#media consolidation

[thenib]

Mattie Lubchansky.

[odinsblog]

I’ve seen tweets on Twitter and posts on Tumblr with blaming Reagan for the rise of Fox News because he vetoed the Fairness Doctrine.

And then again, I’ve also seen some objectively smart people play the role of devils advocate and try to refute this particular argument.

The truth is slightly more nuanced.

It’s true that the Fairness Doctrine was written at a time when most people did not get their news from cable news outlets. And it is also true that Reagan’s veto definitely did not help. But what David Cay Johnson and most neoliberal centrists miss (or aggressively ignore) is the fact that it was Bill (big government bad, deregulation good) Clinton who helped Republicans.

Without Clinton’s massive deregulation pushes of the 90s, we would be in a much better position than we find ourselves today.

PLEASE remember ALL of how we got here: This disaster is a direct result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law by Bill Clinton. Among other things, the bill brought deregulation to the cable industry, deregulated price controls on how much cable companies could charge consumers, and lifted the national cap on radio station ownership. In the spirit of “pragmatic” compromise, “less government” and more “free market” competition, the legislation obliterated the rules that once placed ownership restrictions on broadcasters. 

The Telecommunications Act fueled media consolidation, and now over 90 percent of the media is owned by just six companies. Ninety percent of the top 50 cable stations are owned by the same parent companies that own the broadcast networks, which should destroy the notion that cable is any real source of competition. The bill was a giveaway to big business, but it was sold to the public as a consumer friendly bill.

Media consolidation is a threat to democracy. Corporations like Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting Group are legally using lies, propaganda, disinformation and “alt facts” on an unsuspecting public.

The other disingenuous argument that David Johnson is making is that "people have a constitutional right to believe lies and to choose to be deceived" ..... Yes, but does the government have the right to be enabling those lies? Should the government really be facilitating privately owned, mass media corporations lying to the public??

Reaganism is and was bad for America. Clintonism made it worse in many many ways.

The simple answer is to reinstate a modern version of the Fairness Doctrine and also repeal the Telecommunications Act. Deregulation hurts citizens and consumers. We need more, not less, government regulation of big business.

[hezigler]

The greatest failure of our democratic republic is that of the fourth estate.

[oldshowbiz]

The Detroit media mogul John P. McGoff purchased dozens of newspapers and used them to push a pro-Apartheid point of view.

[comicsispeople]

Markus Dohle Resigning From Penguin Random House

Markus Dohle

The end of 2022 has been wild for antitrust, y'all.

Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle is stepping down at the end of the year, "at his own request and on the best of mutual terms," parent company Bertelsmann announced this morning. He is also resigning from Bertelsmann's executive board. His interim successor is Nihar Malaviya, currently president & chief operating officer of Penguin Random House U.S. Malaviya will report to Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe and will be appointed to Bertelsmann's Group Management Committee. The moves come just over a month after a federal judge ruled for the Justice Department in its efforts to block PRH's purchase of Simon & Schuster.

[paulisweeabootrash]

Congratulations to those of you who have been complaining about there being too many streaming services! You're getting your wish with the rate of media consolidation, and it's delivering us... less stuff available in fewer formats at lower quality.

[1990jeevas]

The Host Club + Family. for @bttrcoup

Does The Universe Fight for Souls to be Together?, Jamie Varon / UNKNOWN / On The Intimacy of The Mundane, Eve Lion / The Raven King, Nora Sakavic / So We Must Meet Apart, Gabrielle Bates & Jennifer S. Cheng / Sex Education (2019-2023) / True Blue, boygenius / Our Beautiful Life When it’s Filled with Shrieks, Christopher Citro / Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022-) / UNKNOWN / Toxic Game, Christine Feehan / Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, Ross Gay / In Another Universe, We Are Together, Bianca Sparacino / Matilda, Harry Styles / Le Malentendu, Albert Camus / Ouran High School Host Club (2006)

[mswyrr]

The second pillar of the argument Texas is making is the so-called “compact theory” – an idea that has not been entertained by serious people in a long, long time. According to the compact theory, the constitution is just a contract that entails certain duties the federal government, and especially the president, has to fulfill. If those duties are neglected, the states, understood as sovereign entities, are free to disregard federal authority, ignore federal law, and, ultimately, leave the Union. This is precisely the argument slave states used to justify secession. As Mark Joseph Stern succinctly put it with regards to Abbott’s statement: “This language embraces the Confederacy’s conception of the Constitution as a mere compact that states may exit when they feel it has been broken.” Honestly, it makes sense for Abbott and today’s reactionary Right to adopt these neo-confederate arguments. In a way, they are just explicitly emphasizing the tradition in which their political project stands, as they are once again defying the federal government and deploying “states’ rights” in order to justify inhumane brutality in service of upholding white nationalist domination. The fact that this argument was resoundingly defeated – politically and on the battlefield – does not matter to them: The Republican Party and the extremist Right are all in. Among the first to announce support for Greg Abbott was Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. 25 Republican governors have endorsed the position of Texas, pledging their support for Abbott’s fight against the federal government and for the legal theories justifying it; some are even vowing to send their national guards, itching to escalate the situation further. That is something Donald Trump would very much like – he has already called on Republican states to “deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.” And nothing mobilizes rightwing extremists like a standoff with the federals in service of white domination: Elon Musk is on Abbott’s side, propagating Great Replacement conspiracies, the barely concealed subtext of this whole thing, by accusing Biden of wanting to bring in immigrants as illegal voters. And far-right activists have called for a “Take back our border” rally. What could possibly go wrong. [...] But as much as I am professionally obligated to caution against facile historical analogies, Republican states are, right now, openly and aggressively endorsing the argument that led this country into a Civil War. There are, at the very least, some very concerning echoes; and more importantly, there are powerful traditions and continuities. Republican governors are proudly taking up the “states’ rights” mantle to defy the federal government. On the level of the underlying political project and vision of what America should be, there is a fairly direct line from the secession of slave states to today’s neo-confederate use of the “compact” theory as a way to justify the cruel crackdown on an “invasion” of people of color. And as much as the Civil War analogy may tend to invoke misleading associations, it can actually be helpful if it alerts people to the seriousness of the situation and to the prospect of violence. Because the fact that we will not get a rematch between vast armies dressed in blue and gray meeting on the battlefield does not mean the current situation isn’t extremely volatile and dangerous, or that there won’t be violence. There is likely going to be a lot more political violence.

[mario8th]

WELCOME TO DONKNEW CITY! Yahoo!

Just finished watching HxH 39-41 And while the first was a bit slower then I'd've liked

I tell you what

I think

I think I Get It

If this show can keep up the pace that 40 and 41 set, I get why people love this so much

Again, the Kurapika flashback and powerpoint were okay, and the introduction of his coworkers was jarring, but everything else was so fun!

I love that after having learned Nen, Kurapika's lips are fuller

The weird characters were fun to see in action. While overall somewhat predictable, the mansion sequence was fun!

And we finally got introduced to the bad guys! And we got introduced to HER!!!! Shizuku! My new favorite character! I've only known her for half an episode but if anything happens to her I'd kill myself! She's probably killed people but who cares she's hot! (that's the new one, right?)

AND ALSO

I've known Melody for three episodes and if anything happened to Her I'd Kill Myself And Then Everyone Else! (editors note, yes I wrote that backwards, but I'm sticking to it. I'd manifest as a specter and end humanity as we know it) From the second I saw her I loved her vibe, she's the best! Music Hunter! Hell Yeah! She's shaped like a friend! Her cautious gazes! She's the best!

Anyway, really excited to see what these guys all get up to, the dominoes are set, the boulder is at the top of the hill, and I hope I enjoy the carnage as much as the build up

(And Kurapika's little blush during that first Hunterpedia when Gon and Killua got close to each other was really cute)

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[shinigami-striker]

The End of Universal Interactive... | Thursday, 01.04.24

On this day, 30 years ago, former video game publisher, Universal Interactive Studios was founded, though they ended up consolidating into Vivendi Universal Games before they dissolved around 2008 (15 years ago), in which they merged with Activision.

Video games developed and published (down below):

1994

Jurassic Park Interactive (3DO, 05/10/94)

Way of the Warrior (3DO Interactive, 08/30/94)

1996

Crash Bandicoot (PlayStation, 09/09/96)

Disruptor (PlayStation, 11/20/96)

1997

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PlayStation, 11/5/97)

1998

Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation, 9/9/98)

Running Wild (PlayStation, 10/7/98)

Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PlayStation, 11/3/98)

1999

Xena: Warrior Princess (PlayStation, 10/05/99)

Crash Team Racing (PlayStation, 10/19/99)

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PlayStation, 11/02/99)

2000

Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PlayStation, 10/10/00)

Crash Bash (PlayStation, 11/07/00)

2001

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (PS2, 10/30/01)

Spyro: Season of Ice (GBA, 11/07/01)

2002

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (GBA, 02/26/02)

Spyro 2: Season of Flame (GBA, 09/25/02)

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (multi-platform, 11/05/02)

2003

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced (GBA, 01/07/03)

Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (GBA, 10/28/03)

Crash Nitro Kart (multi-platform, 11/11/03)

I couldn't add every game on the list unfortunately since the majority of these releases goes to both Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.

Comment below on what's your favorite (and least favorite) published by Universal Interactive Studios.

[kegisaroused]

Sometimes I’m like “my time in internet fandom hasn’t been THAT crazy” and then I remember that someone I’ve never met IRL wrote RPF about me once.

[odinsblog]

A good thread on Elon Musk’s possible motivations for buying Twitter. There’s more to it than Musk being narcissistic, egotistical and inept; we shouldn’t ignore the possibility that wealthy, authoritarian nation states may have a larger role in this than previously believed. Setting and controlling the narrative on Twitter is tantamount to controlling thousands of newsfeeds and media outlets.

And of course, there is also the likelihood that Musk purchased Twitter not in furtherance of “free speech,” but rather to squash the voices of the marginalized, to silence what he and his ex-wife, Talulah Raiyah, and many conservatives believe is too much speech that they disagree with (so-called woke-ism).

[saintflint]

more recs please & thanks

[protytwo]

The spectacle presents itself as a vast inaccessible reality that can never be questioned. Its sole message is: "What appears is good; what is good appears." The passive acceptance it demands is already effectively imposed by its monopoly of appearances, its manner of appearing without allowing any reply.

Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle, 1967

[govtshutdown]

Senator Schmitt's amendment fails.

The motion fails 47-51, now onto amendment from Senator Johnson.

[jcmarchi]

Award shines a spotlight on local science journalism

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/award-shines-a-spotlight-on-local-science-journalism/

Award shines a spotlight on local science journalism

Local reporting is a critical tool in the battle against disinformation and misinformation. It can also provide valuable data about everything from environmental damage derived from questionable agribusiness practices to the long-term effects of logging on communities. 

Reporting like this requires more than just journalistic chops. It needs a network that can share these important stories, access to readers, and financial support. That’s why organizations like the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT and its Victor K. McElheny Award are important. 

Founded in 2018 with a gift from Knight Science Journalism (KSJ) Program founding director Victor McElheny and his wife, Ruth McElheny, the KSJ Victor K. McElheny Award rewards local science journalists for their pioneering work and their stories’ impacts. 

“The prize can help illustrate a continuing contribution to the maximum level of public understanding of what technology and science are achieving, and what these achievements imply for humanity,” McElheny says.

The award comes with a $10,000 prize.

“Local science journalism has value, in part, because consolidation in this sector has meant fewer journalists and a shrinking pool of resources with which to do this important work,” notes editor Cathy Clabby, a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program alumna (2008). Clabby was part of the team at The Charlotte Observer and The Raleigh News and Observer that earned the McElheny Award in 2023 for its poultry farm investigation. 

“The award demonstrated a commitment to high journalistic standards,” Clabby says.

These journalistic standards and the accompanying national recognition for awardees can lend further legitimacy to long-form science journalism. 

Features and outcomes

Additionally, while some news outlets are starved of the resources necessary to produce deeply-researched, high-quality stories, receiving the McElheny Award can help raise the visibility of small and nonprofit newsrooms, which can help with circulation, operating expenses, and fundraising.

“The award has a very real value to our audience, especially as we develop our digital subscriber model,” notes journalist Tony Bartelme, one of several Charleston Post and Courier reporters whose feature on the Gulf Stream won the inaugural award in 2019. “If readers see this kind of national recognition, they’re more likely to see the value of subscribing.”

“The financial element of the award is certainly a delightful surprise, particularly for a team project like this with a small budget,” says journalist Aaron Scott, whose team at Oregon Public Broadcasting won for its “Timber Wars” podcast series in 2021. “It filled me with joy getting to tell my colleagues they’d be getting bonus checks in the mail.”

Deborah Blum — the Pulitzer Prize-winning director of the Knight Science Journalism Program and founder of Undark Magazine — argues that local and regional journalists play a central role in promoting science literacy and critical thinking skills among their readers. Blum describes an information ecosystem worthy of preservation, with local science journalism acting as a fundamental building block of public consciousness and shared understanding. 

“Science stories told by reporters in the home community, known and trusted by their neighbors, have a special ability to reach readers and listeners,” Blum says.

Value, vision, and recognition

Storytelling has value beyond views, clicks, and shares, according to McElheny Award winners. 

“An informed electorate helps ensure a functional and accountable government,” Clabby asserts.

Journalists point to the skills necessary to produce thoughtful, reasoned stories that can impact readers, communities, and other journalists as valuable assets for creating powerful pieces.

“Science journalism is hard to do because it takes time to wade through it all and understand the science with enough depth to tell the story properly,” Bartelme says. “But, what’s more important than a planet on fire?”

Further, recognition from their peers can serve as validation for what can sometimes become months of research and reporting to produce such important stories.

“Recognition [as evidenced by] the Victor K. McElheny Award is deeply rewarding,” Scott believes, “because it means some of our most accomplished and thoughtful peers are listening to, reading, and thinking deeply about a story we’ve invested so much in telling.”

Outcomes and impacts

The Victor K. McElheny Award for Local Science Journalism confers national recognition on journalists performing a critical function in producing an informed electorate. Local science journalism can have lasting impacts on readers, apprise audiences of advances and challenges related to science and technology, and help secure funding for current and future efforts.

“Fact-based journalism has value for audiences,” Clabby says.

Scott, noting the value of balanced science reporting, described science journalism as “both more important, and more under threat by politicization, than ever before.”

“The McElheny Award is really the only award that celebrates science stories that reach this important audience,” Bartelme concludes. “Local journalists have a special and often more intimate relationship with readers than national organizations.”