Media

There are 262 posts filed in Media (this is page 15 of 27).

N&O paywall goes up December 19th

Here it goes. The N&O announced yesterday that it will be putting up a paywall on December 19th:

The News & Observer announced this week that it will begin charging for digital content starting Dec. 19.

The newspaper’s e-edition, which looks the same as the print paper; all content on the N&O’s website, newsobserver.com; and content on its mobile site and iPhone and Android smartphone apps will move behind a pay wall.

This will further distance the newspaper from the news-reading public, which has largely migrated to online sources. It will also stop bloggers like me from linking to N&O articles, because I don’t like including links in my blog that are time-limited or go nowhere.

I’ve said before how paywalls don’t work but it bears repeating.
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Boston Globe weighs in on Romney Facebook Hacking


Bobby Calvan of the Boston Globe interviewed me this afternoon and wrote an excellent story on the Romney Facebook Hacking phenomenon. Hopefully this will bring out more information!

Visit Mitt Romney’s page on Facebook and you’ll see 11.6 million “likes.” Lee Wolf, a self-described liberal who likes nothing about Romney’s politics, was stunned to hear from friends on the online social network that his name had popped up as an apparent supporter of the Republican presidential candidate.

“I don’t believe in anything he says. He’s not somebody I’d be voting for,” said Wolf, who owns the Lobster Shanty, a restaurant in downtown Salem. “I’m still wondering how it happened.”

Others are wondering, too.

Why Do Obama Supporters Appear In Facebook Ads As Romney Fans? – Forbes


Forbes contributor Robert Hof wrote about the Romney Facebook Hacking phenomenon, though he was reluctant to contribute it to “skulduggery,” pointing instead to Facebook’s quickie diagnosis of fat-fingered mobile users. I’ve already shown that, in my case at least, it could not have happened from Facebook Mobile. I’ve also heard from other victims who don’t even own smartphones.

But what on Earth was the name of a friend, who I know is a vocal Obama supporter, doing on a Romney ad? The answer raises questions about how effective, or at least how accurate, these ads are–not necessarily due to a particular fault by Facebook but thanks to the byzantine rules and privacy features that have developed over years of user outrage and resulting Facebook accommodations.

via Why Do Obama Supporters Appear In Facebook Ads As Romney Fans? – Forbes.

What’s up with Debra Goldman’s cash?

Debra Goldman


So after I’ve gotten over the initial shock of the extramarital hijinks allegedly going on between Wake school board members Debra Goldman and Chris Malone and the revelation that Goldman keeps six figures in cash in her home, I can’t help but be drawn again to the money.

Goldman gives a bizarre excuse for having so much cash:

Police asked Goldman why she kept so much money at home. According to the notes of Detective Joseph Lengel, who referred questions to Bazemore, Goldman said that she began to keep large amounts of cash at home in case of emergency because “she found it very difficult to get money from her bank in order to pay her bills” after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
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Bloomberg/Businessweek.com ranks Raleigh 18th

Bloomberg and Businessweek.com came out with their latest 50 Best Cities list and ranked Raleigh 18th.

In its description of the city, Bloomberg and Businessweek.com had this to say about Raleigh:

Raleigh wins the Carolinas, with strong median household income, low crime, and five universities. As one-third of the Research Triangle region, Raleigh is just minutes from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University. The city features a major historical tradition with such properties as the Mordecai House and Tucker House. Residents who aren’t so interested in uninhabited old houses—especially younger residents—might prefer the sights at BugFest, the event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

See that? Raleigh is “just minutes” away from UNC and Duke, but the reporter apparently failed to notice the 35,000-student North Carolina State University located squarely in the middle of Raleigh.

While I’m fond of Mordecai Historic Park and Tucker House, I wouldn’t exactly say these properties are worthy of national attention. There’s no mention, for instance, that Raleigh is the state’s capital, either. It’s as if all the reporter’s research on Raleigh came from Wikipedia or something (though Wikipedia would be more accurate).

“Culture of fear” echoes in the press

Looks like what I’d heard about Tony Tata’s “culture of fear” was right on the mark. The News and Observer’s T. Keung Hui wrote about it on October 6th:

Wake County school board Chairman Kevin Hill said Friday that former Superintendent Tony Tata’s autocratic leadership style created a culture of fear among school system employees.

Then on Wednesday, the Indy Week’s Will Huntsberry wrote about it and included quotes from many school employees backing it up:

Some school board members and former administrators allege that former Wake superintendent Tony Tata created a “culture of fear” in the central office. His generous public persona, which earned him wide popularity, contrasted with his threatening private demeanor in the workplace, they say.

I was particularly galled when I read what Tata allegedly told his staff:
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Romney story gets Slashdotted


I was indirectly “Slashdotted” yesterday when Slashdot posted a link to the Mother Jones story about Mitt Romney Facebook hacking:

Why Do So Many Liberals “Like” Mitt Romney On Facebook?
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 11, @02:47PM
from the strange-bedfellows dept.

pigrabbitbear writes “Mother Jones reports that, ‘In recent weeks, a host of liberal types have complained that their Facebook accounts have erroneously “liked” Romney’s page, and some are floating the theory that the Romney campaign has deployed a virus or used other nefarious means to inflate the candidate’s online stature. This conspiratorial notion has spawned a Facebook community forum, and its own page: “Hacked By Mitt Romney” (cute url: facebook.com/MittYouDidntBuildThat)’ So what’s going on? Is the Romney campaign engaging in some tech wizardry to hijack Americans’ Facebook pages? Seems unlikely, but Romney did somehow manage to acquire millions of fake Twitter followers. But it looks like the Romney campaign isn’t behind this one — Facebook and its mobile app is.”

Actually, this was a Slashdot story that linked to another blog that linked to the Mother Jones story that linked to my site, so it’s not like MT.Net was Slashdotted. That’s why I didn’t notice a huge spike in traffic at my blog. The Hacked By Mitt Romney Facebook page url of http://www.facebook.com/MittYouDidntBuildThat did get mentioned prominently, though, which resulted in 57 new page likes or an overnight jump of 18%.

Of course, I can’t be completely sure these are real living, breathing persons after what I now know about Facebook likes, but that’s what Facebook tells me. Continue reading →

Mark Turner: Horse sense – Letters – NewsObserver.com

My letter to the editor ran in today’s N&O.

Horse sense

Contrary to what the N.C. GOP would have you believe, you won’t find any horses on Raleigh’s 80 miles of beautiful greenways. What you will find are citizens of all political stripes appreciating one of Raleigh’s more popular and unique amenities.

While the N.C.GOP has backed off a bit for implying Sig Hutchinson “raised taxes” (which is, um, interesting as he’s never held public office before), it has not apologized for insulting our city by calling greenways “horse trails.”

(Looks like they didn’t fix my typo, where I wrote “support” instead of “supported.” Oh well.)

via Mark Turner: Horse sense – Letters – NewsObserver.com.

“Horse trails” letter to the editor

The N.C. GOP sent out mailers against candidate for state senate Sig Hutchinson in which they called Raleigh’s greenways “horse trails.” Well, being the chair of the Parks board, I don’t take kindly to that so I wrote a letter to the editor this morning. With any luck it will run tomorrow:

Contrary to what the N.C. GOP would have you believe, you won’t find any horses on Raleigh’s 80 miles of beautiful greenways. What you WILL find are citizens of all political stripes appreciating one of Raleigh’s more popular and unique amenities.

That’s why our citizens have consistently and enthusiastically supported the parks bonds, the same ones shepherded by Sig Hutchinson and other civic and business leaders. Our voters know these parks and greenways are a savvy investment in the health and well-being of our citizens (and future generations as well). These are benefits that even former city councilor Neal Hunt couldn’t say “neigh” to.

Mark Turner
Chair, Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board
Raleigh

(And with any luck, the N&O will fix my typos!)

N&O’s Steve Ford gets it right

I took a swipe at the N&O for its coverage of the firing of Tony Tata the other day and I stand by my criticism. If I’m going to point out the bad, though, it’s only fair that I should also praise the good.

Editorial page editor Steve Ford took up the issue in his column today and does so with a fairer, far more deft touch than most anything else I’ve read in the paper. Ford’s sober consideration of the issue was what I’d been looking for from the newspaper.

That I can say this even while not necessarily buying into every point he makes shows Ford struck the right balance. More of this, please.

Campaign consultant Perry Woods, who often pops up to assist Democratic candidates hereabouts, does his best to rebut the notion that the firing of Wake County school superintendent Tony Tata was an exercise in partisanship.

In a letter that we ran yesterday, Woods – noting he had advised all five of the Democrats who won seats on the school board last fall and who now have told Tata to make himself scarce – said that from a partisan political standpoint, the timing was wrong.

via Ford: The battle Tata couldn't win – Ford – NewsObserver.com.