Supreme Court Rules on Bong Hits For Jesus

Although the story behind Morse v. Frederick is quite humorous and littered with absurd details, the ramifications of the Supreme Court's decision goes beyond entertainment and is far more than a joke. After five years Joseph Frederick's "experiment in free speech," is finally over. Today's US Supreme Court ruling reversed a Ninth Circuit finding and concluded that school officials "did not violate the First Amendment by confiscating the pro-drug banner and suspending the student responsible for it."

As a senior in high school in the city of Juneau, Alaska, Mr. Frederick created a large banner that read "Bong Hits For Jesus" and unveiled the banner outside his school on the sidewalk while the Olympic torch relay accompanied by television camera crews passed by on the way to the 2002 games. Upon seeing the spectacle, the principal, Deborah Morse, seized the banner and suspended Frederick for violating the school's anti-drug policy. Frederick appealed and eventually filed a lawsuit in federal court.

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Low Power Radio Bill Introduced in Congress

Early this morning, Free Press announced the introduction of a new bill in both the House and Senate that would remedy legislation from 2000 which prevented low power FM stations from obtaining licensing in major media markets. The Local Community Radio Act of 2007 has achieved bi-partisan support and is sponsored by Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) in the House, and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the Senate.

With media consolidation at an all-time high and Clear Channel dominating the airwaves, the vital role of local radio programming is being eroded away. Five years ago a train derailed in Minot, North Dakota and thousands of gallons of dangerous chemicals were released into the environment; many people were injured and one person died. The commercial radio stations in the area were all owned by Clear Channel and none of them carried any advisories about the disaster. Low powered FM stations will ensure that local information will be readily accessible amongst a landscape of national stations.

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The New York Observer on the New York Times on News Corp.

There's something kind of funny about a blog entry around a recent article in one outlet indicating that another newspaper is working on an expose about yet another media outlet, but that really is what this post is about. According to Michael Calderone at the New York Observer, "The New York Times is currently undertaking a major news investigation, led by managing editor Jill Abramson, into News Corp.'s business dealings throughout the world, according to a source with knowledge of the project."

Amidst the heavily hyped negotiations between Murdoch's minions and the Bancroft family who currently own the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times has apparently decided to mount their own investigation in an effort to examine what should be expected from the possible merger. While there is no clear indication what spin the Times will put on the story, it seems unlikely that the paper will conclude that Rupert Murdoch is the patron saint of news media. The New York times is one of the last major independent media outlets (along with the Wall Street Journal - for now), and it's altogether possible that News Corp. may eventually set it's sites on the Times, so I think it is safe to anticipate that this article won't be a puff piece.

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Net Neutrality a Hot Button Issue in the Upcoming Election?

Today in NewsMax.com, John Mercurio takes a look at the top presidential candidates and examines where they stand on the issue of Net Nuetrality. There aren't too many surprises, Democrats for the most part are in favor of legislation that will ensure the future of net neutrality and Republican's tend to be in opposition and prefer to allow the free market to run it's course. After all, if customer's aren't happy with a tiered-access internet then they'll simply go make their own internet right?

Ok, so it's not really that simple, but I'm not sure if all the politicians realize it. After all, it was only a year ago that Senator Ted Stevens was explaining to the floor that the internet is a series of tubes. All & All though, we as a population are becoming increasingly net-savvy and the web will certainly dominate politics more than ever before.

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Privacy v. Piracy

Back in April of last year, you probably read in Wired or some other publication about how AT&T had a secret room in its San Francisco office where the NSA was "listening" to every communication going over the telecom's lines. Well it seems that it might be happening again. This time the AT&T partnership with Big Brother isn't to scoop up the terrorists; no, this round is all about pirates and their intellectual booty.

In a June 14th article for AP, Gary Gentile writes, "Although details remain sketchy, the effort worries privacy advocates, who fear the San Antonio-based company could become a beat cop, monitoring which Web sites customers visit and what computer files they share." Like other invasive maneuvers the initiative is apparently focused on those overseas, but who's to say that your own computer wouldn't be flagged for watching the wrong video on You Tube or downloading the latest mix-tape from your favorite hip-hop DJ?

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Why A Democracy Depends on a Free Press

I recently started reading Al Gore's latest book The Assault on Reason, and have found his analysis on the role of today's media elites to be particularly insightful. Gore writes: If the forum is not fully open, then those who control access become gatekeepers. If they charge money in return for access, then those with more money have a greater ability to participate. Good ideas in the minds of men and women who cannot afford the price of admission to the public forum are then no longer available for consideration. When their opinions are blocked, the meritocracy of ideas that has always been the beating heart of democratic theory begins to suffer damage. The conversation of democracy then comes untethered from the rule of reason and can be manipulated.While perusing this passage, I was reminded of a short educational film made in the 1940s which outlines the continuum between democracy and despotism.

The full video can be found here.… Read more

Without a Shield: A Free Press in Peril

I headed to Washington DC last month to meet with members of Congress and their staff about the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 which had just been introduced days before my visit. For those that don't know, the bill would extend the same protections journalists are afforded in most state courts to the Federal level. These laws are generally known as shield laws and offer legal protections against forcing journalists to testify about their work, and there is some level of shield afforded to journalists in almost every state.

So why are these shield laws important, and why should journalists be afforded this protection in the first place?

One of the basic defining principles of a democracy is a free press. If information is being stymied by the government, or the political conditions make it impossible for people to engage with the press then the public is robbed of all the facts they need to make an informed decision. Much of the work that journalists due relies on a trust relationship between their contacts, and the material uncovered through the investigative process is not dissimilar from that of detectives. Unless there are protections established than journalists can easily be subpoenaed and forced to do the work of law enforcement thus muddying their position as the Fourth Estate and the trust they have worked so hard to establish.

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Welcome To Media Sphere

After Matt Smith at the SF Weeklyfirst reported on this project last week, a broad swath of engaging questions about this endeavor began to spring up. While I don?t have all the answers quite just yet, I think this would be a good opportunity to disavow those merit-less suspicions that festered after I tried to talk about this blog without revealing anything prematurely. So here goes:

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