In our modern day and age of technology and media it has become common to gage the level of importance of an incident by the amount of internet traffic that it produces. Last Thursday, after the two popular media icons passed away, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, cyberspace search engines and social networking sites were flooded with hits. Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times pointed out:
When Jackson’s death was first reported, traffic across the Internet spiked to virtually unprecedented levels. Google’s search engine slowed to a crawl; Yahoo reported “one of the biggest things” in its history; social networks Twitter and Facebook nearly collapsed under the weight of traffic. This newspaper experienced 12 million page views at its website, apparently because it was widely credited with confirming the death.
Despite any criticism MJ may have received throughout his life, it was fairly obvious that his death provoked a whirlwind of reminiscent comments and photographs posted throughout cyberspace. Without him, pop culture will never be the same and his fans and enemies alike have acknowledged this. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Ashton Kutcher’s film production firm, Katalyst Media, has partnered up with Slide Inc. which creates social networking applications for Facebook. Kutcher has designed a short online series called “KatalystHQ” which will show viewers behind-the-scenes shots of the Los Angeles Katalyst offices.
KatalystHQ marks a changing online sphere, where Facebook is rivalling MySpace’s capacity to produce entertainment alongside social networking.
Think you get mad at your TV? According to KARE 11, a man in Joplin, MN was charged with unlawful use of a firearm after unloading a clip into his TV because his DTV converter wouldn’t work.
This is a pretty interesting video that was forwarded to me about the incredible technological changes constantly occurring in our modern world. It was created for a conference and was posted on Flixxy. It is strange to think what our world was like before technology began to dominate, and what it may be like in the future.
On Thursday’s edition of “Hardball,” host Chris Matthews dissed blogs. As NY Daily News reporter Liz Benjamin cited blogs regarding a recent scandal with Caroline Kennedy and her suspicious withdrawal from consideration for the New York Senate seat, Matthews told her to “stick to journalism.”
For the record, Slayterbox1748 would like to thank Liz Benjamin for citing blogs, thus validating our purpose. Click the pic. for the Huffington Post article.
So today was one of the biggest days in American history. President Obama became the first African American to hold office in the White House. The inauguration was incredible and it was great to see that our country has come together so much in the last few months since the election. I posted a video last November where it had celebrities telling people to not vote unless they actually cared about the country. Well I have seen a ton of celebrity videos popping up on Youtube and other places online that are all revolve around politics, from the goofy SNL political videos to the music videos in support of Obama. Well today I found a video asking Americans to send in their congrats to Obama. It was sponsored by Pepsi and it looks pretty cool. Here is the video:
Apparently, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher a.k.a. “Joe the Plumber” from McCain campaign fame, will be going to Israel to cover the war.
Reporting for the conservative website PJTV.com, “Joe” (pictured opposite President-elect Barack Obama) will leave his home in Toledo, OH for the war-torn West Bank to let Israel’s “average Joe’s share their story.”
Click the picture for the Huffington Post article.
In an effort to cut costs and raise a bit of revenue, The New York Times is deciding to print front page advertisements.
Though running front page advertisements is virtually unheard of amongst the country’s most prominent newspapers, the Times — along with almost every other publication out there — has seen a significant drop in ad revenues as a result of recent economic turmoil.
For the sake of newspapers papers nationwide, go the NYT.com, click on some banner ads and check out the article.
As New York Times columnist Brian Stelter wrote in December of 2008, many American news organizations have stopped sending correspondents to Iraq. But, while the interest in the war that has seemingly defined the States fades into oblivion, is another war ready to take its place?
Though a long-standing animosity has existed between Israel and Palestine, can we learn anything from the media coverage that “makes sense” of these events to the millions of those outside the Gaza strip?
Is American media coverage problematic? Do we play favorites? Greg Mitchell wrote an interesting editorial about this very issue on Huffington Post. Leave a comment and tell us what you think.
Check out Damon Weaver, the nation’s most lovable journalist. For the past few months, Weaver — a 10 year-old elementary school student from Florida — has been vying for an inauguration-day interview with President-elect Barack Obama. Using media outlets like YouTube to help spread the word, this little dude has already interviewed Joe Biden. Good luck, Damon — we’ll see you at the inauguration!
Looks like Viacom and Time Warner have come to an agreement regarding the increase in carriage fees. Turns out the media conglomerate, Viacom, will receive a 12% increase in fees - resulting in an extra $39 million. Not a bad Christmas present, if you ask me.
“Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark for 13 million subscribers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable is not agreed upon by then.”
Yup. Turns out Time Warner Cable, the nation’s second-largest cable provider, wants to increase its carriage fees from 22 % to 36 % per channel. But what does this mean?
Well, if the deal isn’t worked out by January 1, 2009, programming like “The Daily Show” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” won’t be available! If the deal is worked out, those who watch television in New York state, the Carolinas, Ohio, Southern California and Texas may see a 23 cent per month hike in their cable bill. But, unless Time Warner Cable wants to hear the wrath of millions of hungover SpongeBob fans, Viacom and Time Warner make a deal.
Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent RNC members a special Christmas present this year. While Saltsman, who served as Mike Huckabee’s national campaign manager during his “upstart bid for the White House,” is by no means a political newby, his goofy Christmas CD says otherwise.
Dubbed over in the classic Saltsman baritone many have come to love him for, one song entitled, “Barack the Magic Negro,” stirred up a bit of controversy.
A cover of the once-popular “Puff the Magic Dragon,” Saltsman’s rendition is downright offensive for a number of reasons. While people like Conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh defend the song, others (Republicans) are blaming the media for blowing the situation out of proportion. Regardless if the song is ingenious political satire or a cheap racial epithet, Chip Saltman’s candidacy for RNC chairman doesn’t look too hot right now.
Best and Worst Ads: A Year the News Eclipsed Commercial Breaks - NYTimes / S. Elliot / 28 Dec. 2008
The New York Times published an article yesterday regarding the high and low points of advertising in 2008. Citing an exceptional presidential campaign and the recent financial crisis, it seems that actual events eclipsed the commercials that traditionally dominate television screens.
“Overshadowing the best ads, but also drawing attention away from the worst,” companies like Coca-Cola, Burger King and Microsoft survived Obamania while Volkswagen and Toyota came up short in their attempts to capture American audiences.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, delivered an [alternative] Christmas message yesterday on British television’s Channel 4. Though the broadcast congratulated “the followers of Abrahamic faiths, especially the followers of Jesus Christ,” the Iranian leader’s nationwide broadcast seemed to cause an uproar.
Looked down upon by many in the Western world for his blatant anti-Semetism and his continued efforts towards nuclear proliferation, President Ahmadinejad’s Christmas message called for happiness, peace and prosperity while condemning “the tyrannical policies of prevailing global, economic and political systems.”
Many claim the Iranian leader also made thinly veiled attacks against the United States, stating that Christ would have stood against “bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.” Nonetheless, the controversial broadcast will complicate President-elect Barack Obama’s stance regarding the possibility of diplomacy with Iran.
“No More Warner Music on YouTube” - Techtree.com / 22 Dec. 2008
Warner Music demanded that thousands of its music videos be removed from YouTube. Unable to reach fair liscencing agreements for its artists, songwriters and publishers, Warner Music Group artists like Madonna and Metallica account for more than 1 billion YouTube views. Since the conception of digital music, the licensing dispute has become the predominant dispute between the two worlds. Click image for more information.
“COVERLOADCNN, left, used to scroll news continuously at the bottom of the screen. It now has a more static approach” - B. Stetler / NYTimes / 20 Dec. 2008 .
The New York Times published an article yesterday regading the departure of one of cable news’ most [in]famous partners: the Crawl.
Apparently the “crush of news” sparked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks ushered in the constantly-updated-news era, and thus a graphics revolution. But does a less cluttered screen offer more to the viewer? Click the pic. to find out.
Charlie Brooker’s Screen Wipe is one of the most entertaining and informative shows on British television. Containing reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how the shows are produced, Screen Wipe is serious. Here’s a clip of Charlie “taking the piss” out of the popular, 24.
Sadly, those outside the UK have to settle for YouTube clips rather than video straight from the BBC’s website. Enjoy.
In an effort to bolster the quality of original programming, MTV will release several “aspirational, enterprising and empowering” new series for 2009. Brian Graden, president of entertainment at MTV Networks Music Group says, “these new series reflect Generation ‘Why Not?’ — living, working and playing on their own terms, ‘adventure capitalists’ if you will, pursuing a variety of thrill-seeking, 2.0, express-yourself enterprises.”
For those curious, expect a new Donald Trump show where he will attempt to reform a group of party girls, “How’s Your News,” from Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame, and “The CollegeHumor Show,” which will shadow the “offbeat” workplace of the twentysomething-run Web site CollegeHumor.com.” More on this story atReuters.
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“Media giant Viacom Inc. said its Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 16 other channels will go dark for 13 million subscribers at 12:01 a.m. Thursday if a new carriage fee deal with Time Warner Cable 
