tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65634912024-03-07T17:47:49.400-06:00WILLblogAn informal companion to the public broadcasting infosphereJack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-58618613713085545952010-02-21T15:30:00.005-06:002010-02-21T17:15:53.840-06:00Media Matters live at the Siebel Center<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVsfdtPPckNWTh1QDlseX_KzqnhDRodXJ5vK5mKmtmWFfr9_87PAD4mScXD3caftBq-3V2TXXxm88dPsrC5B491FAxV_4sgx69W6drmWS5-PEO4OjXiBrnqotUav9YR1idiO_Iw/s1600-h/IMG_0020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVsfdtPPckNWTh1QDlseX_KzqnhDRodXJ5vK5mKmtmWFfr9_87PAD4mScXD3caftBq-3V2TXXxm88dPsrC5B491FAxV_4sgx69W6drmWS5-PEO4OjXiBrnqotUav9YR1idiO_Iw/s400/IMG_0020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440812470754816130" border="0" /></a>Some 200 people turned out this afternoon at the Siebel Center for the first-ever live broadcast of Media Matters on WILL. Host Bob McChesney and gust John Nichols, Washington correspondent for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Nation</span>, talked about their new book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Death and Life of American Journalism</span> (Nation Books) and took questions from the studio audience.</p>
<p>With reporters being but by the thousands across the United States, newspapers folding, and broadcast news mostly focused on entertainment, the future of journalism is in serious jeopardy. Who will report local news and how will they be paid, ask McChesney and Nichols? They propose a number of ways federal subsidies could support local news, much as America's Founders supported newspapers by subsidizing postage and printing.</p>
<p>At WILL we're working on several projects to put skills and tools in the hands of citizens who know their communities and can tell their own stories. The ability to produce and distribute media is no longer dominated by large entities, and anyone with a digital camera and a laptop can produce great journalism if they have the desire, skills, and ethics. A question for us is how can WILL stimulate, foster, and support community-based citizen journalists? We hope to discover answers in the coming months.
Meanwhile, it helps to have an open dialogue on the status of journalism and media in America, and bring more voices to an honest discussion of the role of news in democracy. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Death and Life of American Journalism</span> should help that process.</p>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30382298@N02/sets/72157623481527604/">View more photos of this event on Flickr</a>.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-44734927551392348912009-11-23T13:53:00.002-06:002009-11-23T13:56:54.843-06:00Carl Kasell to retire from NPR NewscastsSay it ain't so! Carl Kasell, the voice of NPR newscasts, will retire from that duty on December 31st. This from NPR:
<blockquote>After 30 years of waking up at 1:05 a.m. to anchor the top of the hour newscast during Morning Edition, Carl Kasell has decided the time has come to sleep in. He will leave his newscast post at the end of this year... but happily for all of us he isn't going far. Carl will continue to be the Official Judge and Scorekeeper for Wait Wait.. Don't Tell Me!, the show that turned him from a newsman into a rock star! Carl will also continue his travels to stations around the country on NPR's behalf.
Carl has raised more than a generation of listeners with his calm and authoritative newscast and has been the first voice many people heard each day. He also has been a teacher and role model for NPR newscasters... not only because of his skill and experience, but also because of his kindness, integrity, and professionalism.
Carl has walked into the newscast booth tens of thousands of times during his tenure. He was there the day that Iranian students took over the American Embassy in 1979... he was there when the Berlin wall fell in 1989 and he was there again when two jetliners slammed into the World Trade Towers in 2001. And he’s been there every week since.
Carl first walked through the doors of NPR in 1975 as a part-time newscaster ... and was on the air in November 1979 at the inception of Morning Edition. In 1995, he hosted Early Morning Edition, which eventually led to Morning Edition’s early start time of 5 a.m. eastern. Carl is a proud member of the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame and a recipient of several major broadcast awards, including a Peabody which he shares with Morning Edition and another he shares with Wait Wait.</blockquote>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-32017222268130482862009-06-23T15:49:00.003-05:002009-06-23T15:52:01.824-05:00Meet Luciana Kieser<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVdQAoGiFJjTcjgm01_FJf2_-TMsocxJGMTjCeLOrSIcbdB3Q9blcBbqpv9D72lypwawMhxBcHClHEZs2jG55_1CbfJzWsMSw1_IkMfKX8-1SsG6I1r5S1rW5KrwJGjoiUXU3Xg/s1600-h/Luciana-and-Daddy72.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 207px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVdQAoGiFJjTcjgm01_FJf2_-TMsocxJGMTjCeLOrSIcbdB3Q9blcBbqpv9D72lypwawMhxBcHClHEZs2jG55_1CbfJzWsMSw1_IkMfKX8-1SsG6I1r5S1rW5KrwJGjoiUXU3Xg/s400/Luciana-and-Daddy72.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350628182407083794" /></a>From WILL's chief meteorologist and proud new dad Ed Kieser:
<blockquote>"Lucia and I are proud to announce the arrival of our daughter Luciana Eleanora Kieser. She was born yesterday (June 17, 2009) at 12:32 PM EDT... weighing in a 7 pounds 7 ounces... 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing fine."</blockquote>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-35021992734385790412009-04-16T09:19:00.004-05:002009-04-16T10:02:36.775-05:00Digital Transition Chaos<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vK_Z8k79jh4ZAf9MgZcEX6tQGVeKrzKurdMPVT5PQMO-r-XtVf00_c75mrrQPOQzRwckyXqnp-l8QbWy3VCSziX59lxp_eKOHGZpa3vHvPxNpKz7Ofdqs46H2dl49bR6lRyYUw/s1600-h/digital-tv-hell.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5vK_Z8k79jh4ZAf9MgZcEX6tQGVeKrzKurdMPVT5PQMO-r-XtVf00_c75mrrQPOQzRwckyXqnp-l8QbWy3VCSziX59lxp_eKOHGZpa3vHvPxNpKz7Ofdqs46H2dl49bR6lRyYUw/s400/digital-tv-hell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325304034284260354" border="0" /></a>
Digital television is a great idea in theory. The reality is proving messy at best.</p>
<p>In the best-case scenario, you'd simply turn on your new digital TV and it would pull in video more beautiful than a DVD. Since each TV station can now broadcast up to four different channels, you'd have many times more programming choices than before, over-the-air without paying for cable or satellite service. Some people actually have that experience.</p>
<p>For others, just getting a good digital signal is like alchemy. You need an antenna, and sometimes an outdoor antenna, because the signal strength of digital TV is about one-hundredth that of analog. With analog a weak signal might yield a noisy picture, but with digital you get...nothing. Like anything digital, it's either on or off. If you have the wrong antenna, you won't get the new digital VHF channels including WILL's channel 9. So you have to know something about antennas, which most of us probably thought we'd left behind along with 8 track tapes.</p>
<p>But wait, the chaos gets better. If you have cable service, you may no longer even get your favorite local stations at all. That's what happened in the Bloomington, Illinois area, where WILL-TV is no longer available to Comcast cable customers. Or more precisely, WILL-TV is no longer available to Comcast customers who have the analog Comcast cable service. If you have the analog Comcast cable service, do you even know that? Once you ffigure that out, you can upgrade to digital cable for free and get a new digital set-top box. Comcast will keep your monthly bill the same for 12 months, but after that your bill will likely increase. Or you can drop cable and get WILL-TV over-the-air, if you have a TV with a digital tuner, or a digital TV converter box, if you are within range of WILL-TV's digital TV signal. Lots of ifs there.</p>
<p>(Fore more excruciating detail on the Bloomington Comcast situation, see <a href="http://will.illinois.edu/tvworthblogging/entry/update-comcast-in-bloomington1/">David Thiel's post on TV Worth Blogging</a>.)</p>
<p>Further, the 50 some cable services throughout central Illinois process their signals in different ways. An HD signal on one cable service may look very different from another service. We're getting many reports of out-of-synch audio, and people naturally assume we can do something about it.</p>
<p>Still further, the aspect ratio for HD is 16x9, whereas Standard Definition (SD) is 4x3. What does a 4x3 picture look like on your 16x9 HDTV? Hard to predict, because it depends on both the station producing the signal, and how that signal is processed by your cable service.</p>
<p>Many if not all of these issues will be sorted out over time. We may eventually arrive at the promised land of digital TV actually working. Meanwhile, if you're totally fed up with trying to watch TV I have a suggestion. There's always something good on the web.</p>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-68983908925053760172009-03-31T14:37:00.004-05:002009-03-31T15:48:38.043-05:00The place just filled up with guitars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE7LaJFDkRsOkHOuvcj5fzBdzDAVgwsa1tQrE_vqzN1cqKGvqDD2qZQ058GeqbFSvhJTZhaXKIGcAcA5pSI-n_kSDEkn2N3KgUNAhthPMLV4FWrWZlsAAr5bRClKon276pCkjbg/s1600-h/bach_guitars.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE7LaJFDkRsOkHOuvcj5fzBdzDAVgwsa1tQrE_vqzN1cqKGvqDD2qZQ058GeqbFSvhJTZhaXKIGcAcA5pSI-n_kSDEkn2N3KgUNAhthPMLV4FWrWZlsAAr5bRClKon276pCkjbg/s400/bach_guitars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319438588801824258" border="0" /></a>
Stepped outside of my office today and found the Campbell Hall lobby brimming with guitars and guitarists. The 17-member Guitar Ensemble from Illinois State University was here to play a Bach Brandenburg Concerto in advance of their concert in the evening. The segment aired today on WILL-FM's new Live and Local with Kevin Kelly.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-43399264712774407672009-03-03T10:03:00.002-06:002009-03-03T10:18:52.422-06:00No news<blockquote>Print journalism spent the 1980s and '90s taking profits and then, in the decade that followed, impaling itself on the Internet. - David Simon, Washington Post
</blockquote>So the Baltimore police no longer provide reporters with the names of officers involved in police shootings. Their ranks have been so thinned, no reporter has even asked for so long the police forgot the law mandates they provide this information without delay, to anyone.
But it's not just the law enforcement beat in Baltimore. Science and environmental reporters, political reporters, financial reporters, and especially foreign bureaus have been cut, cut again, then cut some more over the past two years.
At a time when so much news is being made, and the stakes are higher than ever, our view of the world is dimming. And that's today's news.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-64365900757439992242009-03-02T16:53:00.003-06:002009-03-02T17:17:05.357-06:00WILLblog returns...with disturbing newsWILLblog was always intended to provide an insider's view on the public broadcasting world. (Soon we'll call it public media, but that's another post for another day...) Today I have some troubling news about struggling stations around the system. Of course just about everyone is dealing with fallout from the economic mess we're in, so this isn't meant to say "poor us." This is, however, about public broadcasting, so here goes:
<a href="http://www.wned.org/pressroom/releases/wnedBudgetReduce.asp">WNED REDUCES BUDGETED EXPENSES AND STAFF POSITIONS</a> (Buffalo, NY)
<a href="http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/local_govtpolitics/article/state_funding_for_public_tv_radio_on_chopping_block/35958/">State funding for public TV, radio on chopping block</a> (Charlottesville, VA)
<a href="http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/12/05/layoffs-wbez-vocalo/">
Layoffs at WBEZ, Vocalo</a> (Chicago, IL)
These are only three news items about very large cuts at local stations. I have friends at other stations all over the country, and many of them are laying off staff, cutting local programs, and reducing services just to survive.
Of course newspapers across the nation are being hit even harder. In the case of some, like the Chicago Tribune, solvency is imperiled by excessive debt from buying other newspapers. Others, like the Rocky Mountain News, just couldn't make their payroll.
Here is an important question we must raise as high as possible: At a time when, more than ever, we need to know what's happening, who will report the news?
One other thing occurs to me as I ponder the fate of local npr and pbs stations: We have a chance to salvage the disaster happening to communities whose newspapers are folding, if we can remain strong enough to deliver. Might be a big if...Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-3402768192834304292007-04-24T09:40:00.000-05:002007-04-24T10:04:22.265-05:00Happy Birthday Bur Oak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWHtZS7t4hyAl_KOKCEsfu4l-jO-bWY-cdZWMsgxu7x3MfFiIUlp5gqGq_Ni7EuSVFbQvUWnHtOcgM14af7xQWUou4Ppy3Dkp65dy2kCu8tsWTEGMWoFPhgpq5lVHN1Hrr1kqBQ/s1600-h/burroak400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWHtZS7t4hyAl_KOKCEsfu4l-jO-bWY-cdZWMsgxu7x3MfFiIUlp5gqGq_Ni7EuSVFbQvUWnHtOcgM14af7xQWUou4Ppy3Dkp65dy2kCu8tsWTEGMWoFPhgpq5lVHN1Hrr1kqBQ/s400/burroak400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057009193102129826" border="1" /></a>
This massive Bur Oak lives in the front lawn of the Natural History Building on the corner of Green Street and Matthews in Urbana. According to Geography Professor Bruce Hannon, it's the oldest living thing on the University of Illinois campus. Now 200 years old, the tree "was a sapling when the prairie fires swept easterly across what is now Champaign, routinely consuming everything before them," says Professor Hannon. "The wetlands that became the campus subdued these fires, allowing only the hardiest trees to survive. The Boneyard creek stopped the spread of the fire and allowed the Big Grove to flourish beginning in what is now downtown Urbana, and spread eastward. Only remnants of that grove remain, along with our most famous tree. It is important to learn the impact on the landscape we have had over that last 200 years. This living survivor provides us with a starting point."
You can help celebrate Earth Day and a Bur Oak Birthday Party at 4 pm this Friday, April 27th at the tree itself. The Grand Prairie Friends will present landscape drawings, and give away Oak seedlings with growing instructions. Growing things that last: what a good idea!Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1168993655955330102007-01-16T18:16:00.000-06:002007-01-16T22:14:31.403-06:00President Bush on the NewshourPresident Bush made himself available for an extended interview with Jim Lehrer on the Newshour on PBS today, which is airing here in Champaign-Urbana as we speak. The subject is (surprise) Iraq. The President was disappointed that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "fumbled" the execution of Saddam Hussein in such an indignified way...and of course there are a few other problems too.
How exactly do you conduct a dignified execution? Never mind, I don't think I want to know.
Anyway, here's the archive page for this interview from the Newshour, complete with audio links:
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/politics/bush-interview_01-16-07.html">http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/politics/bush-interview_01-16-07.html</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1168563927959058052007-01-11T18:53:00.000-06:002007-01-11T19:06:28.110-06:00Mistakes were made....I love the Spanish language. One of the things I love about it is the subtle variations of meaning provided by all those verb tenses. Then you have these standard ways of saying things like "It broke on me" which in English would be "I broke it."
Speaking of breaking things, President Bush spoke last night (in English) about how things are going in Iraq. He proposed a new set of steps which includes sending more than 20,000 additional troops. He said mistakes were made...borrowing easily from the lovely Spanish-style passive verb syntax.
But as always, I could be wrong so don't listen to me, listen to the President himself, presented here without filters:
<a href="http://willmedia.will.uiuc.edu/ramgen/archives/presidentbush070110.rm">streaming RealAudio</a>
<a href="http://will.uiuc.edu/media/presidentbush070110.mp3">MP3 download</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1163020433287203462006-11-08T14:37:00.000-06:002006-12-06T10:32:15.750-06:00My election day rant<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/1600/IVoted.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/320/IVoted.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>I love voting on Election Day, I truly do. I wear that little 'I Voted' sticker like a badge of honor, like a silent-but-deadly public scolding to all those citizen-slackers out there who can't bother to make a few holes in a punchcard (or whatever...for me this year it was fill-in-the-little-circles). I know, I know, many non-voters don't pay enough attention to make an informed electoral choice, so they feel they're not qualified. Or they think "Why even bother?"
The only answer I have is to take a good look at what's happening. Our communities, our nation, and this miracle we call Earth need our engaged attention. Look at the races that are decided by a few votes, and in one recent case, by a single vote. Then tell me your vote doesn't matter.
But that's not why I'm writing this. I want to rant about something else entirely. Let me share with you a few pictures of my election day voting experience.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/1600/HaysCenter20061107.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:10px 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/320/HaysCenter20061107.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> This is the Hays Center in Champaign, which for years has been my polling place. A lovely little Park District facility three blocks from my house. And it's good that I know it so well because, well, it's not exactly endowed with prominent polling place signage.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/1600/PollingPlace20061107.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/320/PollingPlace20061107.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>
We see here a door in the back of the building with a small sign. The doorway is, shall we say, adorned with the colours of autumn. Basically it's choked with leaves, like no-one could be bothered to clean it up and make the place findable, let alone presentable. Here's a closer look. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/1600/PollingPlace20061107b.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:20px 0 20px 20px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/320/PollingPlace20061107b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>
<br>
I know I'm not making any friends with the County Clerk in pointing this out, but that's not my job. I also acknowledge that the Champaign County polling seemed to go very smoothly indeed (take that Mark Sheldon!). Here's my point: We should not only vote, but celebrate the act of voting. It should be a day of enthusiastic expression of what it means to live in a free country. I'm not asking for a parade, but merely a sense of aesthetics. If we care so little about the look and feel of democracy, how can we expect everyone to embrace it?
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/1600/ThankYouForVoting.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2669/360/320/ThankYouForVoting.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1155248723253205322006-08-10T17:11:00.000-05:002006-08-10T17:29:49.930-05:00A fluid situationApparently today was not the best day to travel by air. I always carry lots of water on the plane, but on the bright side I guess I'll be traveling lighter.
In case you missed the U.S. official word, or simply want the access to the public record, here are audio archives of this morning's news conference on the terrorism alert for commercial flights, presented by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
<a href="http://rms01.cites.uiuc.edu/ramgen/will/archives/HomelandSecurityNewsConf2006-08-10.rm">Streaming RealAudio</a> | <a href="http://will.uiuc.edu/willmp3/HomelandSecurityNewsConf2006-08-10.mp3">MP3 download</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1155061374055286262006-08-08T13:18:00.000-05:002006-08-08T13:22:54.080-05:00More Crisis ViewsLebanese perspectives on the war in Lebanon? Might be helpful for us to get them, and there are many different Lebanese perspectives. Here's <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/7/25/104551/433">a starting point on the community site kuri5hin.org</a>. Please add suggestions about other resources for information, knowledge, and perspective.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1155047380771904132006-08-08T09:09:00.000-05:002006-08-08T09:29:40.786-05:00Crisis in the Middle EastOK, so all the Big Media have fully deployed their Crisis in the Middle East logos. We could of course wisecrack about how this is a bigger news-theme opportunity than the Michael Jackson trial, bigger even than Runaway Bride, but of course it's bigger than a news-theme and it's not funny. We had better understand it the best we can, and try to sincerely and fully address it. The implications and complications of the war in Lebanon and Israel, connected in so many ways with wars, conflicts, and contests pretty much everywhere else, must be covered as comprehensively as possible by our news media.
Too bad in most cases that's not really happening.
One case where it is happening is at the BBC, which too often makes up for the lack of coverage throughout the other English-speaking news media. Perspective, what's that? Aren't there just two sides to every story?
You might find more here at the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm">BBC News In Depth website</a>, which also has a Middle East Crisis logo. Sometimes, logos actually mean something.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1152742418091460352006-07-12T16:33:00.000-05:002006-07-12T17:13:38.156-05:00WILL-AM 580 News Podcast: A star is bornSo here we go again hyping our product. The WILL brand reigns supreme in the news- and info-space. In the universe of pubcasting on the web, we rock. That's not what I'm saying here, I'm being facetiously ironical. In fact I come here today not to bury us with non-faint praise, but to heap it on Jenn Rourke.
Who is Jenn Rourke? Why, so glad you asked! Jenn Rourke is a fabulous student of broadcasting journalism who somehow agreed to work at WILL as our summer intern. Her mistake, our gain. What has Jenn been doing to earn her non-living wage as a WILL intern? Cranking out a custom, web-only version of the best of the best from AM 580 news. She's doing this every weekday, editing in news features, commentaries, weather forecasts, and other value-added audio content, including some cool music buttons. Jenn has her own radio show on Urbana's WRFU (<a href="http://www.midwestninja.com/">Midwest Ninja</a>, 4 to 5 pm each Wednesday). And she's the voice behind the new AM 580 Daily News Podcast, for which you can <a href="http://www.will.uiuc.edu/RSS/WILLfeeds/newspodcast.xml">pick up the URL right here</a>.
A star is born...but now that Jenn's producing this, she can never leave!Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1149871815915863562006-06-09T11:21:00.000-05:002006-06-09T11:50:15.940-05:00Congress to cut funding for...Mickey Mouse?The annual Congressional ritual to slash funding for public broadcasting has begun. On Wednesday the House Appropriations Committee voted to cut $115 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting budget next year, a 23 percent reduction. It was a straight party-line vote, led by Representative Ralph Regula, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the appropriations panel.
Moveon.org and others are cranking up the email lists to oppose the cuts, and I'm sure we'll be talking about it as the federal budget process progresses, if that's the correct term. Last year similar cuts by the House Appropriations Committee were firmly rejected by a bi-partisan Congressional majority after an outpouring of citizen support for public broadcasting. And for the most part support for PBS and NPR is indeed bi-partisan, which bodes well for our longevity. Public broadcasting should serve the public interests of all Americans regardless of political party, and as a producer I know we work very hard to do that.
Still, it seems like someone is always trying to make partisan hay out of a supposed liberal bias in PBS and NPR programs. I'd love to talk with anyone about balance and fairness and the qualities that make for great journalism and public affairs programming. But it's harder to do this productively while being threatened and belittled.
Plus, it'd be nice if our critics actually knew what they were talking about instead of simply relying on "principles." Rep. Regula <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/06/08/gop_takes_aim_at_pbs_funding/">reveals something interesting</a> when he refers to our efforts to defend public broadcasting: "They'll trot out Elmo and Mickey Mouse and Lord knows who else, and I'll be out there kind of by myself." Mickey Mouse? Uh, that would be Disney. If only public broadcasting had that kind of money.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1147806807544250532006-05-16T13:53:00.000-05:002006-05-16T14:13:27.593-05:00President Bush speaks on ImmigrationBorder enforcement (especially the border with Mexico) through more border patrol agents, technology, National Guard deployments, involvement by state and local law enforcement, and larger detention facilities; a Temporary Worker program with background checks; better enforcement of laws against hiring illegal immigrants and a new immigrant identity card; a "middle ground" policy to those illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. long enough to establish roots; and re-embracing the Melting Pot and the English language. These are the themes I heard in President Bush's national address on policy on illegal immigration last night. What did you hear?
If you missed it, here are archives:
<a href="http://rms01.cites.uiuc.edu/ramgen/will/archives/presidentbush2006-05-15.rm">Streaming RealAudio</a>
<a href="http://www.will.uiuc.edu/willmp3/presidentbush2006-05-15.mp3">Downloadable MP3</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1139334657159900662006-02-07T11:40:00.000-06:002006-02-07T11:50:57.193-06:00Eavesdropping on Alberto GonzalesIf you tuned in to WILL-AM yesterday, you know we aired the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testifying about the secert wiretapping authorized by President Bush. We were planning to do our winter pledge drive during this time, but something like this is too important to interupt with pleas for financial support...
I have yet to find a complete audio or video archive on the web, but <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5193527">NPR.org has a really good page</a> with lots of good stuff: NPR news reports, analysis, hearing highlights, and <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5189144">A Guide to the NSA Eavesdropping Debate</a>. NPR continues to excel at providing more than just the surface.
I wish we could get the entire hearing for download, so anyone could use the content for their own journalistic mashups. We need to democratize the media online...but maybe first we should democratize the federal government.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1137710812426664582006-01-19T15:09:00.000-06:002006-01-19T16:46:52.490-06:00Illinois Governor delivers State of the State 2006It was the best of times, it was the best of times. Wow are we doing great in the great State of Illinois. Never mind the growing debt...
Two years ago, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich went on a tear about how the problem with Illinois education was the Illinois State Board of Education. Last year he announced a plan to provide health care for all Illinois children. In the Governor's State of the State address yesterday, it was rebuilding roads and help with the cost of higher education. You just never know what it's going to be with Rod, but one thing is clear: We're living in the land of Oz.
Just kidding about that, kind of. Part of my job here on WILLblog is to be provocative.
But I would never tell you what to think, and always encourage you to be informed. So in keeping with our open-source philosophy of media, here are audio archives of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich delivering the State of the State address in Springfield on January 18th, 2006:
<a href="http://rms01.cites.uiuc.edu/ramgen/will/archives/illinoisgovernor060118.rm">streaming RealAudio</a>
<a href="http://www.will.uiuc.edu/willmp3/illinoisgovernor060118.mp3">MP3 download</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1137430644401142992006-01-16T10:32:00.000-06:002006-01-16T11:09:47.093-06:00Alito hearings on NPRWhatever you think about the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court, we hope you caught some of the Senate confirmation hearings as they aired last week on WILL-AM. Some people told me the hearings were endless and boring. I didn't have the free attention to listen the entire week, but every time I tuned in it seemed pretty interesting, including the questioning by Dick Durban (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) on whether or not <em>Roe v. Wade</em> is "settled" law.
The hearings have concluded, and now comes a certain amount of political push-and-shove over the confirmation vote in the full Senate. Given that Judge Alito didn't say anything with which he could actually be hanged, it's likely he will ultimately be confirmed. But until then, this is still a "democratic moment" during which members of the Senate, and by extension all Americans, have a chance to examine and consider the character and qualifications of someone who will play key role in determining vital Constitutional issues over the next several decades. In that light the hearings, though possibly "endless and boring," deserve our attention.
Kudos to NPR for airing the hearings live, and for their extensive reporting and analysis. If you missed anything, you can listen again and get lots more on the Alito hearings <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4982475">here on the NPR web site</a>.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1134601670558942462005-12-14T16:55:00.000-06:002005-12-14T17:07:50.570-06:00Oh what a lovely warWhy should we stay the course in Iraq? "We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of brutal dictator," said President Bush today on the eve of Iraq's first parliamentary elections. "It is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in his place."
In a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the President admitted that "much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong." He unveiled a "National Strategy for Victory" and fired more arrows at critics with the "cut and run" phrase we've heard so much of lately. And he acknowledged for the first time that as many as 30,000 Iraqi civilians may have been killed since the U.S. invasion.
But why am I telling you these things, because you can listen to President Bush's speech here:
<a href="http://rms01.cites.uiuc.edu/ramgen/will/archives/PresidentBush2005-12-14.rm">streaming RealAudio</a>
<a href="http://www.will.uiuc.edu/willmp3/PresidentBush2005-12-14.mp3">downloadable MP3</a>Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1134499968306595102005-12-13T12:44:00.000-06:002005-12-13T12:52:48.316-06:00How did your Congressperson vote on that bill?Here's a handy web site for checking up on your Member of Congress: it's <a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/">the Votes Database</a>, the site that "lets you browse every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991," created and maintained by The Washington Post. Not the sexiest of marketing slogans, but then who said democracy is sexy? You can browse by member, bill, vote margin, and "vote missers," among other options.
We think options like this that make you better informed are a good thing.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1132160833025572662005-11-16T10:45:00.000-06:002005-11-16T11:07:13.056-06:00What's in your CD player?If you bought recent CD releases from Sony BMG, it could be some great music...along with a nasty bit of software that could damage your computer. WILL's resident consumer electronics guru Rich Warren reports that in the name of copy protection, Sony BMG is now including on many of its CDs a program called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit">rootkit</a> to monitor your computer activity and prevent you from making copies of the CD, even for your own fair use. The software can lead to computer crashes and loss of data, all in the name of protecting a large music corporation from a theoretical loss of CD sales caused by you making a copy of a CD you already paid for. Or putting it on your iPod, you selfish music lover you.
Here's more if you want <a href="http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html">the sordid details</a>.
Personally I think if we believe in free markets, based on the notion of informed consumer choice, Sony BMG is likely to lose CD sales as consumers are informed about what they're buying. We love music, so we're happy to help that educational process.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1130428639763420012005-10-27T10:31:00.000-05:002005-10-27T10:57:19.826-05:00The withdrawal methodOh my, how long it's been, and we start with a headline like this? My keyboard is fired up, so here we go.
Harriet Miers has withdrawn as a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. The basis for her withdrawal seems to be that key conservatives were not impressed with her credentials. So the challenge to her nomination was from the right, which begs the question: How smart IS Carl Rove? After all, now the White House will be expected to nominate a "real" conservative.
Meanwhile, NPR News will offer an hour-long program today from 1 to 2 pm Central on the Harriet Miers nomination withdrawal, hosted by Neal Conan. WILL-AM 580 will air this live.Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6563491.post-1126041835151307592005-09-06T16:17:00.000-05:002005-09-06T16:29:36.870-05:00Hurricane Katrina resources page from WILL<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://will-am-fm-tv.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/katrinasmall-724703.jpg" border="1" alt="Hurricane Katrina, August 28, 2005" />We put together a modest web page with a few announcements and links to resources related to the Katrina disaster, and you can <a href="http://www.will.uiuc.edu/main/katrina.htm">find it here</a>. PBS and NPR programs and web sites, community events around East Central Illinois, and ways you can donate and help...it's a growing mess, just like the areas affected most directly by Hurricane Katrina.
If you have information we should add to this page, please leave a comment or <a href="mailto:webmaster@will.uiuc.edu?subject=Hurricane Katrina resources page">email the WILL webmaster</a>...hey, that's me!Jack Brightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085346129610207800noreply@blogger.com0