THE MEDIACRACY

ANALOG TV ENDS IN 2009
http://www.uwire.com/content//topnews081506003.html

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FILM ON MOVIE RATING SYSTEM

"This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is a documentary from Academy
Award-nominated director Kirby Dick and producer Eddie Schmidt - an
investigation into the MPAA film ratings system and its profound effect
on American culture. The documentary asks whether Hollywood movies and
independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether
sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties
than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that
extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the
cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed
directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while
independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether
keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA
entirely unaccountable for its decisions.

http://www3.ifctv.com/thisfilm/playing.php

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DANIEL SCHORR: MEET PETER ZENGER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN & FREDERIC DOUGLASS

PETER JOHNSON, USA TODAY - [Daniel Schorr] finds the new Internet world
both fascinating and scary.

"What is good about it is people will not be able to suppress the news
because you can always have a blogger who gets the story out," Schorr
says. "But what we have here is a medium in which there is no publisher,
no editor, no anything. It's just you and a little machine and you can
make history. I find that scary."

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060725/d_mediamix25.art.htm

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STUPID PBS TRICKS

BOING BOING - The hypocrites at PBS Sprout Kids have fired their host
Melanie Martinez over two short films she made seven years ago that
spoof PSAs [called "Technical Virgin"] about teen abstinence. Someone
posted the films on a website and PBS was worried about her moral
authority as their host of programming for 2- to 5-year-olds. What did
they think would happen: our 4-year-old might find the films while
trolling the Internet?

PBS - Late last week, Melanie Martinez, host of The Good Night Show,
alerted us to the internet posting of an independent short film that she
appeared in seven years ago. PBS Kids Sprout has determined that the
dialogue in this video is inappropriate for her role as a preschool
program host and may undermine her character's credibility with our
audience. As a result, PBS Kids Sprout has decided that she will no
longer appear as host of The Good Night Show. Melanie has been an
important part of our network and we are disappointed that we had to
make this difficult decision.

http://boingboing.net/

VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu8WZHOigPQ

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1994546325179027565&q=technical+virgin

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COLLAPSE OF VILLAGE VOICE CONTINUES AS PAPER GUTS ARTS SECTION

CBC, CANADA - The Village Voice has gutted its arts section by laying
off five senior editors, including Robert Christgau, a longtime writer
credited with launching modern music journalism. The 61-year-old
alternative weekly in New York also dismissed theatre editor Jorge
Morales, dance editor Elizabeth Zimmer and Ed Park from the books
section. Three people from its design department were also given their
walking papers. Village Voice Media described this week's layoffs as an
effort "to reconfigure the editorial department to place an emphasis on
writers as opposed to editors.". . . The future of the venerated
alternative paper has been question since last October when it was taken
over by Phoenix, AZ-based New Times Media, which runs 16 other weekly
papers across the U.S. . . Nearly two dozen people have left since
October, including three editors.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/09/02/villagevoice-layoffs.html


ROBERT CRISTGAU - It is now official--Village Voice Media fired me
today, "for taste," which means (among other things) slightly sweeter
severance. This despite the support of new music editor Rob Harvilla,
who I like as a person and a writer. We both believed I had won myself
some kind of niche as gray eminence. . . But I certainly wasn't
shocked--my approach to music coverage has never been much like that of
the New Times papers. Bless the union, my severance is substantial
enough to give me time to figure out what I'm doing next. In fact,
having finished all my freelance reviews yesterday, I don't have a
single assignment pending. So, since I have no intention of giving up
rock criticism, all reasonable offers entertained; my phone number is in
the book, as they used to say when there were books.

http://www.gawker.com/news/village-voice/the-dean-is-dead-198022.php

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