Mexicans and Free News
Behold, a conversation between me and The Mexican:
The Mexican is one of the funniest dudes I know, and know we're linked up on Facebook. Outstanding.
* * *
The news:
AP: Can't Wait for Sex? Just Get Married, Some Say - Yeah, I bet that's what they say. Jerks.
BBC: Eye in the Sky: Satellite Images Reveal Secretive North Korea - This was actually really interesting to read through. Go have a look.
BBC: NZ to deploy SAS to Afghanistan
US to target 'Afghan drug lords' (BBC, Guardian)
BBC: Pakistan Taliban - what if?; Times: Taleban leader killed in 'shootout' - Taleban in disarray after reported shootout between contenders to replace the group's dead leader, Baitullah Mehsud; Illusion of Taleban unity is shattered
BBC: Mauritania bomber targets embassy
Guardian: Soldier killed in Afghanistan as MoD criticised over idle armoured vehicles
Times: Is Somalia the new Afghanistan?
Fars: Jundallah Threatens to Attack Iraqi Gov't in Support of MKO - Interesting claim by Fars News Agency, whose writers are best known for their unique flaming trousers. I'm not ruling this story out entirely, but it's tough to imagine a group of Balochi nationalists going to Iraq for the purpose of wreaking havoc. That's a pretty long stretch of logic.
Michael Totten: Where the Middle East Fights Its Wars - Michael Totten has an excellent piece on Beirut, to include an interview with a leading Lebanese politician. Definitely worth the time to read, and the pictures are great.
Michael Yon: No Young Soldiers - Michael Yon continues his dispatches with The Rifles from Afghanistan. As with the Totten article, Yon's work is always worth reading, and the pictures are fantastic.
Today's video is The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of alien invasion movies, the first of three parts. This guy's one of the best personalities on the Internet, so if you've ever watched so much as one alien invasion or monster movie, you'll probably enjoy this one. Have a look.
* * *
Last week, I posted an article from the BBC entitled Murdoch signals end of free news. I've been wanting to comment on it, but I haven't had the time to get into it. So, two of the websites that I visit on a daily basis are owned by Rupert Murdoch: Fox News, and The Times of London. In theory, this move by Murdoch could eliminate two of the sites that I visit regularly in order to stay informed about the world. It could also encourage other news purveyors to take similar action, going to a pay model.
I can understand where Rupert Murdoch and his crew are coming from on this - after all, news isn't free to produce. Unfortunately, I think that Murdoch and the rest of the folks who came up with this new model have neglected a few key facts.
1) Fox News is the Internet face of a TV news channel, and wasn't mentioned, so maybe it's going to stay free. The Times, on the other hand, is the online incarnation of a newspaper. Newspapers are dying because the entire newspaper model has become outdated in the information age - making it a pay site won't change this, it will only prevent those who are already clicking on advertisement links from having access to them.
2) Beyond being an obsolete format, the information age has made it easier for readers to determine that the quality of reporting is nowhere near what it once was. I studied journalism in high school and college, I've written for a high school newspaper and an independent college newspaper, as well as a sort of daily online magazine format. The quality and objectivity that I see from most so-called journalists is truly awful, and this is part of the reason why newspapers are dying in droves. Making Internet news outlets pay sites won't fix this, and people won't pay for sub-standard news (even if "sub-standard" describes the new standard).
3) Murdoch and his cronies note the cost of producing news - but the truth is that news costs less to produce than it used to, not more. Of course, there's more news available, but much of that can be relayed online (even the media portions of it). Gone are the days when every major newspaper had bureaus in major cities throughout the country and throughout the world - a handful, perhaps, but when most newspapers, even the online ones, are little more than parasites for the Associated Press, Reuters, and a handful of other wire services. Without an improvement in quality and objectivity, the pay model is going to fail.
4) Beyond these points, let's face it - people aren't going to pay for something from Newscorp that they can get for free from the BBC, or the Guardian, or - forgive me for even saying it - CNN.
Paying for low quality news. Yeah, right. Welcome to the real world, Rupert.
* * *
That's it for today, folks. Check back tomorrow for more.
The Mexican: She speaks Spanitch.
The Fly: Did you just say 'Spanitch'?
The Mexican: Si.
The Mexican is one of the funniest dudes I know, and know we're linked up on Facebook. Outstanding.
The news:
Today's video is The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of alien invasion movies, the first of three parts. This guy's one of the best personalities on the Internet, so if you've ever watched so much as one alien invasion or monster movie, you'll probably enjoy this one. Have a look.
Last week, I posted an article from the BBC entitled Murdoch signals end of free news. I've been wanting to comment on it, but I haven't had the time to get into it. So, two of the websites that I visit on a daily basis are owned by Rupert Murdoch: Fox News, and The Times of London. In theory, this move by Murdoch could eliminate two of the sites that I visit regularly in order to stay informed about the world. It could also encourage other news purveyors to take similar action, going to a pay model.
I can understand where Rupert Murdoch and his crew are coming from on this - after all, news isn't free to produce. Unfortunately, I think that Murdoch and the rest of the folks who came up with this new model have neglected a few key facts.
1) Fox News is the Internet face of a TV news channel, and wasn't mentioned, so maybe it's going to stay free. The Times, on the other hand, is the online incarnation of a newspaper. Newspapers are dying because the entire newspaper model has become outdated in the information age - making it a pay site won't change this, it will only prevent those who are already clicking on advertisement links from having access to them.
2) Beyond being an obsolete format, the information age has made it easier for readers to determine that the quality of reporting is nowhere near what it once was. I studied journalism in high school and college, I've written for a high school newspaper and an independent college newspaper, as well as a sort of daily online magazine format. The quality and objectivity that I see from most so-called journalists is truly awful, and this is part of the reason why newspapers are dying in droves. Making Internet news outlets pay sites won't fix this, and people won't pay for sub-standard news (even if "sub-standard" describes the new standard).
3) Murdoch and his cronies note the cost of producing news - but the truth is that news costs less to produce than it used to, not more. Of course, there's more news available, but much of that can be relayed online (even the media portions of it). Gone are the days when every major newspaper had bureaus in major cities throughout the country and throughout the world - a handful, perhaps, but when most newspapers, even the online ones, are little more than parasites for the Associated Press, Reuters, and a handful of other wire services. Without an improvement in quality and objectivity, the pay model is going to fail.
4) Beyond these points, let's face it - people aren't going to pay for something from Newscorp that they can get for free from the BBC, or the Guardian, or - forgive me for even saying it - CNN.
Paying for low quality news. Yeah, right. Welcome to the real world, Rupert.
That's it for today, folks. Check back tomorrow for more.
2 Comments:
Will you please set me up with the Mexican? He sounds like someone I would like to date and/or make out with. Thanks.
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