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June 01, 2005

Cruisin' for a losin'

: When even The New York Times writes about your crackup, you know it's bad.

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Trust the remix, trust the remixers

: I find it ironic that Lawrence Lessig is fretting about people doing bad things in blogs. Lessig is the man who wants to free up content from the control of copyright so people can do with it what they want. Well, take the good with the bad. And -- most importantly -- if you have faith in the people, you should assume that we can tell the good from the bad. Says Lessig:

But the more I've talked about this with observers and friends, the more I think the real fear is not bloggers tempted by ad revenues. It is instead the emergence of the equivalent of tabloids in blog-space: commercial entities whose sole purpose is to generate ad revenue, who do that by being as ridiculous and extreme as possible.

The danger here is that the conflict has returned. Just as the British tabloids care little about the truth in their path to selling papers, commercial blog-loids care little about the truth in trying to attract eyeballs. And it is here that the cycle turn vicious: for the amateur space feeds the professional troll by careful and repeated efforts to show that claims made are false or outrageous. If you're paid by the click, who cares why people click.

Well, we already have Drudge and Sploid and they are tabloids and they try to make money. But if they -- or anyone -- lies all the time, people with good sense -- which is most of us, no? -- will figure it out and stay away and bloggers will not waste their time debunking the liars and advertisers will stay away, too. Have some faith in the people and in the market you want to free up, professor.

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One page closes, another opens

: At the World Newspaper Congress in Korea, NY Times President and Publisher Arthur Sulzberger had this quotable thought:

Some mention the crisis of newspapers saying young readers no longer read print newspapers in the Internet era, but it's not that the Internet is eroding the newspaper market but that newspapers have gained a new medium to deliver information.

Amen. It's not about attracting the young or preserving the old but about expanding into the new. [Full disclosure -- which I'll make a time or two: I now work part-time for The Times Company.]

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Media female mutilation

: Reporter Misty Harris of CanWest puts together a disturbing trend against the nipple.

First, of course, there was Janet Jackson's armored apex.

Then, I as I recounted, Pam Anderson said producers were taping down her nipples on her show (the first bad use for gaffer's tape).

Now, Harris reports, Desperate Housewives is digitally erasing the nipples of two of its stars (nippleless sex is apparently ok).

And Victoria's Secret introduces a bra to tamp down those pesky, independently minded nipples.

Oh, come on. Women have nipples. God made nipples. God bless God. What's wrong with nipples? Are we letting fear of prudes turn us into a nation of sniggling 12-year-olds?

I told Harris that I think this is a case for the National Organization for Women, who should take umbrage at the notion that nipples corrupt, that nipples are bad for us.

Free the Anderson Two! Free the nipples!

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Trust us?

: We hear how little the public trusts the press but a new poll ABC/Washington Post polls makes it look a little less dire:

In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the news media -- such as newspapers, newsmagazines, TV and radio news -- when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly: a great deal, a fair amount, not very much, or none at all?"
Great deal: 11 percent; fair amount: 47, not very much: 29, none at all: 13, unsure: 1

"As you may know, journalists sometimes get information by agreeing not to identify their source by name in the story. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the use of anonymous sources in news stories?"
Approve: 53 percent, disapprove: 43, unsure: 4

They also say the press uses anonymous sources too often.

And this came out before the unmasking of the anonymous source of anonymous sources: The Deepster.

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Edwards' vlog

: John Edwards is going to start vlogging this week, with the help of the Rocketboom crew. Amanda Congden interviewed him for the first and from then on, anyone can send in a video question that he'll answer on video.

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