Video game agents are helping industry giants navigate Hollywood. They come in two distinct varieties. On one side are broad Hollywood agencies that extrapolate their movie and television approach to the pinnacle of the video-game business. On the other end of the spectrum are scrappy, under-the-radar companies that focus solely on video games.
Read more in the New York Times.
Saturday, March 27
New Media Shaking Up Italy's Media Landscape
In Italy's changing media landscape, social-networking websites have emerged as an alternative to an information industry long tied to the government, political parties and industrialists. Newspapers are generally tied to political parties or industrial concerns, resulting in a press that seems less written for the general public than for politicians and other insiders.
In Italy, 80% of people get their news from television.
A recent episode has become emblematic of both the Prime Minister's grip on the press and the potential for new media to undermine his control. An Italian court dismissed the case against a lawyer who had been found guilty of taking bribes from the Prime Minister. The court made no ruling on the evidence — it simply closed the case because the 10-year statute of limitations had expired. But when his flagship channel reported that the lawyer had been "acquitted" of the charges. Until recently, the comment would have gone unchallenged. This time, however, the clip went viral on Facebook. A group set up to protest the broadcast quickly grew to nearly 200,000 members, most of whose names were printed out and delivered to RAI's offices in a suitcase. RAI's producers have since said the presenter's comment was a mistake.
Yet, the best measure of how the Internet is shaking up the media landscape may be the establishment's response, which has thus far been harsh. Both left- and right-leaning governments have floated legislation in recent years intended to rein in online expression. In addition, an Italian court recently held three Google executives responsible for a video posted to YouTube that showed teenagers bullying an autistic classmate, sentencing each to a suspended six-month jail term.
Read more at Time Magazine.
In Italy, 80% of people get their news from television.
A recent episode has become emblematic of both the Prime Minister's grip on the press and the potential for new media to undermine his control. An Italian court dismissed the case against a lawyer who had been found guilty of taking bribes from the Prime Minister. The court made no ruling on the evidence — it simply closed the case because the 10-year statute of limitations had expired. But when his flagship channel reported that the lawyer had been "acquitted" of the charges. Until recently, the comment would have gone unchallenged. This time, however, the clip went viral on Facebook. A group set up to protest the broadcast quickly grew to nearly 200,000 members, most of whose names were printed out and delivered to RAI's offices in a suitcase. RAI's producers have since said the presenter's comment was a mistake.
Yet, the best measure of how the Internet is shaking up the media landscape may be the establishment's response, which has thus far been harsh. Both left- and right-leaning governments have floated legislation in recent years intended to rein in online expression. In addition, an Italian court recently held three Google executives responsible for a video posted to YouTube that showed teenagers bullying an autistic classmate, sentencing each to a suspended six-month jail term.
Read more at Time Magazine.
Game of Death
Reality TV has taken dark turns but none more sobering than the Game of Death. Documentary film makers in France tricked 80 people into believing they were contestants on a game show in which they administered electric shocks to contestants. Echoing the famed experiments of psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, were told to "electrocute" a fellow contestant - actually an actor - if he got answers wrong while the audience chanted “punishment.” All but 16 of the volunteers punished the contestant until he appeared to die.
Is this a demonstration of the power of television? An indication that most people will submit to the commands of an authority figure no matter how evil (as with the Nazi death camps) in a fit of blind obedience? Or an example that contestants on what appears to be a reality TV show are savvy enough to assume the producers won’t really let someone die. So, they “play along” in a make-believe world of performance for the camera?
Here's a video about the experiment.
Is this a demonstration of the power of television? An indication that most people will submit to the commands of an authority figure no matter how evil (as with the Nazi death camps) in a fit of blind obedience? Or an example that contestants on what appears to be a reality TV show are savvy enough to assume the producers won’t really let someone die. So, they “play along” in a make-believe world of performance for the camera?
Here's a video about the experiment.
Newspapers: the Biggest threat to Mental Wellbeing
It's perhaps the biggest threat to the nation's mental wellbeing, yet it's freely available on every street – for pennies. The dealers claim it expands the mind and bolsters the intellect: users experience an initial rush of emotion (often euphoria or rage), followed by what they believe is a state of enhanced awareness. Tragically this "awareness" is a delusion. As they grow increasingly detached from reality, heavy users often exhibit impaired decision-making abilities, becoming paranoid, agitated and quick to anger. In extreme cases they've even been known to form mobs and attack people. Technically it's called "a newspaper."
In its purest form, a newspaper consists of a collection of facts which, in controlled circumstances, can actively improve knowledge. Unfortunately, facts are expensive, so to save costs and drive up sales, unscrupulous dealers often "cut" the basic contents with cheaper material, such as wild opinion, bullshit, empty hysteria, reheated press releases, advertorial padding and photographs of Lady Gaga with her bum hanging out. The hapless user has little or no concept of the toxicity of the end product: they digest the contents in good faith, only to pay the price later when they find themselves raging incoherently in pubs, or – increasingly – on internet messageboards.
Read more at The Guardian.
In its purest form, a newspaper consists of a collection of facts which, in controlled circumstances, can actively improve knowledge. Unfortunately, facts are expensive, so to save costs and drive up sales, unscrupulous dealers often "cut" the basic contents with cheaper material, such as wild opinion, bullshit, empty hysteria, reheated press releases, advertorial padding and photographs of Lady Gaga with her bum hanging out. The hapless user has little or no concept of the toxicity of the end product: they digest the contents in good faith, only to pay the price later when they find themselves raging incoherently in pubs, or – increasingly – on internet messageboards.
Read more at The Guardian.
Text 2.0 Eye-tracking Reading
Text 2.0 tracks where you’re looking, and based on a number of factors, triggers one of several context-sensitive actions. I have to wonder whether it’s something human beings would really appreciate. The simple fact is this: we don’t interact with things using our eyes. That’s what our hands are for. And that’s why the next generation of books and magazines is going to be both rich and tactile. While certainly you could train yourself to “click” with your eyes, I’m skeptical of the preferability of that over a simple touch-based interface. When the eye is the only or best input then it’s a go, but for all others, any action that might be taken with the eye (getting a word definition or something) could be done just as easily with a quick gesture — and there’s much less room for error.
It’s a cool concept being worked on by some very smart people, and I can think of quite a few applications for this right off the top of my head. Kids learning to read would be a perfect example. But they clearly have some hurdles ahead of them if this is to be anything other than an academic project.
Read more at CrunchGear.
It’s a cool concept being worked on by some very smart people, and I can think of quite a few applications for this right off the top of my head. Kids learning to read would be a perfect example. But they clearly have some hurdles ahead of them if this is to be anything other than an academic project.
Read more at CrunchGear.
Facebook helps Grass-roots Movements Ignite
Facebook is becoming a core component for social movements, from constituent outreach for political campaigns to building support and for causes, says Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook. A growing number of people are discovering that Facebook, with its 350 million members, "is about way more than simply connecting with friends," Noyes said.
Casey Allen Sears, a student at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., helped start a Facebook group this month in opposition to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's letter about discrimination policies at state public universities. Cuccinelli wrote that Virginia's public universities could not adopt policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation "absent specific authorization from the General Assembly." The Facebook group promoted a protest against Cuccinelli's assertion that public universities should back away from policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. "In the 48 hours from the creation of the event, we had more than 700 people saying they were attending," Sears said. "It's really easy to organize a mass movement."
Read more in USA Today.
Casey Allen Sears, a student at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., helped start a Facebook group this month in opposition to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's letter about discrimination policies at state public universities. Cuccinelli wrote that Virginia's public universities could not adopt policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation "absent specific authorization from the General Assembly." The Facebook group promoted a protest against Cuccinelli's assertion that public universities should back away from policies against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. "In the 48 hours from the creation of the event, we had more than 700 people saying they were attending," Sears said. "It's really easy to organize a mass movement."
Read more in USA Today.
Friday, March 26
Twision, the first ever twitter television show makes a splash in Spain
The first Twitter TV show is on the air in Spain. Twision is an hour-long program that lets viewers send in tweets live directly to the two hosts. On the last show they were buried under nearly 2,000 comments and suggestions.
Read more at TechCrunch.
Read more at TechCrunch.
Reimagining The Magazine Cover For The iPad
Print publishers are in a tizzy over Apple’s new iPad because they hope to finally be able to charge for their digital editions. But in order to get people to pay for their magazine and newspaper apps, they are going to have to offer something different that readers cannot get at the newsstand or on the open Web.
The background image itself could be some sort of video loop. The only way people are going to pay for these apps is if they create new experiences for readers.
Read more at TechCrunch.
The background image itself could be some sort of video loop. The only way people are going to pay for these apps is if they create new experiences for readers.
Read more at TechCrunch.
1st Quarter TV Network Ratings
The four broadcast networks are down for the year -2%, according to Nielson. The good news for broadcast is that it is somewhat lower than in previous years -- down 4% in 2009 versus the previous year. It was down 10% in 2008 versus 2007.
Read more at Media Post.
Read more at Media Post.
Press Freedom Worldwide
According to Reporters Without Borders, more than a third of the world's people live in countries where there is no press freedom. Overwhelmingly, these people live in countries where there is no system of democracy or where there are serious deficiencies in the democratic process. Freedom of the press is a problem for most non-democratic systems of government since strict control of access to information is critical to their existence.
To this end, most non-democratic societies employ state-run news organizations to promote the propaganda critical to maintaining an existing political power base and suppress any significant attempts by the media or individual journalists to challenge the approved "government line" on contentious issues.
In such countries, journalists operating on the fringes of what is deemed to be acceptable will very often find themselves the subject of considerable intimidation by the state.
This can range from simple threats to their professional careers firing, professional blacklisting to death threats, kidnapping, torture, and assassination.
Read more here.
To this end, most non-democratic societies employ state-run news organizations to promote the propaganda critical to maintaining an existing political power base and suppress any significant attempts by the media or individual journalists to challenge the approved "government line" on contentious issues.
In such countries, journalists operating on the fringes of what is deemed to be acceptable will very often find themselves the subject of considerable intimidation by the state.
This can range from simple threats to their professional careers firing, professional blacklisting to death threats, kidnapping, torture, and assassination.
Read more here.
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