Humping The (new) Media Landscape

Alive in Bagdhad Reporter Killed

Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, an Iraqi correspondent for Alive in Baghdad was killed in his home during an Iraqi National Guard raid (link).

Shit. That's all I can say right now. I try to stay off the rss feeds over the weekend, so I was just going through looking for something for work tomorrow and I was deeply upset to come across this news.

For those who have never seen Alive in Baghdad , it is one of my favorite online video projects. Brian Conley and his team have created an entirely independent media system, working with journalists in Iraq, Syria, and Mexico who produce weekly video dispatches on a variety of subjects about life in their city. There is really nothing else like it. They have used the tools of the blogosphere to distribute content that filled a void in the actual media space. They create videos with journalistic integrity that also bring you the real individuals who are living in these communities of conflict. They have been cited by many mainstream media outlets as the future of journalism. I sure hope so.

Please take a minute to stop by the site watch some videos and show your support with donations and comments. Share the site with your friends and post about it on your blog.

Donations are being accepted by Small World News for the family of Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi for funeral arrangements.

Your's, Mine, Ours and other copyfights!

Intellectual property is truly the core issue in the maturation of online media as a real sustainable place for MSM and independent

I have seen differences of opinion on this subject create a vast divide amongst people who should be working together.

Trademark Troll (aka Dick Troll! Best name ever!) has a post about the current issue between a certain rock band from the late 80's let's call them, Pungent Brown Garlic Flowers (PBGF) and the producers of a, very awesome new TV show that has the same name as one of PBGF's popular tunes. (full disclosure, I essentially work for the party being sued, but I am not required to say that said show is awesome, it just is. fact.) Here's what TT has to say:

"some brand owners overestimate the significance of the public's association with their brand. So what do such brand owners do? They try to assert total and everlasting control over every facet of their marketplace identity. In doing so they come off looking at best silly and at worst greedy."
(link)

I was quoted in NY Times!

I recently came across an article in the New York Times, where I was quoted!
The weirdest part is that the article is 16 years old, that's right 1991.

Children are no longer content to work in front of the camera. They want to direct.

Mica Scalin, 14, recently shot her parents' joint 50th birthday party in Richmond. "I've been taping for two years," she said. "It's good to have a kid behind the camera. You get a whole new view."

Watching family videos, she has learned things about herself. "Little things," she said. "A tone of voice. I might whine when I talk to my mother. When I talk to my brother, I shout."

(link to Camcorder! Action! Lives Become Roles)

I don't remember the circumstances that lead to the interview, but I can tell that the last quote was bullshit. I think I wanted to prove a point and had to give an easy to explain example on the spot. When I asked my parents about the article they only had a vague memory of it themselves.

Anyways, I was quoted alongside Neil Postman in the NY Times when I was fourteen!
It would be another 4 years until I would read any of Mr. Postman's books, yet I was already on the road to becoming the media junkie I am today.