MORE CHANGE

From the BBC:

The death of the video cassette recorder appears to be in sight after the UK's largest electrical chain said it is to stop selling them.

Dixons will phase out VCRs due to the boom in DVD players, sales of which have grown seven-fold in five years."

...and, from The New York Times:

...Shazam and seven other relatively unknown acts will get a shot at the kind of exposure that only the major record labels can provide, after being recruited for an experiment by Universal Music Group. Universal, which like other record companies has heavily relied on profits from sales of CD's, has signed the artists to a digital-only label. Starting Tuesday, it will release songs through services like iTunes from Apple Computer, Rhapsody from RealNetworks and MSN Music from Microsoft.

WHEN BLOGS BEAT MEDIA

Another lesson in how blogs can augment mainstream media (or, if you prefer, do the job mainstream media should be doing).

The background: Earlier this week, a Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted to change a rule that stated those who chair committees need to step down if they are indicted. The decision was made as it became increasingly likely that Republican Rep. Tom DeLay will be indicted in a campaign funding investigation in Texas.

The vote was well-reported by big media, but blogger Joshua Marshall at Talking Points Memo took it a step farther. He started contacting representatives, and encouraged readers to start quizzing their representatives, to find out who voted for or against the amendment and then started posting the results.

Marshall harnessed the power of individuals to demand answers from their representatives, and provided the platform for getting that information out, short-circuiting the normal relationship between reporter and press officer. In effect, Marshall, who is a pretty fair journalist, turned to his readers and said, "There's a bigger story here. Help me report it." There's a lesson to be learned.

UPDATE: Jeff Jarvis, with a little prompt from Jay Rosen, likes the idea, too. He has some ideas on how to harness the energy and involvement of readers. Check out the comments, too, for an alternative view.
7:06:42 PM  LINK TO THIS POST  

WORDS FROM FALLUJAH

The freelance journalist whose footage of an American soldier shooting a wounded and unarmed Iraqi during the fighting in Fallujah, has an in-depth post on the events leading up to the shooting and on what he went through as a journalist in the aftermath.

Kevin Sites' blog post is addressed to the Marines involved. It should be required reading for journalists and those who want to be journalists.

In war, as in life, there are plenty of opportunities to see the full spectrum of good and evil that people are capable of. As journalists, it is our job is to report both -- though neither may be fully representative of those people on whom we're reporting. For example, acts of selfless heroism are likely to be as unique to a group as the darker deeds. But our coverage of these unique events, combined with the larger perspective -- will allow the truth of that situation, in all of its complexities, to begin to emerge. That doesn't make the decision to report events like this one any easier. It has, for me, led to an agonizing struggle -- the proverbial long, dark night of the soul.

Excerpts don't do the piece justice; you should read the whole thing.
6:55:06 PM  LINK TO THIS POST