Alternative Media

If MobLogic is journalism, does that make Lindsay Campbell a journalist?

Lindsay Campbell is not a journalist, or at least she claims she isn't. The former host of Wall Strip and the current host and producer for MobLogic (a new web series produced by CBS Interactive) wasted no time before disclosing this perspective to her audience. On March 7, in the first official episode, she describe how she she's her role in the media. Now let me say right from the start: I'm not a journalist. I'm coming at this like you. I read the news; I read blogs, and I want to talk about the things that are going on around me in the world. You do too, and we want to hear from you. Your ideas, your opinions, that's the point of the show. We take a story we find interesting and we go out and talk to people about it. Where better to start than right where we live? Look we're not trying to hide it, this show's coming from CBS. At the time, I thought it was a strange approach, but wanted to see where the show was headed before weighing in. Since then, I've found myself tuning into MobLogic on an almost daily basis and have found the show's journalism to be exemplary on at least two occasions.

The second episode of MobLogic was titled, How the Dems Screwed Florida, and provided an in-depth look at the mechanics of the Florida Primary fiasco that I hadn't encountered in any other media outlet. Two weeks later the show profiled the case of an Al Jazeera cameraman who has been held in Guantanamo for more than six years. The story provided an insight into a journalist's legal trouble that has received little media attention, but also explored how New Yorker's feel about the matter.

Online protest rallies free-speech supporters around the globe

Wednesday has been announced by the French organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) as the first Online Free Expression Day. In recognition of its announcement, the group has initiated a 24-hour online protest going on now in nine virtual countries that have been labeled Internet enemies by the international press organization.

I stopped by the protest earlier Wednesday morning and found the demonstration to be similar to what I expected when I wrote about the event Tuesday. My primary concern with the protest was that it would be relegated to a dark corner on the Internet, and that does indeed seem to be the case (though the demonstration does provide a means to automatically e-mail friends about the event).… Read more

March 12 recognized as Online Free Expression Day

Update: An account of Wednesday's protest has been posted to mediasphere.

In some parts of the world, such as the United States, the Internet is a relatively safe means to communicate and discuss controversial or unpopular subjects. Unfortunately this isn't the case in all countries, and journalists, activists, and other outspoken individuals continue to be threatened and imprisoned at an alarming rate.

According to Reporters sans frontieres (Reporters Without Borders), there are 63 people around the world who are currently in prison for using the Internet to exercise their freedom of expression. Forty-nine of the imprisoned cyber-dissidents are from China; seven are from Vietnam, and two are from Syria. Libya, Jordan, Egypt, and Burma are each holding one person for online speech activities.

In an effort to "denounce government censorship of the Internet and to demand more online freedom," Reporters Without Borders is organizing a 24-hour online demonstration on Wednesday and officially recognizing the date as Online Free Expression day.… Read more

Clinton snubs journalists at University of Washington

The Clinton campaign is counting on Texas to stay alive, but as David Domke describes in his account at the Crosscut Seattle, they haven't exactly reached out to student journalists to keep the fire burning (at least not his students).

David Domke teaches journalism at the University of Washington. In order to cover the presidential race, 16 of his students created SeattlePoliticore. In David's words: We've gone new media, adopting a mode of blogging that combines traditional reporting, insights from other news outlets, and first-person commentary. It's somewhere between the voice of The Seattle Times' David Postman and the rancor of the blogosphere: part journalism, part pundit, part political newbies. Altogether, we have presented the campaign through youthful eyes.… Read more

wikileaks.org shut down by Federal Judge

The First Amendment of the US Constitution has protected the rights of the press in many legal battles throughout history, but last week, when US District Judge Jeffrey White signed a permanent injunction (PDF) ordering wikileaks.org shut down, it was a disturbing indicator of the uncertain status of press freedoms in the United States.

Wikileaks describes itself as "developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis," and indeed, although the wikileaks.org domain is no longer active, the site continues to be mirrored at various domains around the world. As Bob Egelko at the San Francisco Chronicle points out, the "site was the first to post the confidential Defense Department manual about operations of the U.S. detention camp at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, and has also posted rules of engagement for U.S. forces in Iraq."

But it wasn't the publication of subterranean government documents that eventually triggered the federal government's wrath (though it's possible that may have played a motivating factor). According to the Chronicle, the judge ordered the site to be shut down, "after it posted documents purporting to describe offshore activities of a Swiss bank."… Read more

The Whole World is Watching

During protests outside the Chicago Democratic Convention in 1968, activists took up a rallying cry shouting The whole world is watching as news cameras captured the police violently overtaking the crowd. Indeed the whole world was watching, but only because the news media happened to be their with their cameras and live feed.

As Salvatore Rivieri of the Baltimore Police department knows first hand, things have changed. In July of last year, Officer Rivieri was patrolling the Inner Harbor when he came across 14 year-old Eric Bush and some of his friends riding their skateboards. A heated exchange occurred and at one point, Rivieri places Eric in a headlock and takes his skateboard from him. Toward the end of the episode, the officer notices that Eric's friend Tony Santo is holding a camera.

"You got that camera on?" Rivieri asks. "If I find myself on you.." The video goes dead.

In Shooting War, it's 2011 and John McCain is President...

Back in 2006 it seemed unlikely that John McCain would earn the Republican nomination for President of the United States, but when journalist Anthony Lappeand artist Dan Goldman set out to create a near-future world for their graphic novel Shooting War they decided to imagine just what a McCain Presidency might look like in 2011 and their forecast is dark with more than a few scattered showers.

Shooting War began as a web comic at SMITH magazine in May of 2006, and was completed as a hardbound graphic novel that was published in November of last year. The book tells the story of video blogger extraordinaire Jimmy Burns. In the story, Burns is thrown into the spotlight after he happens to capture a New York City terrorist attack with his live-streaming video camera. He soon finds himself reporting from Iraq as the newest addition to the fictional cable news outlet, Global News Network.

After arriving in Baghdad, Burns quickly finds himself enmeshed with the terrorist cell, Sword of Mohammed, as both Burns and Lappe explore the possible root causes behind the War on Terror. Along the way, he encounters not only lust, but love as well. He discovers first hand what propels the mainstream media's thirst for coverage in a war-torn Iraq, and legendary journalist Dan Rather makes a special cameo as a sort of mentor for the fresh-faced Burns.

Like any good graphic novel, Shooting War left me turning page after page in one long marathon session before I finally devoured its satisfying ending. It's an entertaining book, but it's also informative and filled with interesting predictions for where things may be headed. Goldman's graphic approach to the story is simultaneously classic and hyper-modern; the art was composed digitally, and like V for Vendetta, it is arguably an artistic evolution in comic art.

Perhaps the most interesting element of Shooting War is its depiction of US foreign relations in 2011, and the predictions that Anthony makes about what the future may hold.… Read more

Student newspaper considers corporate partner

While some may contend that the primary role of college newspapers is to prepare students for work in the establishment press, school newspapers also serve a vital role in keeping the community informed. In fact, college newspapers have broken stories on many occasions that resonated in the mainstream press. Some of these stories may have never seen the light of day if it weren't for the bold actions of determined college students and the newspapers these students control.

For students at Colorado State University, it appears the keys to their student-run paper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, may soon be wrestled away and handed over to newspaper giant Gannett. According to a recent AP story, "Officials with The Coloradoan in Fort Collins met Tuesday with Colorado State University leaders to discuss a 'strategic partnership' to run the campus paper."

While it's unclear at this time what a strategic partnership would look like, this isn't the first time that Gannett has involved itself with a student newspaper. In August of 2006, a Gannett newspaper purchased FSView & Florida Flambeau, an independent publication that serves the student body at Florida State University. A year later, the University of Central Florida's newspaper was also sold to a Gannett publication. Unlike those instances, the Collegian is run by the university and, as The Student Newspaper Survival Blog points out, "if a deal goes through with Colorado State University, it would be the first time Gannett gets involved in a student paper that had been run by a public university."

Iraqi journalist killed at home

Alive in Baghdad is one of the only destinations providing weekly video of life in Baghdad from an Iraqi perspective. The reporting examines current issues facing the country, and also features evergreen material documenting what life in a war-torn country looks like. The program has been profiled in numerous media reports, has garnered numerous awards, and has grown a loyal following.

On Friday, Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, a special correspondent for Alive in Baghdad was found dead in his home. He was born December 16, 1984 and was discovered by his cousin following a raid on his street by the Iraqi … Read more

A license to blog?

On Thursday, David Hazinski posted a column on the Web site of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggesting that "unfettered 'citizen journalism' (is) too risky." He points out that the online medium creates an opportunity for anyone to provide informational content, but that this new venue is prone to inaccuracies and hearsay. He argues that so-called citizen journalism "isn't journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse."

In his article, Hazinski suggests that unless the news industry acts now to regulate amateur-professional journalism, it will be "just a matter of time before something like a faked Rodney King beating video appears on the air somewhere." In his defense, a similar scenario did play out over three years ago when Benjamin Vanderford, a San Francisco resident, produced a fake video depicting his own beheading at the hands of Islamist extremists; then again, it was a publisher from the establishment press, William Randolph Hearst, who is credited with helping catalyze the Spanish American War through manufactured news. Hearst told a reporter, "You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war," and history indicates that he may have done just that.