Topic: Media

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

By Bill Larson | August 13, 2008 |

This is a presentation given by Mike Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, at the Library of Congress on June 23, 2008. He decided to forgo the standard PowerPoint presentation and instead worked with his students to prepare over 40 minutes of video for the 55-minute presentation. This is the result.

It’s interesting and highly entertaining to watch, and might give some people who support draconian copyright regimes reason to rethink their support.

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Sections: Arts and Leisure, Business, Education, Issues, News, Technology | No Comments

Updated: Must watch TV: Bill Moyers Journal: Buying the War

By Bill Larson | April 24, 2007 |

If you missed seeing it, or if you wish to forward it to your email lists, You can watch Bill Moyer’s Journal:  Buying the war online.

How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?

Set your PVR’s and stock up on popcorn, because this is really gonna be can’t miss TV.

David Swanson, who saw an advance copy of the program, writes, “Spending that 90 minutes on this will actually save you time, because you’ll never watch television news again-not even on PBS, which comes in for its share of criticism.”

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Sections: Arts and Leisure | 1 Comment »

A Media Bill of Rights

By Bill Larson | February 20, 2007 |

An overview on the “Bill of Media Rights” as promoted and advanced by a large coalition of organizations and activists working towards a more democratic media system.

The program includes a point-by-point description of the principles inherent in it and required for a media system that is truly reflective of and responsive to the needs and interests of the public.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2416049167498839637

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Sections: Politics | No Comments

Media Consolidation and the Corporate Media

By Bill Larson | September 17, 2006 |

Tonight’s theme is media consolidation and the corporate media. I have rounded up a collection of videos from Youtube and Google Video which highlight some of the issues raised by the massive over consolidation of the media, giving a just few companies,  full control over what you see, hear, and read. You only have to look at the recent attempt to rewrite history attempted by the Disney Corporation in cahoots with ABC to see why this should concern all of us. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues | No Comments

MySpace Can Be Risky Business

By Christine Anne Piesyk | July 23, 2006 |

“Can I get a myspace account? All my friends have one.”

It was only a matter of time before my grandchildren, girls ages 16 and 17, and a boy, 14, asked this question. “MySpace” has 67 million members posting photos, making mini-videos, browsing chat sites, posting poems or art, and connecting with friends.

My introduction to MySpace came through the MSNBC TV series on child predators who surf this highly popular site looking for vulnerable or curious teens. I watched the series with great interest, while asking the question “where were the parents when their teens were online?” “Did they ever check out where their kids are going online?”

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Sections: Arts and Leisure | 2 Comments