In the last month, the problem of the media has been center stage in American politics and culture.
Political extremists threatened to defund public broadcasting. A comedian spoke before hundreds of thousands in Washington about the media’s threat to democracy. And a controversy around the political contributions of a TV news presenter obscured the deeper problems across the system.
You're well aware of the problem of the media. You've attended the National Conference for Media Reform before. Now, we need you and your friends to come to the next NCMR, to help turn media problems into media solutions.
People everywhere believe that reforming the media is the first step in transforming democracy. They have joined a growing movement to demand better news, more independent and community media, and an open and accessible Internet.
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In the coming months, we'll announce more information about the speakers, the program and the parties. But first, we need you to register for three jam-packed days of media reform, and to start sharing updates on the conference with your friends and colleagues.
BREAKING NEWS ALERT: Panel Weighs Deep Cuts in Tax Breaks and Spending to Narrow Deficit Topic: budget deficit, bbc news, by Judith Stein and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and The Economist
Wed, November 10, 2010 -- 1:06 PM ET-----
A draft proposal to be released Wednesday by the chairmen of President Obama's bipartisan commission on reducing the federal debt calls for deep cuts in domestic and military spending starting in 2012, and an overhaul of the tax code to raise revenue. Those changes and others would erase nearly $4 trillion from projected deficits through 2020, the proposal says.
The plan would reduce Social Security benefits to most future retirees -- low-income people would get a higher benefit -- and it would subject higher levels of income to payroll taxes to ensure Social Security's solvency for at least the next 75 years.
Media coverage of the conflict has been dogged by allegations of bias on both sides. These perceptions of bias, possibly exacerbated by the hostile media effect, have generated more complaints of partisan reporting than any other news topic and have led to a proliferation of media watchdog groups on both sides.
Types of bias
Bias in print and broadcast media may manifest itself in varying ways, including:
Omission: The presentation of some facts but not all the facts may lead to false and biased conclusions.
Selective reporting: Over time, the news presented through a media organization may emphasize one side of the story at the expense of the other.
Decontextualization: News may appear without sufficient explanation of the circumstances of the events being reported.
Placement: The consistent placement of one viewpoint in preferential locations of an article (e.g. in the headline or in the first paragraph) may increase reader exposure to one side of the story.
Factual errors: Errors in content may mislead the reader.
Print and broadcast media may be biased for varying reasons, including:
NEWSNIGHT - Wednesday 10 November 2010 at 10.30pm on BBC 2 Topic: bbc 2, biodun iginla
============================================================ ============================================================ y ------------------------------------------------Presented by Jeremy Paxman------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Biodun!!!
A huge demonstration by students and lecturers against plans to treble tuition fees and cut university funding in England descended into violence today when a group of protesters smashed their way into the headquarters of the Conservative party in Millbank Tower in Westminster. National Union of Students President Aaron Porter condemned the violence as "despicable", saying: "This action was by others who have come out and used this opportunity to hijack a peaceful protest." So who are the people behind the violence? Are they a fringe minority not representative of how the vast majority of students feel, and perhaps not even connected to the tuition fees protest, or are they more representative than students leaders would have us believe? Tonight we will be trying to find out. We hope to be speaking to both students and a coalition minister. We'll be discussing whether the claim by a group of former military commanders that the decision to scrap the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the fleet of Harrier jets will leave the "newly valuable" Falkland Islandsopen to attack is correct. And in the latest report in our council cuts series, Stephen Smith has been in Somerset on the day the country council voted to cut the arts budget by 100%. Allan Little has a film on how French President Nicolas Sarkozy's programme of radical reform is going, why he is so unpopular in France and whether he could win the next election. Join Jeremy at 10.30pm on BBC Two. ------------------------------------------------------------ To make changes or cancel your newsletter visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email/newsnight To sign up for other newsletters or the personalised BBC Daily E-mail visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email If you have an editorial related comment, e-mail mailto:newsnight@bbc.co.uk?subject=email Problems with links? For help with this service visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email/help If you are experiencing technical difficulties not covered by the FAQs, e-mail mailto:dailyemail@bbc.co.uk Copyright BBC
President Barack Obama has pleaded with world leaders to put aside their differences and work together for global economic recovery.
On the eve of the G20 summit, he said the US would play its part to create jobs and reduce global imbalances.
But, in a statement ahead of the gathering in South Korea, he said that it alone could not restore growth.
He accepted the US must change, adding: "When all nations do their part... we all benefit from higher growth."
Mr Obama's comments will be seen as an attempt to calm fears that the Seoul summit could descend into a row between the US and China about so-called "currency wars" and trade imbalances.
Earlier UK Prime Minister David Cameron stepped into the fray with a warning that China should act to correct its trade imbalance.
In a speech at Peking University, he said that China's export success was a potential threat to other economies.
China's huge trade surplus is in part attributed to the weakness of the yuan, which helps the country's exporters.
But ahead of the G20 summit, China's President Hu Jintao said countries must "face their own problems".
Latest figures show that China's trade surplus rose to $27bn (£17bn) in October, despite rapid economic growth in the country starting to cool.
Critics blame Beijing for keeping the yuan artificially low, which helps boost exports and has led to China building up massive amounts of foreign reserves.
Mr Cameron, who is leading a trade mission to the country, said he wanted "to make the positive case for the world to see China's rise as an opportunity, not a threat".
'Responsibilities'
He said China can play a leading role in dealing with economic problems as the world emerges from recession.
But China's increasing economic muscle has given it "responsibilities" both economically and politically, said the prime minister.
The recent crisis was certainly not caused by China's currency”
End QuoteCui TiankaiChina vice foreign minister
In an apparent reference to the low valuation of the yuan, Mr Cameron said: "The truth is that some countries with current account surpluses have been saving too much while others like mine with deficits have been saving too little.
"And the result has been a dangerous tidal wave of money going from one side of the globe to another.
"We need a more balanced pattern of global demand and supply, a more balanced pattern of global saving and investment."
Critics, especially in the US, have called for tariffs on Chinese imports unless the yuan is allowed to appreciate.
It is feared that other countries will rush to allow currency devaluation to also make their exports more competitive.
The issue will be a key topic at the G20 summit in South Korea on Thursday and Friday.
Stephanie Flanders explains the background to the US-China currency dispute
However, in an interview with China's official Xinhua news agency, President Hu Jintao told countries to "face their own problems" rather than casting blame.
Separately, China's vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai rejected foreign interference in what Beijing regards as an internal matter.
"The recent crisis was certainly not caused by China's currency," he said in an interview.
An he warned that the summit should not descend into a row about currencies. If either side "chooses a confrontational approach, I think everybody will come out as losers", he said.
Meanwhile in London, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, also called for co-operation, not confrontation, at the summit.
"I hope that at the G20... we will get a co-operative message rather than some of those that we have been getting in the last few days and weeks."
But he said that the G20 must agree to let current account imbalances unwind, rather than impose targets and policy instruments.
This, he said, was in the collective interest.
"Unless we recognise that... then we will face a situation where more and more countries will resort to policy instruments that in the end will be damaging to everyone. It is that serious."
-- The midterm election results weren't only a "shellacking" for U.S. President Barack Obama but they drove the Mideast peace process back into the oubliette. The key was in safe hands. AIPAC -- the Israeli lobby -- emerged with still more congressional friends than before.
Obama got out of Dodge and flew to India as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu arrived with wife Sara and soldier son Yair, on leave from the Israeli military, to address the Jewish Federation's General Assembly in New Orleans and then to more plaudits in New York -- and a battery of media interviews.
Netanyahu had bigger diplomatic fish to fry than the moribund Mideast peace process. "Iran," he said, "must be made to fear a military strike against its nuclear program."
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in the absence of the commander in chief, shot back: "I disagree that only a credible military threat can get Iran to take the actions that it needs to end its nuclear weapons program. We are prepared to do what is necessary but at this point we continue to believe that the political-economic approach we are taking is, in fact, having an impact on Iran."
Vice President Joe Biden, Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were more than a little miffed that Netanyahu was trying to force the pace of U.S. deployments -- chiefly air and naval -- that were designed to back a stiffer sanctions regime.
Also in Washington was a prominent Saudi Arabian who had been his country's intelligence chief for a quarter of a century -- until 2001.
Since then, Prince Turki Al-Faisal had also been the Saudi ambassador to both Britain and the United States. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Turki worked closely with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and the CIA in organizing the mujahedeen guerrilla campaign that forced Moscow to withdraw.
Asked what he thought would be the consequences of an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Turki responded, "Calamitous … cataclysmic, not just catastrophic."
Saudi Arabia is buying $60 billion worth of ultra modern U.S. weaponry, including 84 advanced F-15s, upgrades for 70 F-15s now in the Saudi Air Force, 200 Apache Black Hawk gunships, anti-air and anti-ship missiles and guided bombs.
It is the largest ever U.S. military sale abroad but it will take 20 years to complete and Saudi Arabia will still feel vulnerable for many years to come. Iran, on the other hand, has what Prince Turki understands better than most: formidable, asymmetrical retaliatory capabilities.
One Israeli or U.S. bomb on Iran and Tehran's Revolutionary Guards will have dozens of key targets up and down the western side of the Persian Gulf in their missile sights. They can mine and close the Hormuz Strait -- not for long but long enough to drive oil up to $300 or $400 a barrel.
"The Iranians have to be aware of the explosive nature of pursuing their present course of enrichment … and they have to come clean on whatever it is that remains as question marks to the world community," said the former Saudi spy chief as he made clear that "everybody recognizes that they have not lived up to the requirements" of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Prince Turki was in Washington to revive the moribund 2002 Saudi peace plan when King Abdullah got 21 Arab nations to agree to the recognition of Israel in its pre-1967 War frontiers (with full diplomatic, economic and military relations) in return for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. This would also allow for a few minor border changes in Israel's favor in return for comparable land for Palestinians in the Negev desert.
But Israel would also have to repatriate some 300,000 Jews from the West Bank (except for those willing to live under Palestinian sovereignty), many of them Americans who have never lived in Israel proper, and some 200,000 from East Jerusalem, the future Palestinian capital.
It is abundantly clear Netanyahu wants no part of it. This week, Israel moved forward with plans to build 1,300 new apartments in East Jerusalem. It is obvious to most Israelis that if they abandoned the West Bank to Palestinian rule, Hamas hard-liners would soon be ruling the Palestinian roost -- with the Mediterranean Sea as their next frontier.
If one day, Netanyahu is compelled to walk things back to a genuine Palestinian state, there are other more pressing matters to deal with first. Reining in Iran is Netanyahu's top priority in the Middle East. If he switched all his attention to a genuine Palestinian settlement, his government would collapse as the super hawks fled the aviary.
Clearly, Iran's mullahs want to keep the diplomatic track moving. Sanctions, by all accounts, have made life difficult for the regime. And Tehran suddenly agreed to nuclear talks in Turkey with the five U.N. Security Council permanent members plus Germany.
It would be the first such meeting of the group -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- in more than a year.
Iran still wields powerful diplomatic levers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, where the 2003 U.S. invasion and subsequent occupation has cost U.S. taxpayers about $1 trillion, Iran has brokered a critical deal that leads to a pro-Iranian government. It would include Moqtada Sadr, a fanatical anti-American cleric who has been sheltering in Tehran.
MediaBistro News Feed by Biodun Iginla, BBC News and MediaBistro Topic: media, mediabistro, bbc news
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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein Moves To News Corp., Hearst's Cathie Black Steps In (WSJ) New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein said Tuesday that he was resigning and is joining News Corp. as executive vice president in the office of the chairman, Rupert Murdoch. In his place, Mayor Michael Bloomberg named Cathie Black, chairman of Hearst Magazines, who will be the first woman to head the $23 billion system of more than 1,500 schools, 135,000 employees, and 1.1 million students. Gothamist:Bloomberg said, "I asked Joel to stay until we could identify a successor -- someone with the ability and experience to build on his success, and help take our schools to the next level -- and I couldn't be happier to say that we have found someone who is superlatively qualified to do that."
Tucker Carlson Sent Fake 'Olbermann' Emails To Philly Columnist (Yahoo! / The Upshot) Tucker Carlson boasted in July that his site, The Daily Caller, had bought the domain name for liberal MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. Carlson even said he would start using the email address keith@keitholbermann.com. So it was interesting to see that Olbermann allegedly sent angry emails to the Philadelphia Daily News. In the exchange, "Olbermann" rails against MSNBC president Phil Griffin, who recently suspended and subsequently reinstated the host over a violation of network rules against giving to political candidates.
IAC Ends Ask's Search Emphasis (Mediaweek) After years of insisting that he was in the search business for the long haul, IAC chairman and CEO Barry Diller is crying uncle. The company is shifting Ask.com away from competing with Google on an algorithmic, technology-based search basis and toward becoming a human-driven, question-and-answer service. Ask.com is said to be cutting 130 engineering jobs, while consolidating its engineering business within its Oakland, Calif., offices.
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The Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalismshowcases substantive and innovative coverage that informs viewers about their electoral choices. The award recognizes television journalism that helps viewers understand who the candidates are; what the issues and ballot propositions are; how electoral choices will affect their lives; how to assess campaign information, including advertising; and how to register, vote and make their own voices heard.
The early-bird entry deadline is December 14, 2010; entry deadline is January 14, 2011. Entry forms, fees and guidelines are available online at www.CronkiteAwards.org.
TV Ratings Monday: George W. Bush Can't Beat Chuck (TV By The Numbers) NBC's Monday woes continue to grow as Matt Lauer's interview of former President George W. Bush scored just a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating, and its later shows tumbled. The special Matt Lauer Reportsfinished with lower adults 18-49 ratings than all episodes of spy comedy Chuck this season. In fact, in its 8 p.m. ET time slot, only The CW's 90210 saw fewer viewers on a broadcast network.TVNewser: The numbers for the special were better than those for a typical edition of Today, which averages more than 5 million viewers, but lower than those for a typical edition of NBC Nightly News, which averages more than 7.7 million viewers.
Tribune Co. Asks Court To Approve $43M In Bonuses (Chicago Business) The Tribune Co. is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge to approve up to $43 million in bonuses for top executives and managers this year. The plan calls for some 640 people to receive bonuses totaling from $16.5 million to $42.9 million if certain cash-flow targets are met. The request will be the subject of a hearing today. Tribune scaled back its incentive plan this summer after complaints from creditors and an employees' union.
Quadrangle's Kinda-Secret Media Powwow Hits The Plaza (WSJ) Media moguls and financiers gathered at New York's Plaza Hotel yesterday for the kickoff to Quadrangle's hush-hush annual media conference, Foursquare (no relation to the location-based mobile app). The two-day event, hosted by the New York-based private-equity firm, is a small, invite-only affair. This year's agenda seems tuned to today's media zeitgeist: lots of talk about content and its future.
Why Did Gawker Publish, Then Retract, A Gruesome Murder Photo? (TBD) Recently, Gawker removed a photo showing the body of Christopher Jusko, a 21-year-old graffiti artist who was stabbed to death. "Friends and family of Jusko have been in touch and asked that we remove the photo," the post reads. "We have decided to honor that request." The question, then, is whether it's even worth criticizing a Web site that, through an unapologetic commitment to sensationalism, has made itself nearly impervious to criticism.
In France, Is Sarkozy Spying On Journalists? (CPJ) According to newspaper Le Canard's editor in chief, Claude Angeli, each time French president Nicolas Sarkozy is upset by a press story, he personally calls Bernard Squarcini -- head of the French counterintelligence services, known as DCRI -- and orders him to swoop in on the sniffing journalists, check their phone calls, and identify their sources inside the administration. The mobile-phone companies dutifully provide listings of all of the journalists' phone calls.
The Man Who Blacked Out World Series Blames Politicians (Bloomberg) News Corp.'s Chase Carey, the man who oversaw Fox's talks with Cablevision Systems Corp., has advice for government officials who want to keep more TV channels from going dark: Stop meddling. One problem with the talks, Carey said, was that the government wasn't clear about whether it would intervene, leading Cablevision to think it might get better terms if it held out until the U.S. weighed in.
student news
Mediabistro graduate Colleen Mescall found a new career and a passion for blogging after she took our intro to magazine writing class. Congratulations, Colleen! read her story
How Canada Became An Open Data And Data Journalism Powerhouse (Guardian) If you're looking for innovative data journalism, vast open data resources, and the latest open data apps, look to Canada. Canadians from Ottawa to Vancouver are embracing spreadsheets as never before -- and producing great work that you don't often hear about outside of the country. The Canadian government is consulting on an open data policy and, recently, Canada's biggest open data sites have started getting together to set a series of open data standards.
Facebook Sues Phoenix Media Over Patent Rights (Boston.com) Facebook Inc. is suing Phoenix Media/Communications, which owns The Boston Phoenix and WFNX-FM 101.7, for allegedly infringing on two patents that it says help the media company manage content online. In a complaint filed yesterday, Facebook alleged that the media company, its Tele-Publishing Inc./People2People Group, and WFNX are using features such as guides for bands and eateries on the newspaper's Web site and an online music player that infringe on patents.
Weather Channel Creates Private Ad Exchange (Ad Age) For the past few months, The Weather Channel has been selling its online property and mobile ad space exclusively and without any connection to other publishers -- what effectively amounts to a private ad network. "The whole reason we're doing this is it increases the size of our relationship with our advertising customers," CEO Michael Kelly said.
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SEMANTIC WEB SUMMIT November 16-17, 2010 | Boston, MA Brought to you by SemanticWeb.com Explore how companies are using semantic web technologies today, and should be using them tomorrow, for significant bottom line impact in marketing, publishing, corporate information management, customer service, and personal productivity. Speakers include Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Research), Mike Dunn (Hearst Interactive Media), Dennis Wisnosky (Department of Defense), Rachel Lovinger (Razorfish), Jay Myers (Best Buy), and more. Register today!
DailyCandy Wants To Make 'Deals' With Local Marketers (paidContent) As the discount shopping space continues to attract attention from media companies, DailyCandy, the Comcast-owned fashion and entertainment e-newsletter operator, has expanded its own reach into that area with its DailyCandy Deals channel. The deals site will serve as a complement to DailyCandy, which just celebrated its 10th year of business, and its recent additions such as national sample-sales offering Swirl.
The View From Nowhere: Questions And Answers (PressThink) In pro journalism, American-style, the phrase "view from nowhere" is a bid for trust that advertises the viewlessness of the news producer. Frequently, it places the journalist between opposing camps, and calls that neither-nor position "impartial." It's also a means of defense against a style of criticism that is fully anticipated: charges of bias originating in partisan politics and the two-party system.
Woodward, Bradlee Star In Slick WaPo Promotion (NY Observer) "Hey, was that Robert Redford?" someone asks as a camera follows Bob Woodward around the offices of The Washington Post. The recently posted video is meant to promote the paper's iPad app. The short features Hollywood-quality production values, and newspaper personalities pop in and out. It all culminates with a confrontation in vice president at-large Ben Bradlee's office, where he shows Woodward how, exactly, to use an iPad.
student news
Mediabistro graduate Kara Richardson Whitely published her book, Fat Woman on the Mountain: How I Lost Half Myself and Gained Happiness, after taking personal essay and nonfiction book proposal courses. Congratulations, Kara! read her story
• RT @ohnewsroom: "We report on not only what the government does, but who it does." — @TVNewser • RT @michaelschaub: "Married…With Midnight's Children" #80sbooks hashtag sweeps Twitter: http://mbist.ro/bmopXd — @GalleyCat • It may not last, but on Day One @TBSOfficial, @ConanOBrien drew 700K more viewers than @jayleno. http://bit.ly/9kBpuH — @FishbowlLA • Can crowd sourcing help rebuild the #Toyota brand? http://bit.ly/91fxtj —@PRNewser • From cliche finder to @nypl write-ins to @pandora_radio music--nine days of #NaNoWriMo advice:http://mbist.ro/9WAK7u — @GalleyCat
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US President Barack Obama has held up Indonesia as an example of how a developing nation can embrace democracy and diversity.
He was speaking in Jakarta on a visit to the world's largest Muslim nation.
Mr Obama said innocent people across the world were still targeted by militants but emphasised that the US was not at war with Islam.
Analysts say it is his biggest attempt to engage the Islamic world since a speech in Cairo last year.
Mr Obama was speaking at the University of Indonesia, before an audience of 6,000 people.
'Shared values'
In his address, he touched on the four years he spent in the country as a child and emphasised the importance of Indonesia's example as a growing economy and a majority-Muslim nation that is largely tolerant of other religions.
"Today, I return to Indonesia as a friend, but also as a president who seeks a deep and enduring partnership between our two countries," he said.
"Because as vast and diverse countries; as neighbours on either side of the Pacific; and above all as democracies - the United States and Indonesia are bound together by shared interests and shared values."
Barack Obama applied the personal touch with great aplomb: reminiscing about the Indonesia he once knew, then praising the progress it has made from dictatorship to vibrant, booming democracy.
He repeated its national motto - "Unity in Diversity" - holding Indonesia up as an example for others to follow. Mr Obama then pressed home his support for democracy, human rights and religious tolerance.
The young audience at the University of Indonesia cheered, and much of the rest of the country was charmed.
They could perhaps once again think of the President of the United States as one of their own.
He also highlighted the role religion had played in Indonesia's development, praising the country's spirituality and "rich diversity".
"Just as individuals are not defined solely by their faith, Indonesia is defined by more than its Muslim population," he said.
"But we also know that relations between the United States and Muslim communities have frayed over many years. As president, I have made it a priority to begin to repair these relations."
He said more work needed to be done to address "the issues that have caused tensions for many years" but appealed for unity to defeat "violent extremists".
"I have made it clear that America is not, and never will be, at war with Islam," he said.
"Instead, all of us must work together to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion - certainly not a great, world religion like Islam. But those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy. This is not a task for America alone."
But among the kind words for his hosts, there was also a thinly-veiled swipe at China, says the BBC's Guy Delauney in Jakarta - in particular its treatment of political dissidents.
"Prosperity without freedom is just another form of poverty," Mr Obama said. "Because there are aspirations that human beings share - the liberty of knowing that your leader is accountable to you - and that you won't get locked up for disagreeing with them."
Mr Obama's trip to Asia covers four successful democracies - and shows the direction the US would like others to follow, our correspondent says.
Difficulties
The president also revisited some of the themes he raised in his June 2009 speech in Cairo: the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and between Israel and the Palestinians.
Mr Obama said Indonesia was defined by more than its Muslim population
In a reminder of the difficulties he faces on that last front, Israel decided to build more apartments for Jewish settlers in disputed East Jerusalem.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in September after a break of almost two years but were suspended after a few weeks when a freeze on the building of Jewish settlements expired.
When Mr Obama delivered his Cairo speech he was riding a wave of goodwill, says the BBC's Middle East analyst Roger Hardy. But since then, the mood has changed. Recent polls show that in key parts of the Muslim world his credibility has slumped.
Mr Obama had earlier addressed many of the same themes in a wide-ranging news conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The president's short trip has afforded him little leisure time, but before the university speech Mr Obama and his wife Michelle managed a visit to Jakarta's Istiqlal mosque, the largest in South-East Asia.
He has been forced to leave Indonesia about two hours early so his flight can outrun the volcanic ash cloud thrown up by the recent deadly eruption of Mount Merapi.
Indonesia is the second stop on his four-nation tour of Asia after India. The next stops are South Korea for the summit of G20 leaders and finally Japan.
What can President Obama's speech achieve? Can he rebuild credibility in the Muslim world? You can send us your comments using the form below.
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What can President Obama's speech achieve? Can he rebuild credibility in the Muslim world? You can send us your comments using the form below.