Category Archives: news

I (HEART) Katie, But What's Really Going On…..

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

…….is that, for good or for ill, she’s taken the first hour of “The Today Show” to the evening with her! LOL!

(Well, CBS and She With The Great Legs wanted to change the game. So, okay……. Maybe she’s actually following those suggestions folks made earlier this year.  I have a big crush on Katie, so I’ll just ignore the spinning Murrow bones many media critics have been talking about. [You mean they HAVEN’T been spinning since Nancy Kerrigan and O.J.? :)] Somewhere in Heaven, I believe that Peter is doing a REAL newscast, and I wish I could see it. )

I began watching “Today” a decade or so ago because I very much liked the “hard news” first 20 minutes, where she had no problem opening a polite-but-firm can or two of whup-ass on an interviewee. So this transition will eventually work out for everyone who cares about this kind of thing. 

Some journalists of color have criticized the lack of racial diversity in the new newscasts’ on-air correspondents over the last two days, but I did like the Latina she used in last night’s “Free Speech” segment.

*******

And here’s a Post-Script, from “Today’s WORD On Journalism”:

TODAY’S WORD ON JOURNALISM–Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006

More on Katie Couric:
“I’m always happy when a woman succeeds. Even if
you think anchoring is stupid, which it is, and
the evening news a pile of propagandistic
claptrap, which it mostly is, it’s good to see
another bastion of male supremacy fall by the
wayside. Anything that gets women thinking they
can do anything is good! And there is the simple
issue of fairness–of rewarding women for their
work on equal terms with men. It’s another crack
in the glass ceiling and every woman who’s come
up against that should be glad. If the news is a
bit fluffier under Katie C, you can bet that’s
because CBS has done market research showing that
will up their ratings. Unfortunately, most people
are very interested in Tom Cruise and Katie
Holmes’ baby.”
   –Katha Pollitt, writer, the morning after
Couric’s debut as CBS Evening News anchor, 9/6/06.

* * * * *
TODAY’S WORD ON JOURNALISM is a free “service”
sent to the 1,500 or so misguided volunteer
subscribers around the planet. If you have
recovered from whatever led you to subscribe and
don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe.” Or if
you want to afflict someone else, send me the
email address and watch the fun begin.
(Disclaimer: While I just quote ’em, I don’t
necessarily endorse ’em. All, in theory, contain
at least a kernel of insight.)

Ted Pease, WORDmeister & Professor of Interesting Stuff
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
http://www.usu.edu/journalism/faculty/pease/
To receive Today’s Word on Journalism, send “subscribe” to
tpease@cc.usu.edu
See the WORD online at the Hard News Café: http://www.hardnewscafe.usu.edu

Mumia, Inc. (First In A Long-Running Series)

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

In other anniversary news, more and more folks working on documentary films as the 25th anniversary of the Faulkner fatal shooting approaches this December.

From Philadelphia City Paper:

Shame of the City II: Mumia Returns

Wynnefield filmmaker Tigre Hill is in preproduction on a documentary examining what happened at 13th and Locust streets on Dec. 9, 1981, when Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed by Mumia Abu-Jamal .

Hill has tackled controversial topics before. His last documentary, Shame of a City, chronicled the 2003 mayoral race between Democratic Mayor John Street and Republican challenger Sam Katz . It followed the campaign through the FBI bug found in the mayor’s office and the convictions of Street fundraiser Ron White and City Treasurer Corey Kemp .

In his new project, with a working title of 13th and Locust, Hill said he wants to show what really happened that night and explore the international Abu-Jamal phenomenon.

He expects to conduct extensive interviews with numerous subjects from both the Faulkner and Abu-Jamal sides.

“What I really want is to interview Abu-Jamal’s brother,” said Hill, “because I don’t think he has ever testified.” He declined to say if he was taking a position on Abu-Jamal’s guilt, and has no plans to try to interview Abu-Jamal, aka Wesley Cook , who was convicted of fatally shooting Faulkner in the face after the officer had stopped his younger brother for a traffic citation.

The Free Mumia movement grew out of supporters who claim Abu-Jamal was framed; two out of the four witnesses on the street, who identified Abu-Jamal as the killer, later changed their statements, and the gun found near the scene was never confirmed to be the murder weapon. Abu-Jamal never testified at his own trial, maintaining he had inadequate legal representation. A jury convicted Abu-Jamal and he was sent to death row. Then, a district judge overturned Abu-Jamal’s death sentence in 2001 because of discrepancies during the trial. There was no new trial, but the prosecution appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the death penalty. If that effort is successful, Gov. Ed Rendell , who was district attorney at the time of the murder, would have to sign Abu-Jamal’s death warrant.

Hill said a main component of the film will be the number of organizations and individuals who rallied around Abu-Jamal. With supporters contending Abu-Jamal never got a fair trial and that he was set up by “the white man,” he’s become the poster boy for political prisoners and those that oppose the death penalty.

In April, a street in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis was named after Abu-Jamal, causing a stir here. Yesterday, at 15th and Cherry streets, a large rally was scheduled for the American Friends Service Committee to welcome a French delegation that intends to defend the street naming.

Hill said he is not concerned that there have been several documentaries about Abu-Jamal over the years, such as The Framing of an Execution in 2001 narrated by Danny Glover . Hill said that film was biased and only showed one point of view.

Meanwhile, I mentioned here previously about some documentary filmmakers from the other side of the pond who are here doing a documentary about a young activist who was born the night of the Faulkner shooting. Here is a profile of one of them. The story mentions the film.

While you’re at it, check out the new CD “Who Is Mumia Abu-Jamal?” by Nex Millen/Retrospective. The debut work takes Abu-Jamal’s audio essays from 1993 to 1996 and places them in musical perspective, using great beats and melodies. The recorded asides—exiled Black Panther Assata Shakur and the late poet/activist Allen Ginsberg calls for support—are also well-produced. Shakur’s music, in particular, is the correct combination of beauty (of Abu-Jamal’s writing) and tragedy (of his confinement). Longtime listeners will find that Millen’s music adds greatly, making the essays (“Death is a campaign poster, a stepping stone to public office”) new to the ear. The unfamiliar will be doubly hypnotized as Abu-Jamal explains how racism and capitalism combine to oppress groups and individuals.

A Glimpse Of The Futu—er, Present? :)

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

A couple of months or so ago, my friend and comrade Jared Ball and I wrote about the need for a “B-SPAN”—a Black C-SPAN that would serve the people’s needs.

So I was more than slightly intrigued when I found the following in my email box this morning:

Wi-Fi TV Launches Black and African-American Internet TV and Chat as Digital Divide Closes

Wi-Fi TV Leads the Way in Bringing Black Themes to the Changing Face of Television and Millions of Black Internet Users

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — August 23, 2006 — Wi-Fi TV Inc. (PINKSHEETS: WTVN) today became the first Internet TV provider in the world to create channel categories for Black and African American TV channels and live chat.

“As live interactive TV comes to Internet enabled PCs, laptops, cellular phones and mobile devices, and the nature of TV itself is re-invented, Wi-Fi TV will work to make the growing economic power, compelling history and great cultural richness of African-Americans a vital part of the mix,” said Alex Kanakaris, Chairman of Wi-Fi TV Inc.

Wi-Fi TV (www.Wi-FiTV.com) will provide extensive links to the Wi-Fi TV Black and African-American channel pages from throughout its live interactive TV web site, and will place channels and content pertaining to Black themes in many different Wi-Fi TV categories, including Education, Entertainment, Politics, News, Music and History.

“Wi-Fi TV is taking the lead in bringing African American live TV content to the Internet, in connecting Internet TV with African Americans and in providing education, culture and entertainment for an African American audience,” said Mr. Kanakaris. “We are actively selling Wi-Fi TV Channels to the African American community and are truly excited about the kind of content we will be able to provide that old fashioned analog TV never will,” he added.

According to the New York Times (March 31, 2006, article by Michael Marriott) the “Digital Divide” is closing as Blacks turn to the Internet. “African-Americans are steadily gaining access to and ease with the Internet, signaling a remarkable closing of the ‘digital divide’ that many experts had worried would be a crippling disadvantage in achieving success,” the newspaper reported.

According to the New York Times:

— African-Americans, even those at the lower end of the economic scale,
are making significant gains in online adoption.
— Organizations that serve African-Americans are turning to the Internet
to reach out to them.
— The sharpest growth is among young people but African-Americans of
various ages are increasing usage as well.

According to a Pew national survey of people 18 and older, completed in February 2006, 74 percent of whites go online, 61 percent of African-Americans do and 80 percent of English-speaking Hispanic-Americans report using the Internet.

In a similar Pew survey in 1998, just 42 percent of white American adults said they used the Internet while only 23 percent of African-American adults did so. Forty percent of English-speaking Hispanic-Americans said they used the Internet at that time.

About Wi-Fi TV, Inc.

Wi-Fi TV can be seen over the Internet in the United States, Latin America and globally. 300 channels of live TV programming, Country and Category specific breaking news and free voice over IP phone calls are available at www.Wi-FiTV.com.

Wi-Fi TV viewers from 130 countries around the world are tracked on the home page (www.Wi-FiTV.com) by the independent NeoTracker. Wi-Fi TV, Inc. has opened a new content and technology demo room for the press in Newport Beach, California. For further information contact Colby Marceau, (949) 716-9397, info@wi-fitv.com.

Hope You're Reading……….

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

…………….BlackAmericaWeb‘s five-part series on Katrina, One Year Later.

While you’re there, check out BAW’s article on the current state of Black television.

I’m beginning to no longer remember a time in which we didn’t have immediately accessible, national Black-generated print reporting. It’s a good feeling for this Black media historian and AFRO and NNPA News Service alum. 🙂

Katrina Appointment Television

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

And then the waters came. They clearly haven’t left our psyches yet—and they shouldn’t.

Anyway, Richard Prince has, as usual, done a great public service. The “Journal-isms” columnist compiled this list of Katrina network and cable coverage. The electronic onslaught starts tomorrow or so.

(Also, if you missed Spike’s documentary, the entire thing—both parts, all four acts—will air on HBO again Tuesday night.) For those with satellite or digital cable, here’s the full schedule on where and when it’ll air on HBO’s “family” of channels AFTER Tuesday.

I Miss Being That Optimistic……

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

……..but the more and more I read our history in 2006, the more and more I understand that the present in which we are living is extraordinarily different, on many levels, from our collective past, if you start that particular clock with Reconstruction and break it in the aftershock of the tragedy at the Lorraine Hotel. The many changes of our current world make the possibility a Movement—as we have known the term—well, highly improbable.

I know—I’m Master Of The Obvious. 🙂 Anyway, check this out.

By the way, I attended the first one, and wrote a little sump’in that I thought needed to be said at the time.