Abandon objectivity? Please, no!

"The newspaper industry is in the midst of a psychic meltdown over the threat posed by the Internet." writes Michael Kinsley in Slate.

He thinks US papers should ditch objectivity in an attempt to become more attractive. Specifically he wants the New York Times to travel that path.

Great. Now US papers are all going to be like the London sheets - packed with opinions and bigotry but sadly lacking in any in-depth reporting.

As for the New York Times abandoning objectivity - the NYT is far and away my favourite paper and I always refer to it to get the nitty gritty. But objective? No, it is a committed liberal vehicle. And, fair enough. But if they completely abandon the commitment to objectivity, to hard news and in-depth reporting, it will disappear beneath the waves in a spectacular Titanic moment.

And, it would be an even bigger disaster.

Blogger structures

Blogger structures – and companies – start to emerge

Serial new tech entrepreneur John Batelle has scored some serious financial backers for his latest venture: Federated Media.

The oddly old-style name hides a distinctly new tech business model. FM brings together an growing number of blogs, marketing them to advertisers as a package.

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Murdoch Media power

"Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry -- the editors, the chief executives and, let's face it, the proprietors," says Rupert Murdoch.

Indeed, the 75-year-old News Corp. boss sees the current media changes as just part of a much more sweeping science and technology driven revolution.

"It is difficult, indeed dangerous, to underestimate the huge changes this revolution will bring or the power of developing technologies to build and to destroy - not just companies but whole countries."

Commies can't beat web initiative

Web undermines Chinese Communist Party campaign

 
Chinese web sites are offering fake essays that allow communist party cadres to cheat the homework requirements for the latest party driven political campaign known as "bao xian".

Bao xian translates as "preserving the progressiveness" but the maybe the party bigwigs aren’t familiar enough with the capabilities of the most progressive of all technologies – the net.

The campaign is aimed at rebuilding the Communist party’s grass- roots organization, which is seen as being in distinct disrepair.

The International Herald Tribune quotes party boss Ouyang Song trotting out remarkable statistics to prove the campaign is successful: 54,000 new party organizations, promotion of 80,000 cadres and the building of 100,000 activity venues in villages.
 
But the forced participants in the campaign, which began in January 2005, say it is an increasingly hollow ritual with ritual self-criticism which is strictly pro-forma.

Web entrepreneurs have set up sites to take advantage of the demand for the required self critical essays. For small fees they are offering essays customized to party ranks – from the most senior down to head of a street committee. They can be downloaded and then tinkered with to make them seem original.

Opiate of the masses

Who’d have thunk it? TV dulls initiative and turns rabble-rousers into couch potatoes.
‘Israeli army jailers at a tough facility for Palestinian security prisoners in the Negev desert have discovered a unique deterrent against disturbances: television.
In the year since the first TV set was installed in the Ketziot prison, there have been no serious disturbances that required tear gas for dispersal--up to then a common occurrence, said the soldiers' weekly "Bamahane" in its current issue.
The prison commander, identified only as Lt. Col. Avi by the magazine, said the security prisoners spend their time watching television instead of planning disturbances. "The culture of planning hostile activity here is withering away," he told the weekly.
Jailers control the channel selection, the magazine said, limiting viewing to the three main Israeli channels, CNN and a Jordanian TV station.’  

Only in America

Only in America:


What can a GI add to his or her own basic kit when shipping out to a combat zone?

Slate writer, Daniel Engber, advised by a Sgt. Todd Bowers, tells us:

“You don't have to worry too much about getting permission for basic "snivel gear"—stuff that keeps you at a minimum level of physical comfort. You probably won't get in trouble for bringing along some extra fleeces, jackets, and gloves, or even for trading in Army-issued boots for a commercial pair. But if you want to pick up a new scope for your rifle or a nonstandard armor vest, you'll have to clear it with a commanding officer. And bringing along your own guns or grenades is a strict no-no.”

So, leave those grenades home in the bedside table!

Actually, when the average GI steps foot in the Middle East, where everyone seems to have a supply of automatic weapons and explosive devices, they may not be as far from home as they think.

Blogging impacts

Michael Barone, a senior writer for U.S.News & World Report, says bloggers are altering U.S. politics in unexpected ways.
"The left blogosphere has moved the Democrats off to the left, and the right blogosphere has undermined the credibility of the Republicans' adversaries in Old Media. Both changes help Bush and the Republicans."