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corporate media

Blame the Corporate Media

Less than one week after Don Imus was fired, only days after Oprah’s round table with hip hop, and days after a gunman killed 33 people in Virginia, nothing has changed in the world.

I was listening to commercial radio in Detroit for the first time in months. I’m giving a songwriting workshop at a high school next week, and I wanted to hear what the kids are listening to so I don’t seem “out of touch”.

I heard the word “ho” bleeped or edited out more than I heard any real lyrics or original ideas. Let’s not even talk about how bad the songs are as “songs”. Let’s just talk about the language and the subject matter. It’s ridiculous.

But alas, I know that this is the state of the music industry. As an independent artist, I can’t get a song on commercial radio without literally paying THOUSANDS of dollars, but these knuckleheads with NO real lyrical content and NO real musical content get played over and over in Clear Channel’s 14 song playlist.

Do I sound bitter? Continue reading

And Now a Message from My Sell Phone?

Originally posted by Nadir at LastChocolateCity.com

I don’t use my mobile phone to access the Internet, so that may be why I haven’t become inundated with mobile ads yet.

But according to Business Week, if you are surfing on your cellular, you may begin seeing more commercials on your phone. Advertisers are gearing up to use targeted mobile ads in a big way.

Let’€™s face it. Your phone knows a lot about you – your name, your location, who your friends are. And if you use the web on your phone, it knows even more.

Advertising is about to get very personal. Marketers are taking tools that they already use to track your Internet surfing and are preparing to combine that information with cell-phone customer data that include not just the area where you live but also the street you’re standing on. The aim is to target the exact person who is most likely to buy a product at the precise moment they’€™re most likely to buy it. It’s the ad industry’€™s dream come true: a perfect personalized pitch. For privacy advocates, though, this combination of behavioral and geographic targeting is an Orwellian nightmare.

So don’€™t be surprised if your cell phone pops up with an ad for a carmel machiato right when you walk past a Starbucks.

Business Week

Our Nation Has Six Senators, The Military Industrial Media Complex Has 93

My edit of David Swanson’s post at AfterDowningStreet.org (linked here and above):

On our side: Feingold, Harkin, Boxer, Kennedy, Kerry, and Byrd.

On their side: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow and the other 89.

“Congress plunged into divisive election-year debate on the Iraq war Thursday as the U.S. military death toll reached 2,500. The Senate soundly rejected a call to withdraw combat troops by year’s end, and House Republicans laid the groundwork for their own vote. In a move Democrats criticized as gamesmanship, Senate Republicans brought up the withdrawal measure and quickly dispatched it – for now – on a 93-6 vote.” Continue reading

Our Nation Has Six Senators, The Military Industrial Media Complex Has 93

My edit of David Swanson’s post at AfterDowningStreet.org (linked here and above):

On our side: Feingold, Harkin, Boxer, Kennedy, Kerry, and Byrd.

On their side: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow and the other 89.

“Congress plunged into divisive election-year debate on the Iraq war Thursday as the U.S. military death toll reached 2,500. The Senate soundly rejected a call to withdraw combat troops by year’s end, and House Republicans laid the groundwork for their own vote. In a move Democrats criticized as gamesmanship, Senate Republicans brought up the withdrawal measure and quickly dispatched it – for now – on a 93-6 vote.” Continue reading

The End of the Internet and Cable TV As We Know It

If the US Senate joins the House in passing the COPE Act, the Internet and cable television will change forever. Critics of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act claim that American citizens will suffer a tremendous blow to the freedoms promised by the miracles of 21st century technology if the bill is signed into law.

Bill HR5252 enjoyed bi-partisan support as it was approved in the US House of Representatives by a vote of 321 to 101. Telephone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and others have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying federal and state representatives in their bid to ease regulations on Internet and cable network trafficking.

The COPE Act has staggering implications. Those who could be affected include:

  • Independent filmmakers and musicians, who in the Internet finally have a way around stifling corporate distribution monopolies, may be hindered by higher fees and restricted access.
  • Bloggers could be blocked if they continue to report stories that mainstream media companies find objectionable.
  • Community and political activists could be charged additional fees for organizing online.
  • Local municipalities would lose a valuable funding mechanism from local cable television franchise fees.
  • Public access television may eventually lose funding and be eliminated.
  • Poorer communities could lose broadband Internet and/or cable television access altogether. Continue reading

The End of the Internet and Cable TV As We Know It

If the US Senate joins the House in passing the COPE Act, the Internet and cable television will change forever. Critics of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act claim that American citizens will suffer a tremendous blow to the freedoms promised by the miracles of 21st century technology if the bill is signed into law.

Bill HR5252 enjoyed bi-partisan support as it was approved in the US House of Representatives by a vote of 321 to 101. Telephone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and others have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying federal and state representatives in their bid to ease regulations on Internet and cable network trafficking.

The COPE Act has staggering implications. Those who could be affected include:

  • Independent filmmakers and musicians, who in the Internet finally have a way around stifling corporate distribution monopolies, may be hindered by higher fees and restricted access.
  • Bloggers could be blocked if they continue to report stories that mainstream media companies find objectionable.
  • Community and political activists could be charged additional fees for organizing online.
  • Local municipalities would lose a valuable funding mechanism from local cable television franchise fees.
  • Public access television may eventually lose funding and be eliminated.
  • Poorer communities could lose broadband Internet and/or cable television access altogether. Continue reading
© Nadir Omowale