Soundpolitic Sundays: Ready Aim Fired Edition

by: Soundpolitic

Sun Apr 25, 2010 at 15:13:20 PM EDT

And you've just met the boss.  He's exiting a boardroom, wearing athletic sweats.  You look at him, he looks at you, and you introduce yourself.  You express your thanks to be working in a fast-growing firm, your respect for the man who built up the business, and appreciation of the rewarding challenges thrown your way.  You extend your hand to shake his...

Now imagine your boss's response is to turn his back on you after asking you:

"You're not afraid of guns are you?  A lot of us carry guns around here."

In this weeks' edition of Soundpolitic Sundays, I'm telling this story for the last time as my excuse for missing last two weeks.  The rest of the story and its moral lies below the fold...

On Murdoch And Google, Or, Hey, Rupert, Where's My Check?

by: fake consultant

Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 01:44:09 AM EST

In a November 6th interview, Sky News Australia's David Speers spent about 35 minutes with the CEO of NewsCorp, Rupert Murdoch; the conversation covering topics as diverse as software piracy, world economics, the role of Fox News (and Fox NewsPinion©) in American politics, a strange defense of Glenn Beck, and, not very long afterwards, an even stranger defense of immigration.

We have heard a lot about the...how can I put this politely...challenges Murdoch seems to face associating factual reality with his reality, and we could have lots of fun going through his factual misstatements-but instead, I want to take on one specific issue today:

Rupert Murdoch says he hates it when people steal his content from the Internet to draw readers to their sites...which is funny, if you think about it, because he has no problem at all stealing my content (and lots of yours, as well) for his sites.

On Looking Deeper, Or, Things About Iran You Might Not Know

by: fake consultant

Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 23:10:07 PM EDT

For most of us, Iran has been a country about which we know very little...which, obviously, makes it tough to put the limited news we're getting into a proper context.

The goal of today's conversation is to give you a bit more of an "insider look" at today's news; and to do that we'll describe some of the risks Iranian bloggers face as they go about their business, we'll meet a blogging Iranian cleric, we'll address the issue of what tools the Iranians use for Internet censorship and the companies that could potentially be helping it along, and then we'll examine Internet traffic patterns into and out of Iran.

Finally, a few words about, of all things, how certain computer games might be useful as tools of revolution.

Congratulations Are In Order

by: phillip anderson

Tue May 05, 2009 at 10:50:00 AM EDT

Not too shabby, eh?

Adirondack Almanack Turns 4

by: phillip anderson

Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 15:50:25 PM EDT

Adirondack Almanack Celebrates Four Years

Adirondack Almanack (www.adirondackalmanack.com) is celebrating its fourth year with the addition of two new contributors. Begun in the spring of 2005, the Almanack has grown to be the region's most popular online journal of news and opinion, addressing local politics and culture, history, regional development, outdoor recreation, the environment and other issues.  

Adirondack Almanack is the longest running blog about life inside the Blue Line and has become a resource for in-the-know Adirondackers and those outside the park who want to stay current on Adirondack news and events. The site attracts about 1,000 readers each day and has been growing steadily.  

Adirondack Almanack's content expanded with the February 2009 addition of two contributors who joined founder John Warren in writing daily posts.

Mary Thill lives in Saranac Lake and has worked in the Adirondacks since 1990, reporting for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Lake Placid News, Plattsburgh Press-Republican, Adirondack Explorer and Adirondack Life, where she was also an editor from 2001 to 2008.

Cartoonist and commentator Mark Wilson's editorial cartoons - under the pen name MARQUIL - appear in newspapers and online across New York State. He also provides editorial illustrations and occasional commentary for The Sunday Gazette of Schenectady. Mark is based in Saranac Lake.

John Warren of Chestertown is a writer, historian and media professional whose work has appeared in a variety of media from PBS, History Channel and Discovery to Adirondack Life, regional and local newspapers, and online. A collection of his historical essays from Adirondack Almanack will be published this summer by The History Press; John is also editor of the popular blog New York History.

In addition to original reporting, illustrations and opinion, the Almanack aggregates daily the most interesting news from around the park as well as articles from outside the Blue Line that affect life here. It's a good jumping-off place on the Web for all things Adirondack.

Look for a new redesign coming soon and more great reporting, commentary and other goodies from the AA crew.

Congrats to all of them.

Bob Guskind, RIP

by: phillip anderson

Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 11:59:02 AM EST

Rumors have been swirling around for the last 24 hours about the whereabouts of Bob Guskind, the journalist who runs Gowanus Lounge.

I found out yesterday that his immensely popular blog, which focused on real estate and development issues in Park Slope, Gowanus, Williamsburg and Coney Island, was non-operational.

Readers and fellow bloggers were concerned that their phone calls, and texts were not being returned.

This morning, Susan Fox of Park Slope Parents received an anonymous text that Bob was dead.

His death is now confirmed. A communications official at the Medical Examiners Office told me  that he died on March 4th, 2009.

This is very sad news for the Brooklyn Blog community. My condolences to his wife and loved ones.

This picture was taken at last year's Brooklyn Blogfest. I know the year of his birth because we talked about the fact that we were both born in 1958.

Though I never actually met Bob in person, I used to exchange email with him pretty often and I read his site everyday. When my old building was evacuated by the FDNY, I knew exactly who to tell first in hopes of getting the word out quickly. That was Bob and he covered the story better than anyone in the traditional media.When I started getting media inquiries about the story, they were all directed my way by Bob. The trad-med reporters all knew to go to Bob first too. When I had a question about anything Brooklyn related, he was the go to guy. When I was organizing a blogger get together with a candidate last year, he was the first person I invited.

And now he's gone.

Godspeed, friend.

NYT features Phillip in blogger story

by: devtob

Sat Aug 23, 2008 at 08:47:06 AM EDT

Featuring our very own Phillip Anderson.

There's a nice big photo of Phillip, with dog, Mets hat and laptop, in a public house to start off the piece online.

And the two big parts of Phillip's Denver story, so far, are in there -- the state credential kerfluffle and the fund-raising here that made Phillip's trip possible.

Congratulations, Phillip -- now make us prouder in Denver.  

Senator Duane On Bloggers And Shield Laws

by: phillip anderson

Wed Aug 13, 2008 at 14:29:06 PM EDT

"New York has a proud tradition of having one of the strongest reporter's shield laws in the country," Duane said. "I was shocked to discover that in 2008, our law does not provide protections to journalist bloggers - one of the fastest growing mediums for obtaining news. This glaring omission must not be allowed to continue."

I will certainly applaud Senator Duane for recognizing that the law is lacking and need of a revision. The media landscape is changing as people have more and more options for their consumption of information. The new media phenomena is opening up all manner of questions about who is and who isn't a "journalist" and who deserves the protection of the law in the exercise of journalism. But, I would argue, as I did in a comment on Liz's post, that these shield laws should be protecting the act of journalism, the free dissemination of information as opposed to protecting individuals who have been deemed as a class as worthy of protection. Of course, it's certainly not that easy, but the questions raised by this explosion of citizen generated media are complex. I'll leave it to folks who are much smarter than I am to figure it out.

I guess my point is that we probably shouldn't dwell so much on who is worthy of protection by these laws, but what is worthy. I am of the belief that anyone can engage in acts of journalism and I am suspicious of attempts to label this person or that class of people as deserving of protections while others are not. It's the free flow of information and the right of the public to access it that needs protection, not so much those who someone else deems a "journalist" or not a "journalist."

Your thoughts?