Australian News...

VIDEO: Van drives onto train tracks in US

One of the top video stories on news.com/au, an australian news site, was this van that veered across train tracks and crashed. For some reason the Aussies won't let me embed the video, which is annoying because this guy literally swerves in front of a train. Little different than cutting off a prius. Anyways i'm interested to know why Australia cares at all about an auto accident in the U.S., or how it affects them in anyway? Australia reporting U.S. news? Like this video has 6500 views today and its been on the site for more than a day but none of the videos surrounding it have over 50 views. Sounds like a global village spillage of agenda setting theory to me. It also has to do with what makes the news. Granted the first thing I clicked was the van swerving in front of a train as opposed to stories about the Tehran University and riots in Greece.

Same health care bill, different headlines

Republicans Accuse Democrats of Backroom Dealing on Health Care Bill
Backroom Arm Twisting?
-Fox News
New Government-Run Health Proposal Eyed by Democrats
-Wall Street Journal

Hmmmm interesting. So we have reporting on the exact same situation completely different language and attitudes that seem to convey completely different stories. Basically Obama met with only the Democrats to try and convince them to pass the health care bill. Senate Democrats would have to unanimously pass the bill because Republicans are unanimously opposed to it.

Here are some words fox news used to describe the situation: arm twisting, shady politics, entirely partisan effect, chock full of problems, disdain

Journalistic biases couldn't be more present in the news than in these two stories right here. Obviously organizational directives, editor biases, and language choice are affecting how these stories read. While the Wall Street Journal describes how Obama worked through the weekend, Fox News describes how Obama is using a democrat majority to push bills through without any republican approval.

Fox News: Fair and Balanced?

This is a clip from the documentary Outfoxed: Ruport Murdoch's War on Journalism which attempts to explain how Fox News skews news to advocate right wing views. It's another example of journalistic biases and more specifically organizational directives. Fox news has a reputation for pushing conservative agendas and this documentary was clearly put together by liberals as a smear campaign against fox. Or is it a factual documentary that exposes the corrupt and crooked ways of a politically motivated media conglomerate?

Depends on your own political agenda I guess, but this clip is with Bill O'Reilly, who is accused of intimidating and forcibly overpowering guests he disagrees with.

Comcast to acquire NBC

I was just reading about Comcast's plan to buy out NBC Universal and thought it was pretty relevant to the global village. In an economic recession Comcast realizes that people are doing whatever they have to to cut costs and save money. This often includes less or even no cable television because media is becoming more readily available online. Sites like netflix and itunes are making movies and shows available for rental or purchase, on dvd or even to stream right on the internet. Hulu offers some of the most popular tv shows on the web for no price at all. Most of the major players on cable like nbc, abc, and cbs are offering the newest seasons of their shows in their websites, with advertisements thrown in here and there. Comcast also owns other telecommunications outlets like phone lines, which people are also cutting down on. Many families already have cell phones and see no need for a landline in the house. Anyways, Comcast is buying NBC Universal from conglomerate GE because it realized that the future of programming is less in the method of delivery but more in content. NBC controls numerous other channels and outlets, as demonstrated by the image above. However it remains to be seen whether Comcast is capable of controlling a conglomerate like NBC Universal who has wide control over entertainment in general and even owns theme parks.

They drew first blood...

Disclaimer: If you don't like blood and gore and your basic ass kicking than don't watch this video. This is my boy, John Rambo, and his kill count in the first three Rambo movies. The clip is a little long but after 5 minutes of complete Rambo domination, his grand total is 157 kills.

Perfect example of marginalization in the media. Whoever Rambo is killing at the time is rendered completely inhuman and disposable. We root for Rambo because he is the star of the movie and we're following the plot from his point of view. Most viewers probably don't even realize the amount of foreign soldiers or police officers he actually kills. Similarly, one of the criticisms of global news agencies is marginalization and unfair access. Sixty to seventy percent of the time government information is formulated and distributed to news agencies by the government, relegating other countries with less access to news agencies powerless and unimportant. Embedded reporters tend to write stories that sympathize or side with the troops rather than the native people, but even if they write an unfavorable story they gave up their rights to free press as part of the terms of being embedded.

CNN Arabic?

The picture is a little small unless you click it but it's a screen shot of CNN Arabic. I didn't even know CNN Arabic existed. On the CNN homepage you can click CNN International, which then brings you to a page where you can click U.S., Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and others. You can also click CNN Aarabic which brings you to the news page written in Arabic. Obviously I don't know what it says because it looks like hieroglyphics or something to me, but it's a completely new set of stories geared towards arabic readers. It's not like the Tiger Woods voicemail translated into arabic though, it appears to be focused on news stories that those people are probably concerned about.

Personally I'm impressed. I had no idea there was different versions of CNN geared towards specific regions. I commend CNN for directly battling the elctronic colonialism theory and cultural imperialism. It appears they're actually developing different stories based on region that are geared towards a specific community. This can also directly combat the agenda setting theory, as certain countries could stop being completely dependent on the U.S. for news. They may actually get better suited news. However, I don't know who is writing stories for CNN Arabic and I suppose it could still be a westerner who knows arabic or just has translating technologies. Either way, it's a step in the right direction. UNESCO would be proud. Sorta.

Twitter Gang Goes Bang

NBC New York - No longer just for posting funny links and telling the world what you ate for breakfast—Twitter has a new use for New York City gang members. Gangs are apparently use the social networking site to set up fights and threaten other gang members, reports the New York Daily News. “I know bitches from oyg that would dead mob yah s—t in harlem,” tweeted a member of East Harlem-based gang OYG, also known as Jeff Mob. That tweet and others in the same series of attacks are available through a public search of the gang’s name. Last week, Perfect Peace Ministry Youth Outreach stopped a fight after reading threatening tweets posted by the Get Money Boys. The group uses instant messaging, Myspace, and Twitter to keep track of 4,000 teens involved in gang activity. Some gang members seem to be aware that their tweets are public. Lil V, a 15-year-old who is part of The New Dons gang, said he keeps his gang’s Twitter page private and uses slang that no one would understand

Well if you read my story about Bryant's Twitter....just kidding. Turns out I won't be joining twitter anytime soon unless i'm trying to increase my street cred and slang vocab. However this story made me think of the knowledge gap hypothesis (KGH)and how it just doesn't really apply here. KGH states that the information rich have a higher base knowledge than information poor and thus harnass and control attempts to lessen the gap better. Socioeconomic status is listed as a primary indicator, but here we got the Get Money Boys and OYG sending out facebook event invites for a shootout....ridiculous. Wondering if they have a tv time out for reloading and twitter updates halfway through. According to the theory though these guys should be the last to adopt and use the technology in a beneficial manner. I just have one thing to say tho....look out. Starting my own thing. Knowledge Gap Hypothesis....Guys. KGH ya hurrdd.

Breaking News....Heart Breaking

Bryant gets twitter before I do? What in the? I think i'll have to finally break down and get a twitter account if Machtley and the gang are already doing it.Not only that, but I've seen the admission's office facebook page, as well as each counselor's facebook account accessible to prospective students. Nicely done Bryant. Perfect example of how technology is completely changing the way we do everything, from college recruiting to cell phone internet. Information is becoming more rapidly available to those who can access it, and the less developed countries are falling farther behind. I can't remember the last time I friended someone from like, the Republic of Congo. Social media sites, once considered a fad, are becoming the ideal way for universities and businesses to reach their target market, all across the world.

Here's where I get confused. I haven't been on myspace since i friended Tila Tequila in 8th grade, but i checked it out to see if Mr. Technology Savvy Bryant University jumped on the bandwagon. Turns out Bryant is on my space as a 101 year old female with a a private page? What in the? What's next a craigslist ad?? C'mon Bryant we're classier than that.

Tiger Dominates Newspulse

CNN's newspulse shows the most popular recent news stories at the top of the page, making it easier for people to see what's important and what's not. Days after Tiger's nascar like wreck in his driveway, it is still the number one story. The screen shot shows El Tigre at the top, followed by a police shooting, and some other interesting stories. Almost fifteen stories down, buried under three other meaningless Tiger stories, the white house dinner party crashers, and the "surprisingly successful New Moon," a little blurb about Iran's authorization of ten new nuclear power plant appears. Wait what? People care more about the domestic life of the best golfer ever than Iran's disobedience of the Internation Atomic Energy Agency?? Global Village like WHOA SEGWAY KIIDDDDD.

Geeze i got a little excited there but it's a perfect example of the agenda setting theory, in a couple different ways. First off, agenda setting theory in its most basic form is the ideology that the news tells us what is important. We assume the most prevalent and pressing issues today are what is on the news, regardless of whether or not they actually are. Only certain people in control of the news decided what we see, adn therefore the news isn't completely biased. It can have implications on a global level, especially if news is being exported.

But what's going on here is a little different. CNN.com posts stories written from a western perspective for a western audience and lets the readers choose which stories to read. But due to newspulse, the most eye catching stories at the top are the ones being read most. From this picture and the order of the stories, CNN is turning into TMZ ever so slowly. Wait, no, i get CNN's angle now. Iran's nuclear increase and potentially world threatening decision can only be stopped by one man. Tomorrow's headline "EL TIGRE SAVES THE ENTIRE WORLD FROM IRAN"

SNL slams Obama

This Saturday night live clip is hilarious yet frighteningly accurate. I wonder if Obama himself saw it. Anyways this is notable because of our type of government and our media purpose. Libertarian governments are most aligned with pure capitalism and the press is free and open. Anybody who has the financial and economic means can access the press. The press serves as a check on government as it informs, entertains, discovers truth, and again keeps government in line. In a different country that has authoritarian or soviet totalitarian would have absolutely censored this video. It's a direct stab at the United States government and Barack's policies. Like the middle east the press is supposed to be the arm of government and protect the established order. Good ole USA press serves as a watchdog, and SNL takes real political problems and communicates them in a truly hilarious manner.