Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
How Would You Improve the New York Subway? - NYTimes.com
This is great except for one thing. Suppose someone comes up with a really good idea and posts it here. What happens next? Buried in the dark blog hole? Or, I might suggest, packaged up in an easy-to-consume fashion and sent on to the decisionmakers for the subway? The latter is what I expect of a reasonably intelligent and customer-oriented newspaper. Anything less ought to be embarrassing for anyone assocated with the Times. So why is this absent?
Monday, October 04, 2010
"Rejet de l'appel de Mairead Maguire contre son expulsion d'Israël" - LeMonde.fr
I am not related, as far as I know, to Mairead MAGUIRE, but I respect her very much.
"NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts" - NPR
I am a huge admirer of NPR, and listen to many programs.
The network has created a deep sense of trust in my mind, and I rely on it almost without exception to be accurate and usually fair.
That said, I think there is a problem with the obvious best-funded part of NPR being the Ego Department. Reducing that department's budget would add a lot to the program quality, I think.
The network has created a deep sense of trust in my mind, and I rely on it almost without exception to be accurate and usually fair.
That said, I think there is a problem with the obvious best-funded part of NPR being the Ego Department. Reducing that department's budget would add a lot to the program quality, I think.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
"Cosmopolitan Ad Campaign Puts Viewers in the Photo Shoot" - NYTimes.com
Newspapers need to do a lot more of this and not just report that other media are doing it first!
"The Secret Sponsors" - NYTimes.com
It seems to me that this is working a lot better than some may have feared.
The problem is that the "working better" means that we are letting people make decisions about what to believe and which advice to follow.
That's pretty revolutionary, don't you think?
I make it a personal practice either to ignore or never take on face value any such representation from people who are not disclosed, whether it be an expensive message on television or a gratuitous anonymous posting anywhere in the web.
I choose only to spend time considering the varied views of people who idenitify themselves and their relationship to the issue addressed.
Is that too much to expect of fellow Americans?
I hope not. It is also much more consistent with our system of freedom of expression than are arbitrary spending limits, in my view.
The problem is that the "working better" means that we are letting people make decisions about what to believe and which advice to follow.
That's pretty revolutionary, don't you think?
I make it a personal practice either to ignore or never take on face value any such representation from people who are not disclosed, whether it be an expensive message on television or a gratuitous anonymous posting anywhere in the web.
I choose only to spend time considering the varied views of people who idenitify themselves and their relationship to the issue addressed.
Is that too much to expect of fellow Americans?
I hope not. It is also much more consistent with our system of freedom of expression than are arbitrary spending limits, in my view.
"Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Colbert" - NYTimes.com
I sure agree with this.
How do we make more of it happen?
How do we make more of it happen?
"Rock for Reproductive Rights with Maya Azucena" - Facebook
This turned out to be a superb evening!
What's amazing to me in this era of networking, social connectivity, and just the ease of putting words like these together for others to read, if they choose to do so, that not one person seems to have written anything about the performance so far. No reporters. No attendeees. No others.
Why?
As is usual for almost any event, there is a certain amount of promotional chatter in advance of an event, but then total silence after it actually happens.
My feeling is that people who attended like to see where they were and to read what someone else thought of it, and those who did not attend often find it interesting to learn what they missed, no?
What's amazing to me in this era of networking, social connectivity, and just the ease of putting words like these together for others to read, if they choose to do so, that not one person seems to have written anything about the performance so far. No reporters. No attendeees. No others.
Why?
As is usual for almost any event, there is a certain amount of promotional chatter in advance of an event, but then total silence after it actually happens.
My feeling is that people who attended like to see where they were and to read what someone else thought of it, and those who did not attend often find it interesting to learn what they missed, no?
Twitter?
I like to test out lots of new things that relate to the media in some way. Twitter has been no exception.
But, I am just not sure I have yet figured out Twitter and its value proposition. Every time I look at my Twitter page, I am overwhelmed by gibberish that really adds little or no value to my life. If I take the time to wade through all of the tweets to find a couple that prove to be worth something, I've blown a lot of time.
So what's the value, when you take everything into account, of this?
Yes, it's a nice tool to have, but overused and abused, it seems nearly worthless to me.
But, I am just not sure I have yet figured out Twitter and its value proposition. Every time I look at my Twitter page, I am overwhelmed by gibberish that really adds little or no value to my life. If I take the time to wade through all of the tweets to find a couple that prove to be worth something, I've blown a lot of time.
So what's the value, when you take everything into account, of this?
Yes, it's a nice tool to have, but overused and abused, it seems nearly worthless to me.
"Muslims in America" - NYTimes.com
Very well said. The saddest part is that the letter has to be written in the first place. We in the US should be so much better than the way too many of us are.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
"What’s Dumb, Really?" - NYTimes.com
What this says to me is that our schools really are failing us. This says that 35% of 18-29 year olds don't know that the House has a Democratic majority and 51% of the same group does not know that Joe BIDEN is the Vice President. I'd love to see the same questions posed to school age young people and see how they do, starting with the local schools where I live.
"Apps for MoMA, Museum of Natural History and Others" - NYTimes.com
Which newspapers are doing better than this?
"USPS says droopy newspapers to cost more to mail " - TheUnion.com Online News
Despite the fact that many of these "droopy" newspapers have been doing better than the bigger city papers, it's hard to imagine that this is where the future lies, no?
Friday, October 01, 2010
"Marketers like that you "Like"" - Marketplace From American Public Media
With the technology and the applications evolving so fast, it's nearly impossible to establish some sort of balance in one's life. How does a reasonable person sort it all out?
"Blue Haiti" - NYTimes.com
How can the newspaper world, collectively, do a better job of telling the world about Haiti, both what the rest of the world wants to know and what they ought to know? How do we put the Haiti story into a continuous news environment and not merely a postcard from last January? Surely we have the smarts, the technology and the market access to make that happen? Why have we done such a poor job?
Is it, as some have suggested, that "we" regard Haitians as somehow inferior, or as failures, and we prefer to keep those people cordoned off from us and our thinking on an island?
If not, what and why is it so?
Is it, as some have suggested, that "we" regard Haitians as somehow inferior, or as failures, and we prefer to keep those people cordoned off from us and our thinking on an island?
If not, what and why is it so?
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