Unrequired Reading {16.9.08 to 18.9.08 }


This is some of what’s caught my attention in the past hours:

  • Ofcom: lost focus in PSB review? | Ofcomwatch – ‘Our industry’?  Ofcom’s industry is regulation in the public interest, not broadcasting.  Can you imagine the head of the Environment Agency addressing regulated firms and using the same term?  It would be unthinkable.
  • About that McCain Photo | TheAtlantic.com – Department of Not Getting Over It: "I was appalled to read about the actions of Jill Greenberg, the freelance photographer who took the cover portrait that illustrates my article about John McCain."
  • Sarah Palin Emails: Sarah Palin’s Personal Emails | Gawker – Email – remember, it's like broadcasting used to be.
  • Telegraph journalist: I’m pessimistic about the new newsroom culture | Greenslade – UK "[N]ational newspapers are beginning to head in the direction that local papers went 20 years ago, demanding levels of commitment – in hours and workload – that are unsustainable in conjunction with a normal family life."
  • Communacopia diary | FT.com – “Princess phones are little phones in the sixties and seventies that people bought for their kids so they can chat with their friends. It’s the same experience as MySpace, Facebook … That’s why it’s fairly difficult to attach that with too much revenue."
  • Charities as journalists: distorting international reporting? | Charlie Beckett – "The news media needs to learn how to use public participation without cheating, while the charities need to learn some media literacy and ethics. This should be more than a PR fight. All of us want the public to be better informed about humanitarian and development issues, but distorting the message for short-term gains will not serve the greater truth."
  • Al-Jazeera exec denies telling Burgin she was ‘frozen out’, tribunal hears | Media | guardian.co.uk – "The planning department delivers the plan to the output team. If that is the plan that the output team doesn't want then there is no point delivering one."

    Pullman cited the example … of a United Nations general assembly meeting which he described as a "known diary date".

    "What we need is how we are going to report it, where we are going to send reporters … it needs a detailed editorial plan, not simply the fact that this event is happening," he said.

  • Eric Kuhn: Charlie Beckett Adds His Voice to the New Media Debate | HuffPo – "The business model is certainly in crisis and that is a profound change. The advertising is not just shifting platforms, but – this is never talked about – there is a crisis in advertising. The previous model of, effectively, you put a billboard up and hope enough people saw it to buy your product, is gone."
  • Why Wall Street is Melting Down, and What to Do About It – "If what's lacking is trust rather than capital, the most important steps policymakers can take are to rebuild trust. And the best way to rebuild trust is through regulations that require financial players to stand behind their promises and tell the truth, along with strict oversight to make sure they do."