Monday, August 13, 2007

Feel the outrage? Robert Scoble asks a good question. I, too, saw this 60 Minutes segment last night. (It was an accident on my part. The first program segment I've seen in many years.) Whereas I share Scoble's outrage of a business that so obviously exploits and reinforces fears among a population sub-set, be cautioned that 60 Minutes does not treat subjects fairly. It edits things to make the interviewer appear omniscient and the interviewee appear evil. Notice that the "reporter" had a short notice at the end of the piece noting that the rapper apologized for some of his remarks. The rapper was not shown, only the reporter. That lessens the impact of the apology. Obviously, the subject was baited, 60 Minutes got the snips it wanted, edited them into a story, and told it its way. It found one family that reinforced the point that 60 Minutes wanted to make. Then it left the impression that black people are all influenced by this crap. Feel the outrage, but gather your own facts. I trust nothing I see on 60 Minutes. It's one reason why I quit watching TV news of any kind more than 10 years ago. I find trusted sources on the Web--and I'm always alert to assure that the source continues to earn my trust. Scoble's next post is also a good one as he is reminded, much like we all need this constant reminder, that he should remember what's truly important in life and do something to make it happen. What deviation in society outrages you? What can you be doing to make the world around you a better place? What are you doing with your time and talents? Warner Music: why do you fund this crap?. I just saw a very disturbing report on 60 Minutes (an important TV news show in USA) about the music business that pushes a [base "]no snitching[per thou] campaign. It impugned Warner Music. That[base ']s the company that Ethan Kaplan works for (as head of technology). Now, admittedly, he[base ']s a geek there, not directly involved in choosing the music strategies of Warner, but let[base ']s start there. Ethan: why do you guys fund this kind of crap? You talk about [base "]blowhard hacks[per thou] at Gnomedex. What you are doing and funding (and supporting through your technology) is FAR worse for the human race than any arguing we[base ']re doing at Gnomedex. What do you say about this Ethan? How can you write hypocritical posts like this one about Gnomedex and go to work for the company you work for who are spreading the kind of vile described by 60 Minutes? [Scobleizer] 7:15:22 AM    comment []