MediaShift

Online Video

Stephen Colbert: Don't Love and Leave YouTube

by Mark Glaser

We in the Colbert Nation are sickened by the recent news that heavy-handed trial lawyers at Viacom, representing Comedy Central, have asked YouTube to force its users to remove video clips from "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show," and "South Park." While those lawyers have legal standing to do this, it goes against the spirit of Internet sharing and viral promotion -- two phenomena that have helped make your show so popular in the first place. It just doesn't sound like you, Stephen, baby.

• October 30, 2006
• 48 comments

Your Take

In what social situations should you NOT use a cell phone?

by Mark Glaser

If another friend of mine pulls out their cell phone while we're hanging out together, I think I might scream. Isn't the point of spending time with your friends and family that you spend quality time with them and not on your phone? Plus, now that cell phones have morphed into mini-computers with video, cameras, web access, texting, etc., they're...

• October 29, 2006
• 31 comments

Your Take

Wal-Mart 'Flogs' Par for the PR Course

by Mark Glaser

All blogs are not created equal, and many of them are not transparent in their athenticity either. Sometimes we are hoodwinked, we want to believe, but we are deceived by what have become known as "flogs" or fake blogs, bought and paid for by someone else. In the case of our hot topic of the week, it's Edelman PR creating multiple flogs to tout Wal-Mart, including Wal-Marting Across America wherein our two heroes traipse around the country in a RV in praise of Wal-Mart. Surprise, surprise, their trip was funded by Edelman on behalf of Wal-Mart.

• October 27, 2006
• 4 comments

Digging Deeper

Brian Ross: Foley Story a Watershed for ABC News on the Web

by Mark Glaser

The website navigation on each of the top U.S. broadcaster sites is the same litany of typical news categories: U.S., World, Politics, Business, Health, Science, etc. But at ABCNews.com, the list is slightly different: U.S., International, Investigative -- that's right, the Investigative category lands in the No. 3 slot in the site's navigation, while MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN don't even bother breaking out investigative reports.

• October 25, 2006
• 1 comment

Virtual Worlds

Wired, CNET, Reuters Agog Over Second Life

by Mark Glaser

A friend of mine who works in PR in San Francisco came up to me at a party last week, and was wide-eyed at what's been going on lately at the virtual world Second Life.

• October 23, 2006
• 16 comments

Social Networking

Finding Balance in Teen Use of Social Media

by Mark Glaser

Earlier today, I had the unusual experience of giving a speech to a group of academics at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, in Aurora, Ill. The unusual part was that I talked and interacted with them via AIM instant messaging on video. They could see and hear me talking from my home office in San Francisco, and I could hear their reactions and questions, and see the people questioning me. I even heard an announcement on the school loudspeakers about pumpkin projects!

• October 20, 2006
• 7 comments

Your Take

What do you think about the fake Wal-Mart blogs by Edelman PR?

by Mark Glaser

Right now, the most searched-for term on blog search engine Technorati is "Edelman." Why? Usually even negative media mentions are good PR, but in this case, the Edelman PR firm has been under attack from the blogosphere for helping to run three pro-Wal-Mart blogs without being transparent about their involvement. One of those blogs, Wal-Marting Across America, turned out to be a paid gig for the "average couple" that was taking an RV tour of the U.S. and staying in Wal-Mart parking lots. Worse, the photographer half of the couple was Jim Thresher, whose day job was at the Washington Post. He was outed by the Wal-Mart Watch blog and was forced by his employer to take down his photos and return payment from the Working Families for Wal-Mart (a group set up by Edelman).

• October 20, 2006
• 9 comments

Digging Deeper

Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photos

by Mark Glaser

When I was writing a blog post about Mark Cuban and his ShareSleuth site, I wanted to illustrate it with a good photo of Cuban but didn't like the photo he sent me. So I turned to an invaluable source of photography for a non-commercial blog like MediaShift -- the Flickr Creative Commons pool. On that site, you can search through 22 million photos for shots that are being legally shared by photographers, under flexible copyrights licensed through Creative Commons (CC).

• October 18, 2006
• 12 comments

PoliticalShift

Gallaudet University Protests Gain Global Audience

by Mark Glaser

If you're a non-deaf person who generally follows U.S. national news, you probably have a vague idea that there have been protests going on at the only university for the deaf, Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC. You might not be sure why the protests are happening, except that the students don't want the incoming president, Jane Fernandes, to assume her new duties in January.

• October 17, 2006
• 11 comments

Your Take Roundup

Facebook Still a Favorite...For Now

by Mark Glaser

Sometimes we in the media get carried away by the news of the day, and draw hasty conclusions that turn out all wrong. Take Facebook and the rise of social networking sites such as MySpace. Because they are the province of the young, we assume their tastes are fickle and that these sites will be hot today, gone tomorrow.

• October 13, 2006
• 2 comments

Your Take

What sources do you check for political news on the U.S. mid-term elections?

by Mark Glaser

Now that the mid-term elections are less than a month away, we can ignore them no longer. With the Mark Foley page-enticement scandal smoking in the Beltway, the various nationwide races are heating up as the Democrats try yet again to take control of one or both chambers of Congress. There are plenty of news sources online to follow the races, from mainstream media sites such as CNN's Inside Politics to the conservative-blog aggregator, Pajamas Media's PoliticsCentral to liberal power-houses such as Talking Points Memo with its Election Central clearinghouse of polls. So where do you go online to follow the election races and results? Who do you trust for good information, and where do you feel you can have a say in a political community online? Or tell us if you prefer TV and newspapers for political coverage. I'll run the best comments in the next Your Take Roundup.

• October 12, 2006
• No comments

Digging Deeper

Cafebabel.com Breaks Down European Borders with Grassroots Media

by Mark Glaser

In all the various efforts to unite Europe under the framework of the European Union, European Commission, and Euro currency, there is still one effort that has largely failed: creating a truly pan-European media outlet.

• October 11, 2006
• No comments

Online Video

Google Spends $1.65 Billion for YouTube

by Mark Glaser

It's deja vu all over again as an unprofibable Internet startup, barely 19 months old, was bought for $1.65 billion yesterday. But the startup in question, video-sharing phenomenon YouTube, is not just any startup looking to cash in on hype. YouTube is the eyeball catcher of all eyeball catchers, racking up 100 million-plus videos watched per day, and has become a brand that has broken through to the mainstream, to the non-technical masses, to our grandparents and little kids.

• October 10, 2006
• 6 comments

NewspaperShift

Don't Stick Fork In Editorialists Just Yet

by Mark Tapscott

At least not until this proud editorialist gets another job, that is! Actually, after reading the case for abolishing traditional editorials presented by the always interesting Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine.com, I have to nod my head in agreement with much of what he says even as I vigorously disagree with his marquee assertion.

• October 5, 2006
• 2 comments

NewspaperShift

WECAN Harnesses Wisdom of Crowds for Newspaper

by Mark Tapscott

One of the biggest reasons I can't wait to get to the newsroom most mornings is the WECAN project --- the Washington Examiner Community Action Network. This project is barely in its infancy but is worth watching because it combines elements of citizen media and open-source journalism, with a semi-traditional daily newspaper.

• October 4, 2006
• No comments

PoliticalShift

Transparency Key to Constructive Partisanship

by Mark Tapscott

Among the oddities of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act effort was that many of the major advocates -- who spanned the political spectrum from left to right -- had never worked together and did not meet in person until the day President Bush signed the measure into law.

• October 3, 2006
• 5 comments