Madlibrarian’s Media Research Blog

The New York Times today reported a new phase in China’s Censorship of the Internet. In China Requires Censorship Software on new PCs, Andrew Jacobs reports that a new directive from the Chinese Government requires all new computers to filter pornography and ‘unhealthy information’. The software called Green Dam, is China’s latest attempt to control the 300 million Internet users in China.

Newsweek has done a detailed analysis of Oprah and the medical advice given on her show. Crazy Talk is a hard look at the show and how the media distributes information. This is a must read!

Check out the site Truth Dig for some interesting analysis and commentary on todays stories!   http://www.truthdig.com/

The latest firestorm to effect the Media is the broadcasting of the materials sent to NBC from the Virginia Tech Killer, Cho Seung-Hui.[youtube]b2UYsRG0-fw[/youtube]

Yahoo! News has published Second-guessing on use of Cho pictures by David Bauder giving a enlightening spin on the ethical issues. City Journal has also published a strong opinion piece, in Mass Murder, Martyrdom, and the Media
by Nicole Gelinas. What do you think, should the media outlets have published the video, or was it an abuse of public trust.

Well what could we possibly say about this topic that has not already been said! The issues that Don Imus, his comment and his dismissals have raised, as they pertain to the Media, are staggering. FAIR in the essay, Rallying Around Their Racist Friend asks some interesting questions of the Media and their relationship with Imus. At Accuracy In Media, the opinions are more conservative–but just as controversial. Another interesting player in this quagmire is Media Matters for America , a watchgroup that pushed the story into the limelight.[youtube]RF9BjB7Bzr0[/youtube]

Newsweek, who’s journalists admit to having a close working relationship with Imus, discuss the Shock Jock and his place in the Media in a series of articles listed below:

Imus: Race, Power and the Media

Cose: What will we learn?

Rugters Team Stands Tall

Fineman: Something In (And On) the Air

Even the CCNY’s The Campus has covered the story with the CCNY Community voicing their opinions in Imus Spoke, Now It’s Our Turn. Arthur Banton’s piece, Imus Opinion– Redefining Racial Epithets is sure to stir some controversy, as will Kenroy Cherrington’s piece Imus Opinion–Overblown .

So what do you think?

How do you use digital technology? Marc Prensky in his article Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 2  opened a discussion on the way generations ‘see’ the digital world. His philosophy and conclusions are some what controversial, so check them out and decide if you think his points are valid. Feel free to post here your thoughts.

So you want to be a published journalist? Assignment Zero takes the field of journalism and opens it up to all budding writers. By posting an ‘assignment’, the editor of Assignment Zero gives multiple individuals the ability to post reports on the topics. Multiple reports on a topic will make all interpretations represented.

The question this raises for the media major is, how will this effect the profession in the future. Is this a fad or the future?

For more information, see the New York Times article ‘All the World’s a Story’

While Wikipedia has always been a lighting rod for criticism, the latest Media coverage concerning the website has left its staff and supporters in crisis.

First, Middlebury College’s History Department banned the use of the site in papers and exams. This after a serious factual error was quoted by numerous students on an exam–their communal source was Wikipedia (Read the Middlebury College weblink concerning this issue) .

Now the latest scandel to rock the website is the fact that a ‘Professor of Theology’ who published thousands of entries on the site is in fact a college dropout. This has led Wikipedia to change its policy and philosophy concerning authors (Read the CNN report on this issue).

So what is the moral in all this? Well, although I personally love Wikipedia for it overall high quality, I would NEVER consider it for serious research. Trivia—yes, Scholarship–no.

Finally, the bias of Wikipedia has been questioned by users who feel there is a liberal slant. To counter this Conservapedia has been created to represent the Conservative point of view.

The Canadian site Media Awareness Network is a media education website that is international in scope. Available in both French and English, the materials on this site range from games for K-12 to research and special initatives.The themes of media violence, media stereotyping, online hate and information privacy are covered in a series of essays. Under stereotypes, how the media portrays Ethnic and Visible Minorities, Aboriginal People, Girls and Women, Men and Masculinity, Gays and Lesbians and Whiteness and White Privilege are all explored in seperate reports.

The essay ‘Beauty and Body Image in the Media’ is of particular interest for those exploring the popular topic of women and body image.

The yearly contest for ‘Person of the Year’ at Time Magazine has take a strange turn this year. The December 25, 2006 issue has named ‘You’, the computer user, for this honor. Acknowledging that we have not only embraced the Information Age, but are changing the Revolution and also every aspect of Society. The issue of ‘Digital Democracy’ is discussed with an amazing group of individuals profiled. Also articles on Web 2.0, the digital camera’s force on the Web and YouTube make this issue a must read for all interested in the Media issues of today.

• Time’s Person of the Year: You

• Power to the People

• The Beast with a Billion Eyes

• It’s All About Us

• The Gurus of YouTube