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Monday

Focus: Concentration of Media Ownership

Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership - Global Issues: "The idea of corporate media itself may not be a bad thing, for it can foster healthy competition and provide a check against governments. However, the concern is when there is a concentration of ownership due to the risk of increased economic and political influence that can itself be unaccountable.
Table of contents for this page

This web page has the following sub-sections:

* Media Conglomerates, Mega Mergers, Concentration of Ownership
* Vertical Integration
* Interlocking Directorates
* Disney
* Concentration of ownership is where the problem largely lies
* The Quest for the Public Airwaves
* The Quest for the Internet?
* More Information on Ownership issue"



Sunday

The marketers have your ear - Agenda Inc. LiveFeed

The marketers have your ear - Agenda Inc. LiveFeed: "Advertisers have a new way to get into your head. Marketers around the world are using innovative audio technology that sends sound in a narrow beam, just like light, making it possible to direct messages right into consumers' ears while they shop or sit in waiting rooms. The audio spotlight device, created by Watertown firm Holosonic Research Labs Inc., has been used to hawk everything from cereals in supermarket aisles to glasses at doctor's offices. The messages are often quick and targeted -- and a little creepy to the uninitiated."



(Via Agenda Inc .)

Saturday

15 ways stores trick you into spending - MSN Money

15 ways stores trick you into spending - MSN Money: "Ever notice how you can go to a store to pick up just one thing and then, by the time you get to the check stand, you have five or six things in your cart and a bigger bill than you had anticipated?

This happens over and over because department stores use an array of techniques (grocery stores use many of the same tactics) to get you to pick up these items. By itself, each technique isn't very strong -- it's the use of them in combination that is powerful."



Wednesday

Army Propaganda Investigation Hearings

Army Propoganda Hearings: Threatening the Troops:

"The last soldier to see Army Ranger Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge -- especially to the Tillman family -- that a fellow soldier killed Tillman... The military instead released a 'manufactured narrative' detailing how Pat Tillman died leading a courageous counterattack in an Afghan mountain pass, Kevin Tillman told the committee. (Watch Kevin Tillman accuse the military of lying Video)

Also Tuesday, former Pfc. Jessica Lynch told the House panel that the military lied about her capture... 'It was not true,' she said before gently chiding the military. 'The truth is always more heroic than the hype.'...Waxman, D-California, said the military 'invented' tales about Tillman and Lynch. (Watch Lynch describe her bond with the Tillman family Video)

"



Monday

A video about an Orwellian Shopping Mall

"The Catalogue" CHRIS OAKLEY - VIDEO ARTIST: "Crystallising a vision of ‘us seen by them’, The Catalogue explores the codification of humanity on behalf of corporate entities. Through the manipulation of footage captured from life in the retail environment, it places the viewer into the position of a remote and dispassionate agency, observing humanity as a series of units whose value is defined by their spending capacity and future needs."



"The Catalogue" .

YouTube - David Lynch on Product Placement

David Lynch on Product Placement:



(Via .)

Wednesday

Iraq: Why the media failed | Salon

Iraq: Why the media failed | Salon: "It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media. Every branch of the media failed, from daily newspapers, magazines and Web sites to television networks, cable channels and radio. "



(Via Salon.)

Video: "Augmented Cognition"

Augmented Cognition: "Applications of Augmented Cognition

The applications of Augmented Cognition research are numerous, and although initial investments in systems that explicitly monitor cognitive state have been sponsored by military and defense agencies, there is an interest from the commercial sector to develop augmented cognition systems for non-military applications. As mentioned earlier, closely related work on methods and architectures for detecting and reasoning about a user’s workload based on such information as activity with computing systems and gaze have been studied for non-military applications such as commercial notification systems [ie advertising] and communication. "



(watch the video here .)

Tuesday

U.S. News Organizations Failing: Global Issues Report

Media in the United States - Global Issues: "Media omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and bias in the US is something acknowledged by many outside the USA, and is slowly realized more and more inside the US. However, due to those very same omissions, distortion, inaccuracy and bias in the US mainstream media, it is difficult for the average American citizen to obtain an open, objective view of many of the issues that involve the United States (and since the United States is the largest economic and military power in the world, they are naturally involved in many issues!)."



(Via Global Issues .)