For those interested in Fair Use provisions of Copyright laws and the significance of all of this on the future of creative work in the digital era, this story on NPR’s Morning Edition should be of interest.
This letter was composed by many Associations that want changes in within the FCC and Congress. It talks about how payola affects independent artists as well as the general public. It also goes into specfics how vertical integration, horizontal integration effect the independent artists as well. To read the article click here.
Rupert Murdoch (who is the ‘owner and steward’ of Fox News Channel, The New York Post, and other international media networks) is trying to ‘invest heavily’ in the Dow Jones (owns The Wall Street Journal, etc). Dow Jones is currently struggling with payments because of the rise in the use of reading news on-line, reader demographics, and just the costs of maintaining good journalism. Murdoch, who has enough money to support the Dow Jones from going under, is in a position to invest a huge amount of money ($60 a share) in it to keep it afloat.
This article both explains why it could be a possibly good thing for Murdoch to buy the Down Jones (because they won’t go under) and the downsides to buying it. The author of this article is afraid that Murdoch will turn it into a sensationalized media (much like his media) and give it a slanted view–instead of an unbiased and fair source.
or can it? After our video in class last thursday I thought it pertinent to post on what gets shown about the wars overseas. Our current administration doesn’t want us to see the violence of the war in Iraq because it might dishearten the public. President Bush claims he wants people to keep optimistic about the success in Iraq. It certainly is easy to stay optimistic when only to positive events are shown to the public…until the truth eventually comes out and the death toll mounts too high. We can’t make good decisions based on what we WANT the world to be like. We have to make decisions based on how it really is and look at the facts. Check out these insights into the innerworkings of our intelligence.
Here’s a link featuring an interview with Hannah Sassaman of the Prometheus Radio. As you may recall from the LFPM presentations, Prometheus helps local communities build LPFM stations. In this interview, Ms. Sassaman discusses recent developments in LPFM including new legislative initiatives to promote the growth of this sector.
In light of the video today in class, i looked at the independent media website and saw that there is activism going on all around us that most of us probably have no idea about. Check out the site to get some insight as to what struggles are giong on around the globe and the progress that those involved are making towards changing the world.
As Alex noted in a recent post, a Copyright Board ruled recently that webcasters must pay increased royalty fees for playing licensed music. The decision may force a great many webcasters offline–yet another blow to innovative, risk-taking radio.
This news story provides a helpful overview of the issue. There are a number of websites where you can learn more. Here’s a link to SaveNetRadio Coalition–they are asking for people to contact their congressional representatives to support legislation that will keep innovative radio around on the internet.
Don Imus’ lawyers have announced their intent to sue CBS for a “huge portion” of his $40 million contract. The contract was to be 5 years, and Imus barely made it a few months before he was fired for a racial slur about the Rutger’s women’s basketball team.
He must be so sorry about making racist comments over the years that he’s donating all of his money to minority scholarship funds and advancement programs and has to sue CBS to get more… I bet.
Short article on this here
The mayor of New York, Mike Bloomburg, has announced his movement to stop movie piracy by releasing a series of PSA’s which talk about the crime and its effects. He also has made videotaping in a theatre a misdemeanor, instead of just a violation. I don’t want to go too in-depth about the article because then you wouldn’t read it for yourself, but at the end they start to talk about some of the ideas.
The link to the Reuters article is here
And then here is an example of an anti-piracy PSA (although it is not one from the article, or even from New York)
I know this isn’t my topic, but I still felt it was pretty interesting article to read because it not only has to do with product placement and commercialization, but also hit TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy and ER. A few small medical firms landed a deal with the show’s producers where the shows actors will use some of these company’s equipment on the show in exchange for a monetary payment (obviously). The article states that it is so economical for the companies to do this because they probably would not be able to afford a full 30 second spot on the show. Its a short article, and its right here