Are sports blogs ruining sports journalism?

Loud and very dated 2008 debate between traditional sports newspaper journalist Buzz Bissinger and editor Will Leitch of Deadspin.com, the sometimes raunchy sports blog/website. Debate aired on Bob Costas' HBO sports show.

Early Indy Newspapers -- Not Very Reader-Friendly

See crowded layout of William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist publication, The Liberator, here and here. Not exactly HuffingtonPost. No half-naked actors.

Cady Stanton's/Anthony's feminist publication, The Revolution, was almost as dense.

Content was king (or queen) back then.

Ida B. Wells High School

How many newspaper editors who ignored or apologized for racist lynchings have schools named after them? Ida B. Wells High School is in San Francisco (just across the park from the famous "painted ladies" Victorian mansions.)

AOL's Journalistic Values?

Soon after AOL announced its merger with HuffingtonPost in February, 2011 the Boston Globe published leaked AOL documents offering a glimpse into that company's journalistic approach -- not one that Arianna Huffington would endorse. (H/t to former indy media student Leah T, for summarizing the Globe piece.)

Is U.S. media system failing U.S. democracy?

A 2008 academic study compared the level of public knowledge about current events in Denmark, Finland, England and the U.S. It found that the countries with TV/radio dominated by public broadcasting -- Denmark and Finland -- were the best informed. Our country, dominated by corporate commercial media, was the least informed. The study's authors suggest that differing media systems play a role in those results.

A 2003 study of U.S. public knowledge of facts related to the Iraq War found that misperceptions were greatest among those whose primary info source was Fox News -- and least among those whose primary info source was public broadcasting. (A Pew poll taken in Aug. 2010 found that almost 1 in 5 Americans believed President Obama to be a Muslim; only 34% knew he is a Christian. 43% chose "don't know.")

Night(mare) in Tunisia for Longtime Dictator

Tunisia is a Mediterranean country in North Africa.  Back in 2007, Tunisian citizen journalists and bloggers had documented the tourism/shopping sprees of the dictator's wife aboard the presidential plane to Europe and global fashion capitals. (H/t Global Voices)

In 2010, the TuniLeaks website was set up to post (WikiLeaks-released) U.S. Embassy and State Department documents candidly describing the Tunisia dictatorship.

Powerful photo of dictator Ben Ali visiting the hospital bed of the desperate young man who set himself on fire in Dec. 2010 -- the young man didn't live long enough to learn that his act set off a revolution that overthrew Ben Ali.

Amid the protests, Tunisian rapper El General put out this widely-circulated music video attacking Ben Ali and urging folks to join the protests. El General was arrested for it. Soon after, the dictator fled. (H/t to Steve Zunes.)

After the Tunisian dictatorship fell, the bizarre allied dictator in neighboring Libya, Qaddafi, made a rambling speech denouncing the Internet, WikiLeaks, Twitter and Facebook, which he blamed for Tunisia events. Last year, Qaddafi was also driven from power -- by NATO air power and an armed insurrection.

Dizzy Gillespie performs his classic jazz tune,plays "Night in Tunisia."

Mexico's "Yo Soy 132" Youth Movement

This Net-savvy movement didn't alter the outcome of Mexico's July presidential election (the candidate allegedly being "imposed" by the two dominant TV networks won), but the student activists may have greater impact in the future.  Al Jazeera English reports on the historic presidential debate set up by Yo Soy 132 -- and this YouTube video ignited the movement.

Global Voices Online

Global Voices is a community of more than 500 bloggers and translators around the world who publish reports from blogs and citizen media, emphasizing "voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media."

This 2011 post features short videos on gender equality from Ukraine.

This 2010 post features a public protest by a very brave professor and blogger in China, offering himself as a slave.

Video and Blogging for Human Rights

Launched in 1992 with the help of musician Peter Gabriel, the nonprofit Witness.org began distributing video cameras in hopes of minimizing human rights abuses. Their slogan: "See it. Film it. Change it."

Vancouver Film School students created an inspiring video, "Iran, A Nation of Bloggers", and put it online months before the tech-fueled protests over Iran's disputed 2009 election.

President Caught on Video: "Get Lost, You A*#hole"

Then-President Sarkozy caught on video in 2008 calling a disgruntled citizen an "idiot" or "a**hole" or "stupid bastard" (depending on translation). French politicians are having difficulty tolerating the scrutiny from new more aggressive online media (including online video) -- especially compared to deferential coverage they're accustomed to from traditional media.

Our own former president was caught on tape.

Murder of 28-year-old sparks Egypt uprising

In June, 2010, Khaled Said was beaten to death by police in public for the crime of Internet use and, apparently, exposing police corruption. His martyrdom inspired protests and Internet organizing that led to the uprising six months later that ended the Mubarak dictatorship. Google exec and activist Wael Ghonim set up the powerful Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Said."

In Egypt, bloggers/Net activists laid groundwork for uprising

With the Mubarak dictatorship in control of all major media in Egypt, brave Egyptian "citizen journalists" risked imprisonment and torture to blog or tweet about human rights abuses. Here's renowned Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas interviewed on BBC. Over the years, Abbas was harassed, censored and assaulted by authorities -- and was briefly detained during the uprising early in 2011.

Sharif Abdel Kouddous covered the 18-day uprising last year for Democracy Now!, and he was the central character in an HBO documentary about the Egyptian revolution.

Local Nonprofit Watchdog News Sites

As dailies have shrunk, local online nonprofit news sites have sprouted, such as the well-funded VoiceofSanDiego.org and the professionally-staffed MinnPost.com ("a thoughtful approach to news").

2009 Izzy Award-Winners Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman

Soon after accepting their Izzy Awards in Ithaca, NY in March 2009, Greenwald and Goodman spoke about independent media on public TV's Bill Moyers' Journal.

The WikiLeaks Controversy

Blogger Glenn Greenwald (a WikiLeaks supporter) explains independent journalism to CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin. WikiLeaks website is here. This leaked video (with about 13 million YouTube views) shows the killing of employees of the Reuters news agency and wounding of children by US attack helicopters in Iraq. Photo above was taken a few weeks ago when I visited the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where WikiLeaks' founder currently resides.

Student Multimedia Journalism

News 21 is a well-funded student journalism outlet (launched by two big foundations) that emphasizes in-depth reporting and multimedia presentation. Journalists at participating campuses investigated broad areas: for example, Univ of Southern California(USC)/money in politics; Syracuse/Latinos in Pennsylvania; UC Berkeley/food safety.

Hoaxes on the Internet

Question: Are younger educated people who were raised on the Internet LESS likely to be taken in by hoax emails such as Obama as "radical Muslim" than Jon Stewart's 80-year-old aunt?

Viral Video Impacts 2008 Presidential Election

This 2008 Brave New Films video short "McCain's Mansions" (with over 600,000 views) boiled up through the media food chain into the mainstream. It impacted the campaign, as shown by this self-promotional video, "The Making of McCain's Mansions."

Can journalists get too cozy with their official sources?

At 2007 Radio-Television Correspondents Association Dinner, top journalists were literally dancing with a top source. These are social/charitable events where journalists and newsmakers are expected to have some fun, but is it symbolic of too much coziness? . . . . . . . In 2003, a CNN executive boasts about giving the Pentagon an advisory role on who its on-air experts would be during the controversial Iraq war. . . . . . . . Whether dealing with political leaders or athletes, the quest for access to newsmaker sources can undermine independent journalism, according to indy TV host Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, one of the most successful web-based TV shows.

Bold, indy blogger launches major controversy

Former IC journalism student Chris Lisee reports on the impact that a single off-key journalist can have.

"Independent Media in a Time of War" featuring Amy Goodman

Video made by a volunteer, indy media collective based on an April 2003 speech by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! At the time, many in mainstream media were cheering what they believed would be a quick, successful Iraq invasion.