MediaChannel.org - Media Reader

October 4, 2000

Media Reader:
The best media about the media
MediaChannel's international,
biweekly, multimedia magazine

Archive

OS X Nation
The group energy and anticipation once directed at music releases has found another locus, one closer to the current age's revolutions, writes Steven Johnson. Do operating-system debuts make great cultural moments? From Feed, Inc. More about: Cultural Impacts, Multimedia/Internet, Music

Missing Carl Rowan
From the urban ghetto to the American black-college frat house, the words "Rowan Report" cued expectations of unpredictable journalism. Rowan's recent death, says Herb Boyd, triggers a sense of loss. From The Black World Today More about: Diversity, Personalities, Radio

Russian Dollars And Sense
This country is afflicted by the worst economic depression ever, and professional watchers of Russia are to blame. According to Stephen Cohen, special culpability belongs to journalists who unfailingly supported Boris Yeltsin. From The Nation magazine More about: Russian Federation, Business, Policy/Law, Politics

Deities Of Gilded Age 2.0?
Don't anoint the money folks yet. Mark Dery sat new-media venture capitalist Jerry Colonna down with Doug Henwood, editor of Left Business Journal, for a rare questioning of the market-cap, gold-rush mentality. From ARTBYTE: The Magazine of Digital Culture More about: Business, Politics, Multimedia/Internet

Dumb Yankees
Australians living in the United States are familiar with the distorted visions of their homeland reported by the U.S. media during the Olympics. Tim Blair asks why American journalists can't get that country right. From Online Journalism Review More about: Australia, Credibility/Accuracy, News Coverage, Newspapers, Television

Brave New Media World
Questions of press responsibility are nothing new, reports Greg Guma. And the United States has been fighting international policies and regulations since media time began. From Toward Freedom More about: Cultural Impacts, News Coverage, Policy/Law, Technology, Multimedia/Internet

Our Own Pain.com
The name of China's biggest Web site sounds like a derogatory term from the World War II era. Outcry on the matter is sparking debate over what to do when an old wound becomes a brand name. From Asia Pacific Media Network More about: China, Business, Freedom of Expression, Technology, Multimedia/Internet

Ho Ho, The Humanity!
You could always count on Bill Clinton's morals to blow away like dandelion seeds in a wind tunnel, says Will Durst. And because that was funny, he was loved. Consider comedy, the capricious electoral arbiter. From Mother Jones online More about: United States, Audience, Cultural Impacts, Politics, Television

True Journalists
So that truth might be brought to light, three Sierra Leone journalists endured military surveillance, incarceration and exile. Akwe Amosu reports that 2000's World Press winners paid dues that are the stuff of average columnists' nightmares. From allAfrica.com More about: Sierra Leone, Freedom of Expression, Violence, Newspapers

Pollack Jokes
Neal Pollack, who has been referred to as "hip guy du jour," is bringing his literary chops to the unconventional publishing company du jour, McSweeny's. Chris Wright wonders what this means — and asks some silly questions. From Boston Phoenix More about: Business, Personalities, Books