News of the movement for January 7, 2013


Future of the Internet

The Government Reauthorizes More Warrantless Wiretapping

Talk about a crappy present. Before the holidays we warned you that Congress was about to hand us a lump of coal in the form of the FISA Amendments Act. Well, you got your coal.

Josh Levy, Free Press

Ad Blocking Raises Alarm Among Firms Like Google

Xavier Niel, the French technology entrepreneur, has made a career of disrupting the status quo. Now, he's dared to take on Google and other online advertisers in a battle that puts the Web companies under pressure to use the wealth generated by the ads to help pay for the network pipelines that deliver the content.

David Jolly, New York Times

Can the FTC Enforce the Google Deal?

Google insists that its voluntary agreement to alter some search-engine practices contains legally enforceable measures -- even as the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission said the agency is largely at the mercy of the company’s willingness to behave itself.

Steve Friess, Politico


Journalism and Beyond

Three Crucial Media Issues We Can't Ignore in 2013

The media isn't just something that happens to us -- it is something we can and must be part of creating and reshaping ourselves. Here are three critical issues we must tackle in the coming year.

Josh Stearns, MediaShift

Old Media’s Stalwarts Persevered in 2012

Everyone knows that traditional media companies are dead in the water, overwhelmed by ad skipping, cord cutting and audience flight. We know that because Chicken Littles (like me) have been saying it for years. We may eventually be proven right -- the sky will fall and the business will collapse -- but for the time being, the sky over traditional media is blue and it’s raining green.

David Carr, New York Times

Media Consolidation -- a Panacea That May Not Be Good for Journalism

Greater media consolidation is generally considered by owners in both Britain and the United States to offer a way out of the current crisis. But an American commentator, Josh Stearns, believes that we should think again about acceding to such a plan. He argues that "media consolidation is largely what got us into this mess in the first place."

Roy Greenslade, The Guardian

A Rare Free-Speech Fight Erupts Over China Censors

Is China getting fed up with censorship? That’s the question people are starting to ask following a dramatic weekend showdown over press independence -- still very much ongoing -- between China’s official propaganda apparatus and reporters at Guangdong’s freewheeling investigative newspaper Southern Weekly.

Dexter Roberts, Businessweek

Test for New Leaders as Chinese Paper Takes On Censors

Turmoil at one of China’s leading newspapers is posing an early challenge to the measured political program of the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping, pitting a pent-up popular demand for change against the Communist Party’s desire to maintain a firm grip.

Ian Johnson, New York Times

Outcry After NOLA's Daily Paper Cuts Back

It's hardly news that the newspaper business is on the ropes. Some papers have folded completely, and others have reduced the number of pages. The most recent casualty is the New Orleans Times-Picayune, an institution that's seen the city through good times and the worst of times, a part of the very fabric of a unique American city. Last October, theTimes-Picayune began publishing only three days a week, making New Orleans the largest American city without a daily paper.

CBS News

Irish Newspapers and the Battle to Control Online Content

Irish newspapers created quite a stir when they demanded a fee for incoming links to their content. Actually, this is a mere prelude to a much more crucial debate on copyrights, robotic scraping and subsequent synthetic content recreation.

Frédéric Filloux, The Guardian