo.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
“The ones who will be bred out of it are the ones who are struggling to get started”. This article deals with different circumstances where net neutrality has come into play. It begins with an explanation of what net neutrality is and how it has expanded and deals with current court issues as well. Click here to access the article.
This is a newsweek article that was recently published about how certain copywright laws are a threat to internet radio. The Copyright Royalty Board are planning on changing the fees to the point where only Internet Radio will be affected and not AM or FM stations. These fees can possibly run the Internet Radio industry out of business. To learn more about the topic click here.
This article is by John Eggerton from Broadcasting and Cable on April 3rd 2007. It talks about how Free Press is really upset about the FCC’s action or lack there off with payola. They have sent 50,000 letters to the FCC complaining about their progress. Clear Channel has offered to pay 3 million to settle their investigation but Free Press is even more outraged about that because 3 million for Clear Channel is peanuts. It’s interesting to look at the recent progress in payola. Take a look at this article.
Last night, Bill Moyers Journal returned to public television after a prolonged absence. Here’s a clip featuring his first guest, Jon Stewart.
For those who missed it, you can watch Bill Moyers’ investigative report “Buying the War” online. Read about it and watch the video here.