America’s high school students disagree with the first amendment.

When told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

Republicans seem a little late to the blogging party.

In another presentation, Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of “blogging,” explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

An interesting report on how the NY Times changed its Iraq election headlines–for the same story–from happy to sad.

Hat tip: NRO

In his Meet the Press interview John Kerry blames the new media for messing up his campaign.

I mean, obviously I could have and should have responded faster and more forcefully, I think, to that.  But lies and smears were proven in the front pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal.  My crew, others, all spoke to those lies and will continue to.  But, you know, there’s a new communication structure in America.

The Iranian news agency is reporting the success of the Iraqi elections.

He said the Iraqi nation will prove through their participation in this election that freedom, democracy and a popular government will prevail notwithstanding earlier threats to derail the election.

I suppose some things are just so obvious that they can’t be hidden by Brian Williams or John Kerry.

Hat tip: NRO

An early blooper on CNN reinforces what we already know about them:

At 8 am, Jane Arraf reports a “nightmare” situation at school polling station in Baquba, Sunni area. No Iraqi election commission workers had shown up. But, at 9:15, viewers learn Arraf had just shown up at the wrong school, which was not a polling site. The real polling site was actually open. At 9:30, Arraf reports that she is “now at ‘another’ polling site. No mea culpa/recognition of previous mistake.

Michael Jackson’s trail starts tomorrow.

Jackson, who faces charges that he sexually molested a young cancer patient, has been barred from speaking about the allegations, the accusers or the leaks in specific terms. But he was allowed by California Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville (search) to read a prepared statement.

The statement was given to Fox News two weeks ago but was released today. See the statement on Jackson’s website.

Jonah Goldberg sees a big difference in how different wings of the media are covering the Iraq elections.

So far, I think the coverage has been moderately scandalous. This morning CNN kept its regularly scheduled medical show (though last night they were better, if mostly pre-taped). The major nets seemed to treat this like a fairly ho-hum story. I just walked over to my computer after seeing that the Today Show was offering viewers a segment on new shaving technologies for men. Meanwhile, Fox is treating this like a huge, momentous, occassion. Given the contrast, I sometimes worry that the MSM media is becoming more biased simply because they define “bad coverage” even when Fox is covering things correctly. It’s almost as if NBC News would report “this just in: 2+2 is 5″ if Fox were reporting “2+2 is 4.”

Here’s an example of a local blog that’s gaining national attention for its detailed coverage, coupled with original investigative reporting, of the botched Washington State election.

If you want to read about the Paparazzi cameras click here.

Commercials to be aired during the Super Bowl might be taking a more provocative angle this year.

So much for the much-talked-about “G-rated” Super Bowl. Cialis, maker of an erectile dysfunction (ED) drug, and Unilever’s new Degree for Men deodorant will be showing up with provocative ads for Fox’s airing of Super Bowl XXXIX on Feb. 6

I don’t believe that Fox should air these provocative commercials. So many children watch the Super Bowl and I feel as if these commercial might place images in their heads that will cause then to ask questions. The Super Bowl is family oriented and, even though the Janet Jackson catastrophy happened last year, I feel as if the Super Bowl company should strive to keep the game as “G-rated” as possible.

According to Bruno Giussani, a Swiss journalist who lives in the Italian part of Switzerland, there are three concepts that outline the contours of internet journalism. They are diversity, community, and movement. He also states that most people assume that oral communication is the main form of communication, however, photography, graphics, and virtual spaces apeal strongly to emotions, our ability to reason, and our intelligence. He set up Webdo which is the first online Swiss newspaper.

There is a new device that could hit the market soon that would prevent celebrities from being photographed at certain times if they chose not to. It is a type of remote, that when pressed blurs an image from any digital camera. The remote will help celebrities to keep their privacy, which in my opinion is important.
Read about it

With a few tweaks, Apple’s tiny Mac Mini could be transformed into a multimedia powerhouse to run a home entertainment center.

Look to spend slightly more than $1,000 to turn a Mini into a combo DVD, digital photo and music player, TiVo-like TV recorder-and-playback unit and home video editor.

Souping it up wouldn’t require big tech skills — most of the add-ons can be ordered through Apple’s Web site when purchasing the computer.

Some people in Austrailia’s union think the media is overstepping their boundaries, including Nicole Kidman a famous Austrailian actress. Since when did she NOT want her picture taken?

Upcoming this weekend:

President Bush said Wednesday that the elections this weekend in Iraq would be “a grand moment in Iraqi history” that he described as part of a global march toward freedom. Yet he acknowledged that Iraqis themselves had not yet taken the initiative in defending their country and might doubt Washington’s will to prevail against the insurgency.

Unfortunatly, I don’t think that it will be a “grand moment in Iraqi history.” Iraqis, like most people in the Middle East, lack the same national identity that we take for granted. They identify themselves by religion and family- and in not the same ways we do. This is an area of the world who’s boarders were drawn by European leaders for economic reasons much like Africa. To have a true national identity is to share a similar background and history with your other countrymen, not be thrown together by an outside power and told to take care of yourselves. I believe that as soon as the outside power, which is now the United States Armed Forces, leaves, Iraq will become a vaccum that must be filled. I just hope that the next power to fill Iraq doesn’t turn it into the Iran for the 21st century.
Here’s the link for full story.

Their latest report is here. I’m not the least bit surprised about any of it. The thing covered in the report that disgusts me the most is that Good Morning America report on the murder of Megan Holden, in which it infers that the accused killer was affected by the war after he returned from Iraq. This kind of reporting won’t tone down until early 2009, I’m certain of that.

Look at Ted Turner’s nuanced view of the new media.

Ted Turner called Fox propaganda tool of the Bush administration and indirectly compared the Fox News Network’s popularity to Adolph Hitler’s popular election to run Germany before WWII.

Journalist are concerned that bloggers are taking away their journalistic creditibility.

Web publishers and bloggers are already stealing readers, advertisers and classifieds. Particularly for young people, journalism has become, in the words of NYU professor and PressThink.org blogger Jay Rosen, more of a conversation than a lecture.

Not only can we take photos from our cell phones but soon we will be able to download music as well

With today’s latest models, users can download whole music tracks, enjoy video clips and games and even keep up with news and sports highlights.