Israel's "self-defence" is destroying the world
Israel has been pursuing its cry-wolf policy since its inception. Successive Israeli regimes have followed the same tactic of presenting their own nation as the victim of aggression.All major news corporations have taken the line of "Israel as a victim." There are now more examples than ever. Israel has justified its attacks and deadly wars against Palestinians and Arabs in terms of their right to self-defence. Any audience worldwide might believe what they hear. It is normal to seek safety and security as a basic need. People worldwide, and specifically in America, which is the foremost supporter of Israel, would be convinced. As long as these fictions are promulgated along media wires and echoed by reputable institutions, Israel will continue to defy international law and humanitarian charters. More human rights will be violated.Israel's self-defence argument should be renamed its policy of aggression. Self-defence empowers victims to use sufficient power to defend themselves. From Israel, we only see excessive force used against civilians.
http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/israels-self-defense-is-destroying-the-world/
The Future Will Not Be Free
For companies whose core product is content, the idea we internet visionaries sold is a load of crap. We persuaded executives to compete with themselves online by setting up web sites that offered for free the same content their staffs labored so strenuously to produce and sell in their print publications. Companies were supposed make money by "monetizing the attention economy," or some other similarly vaporous concept. Now the internet is pulverizing them. Following our lead, companies have now trained a generation of young people to never, ever, ever expect to pay for content on a laptop or desktop. But this is not quite the apocalypse. Many new digital platforms are brewing, and early on in the development of each one there will be a battle for the business model. Every new device is another chance to turn it all around. The first decade of the web could come to be seen as a momentary aberration. So, media companies, on behalf of all misdirected internet visionaries, I am sorry. We like you -- we really do -- and we do not want a world without you. If you can hold on until we all have new kinds of screens, and new sets of expectations, you will be fine. You will be different, but fine. Just do not take my word for it this time. Ask around.
News is becoming portable, personalized, and participatory
In the digital era, news has become omnipresent. Americans access it in multiple formats on multiple platforms on myriad devices. The days of loyalty to a particular news organization on a particular piece of technology in a particular form are gone. Some 46% of Americans say they get news from four to six media platforms on a typical day. Just 7% get their news from a single media platform on a typical day. The internet is at the center of how people’s relationship to news is changing. Six in ten Americans (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources, and the internet is now the third most popular news platform, behind local television news and national television news. In this new multi-platform media environment, people’s relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized, and participatory. This report discusses two significant technological trends that have influences news consumption behavior: First, the advent of social media has helped the news become a social experience for consumers. People use social networking technology to filter, assess, and react to news. Second, mobile connectivity has turned news gathering and news awareness into an anytime, anywhere affair for avid news watchers.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-News.aspx?r=1
