Read a Review & Hear the Music!

Last week, I was bored and surfing around the Net, and I stumbled upon Fluxblog, which calls itself "the very first MP3 blog." I'm not sure how accurate that statement is, but for what it's worth, I've never come across another one so far. Fluxblog reviews albums and singles from well-known, emerging and unknown music artists. Unlike print media and other Internet sites, however, this blog actually provides readers with playable MP3s so that readers can hear the music for themselves. Readers can then use the review, as well as the actual song, to decide if they'd like to purchase the entire disc. (The songs cannot be downloaded and only remain on the site for a limited amount of time in order to protect the artists from piracy.) I've always wondered why more music sites didn't provide clips of songs with reviews or news articles. With the technology available today, it seems only natural to provide people with as much information as possible. In the case of a music Web site, that means providing actual music to accompany the text. Fluxblog is just another example of an independent site using the technology available to provide its readers something not found elsewhere in the mainstream.

American Labor Press

In Voices of Revolution: The Dissident Press in American History, author Rodger Streitmatter discusses various examples of revolutionary presses that changed some aspect of society throughout U.S. history. Last night I read two chapters - one on the early American labor movement, and another on The Liberator and its effect on slavery. One thing I found striking in the chapters was how similar these rebellious forms of print media were to our independent media today whether they be online, broadcast or in print. For instance, leading newspapers had little regard for the new movement being launched by laborers in the 1820s, and instead sided with the merchants and owners. Today, much of the information or angles presented in independent media have a very limited presence, at best, in the mainstream press. Furthermore, the ideas presented in the labor presses or The Liberator were often too radical initially for many people because they weren't talked about in mainstream journalism, which can often be the case with some of the stories presented by independent journalists.

So far, I really enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of journalism. I read another book by Streitmatter last semester called Mightier Than the Sword and found it interesting and very easy to read. I've already started reading another chapter and enjoy this reading much more than reading for some of my other classes. (This chapter is about Margaret Sanger and her important role in the movement towards birth control education.)

"Trouble the Water" Screens at IC

Last night, documentary filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal brought their Oscar-nominated film, "Trouble the Water," to Ithaca College for a screening. The film travels to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and shows viewers a new side of the struggle in a narrative documentary style. I was not able to attend the screening last night due to a conflict with my job in the Commons, but was able to attend a luncheon today, during which the filmmakers sat down with students and faculty to discuss the film and other issues relating to independent media and documentary filmmaking. One topic they discussed was how they really wanted the film to screen in theaters because audiences there tend to be more captive and engaged than those watching a film on television or the Internet. I thought this point was very interesting, especially when it's related to the current situation in the newspaper industry. A person picking up a paper tends to be more actively engaged than someone scanning the Net for the latest headlines. So, if newspapers decline and die out -- as many assume they will in the coming decade or so -- what will become of the readership? Will they actively seek out their news from other mediums? But, I digress. Lessin and Deal also talked about how they didn't take no for an answer when finding sources for "Trouble the Water" and other projects they worked on. I really admire this because, as someone who's a bit more shy, I don't know if I'd be able to easily assert my right to access certain information like they did. Since I wasn't able to see the film last night, I would love to see it very soon because it sounds like an interesting, important film that anyone would enjoy and benefit from seeing.

Newspapers Should be Endowed?!

The theory expressed in the op-ed piece "News You Can Endow," written by David Swensen and Michael Schmidt, is one I've never heard before. In the piece, they argue that in order for newspapers to survive their current economic situation, newspapers should become endowed just like colleges and universities. They reason that endowments would increase newspapers' independence and allow for greater financial stability. Furthermore, Swensen and Schmidt agree that there would be less pressure on newspapers from stockholders or advertisers, thereby making news organizations more honest and better run. In theory, I think this idea is very sound; in fact, by their logic, the only negative aspect would be that newspapers could no longer endorse a political candidate due to legal constraints on endowments. Additionally, I -- as well as most others -- agree that newspapers' current business model must be amended or updated in order for newspapers to remain viable in today's digital age where most people get their news from the Internet. However, the amount of money needed to finance a single newspaper, much less all of the newspapers in the nation, is extraordinary. Who will finance these papers? In the article, they mention that The New York Times would require an endowment of $5 billion -- certainly no small amount of money. Additionally, while papers would no longer have to answer to shareholders, would those putting their money into the paper want something in return? In the end, newspapers may find themselves answering to a whole new group of people. While Stensen and Schmidt make a strong argument for endowments, I'm not 100 percent sold on the idea. Fundamentally, however, their argument has resonance: Newspapers must change their business models to survive.