Television

ROB'S NOTE: Thanks to Frank Baker for passing on this fascinating article.

I was asked last week by a local reporter here in Vermont's Mad River Valley how I was coping with the digital set top box conversion, the subject of much consternation and angst in my community these past few weeks.

I answered as truthfully as I could - "I have no opinion since I have not owned or watched television since 1985."

Now I am trying to decide if I am "crunchy granola," "a religious right ultraconservative," or just a plain cave-dweller.

Enjoy, and happy Friday,

Rob

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Rob's note: I've been sifting through a tremendous number of convention articles - this one seemed useful. Folks familiar with Daniel Boorstin's classic THE IMAGE would do well to re-read it right about now.

Convention stage is a show in itself
By David Bauder, Associated Press Wed Aug 27, (Via Yahoo News)

The stage of the Democratic National Convention is a mix of modern stagecraft and political consciousness.

Three plasma screens tower 103 feet above the stage. A video projection wall backs speakers with a sea of blue. The podium retracts when it's not being used.

For a week, I have been monitoring CBS and NBC's national news' coverage of the energy crisis. Each night they give us a "new record" in gas and oil prices, and "discuss" the controversy. Their debate is almost always framed as a choice between "drilling" and "conservation."

The networks go into "depth" (as much depth as sixty second TV news stories can) about the candidates positions on whether or not to drill in ANWR or offshore, or conserve. often mentioned is more "clean" coal (if such a thing exists) or more nuclear plants.

Oh happy day.

Here's the Jackass story.

MTV to Make 'Jackass' a Global Community

MTV Networks is launching Jackassworld.com as a global destination for all "Jackass" content. Following the success of the U.S. site, international editions will launch in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and other countries, aiming to create a global community around the show.

Be still my beating heart. This is cause for celebration!

Rob sez: Kudos to ACME partners John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton and Diane Farsetta at the Center for Media and Democracy for their cutting-edge work on this issue.

One might argue that most of what passes for "news" on television is "fake" - a small sliver of our daily reality extruded through a variety of epistemological, economic, and political filters like so much shredded wheat.

But the widespread use of VNRS (video news releases) smacks of propaganda of the highest order. Thanks to CMD, this debate, on the heels of FCC fines, seems like a step in the right direction.