There’s so much badvertising in the world, so today on the Saturday Video Roundup we’re going to spend some time with some good (or at least entertaining) ads we’ve come across recently. Let’s start with the coolest gorilla in the world. (More…)
Read moreThere’s so much badvertising in the world, so today on the Saturday Video Roundup we’re going to spend some time with some good (or at least entertaining) ads we’ve come across recently. Let’s start with the coolest gorilla in the world.
Read moreOnce upon a time in America there was a thing called the “public interest.” The airwaves were a publicly owned resource, and broadcasters profiting from their use were obliged to serve “the public interest, convenience and necessity.” These principles were codified in 1927 and 1934 legislation and were accepted (if not universally loved) for decades. This policy was built on
Read moreJohn McCain is at it again. This time out he’s arguing, in an interview with Beliefnet, that the Constitution established the US as a “Christian nation” and he comes dangerously close to suggesting that only a Christian would be fit to be president (in fact, he seems to say just that before waffling and backpedaling into an answer designed to
Read moreWelcome back to Saturday Video Roundup, where today we turn our attention to Jesus. We begin with the Rev. Rowan Atkinson, reading a lesson from what we can only assume is some sort of new revised version of the Bible.
Read moreIn fall of 1987 I was in my first semester of an English MA program at Iowa State, and was taking a seminar in contemporary American poets. The class was an eye-opener for me, as I’d not read many poets later than Dylan Thomas, and if you’re going to be a real writer it’s always helpful to know a thing
Read moreNo, this isn’t a rhetorical question. And it’s not one I pose lightly, either. But since Bill seems to want us to ask it, let’s review the evidence. In case you missed it, O’Reilly stirred it up again recently by commenting on his dinner at a black-owned restaurant in NY called Sylvia’s. After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant
Read morePart four in a series. I hope that by this stage of the discussion a few fundamental points are evident: Traditional journalism – the institutional form that most of us grew up with and the codes that governed it – is in decline. For a variety of factors it has lost (or is rapidly losing) its place as the dominant
Read moreIn last week’s Saturday Video Roundup we looked at some of the greatest music vids ever. Today we’re paying tribute to some of history’s more wonderful videos, although these are memorable for … different reasons. Let’s begin with one of the more sublimely disturbing moments in vid history, shall we?
Read moreHow much do you trust your local neighborhood law enforcement authorities? Hopefully a lot, and hopefully with good reason. Today, though, events at a John Kerry speaking engagement at the University of Florida have sparked another round of debate over the conduct and capability of police officers (both those on the scene and in general) and the conversations I’ve seen
Read morePart three in a series. In the aftermath of the 2004 election I wrote a fairly jaded op-ed for Editor & Publisher lamenting just how badly our brave new world of electronic media had failed us. I said, in part: In the “marketplace of ideas” model that gave rise to the First Amendment, rationally self-interested citizens would enter the market
Read moreBush has nominated retired New York Federal Judge Michael Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales at the helm of the Justice Department. At a glance, this seems like about the best the Democrats could have hoped for, although it’s too early to say who’s really “won” here. Bush was clearly motivated to avoid a public defeat, it seems. Harry Reid had
Read moreWelcome to yet another breathtaking episode of S&R’s famed Saturday Video Roundup. Today, instead of the usual assortment of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moments I want to look at some truly fantastic bits of music videography (and you can’t have a great music video without a great song). You probably haven’t seen these, but I think they’re among the finest ever
Read moreNot everything in life is a huge deal, but sometimes the small things provide a lot of insight into the big things. I’m sitting in the Cleveland airport right now, waiting for my flight back to Denver to board. A few minutes ago I saw one of those things that make you go “hmmm.†Imagine that you’re in the security
Read moreThere’s an interesting new report out from Media Matters showing that American newspapers run far more conservative syndicated columnists than they do progressives. Some findings: Sixty percent of the nation’s daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists. Only 20 percent run more progressives than conservatives, while the remaining 20 percent are evenly balanced. In
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