] Rupert Murdoch gave an important speech -- and warning --
] to the American Society of Newspaper Editors in
] Washington today, telling them that papers are whistling
] in their own graveyard and recommending some solutions,
] including even blogs:

Jeff Jarvis on a recent speech by Murdoch.

BuzzMachine | Rupert's Warning

Maps google news top stories geographically.

buzztracker

] Former Vice President Al Gore and partners have renamed
] their upcoming youth-oriented TV network and set Aug. 1
] as its launch date.
]
] The venture, formerly called INdTV, will be called
] Current.tv, it was announced on Monday. The 24-hour
] network will target an 18- to 34-year-old audience and
] offer short-form content--15-second to five-minute
] segments--to be contributed by viewers.
]
] Think of it as a big video blog that you don't need a
] computer to watch. Gore said he is aiming to bring
] interactivity to the TV set.
]
] "The Internet opened a floodgate for young people whose
] passions are finally being heard, but TV hasn't followed
] suit," Gore, the network's chairman, said in a statement.
] "We intend to change that with Current, giving those who
] crave the empowerment of the Web the same opportunity for
] expression on television."

According to Reuters, Current has also made some deal with Google that will allow them to present data on web trends a la Google's Zeitgeist reports.

Gore's TV network gets new name, launch date | CNET News.com

] The advantages are spread widely. For the entertainment
] industry itself, recommendations are a remarkably
] efficient form of marketing, allowing smaller films and
] less-mainstream music to find an audience. For consumers,
] the improved signal-to-noise ratio that comes from
] following a good recommendation encourages exploration
] and can reawaken a passion for music and film,
] potentially creating a far larger entertainment market
] overall. (The average Netflix customer rents seven DVDs a
] month, three times the rate at brick-and-mortar stores.)
] And the cultural benefit of all of this is much more
] diversity, reversing the blanding effects of a century of
] distribution scarcity and ending the tyranny of the hit.
]
] Such is the power of the Long Tail. Its time has come.

] Rule 1: Make everything available
] Rule 2: Cut the price in half. Now lower it.
] Rule 3: Help me find it

This article might as well be a summary of much discussion here on MemeStreams about the future of media sales.

Wired 12.10: The Long Tail

] "We need to be very well informed. We need less Hollywood
] news and a little more hard news," Turner said in an
] opening 10-minute address. That young people get much of
] their news from sources like Jon Stewart on Comedy
] Central was, in his view, "frightening."

Oh yes.. Rupert Murdoch and Fox News were compared to Hitler and the Nazis previous to WWII. That's not mentioned in this article, but its the big buzz around the net. In my humble opinion, Turner has the right to invoke Goodwin's Law whenever he pleases. As the law states, the argument will only end in forfeit. Bad news for Ted. In the end, bad publicity for Murdoch, and possible legacy for Goebbels. We already knew Ted was nuts, and we love him all that much more because of it. I could hang with Ted. We'd be best buds.

] "I forgave Russia for despotic communism, so I can forgive Jerry Levin."
] "That's why I started that restaurant business,"
] "It's not as exciting as the bombing of Baghdad, but people have
] to eat. They've got half the fat of beef burgers,"

When I was last in Atlanta, Decius and I made an outing for dinner to Ted's Montana grill. I think its safe to say without having a board meeting to discuss it, Ted's Montana Grill gets the Industrial Memetics two thumbs up. We had a nice talk about alternative media over a lovely dinner of alternative meat. My bison meatloaf was mighty good. Elvis would have loved it, and in my book that's all that matters.

Variety.com - Turner takes a stand (again)

A video interview with Salam Pax. Blogging, Internet in Iraq, embedded journalists, media bias. "Look for the story, don't trust any one source."

ZeD - Salam Pax Interview

] The folks at Comedy Central were annoyed when Fox News
] Channel's Bill O'Reilly kept referring to "The Daily
] Show" audience as "stoned slackers."
]
] So they did a little research. And guess whose audience
] is more educated?

The answer should not surprise anyone.

Humor is a sign of intelligence and a tool of the intelligent. The comedy on the Daily Show is not low-brow-talk-down-to-the-audience-laugh-a-minute Jay Leno style stuff. Its also not wacky-wacky Letterman style. The Daily Show writers assume you have a clue about what is going on in the world and you are tuned in for some much needed comedy relief. Like O'Reilly, they assume you are pissed off about certain issues, but they do not pander to it, the revel in it.

Boston.com | Stewart vs. O'Reilly, still friendly, for now

] Effective with this sentence, Wired News will no longer
] capitalize the "I" in internet.

Don't expect the AP to update its style guide.

Wired News: It's Just the 'internet' Now

They have been running an interview from last Friday. Worth watching.

] Today, the only way for media companies to survive is to
] own everything up and down the media chain--from
] broadcast and cable networks to the sitcoms, movies, and
] news broadcasts you see on those stations; to the
] production studios that make them; to the cable,
] satellite, and broadcast systems that bring the programs
] to your television set; to the Web sites you visit to
] read about those programs; to the way you log on to the
] Internet to view those pages. Big media today wants to
] own the faucet, pipeline, water, and the reservoir. The
] rain clouds come next.

'My Beef With Big Media' by Ted Turner