Phoenix is being put on the American map

So the French band (no, not the place) is being put on the American music scene -map. The blogosphere seems to be in love with this band  now after their "phenomenal" SNL performance. Blogs like stereogum , huffington, and also the more hipster edged magazine Spin seemed to rave their perf. I didn't really see what was so spectacular about it. I mean, I've been listening to this band before all those lame SNL viewers started claiming Phoenix to be the cool band of the month. 

I personally like the band's older songs like "Too Young" which they played at SNL. 

But my point is that the internet's viral impact is clear. The blogosphere and youtube is really helping these bands gain more recognition in the states since they are far more popular in Europe. 

On my quest for better news I find myself landing in a ditch.

Yeah, I agree with Crooks and Liars' headline--I mean who really cares about this. 

Corporate American media needs to chill out. . . or report on something that actually matters.

But then again, I shouldn't be surprised. This is just me talking like a song that goes on loop...over and over again...about the same issue.. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and many others just can't help themselves! I mean really who cares about Levi Johnston's family feud with the Palins?! 

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Oh, and I just checked out the latest of the Drudge Report. I won't even link to his site. He doesn't deserve a link from me. He'll just get more clicks (well maybe not since no one really reads this blog). 

I like the new Drudge headline: PIRATE THREAT TO KILL AMERICAN

But I am also getting sick of Huffington Post. I find myself desperately trying to find another news source to run to. Ariana, there's really more important news to put on the top front page then this: 

Mischa Barton naked, Levi Johnston blah blah blah, Obama orders pizza from so and so... 

I know Ariana's started an Investigative Journalism section which was ventured off of Pro-Publica's idea. I hope this will make some significant leaps in societal progress. We'll see. As for now...

Further proof that you shouldn't trust everything you read.

BIG HINT: DRUDGE REPORT. 

He isn't to be trusted..

Blogging becomes highly effective in journalistic terms when bloggers are able to collaborate with more professional journalists to fact check each other. 

haha i was reading spin and thought these were sorta amusing...

Any thoughts? 

Drugs and rockstars

Rockstars and their sons and daughters

I thought the Drugs and rockstars one was sorta amusing but a little lame too. I showed my friend this and he said: wow thats stupid. 

Kal Penn? Really? ...I guess the White House really did run of out of qualified people. the plum book should have been more widely sold then.

kal penn is leaving house for another house. .yup. sorry guys. the plum book only applies to stars.

Much respect to posterboy

fair use

Girl Talk is one of my favorite bands and I just got to interview him for the Ithacan. He came on April 5th to perform at Cornell's Barton Hall. He released his most recent CD, "Feed the Animals", through the internet and created a payment option for people...radiohead style. I know Girl Talk is definitely a big reader of blogs and he obviously has an interesting take on the fair use policy...

Google is currently in talks with Twitter. Google is interested in buying out the company. How will this effect the ability for journalists and others to mobilize people in social gatherings and events?
Twitter is highly effective and was reportedly the first site that broke out the Mumbai bombings.

Remember how google and yahoo both censored and took a controversial Chinese professor's name out of the search engine? i think that people should definitely be wary of this buyout.

Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman

On Tuesday, Gleen Greenwald blogger of Salon.com and Amy Goodman, of Democracy Now, came to speak at the State Theater as recipients of the Izzy Award. Moments I really enjoyed and will remember from their speeches:
Glenn Greenwald:
Glenn spoke about the importance of understanding the concept of independent journalism. It is essentially the kind of journalism that we should be practicing. Journalism should be independent. There shouldn't HAVE to be independent journalism because the word journalism itself should not have to be separated into corporate, mainstream but it is because of the way our various media outlets exist: CNN, FOX, MSNBC vs. Democracy Now, TPM Muckraker, etc.

He also mentioned how many people seemed to view the late Tim Russert's Meet the Press television program to be a place for democratic discussion. However, Vice President Dick Cheney saw the show as something that he could use to manipulate a medium and control the public's way of thinking. Cheney believed that Tim Russert (without knowing that he was really doing this) was the best person to help him control his message for the Bush Administration.

Also, Glenn stated that the media was to blame in terms of being a "partner in crime" with the American government by propagandizing the wars taken place during the Bush Administration. The American mainstream media was fully supportive and biased in support of the war, lauding the government's intentions.

"All journalism by definition is independent, and if it's not independent, it's not journalism"-Glenn Greenwald.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now:
Goodman discussed how the independent media's responsibility as journalists was to represent the "lost voices" --the ones unheard in the corporate media.
I never thought of the media (or what it should be) in this way until she described it in this brilliant manner:
"The media is a huge kitchen table"... it should be a place of discussion for war and peace, life and death.
In a civilian society, journalists need to understand that they must be the voices of those who are disadvantaged and need their thoughts and issues heard.
Goodman believed that Democracy Now's motto, "The Exception to the Rulers", should be universal. The problem, to Goodman, is that people have lost faith in the traditional media and that is exactly why Democracy Now and other independent media outlets are on the rise of popularity.
She strongly advocated and discussed how essential it was for journalists to maintain and ensure that the internet will continue to be open and free. Private corporations are leasing the public airwaves and this is simply a nonsensical idea. This idea of large, special-interest corporations taking over public space is a dangerous one that will lead to more dangerous consequences in the near future.
I am highly moved and influenced to create greater social change and to stand up for what I truly believe in --practicing independent media and being the voice for those who are disadvantaged and misrepresented/unrepresented. Amy gave a strong speech at the Izzys about how are country was founded on a framework of democracy and freedom. Yet at a convention like the Republican National Convention which is supposed to celebrate democracy, citizens' rights are being violated. Citizens are being violated of the right to know what is taking place and be informed. Journalists are physically assaulted, beaten, and harassed by the government police.
The youtube video that was recorded of Nicole Salazar, a fellow Democracy Now producer who was severely beaten by the federal government's police force, drew a huge response and truly showed the power of grassroots organization of media groups. The occurance recorded on video flashed a spotlight into the reality of what was going on.
Are we really a democracy then? What have we turned into? But do we, journalists, give up at this point?
Amy and Glenn really opened my eyes into the tremendous future that lies in independent media. It is certainly a combination of the Ithaca College Independent Media Center's speakers (Matt Taibbi, Glenn, Amy, etc.) and Jeff Cohen's Independent Media class that has really brought to my attention and more in-depth understanding of the power of grassroots organizing and the freedom that independent journalists have to make create change.

"We will not be silent"-Amy Goodman

When will this stop

The corporate media and its battle (alongside their partner in crime-the government) against the legalization of marijuana.
When will this stop?
CNN EDITS OUT POT PURCHASE BY DL HUGHLEY-ONE OF THEIR NEW ON AIR PERSONALITIES

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/26/cnn-edits-out-pot-purchas_n_179808.html

Can't you just present the news. . . stop editing out and censoring stupid things like this when you feel it necessary to air an Anderson Cooper special on Asian Americans and the political vote (focusing on Asian Americans' involvement in the presidential election) when you interview all these Asian-American immigrants in a supermarket and not one American-born Asian-American...there are a lot of us you know.

Yet you want to not air this D.L Hughley segment on air.. haha.
Don't you have better things to do you on your time to edit, CNN?

HuffPost recently posted this  ...making itself look good and setting itself apart as an online independent media source compared to these companies that are showing print media's downfall...

A newspaper company bailout? hahahhaha... I would prefer the government stay as far away from newspapers ... and the big corporations lose and diminish their control over more media outlets. 

Johann Hari of the London Independent writes an excellent article discussing how although newspapers are doing badly, we certainly cannot have anything that will give the government too much control over newspapers: 

However, i think that Hari should also point out more that although newspaper companies are dying out right now, blogs and other independent media sources have shown how much of an influence they can have on a society and its government.

Citizen reporters are realizing the power they have in their hands to type out and research information to communicate to the rest of the world the truth, and in essence become a journalist themselves. Also, citizen journalists are at the right time when they can work to collaborate with professional journalists to gather more information and make a greater difference. We do not need newspaper conglomerates after all.  Hari doesn't really make a mention of independent media. He should.

Mark Finkelstein

last week, conservative blogger and Ithaca local Mark Finkelstein came to speak to our class. Although i do not agree with Finkelstein's political views, I have a lot of respect for him because he is someone who keeps his views in mind but is also willing to hear and listen to the other side. He gave our class a lot of useful advice on breaking into journalism as an independent blogger. He suggested that we of course, start a blog now. Finkelstein also said that it's important to utilize well known sources or friends of yours (networking) who have connections with larger media outlets. It leaves a footprint for you, and it lets you establish yourself and your work. By being able to communicate more often and take advantage of the networks you have established, you can be successful and potentially get your work out to be showcased to larger media outlets. 

Big Brother is everywhere

For indie media class, i recently read a few articles from FOXNews, Common Dreams, NYTimes, and a few other media outlets regarding how censorship and control of media content is increasing. In fact, it is not only the government that is controlling what we can read and view, but it is also the big corporations like Google and Yahoo who have growing power over what can be searched online. Truthfully, I was never aware of the fact that Google, Myspace, Yahoo, and many others would care or even think of doing such a thing as controlling content on search engines. I honestly thought that there main interest was in obtaining more ads and that their political interests were limited. However, I guess my naivete has obviously been revealed more clearly through my discoveries in these readings. In a country that we hail a democracy, do we really live democratically and freely? Are we really able to exercise our 1st amendment rights? So now big corporations --search engines like Google and Yahoo are following suit of taking political interest in order to seize greater power. There has to be a stop to this. Why should the government and especially corporations take away information that we should know about? This creates a society that lives in a blindfold, with their eyes shut and even their ears muffled from the truth --by today's broadcasters in major corporate media--FoxNews, CNN, we can go on.

A follow up to my previous post-

HYPHEN MAGAZINE- AN ASIAN-AMERICAN MEDIA MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO CHANGING THE WAY WE VIEW AND COVER ASIAN AMERICANS

AN INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE ..WITH SOME SPUNK AND YOUTHFUL, BOLD FLAVOR

here's a follow-up to my previous post regarding my academic research on Asian-Americans and the media.
I recently browsed the web for quite a while to find worthwhile independent Asian-American media outlets. However, I could not find any except Asian Connections.com which seemed to have a good way of putting Asian-Americans into the mainstream spotlight. however, the website rarely updates and its layout is dull and boring. In addition, it seems to market to no particular audience which I think can cause some major problems and give the outlet no particular direction. In addition, it is not clear whether or not the site is sponsored by a corporation or not.
A few days ago though, I looked through more pages of the google search engine to try to dig deeper to see if there were some hidden Asian-american media gems that young, budding journalists were getting started.
I found one site that I wish I could have found earlier to research and write about for Jeff Cohen's independent media outlet paper that was due a few weeks earlier. The independent media outlet is called Hyphen Magazine.

Hyphen magazine presents itself as a hip, modern, and politically-socially aware magazine for young Asian-americans.
So Why the Name HYPHEN??
According to the magazine online... it states :

Back to top

Why is your magazine called Hyphen?

Hyphen refers to the debate surrounding so-called "hyphenated identity." Some Asian Americans resist the idea that they are somehow not fully "American" when they are labeled "Asian American." Others wear the identity proudly, while some shrug it off as irrelevant. We believe these differences of opinion reflect the dynamism and complexity that define today's Asian America. Our magazine uncovers these tensions while exploring what it is that ties us together.

-Courtesy of hyphenmagazine.com
It is carried in independent bookstores all across the country although its roots are in San Francisco, Cali. It can also be found online.
It's fiscal sponsor is Independent Arts and Media, which gives them the nonprofit 501 (C) 3 status that allows them to receive donations. The magazine is responsible for raising its own budget.
This is the magazine's about section that tells about its mission and history. It is clearly a magazine dedicated to promoting greater social understanding about the issues of Asian-americans, which in my opinion are buried below more prominent social issues regarding Caucasian-Americans and perhaps African-Americans.
Asian-americans do not seem to be represented accurately at most times in mainstream media and in the entertainment-film industry.

Here's the about section

The magazine was recently awarded for one of its covers.

I congratulate the magazine for successfully portraying an Asian-American male as attractive and more masculine. Asian-american males are constantly facing pressure and stereotypes that depict them as not being masculine, having physically feminine qualities, and not being someone one would think of as a front cover model.
Hyphen Magazine is trying to redefine and put the truth into the spotlight with its magazine.

What the webpage looks like on Hyphenmagazine.com

A look at Asian-American Media-An area of major interest to me

Since I took my freshman year course--Journalism Research--at Ithaca College , I've been continuing to pursue more in-depth research in Asian-American studies. More specifically, I am most fascinated by how Asian-Americans have been effected by the mainstream and independent media (Asian-American media).
My discoveries from intensive research for a History of U.S. Mass Media paper I wrote for Todd Schack led me to discover that Asian-American news media (yes, I am talking about ethnic media here such as the Northwest Asian Weekly and the Asian Reporter) were actually far more critical of Asian-Americans in their coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Of course, the shooter was of Asian-American descent and the issue of his race being a factor into his decision to kill so many people was highly covered by the mainstream media. Clearly, the idea of creating an angle about an abnormally quiet, hostile, and disturbing young Asian man was clearly hot news material. Why? Because such an honest description of him fulfilled the Asian-American young male stereotype--just one who beared little social skills and was extremely silent and stoic.
My research on both the mainstream, corporate media and independent, Asian-American media led me to discover that both forms of media were responsible for creating unfair and inaccurate coverage on the incident. Both, perhaps even more of the Asian-American media outlets like the Northwest Asian Weekly's article, put an incredible and unnecessary emphasis on how his race and ethnic community was a factor in his actions to kill so many people.

Here's a bit of some of the research I did:
Title of the paper: Partners in bad media coverage: How the Mainstream and Asian-American media made Asian-Americans feel responsible and guilty for Seung-Hui Cho’s shootings.

ABSTRACT: This media research paper takes a look at how Asian-American media and mainstream, corporate media both worked and reported on the Virginia Tech incident. Most individuals would come to the conclusion or come to believe that Asian-American media would have been far more effective in providing better, more accurate news coverage of the incident and in portraying Asian-Americans in a less stereotypical fashion. However, the Asian-American media and the corporate media both seemed to place unjustified, significant emphasis on Cho’s ethnicity and how the Korean community needed to raise their children differently as a result of what happened.

FROM MY PAPER .....ABOUT CAROL VU'S ARTICLE FROM THE NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY:
Carol N. Vu’s Northwest Asian Weekly article,” Virginia tragedy affects entire Asian community”, blames the mainstream media who continually were calling Cho a “student from South Korea” instead of calling him a “Korean-American”. The Asian-American weekly does criticize the mainstream media but it does not provide a better understanding of the issue and what really needs to be explored –mental illness and better counseling for all individuals, not just Korean-Americans (Vu). Right after Vu makes an argument against the mainstream media for creating derisive labels of Cho to make sound like a foreigner, she writes about how Asian culture is problematic because it dictates too much the importance of a child to be a good student. Vu states, “Some Asian youths have a hard time expressing themselves. That’s due in part to the Asian culture. Reports say the gunman was struggling with mental illness, a disease that is spoken about quietly in the Asian community. It’s also important for the Asian community to take stock of how it is raising its young people.”
Vu, an example of a journalist who represents an ethnic media organization, is placing too much unfair emphasis on Cho’s Asian background and how his culture might have an impact on his decisions. Asian-American media organizations should not place any blame on Asian culture itself because the culture in no way has helped to create more violent Korean males. Cho was simply an exception (Vu). It is only detrimental for Asian-American journalists to make a bold statement that the Asian community should possibly make changes in how they are raising their own children. Cho only fits into the psychological profile of a school shooter like the Columbine School shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.


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Of course, there's always more to be done in this area of research on Asian-American studies and Media criticism. I hope to find time to keep the research updated on an important subject that should not be put below the radar.

How Outlets Like OhMyNews and STP are transforming the way we define and practice journalism

I read these articles on South Korea's popular online newspaper called OhMyNews, and now i'm wanting to ask myself a few questions:

1. Why is journalism a trade then?

Is it a trade anymore if anyone can become a journalist?

The idea of citizen journalism is one which I am still trying to grapple and try to understand better. As a journalism major, what is my role then if anyone can pretty much take on the definition of citizen journalism and become a journalist...

The popular OhMyNews innovation is now training amateurs through its journalism school. How effective is this journalism school and does it possibly blur the line between journalist and amateur now?

...
I recently read an article (Prwatch.org's Citizen Driven Superdelegate Transparency Project Provides Best Superdelegate Reporting Anywhere") and concluded that OhMyNews's intentions are noble, and it will create and perpetuate noble results by encouraging citizen journalism. It is also dispelling the old idea that in order to be a "Journalist" you needed X education to become one. Now, everyone can become a journalist. OMN is redefining journalism and encouraging citizens to be active in their communities and aware of how their government is treating them.

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According to prwatch.org’s March 6, 2008 article entitled “Citizen-Driven Superdelegate Transparency Project Provides Best Superdelegate Reporting-Anywhere”, there is a group of citizen journalists, bloggers, and transparency advocates came together as the Superdelegate Transparency Project (STP) to produce the most accurate, detailed reporting on the Democratic superdelegates of the 2008 election. Almost 300 citizen journalists worked with professional staff members of DemConWatch, LiteraryOutpost, the Huffington Post’s OffTheBus Project, OpenLeft and Congresspedia to create a tally that provided transparent sourcing and super delegates’ in-depth profiles. This situation shows how advantageous it was to have professionals mobilize citizen journalists to get information and ultimately help to determine who would win—Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

--Working together to create greater social change. ---

This will also create a healthier, stronger relationship between citizen journalists and professional journalists to work on each other’s strengths to provide better quality reporting.
STP was a successful and prominent media watchdog group for the 2008 presidential election, but there are many other groups that have experienced great success such as FAIR and Media Matters for America. These media criticism and fact checking institutions will not only check corporate, mainstream media, but independent media too

Today in Independent Media class Jeff Cohen , my professor, went into depth about a controversial article written by Emily McNeill 08', an IC alum. the article received 30 comments--a rarity in IC View Magazine's history in terms of how many comments articles usually receive. No offense icview, but let's be honest here. ..
But this was not the big shocker for me. McNeill, a fantastic and honorable writer and journalist, wrote a poignant recollection of her experience in Palestine.
It is shameful to see that Emily's piece was torn to shreds by the IC View Magazine editor Maura Stephens and worst of all, Mr. Thomas Rochon, Ithaca college's new president. What does this say about Ithaca college as a whole? what does this say about the new school president and how he is introducing himself and representing who he really is? I understand that Mr. Rochon definitely had to go through a lot of pressure to try to appease those that were upset by the article. however, it only goes to show that Rochon made a terribly wrong move by reacting against the article and criticizing it. His statement is nonsensical. You submit to pressure and then you act by trying to say that the article only represented one view of the conflict.

I believe that your actions and the rest of the college administration's actions lately with the Margo Ramlal Nankoe tenure problem show that YOU and the rest of the college admin are the ones who are being one sided. the college, in my opinion, does not actively engage in an honest, educational, and constructive two sided Palestine-Israel debate. It is highly disappointing to be associated with a college that is currently creating such a problem for a well-reputed professor to receive tenure.. but I will talk about this issue at another time...another blog post.
what i want to say in regards to the Emily McNeill article is that it is in every way a fantastic, well written article that should be lauded, not criticized.
this is real journalism. this is the kind of journalism--bravery, honesty, and courage that we need.
A note of apology by the editor and the school president is not what we need. two sides need to be shown for there to have positive progress.