Wikipedia's Plea

Jeff, you looked really different on Tuesday....

The source every high school and college teacher warns against is at it again.

The site, which is run by donations and is used and read by over 1/3 of the internet it needs a heafty amount of money to stay free.

This isn't the first time Wikipedia has used pictures of writers and founder Jimmy Wales to garner donations.  As the chart shows, Jimmy's personal appeal has pulled in a lot of money, but it still isn't enough.



However, Jimmy's appeal is no different than say, Democracy Now!  urging patron's to give to keep the site free and out of the hands of advertisers.  Because it's only a matter of time before some company wants to change their Wikipedia page that has information of a past scandal and Wikipedia can't say no because they can't lose the ad revenue.

I couldn't start a lot of papers with out Wikipedia's ability to give me fantastic primary sources, my best friend and I would still be trying to figure out the plot to the final season of Supernatural.  So Wikipedia has more than enough reasons to take all the money I have that I didn't have to spend on books or DVDs.

However, this has resulted in some parodies, my favorite has been seeing his face looking like the picture of the article.   But this one is the best one, that is probably NSFW but has gone viral.

A Dedication to A Dear Friend

This doesn't have anything to do with Indy media, rather a huge supporter of everything indy related.  Kevin Michael was a staple of the basement of Park.  His larger than life personality was one that was an inspiration to all.  He was never afraid to treat his students like adults, like we were his colleagues and we were solving a problem together. The countless times he stopped my tears with a funny story or a story to put my tears into perspective made him a wonderful friend. 

Kevin Michael also appreciated Indy Media.  He helped independent projects for students any chance he got.  He saved my show more times than I can possibly count.  Kevin loved student media.  He knew how important it was.  He knew that we became better at our jobs and we would always be there because of student media.  Kevin is the reason I stayed at Park.  He also thought that everything dealing with school was stupid because classes interfere with education.

More than once he encouraged me to skip classes to go hunt down a story or dig further into a piece I was working on.  Usually after this class I'd go down on Thursday and sit and talk to him and learn so much.

Today it kills me that he won't be there and I went to his memorial and not to his office.

So Kevin, Park pushes on with out our best assest.  We miss you.

Is This the End Of Occupy Wall St.?

I know this is from a mainstream source, but they were the first to pop up on twitter with this story despite the number of indys I follow.


So Bloomberg decided that OWS had to end because "health and safety condition became intolerable" (he apparently hasn't been to some sections of NYC or out of a first world country.  As the movement continues to grow in other cities, it seems the founding city of New York might be coming to the end.

OWS protesters were kicked out of the park (forcibly removed) for camping.

Yes, it turns out the down fall of the movement is they can't have tents.  So they can stay at the park, but they can't use tents. They only have "the power of their arguments"

But with in about 3 minutes of me posting this, things changed. The National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order which allows OWSers to  keep their tents and keep living in Zuccotti Park.  A judge halted Bloomberg's decision and decided they could stay. 

I can't say that I totally agree with what OWS is fighting for.  I think people quitting their jobs to protest is a bit silly.  I don't think that you can complain that you don't have a job if you willingly left that job.  But I still don't think that our first amendment rights should be stamped upon because Bloomberg or leaders think that this is going to damage them.

More interesting is this Twitter timeline of the evacuation. A little bit scary.

The Election, from ICTV

Right now I work for an Independent Media outlet.  Newswatch 16! Last week we had election center and I've had time to critique the show and reflect on what happened so I can write about it.

Last year, we had critiques from a crazy townie who made lots of comments about our female anchor's chest and I was a little bit off set  But I suppose when you're the only local station the crazies watch you and then send you stuff of about your anchors.

This year was small and very local which made a lot of things easier.  We were able to put reporters at every single person running's parties.  We had staffs on data center looking up every single race.  I was proud, I was line producing.

When doing the opening though I realized something.  Our main SOTs that we used were all from Svante Myrick.  Svante is the new 24 year old mayor.  I've had his phone number in my phone for years.  Svante used to send us stories that were happening in the town and when he had a statement to make I was always the reporter.  Svante was more excited than me when I became news director.

Svante loves ICTV, he loves Newswatch and indy media.  He's become close to us not only because he's a huge supporter but because he's our age.  The problem with indy media is because we're not a big name, we're small we don't have the same credibility.  I can't tell you how many times I've had reporters struggle because they can't get an interview because "they're just college students" or "they're not real news."


So to be honest, my connection with Svante and his love for Newswatch may make us seem biased, but really if I sit in your office for 3 hours trying to get an interview and you still won't comment I'm going to somebody who will.

I'm excited that he's in office because now I know we'll get comments from more people.

Prop 26, Sanity Prevails in Mississippi

I've been reading a lot about Prop 26, a personhood law that would place the point of personhood at the exact point of conception.  As in the moment the sperm meets egg and the zygote is floating around the uterus.

It's been well publicized, because it's the strictest personhood law to come out.  On blogs, people who are pro-life have come out against it. And some pieces pointing out the strangeness of the whole idea have come out.

This is truly a stupid law. Let's be honest, do you prosecute a woman for miscarrying?  I mean, half of all fertilized eggs exit the womb with out a woman ever knowing she's pregnant.  Is God the number one abortionist in the world?  (I almost think that a lot of crazy, evangelicals' heads exploded every time somebody presents that thought)

On Tuesday, Mississippi voted on Prop 26.  Many in the mainstream acted like it would pass.  Fear was struck into the hearts of many and maybe it had an advantage because it had people coming out to the polls, but the main fact is, they got it wrong.

Slate realized this, and while the author was honest, he also thought that Prop 26 would do better than similar laws in other states because it was supported by people in the government.  The real problem is is they brought in outlawing the pill.  Making it just about abortion tends to get people going, but taking away a mother of 2's IUD will end your campaign.

The mainstream jumped to conclusions about why this would pass and the fact that it would pass in general.  Really, media should instead inform people that it has the chance to pass and not that it has passed already.

Net Neutrality

We were talking yesterday about Net Neutrality.  Imagine my surprise when a blog post by Senator Al Franken spoke on the subject of Net Neutrality.

Al Franken's position on net neutrality is this: we need it.  In this post he explains in very simple terms what net neutrality is and why and how it's under attack by those who want to let big corporations pay to have a "better spot" on the internet.

I agree with Franken. Here's the thing, competition is the most basic American principle.  Allowing media conglomerates to take over all of the stories on the internet (where most people get their news) we get a very one sided perspective of thing.  We need independent media, we need small start ups that are out digging for stories.  Net neutrality allows small start ups to have the same chance as media conglomerates to get their story out first.

Net neutrality is one of the more important parts of the internet and I think that it's something that we cannot let go.  Because as Franken says, it's not a government take over of the internet.  And really, not having net neutrality is way more of a government take over

The Power of Blogs

We've talked a lot about blogging.  It seems as if most indy media outlets are blogs.

I hate blogging.  It's like keeping a journal.  I was never, ever good at that and I can't seem to be comfortable blogging. It's frustrating for me to keep a blog because I know that I'm not good at it.

Our guest speaker, Mr. Jacobson however has really harnessed the power of blogging.  His blog Legal Insurrection is actually really well set up and great blog wise (even if I don't agree with what he's saying.)

I find that his use of contributors interesting.  His name and picture is right at the top of the page along with his job.  Having people blog for you when you're the face of the blog can we risky.  I mean, what would happen if one of them posted something that offended people and people assumed it was his voice saying that as opposed to one of his regular contributors.  I know being a prominent  blogger while working full time can be hard, but I think it's risky to be putting your name on something when others have content control.

He also doesn't take advantage of getting donations.  If you put it up higher, people will give.  I almost couldn't find the donate button and I wonder if some people are reading it and not realizing that they can donate.  He could be missing out on revenue.

Mr. Jacobson was a great speaker, his blog is very nice, but I don't know if he's getting 100% of what he can out of this blog.