Category Archives: Media
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has sparked privacy concerns with recent comments. I explain why we have little to fear. Continue reading
The Huffington Post has put up a feature it calls “Fundrace,” which allows users to search by address, city, name, occupation, or employer to find out who has made campaign donations of $200 or more, of which federal law requires public disclosure. On a whim, I did a vanity search for my name, even though I had only contributed $100 to the Ron Paul campaign. Of course, I wasn’t in the results, but someone else who shares my name was: … Continue reading
Avid watchers of the news over the past decade will have noticed something: Media companies now package the news as they do TV programs, motion pictures, and DVD releases. Consider the coverage of Hurricane Katrina over the last few days. The news channels regaled their audiences with snazzy logos for the crisis. CNN even billed itself as “Your Hurricane Home” or “Your Hurricane Channel” or something like that. Or think about how the media handled the invasion of Iraq a … Continue reading
Something has enraged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democratic Senator from New York, and for once, it’s not the latest stratagem of the Republican Party. What has inspired her ire is… a video game. Specifically, this: I haven’t played the game, but I’ve read it allows players to control a main character who fights both street gangs and corrupt police, during the course of which he can hijack cars, participate in shoot-outs, etc. A lot of people say it’s fun, but … Continue reading
The Washington Post is one of the elite newspapers of the United States. It’s the only newspaper, aside from the New York Times and USA Today, that one could call a national newspaper. What is a headline on the front page of the Washington Post‘s website? Tom Cruise Proposes to Holmes at Eiffel Tower. I have a question: Why should we care? Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are actors; they’re not any more important than anyone else. Certainly, acting is … Continue reading
On the basis of what the American national media has covered most intensely recently, one would think the most pressing concerns of our country were the Michael Jackson trial and a missing teenager in Aruba. A short while before that, the most important issue of the United States, from the media’s perspective, was a vegetative woman in Florida. And, back through time, the pattern continues of our major news outlets concentrating on and hyping up stories with little genuine importance. … Continue reading
Before the trial against Michael Jackson started, his prosecutors, with the aid of an eager media, promised the world damning evidence against the superstar. Finally, we were led to believe, the allegations that “Wacko Jacko” shopped for partners in the junior section would morph into facts. After the prosecution was done with him, the whole world would see him for the child molester he supposedly was, and he’d be going to jail for a very long time. Reality has developed … Continue reading
Michael Jackson has established himself as one of the most successful musical artists in history. His album Thriller—which won a record eight Grammies—remains the bestselling album of all–time, having sold over 51 million copies worldwide. Jackson’s enormously popular videos for “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and “Thriller” eliminated MTV’s reluctance to broadcast videos from black artists. Also, TV Guide, BET, and MTV determined “Thriller” to be the best music video ever made. Jackson’s later albums also experienced phenomenal success. Bad, from … Continue reading
