‘User-generated content such as blogs, video-file sharing site – from YouTube to MySpace – transforms the Internet and media.’
Yeah. We’ve been picked!!! –
“For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, Time’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you,” the magazine’s Lev Grossman wrote.
The magazine has put a mirror on the cover of its “Person of the Year” issue, released on Monday, “because it literally reflects the idea that you, not us, are transforming the information age,” Editor Richard Stengel said in a statement.”[.]
Influential also-rans
You beat out candidates including Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, China’s President Hu Jintao, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and James Baker, the former U.S. Secretary of State who led Washington’s bipartisan Iraq Study Group.[.]
Not for long. Savor the moment. BushCheney administration and spokesperson Newt Gingrich are mounting an assault. The Geneva Convention is considered “quaint”. Looks like free speech could fall in the same category.
Gingrich has not recanted: Free speech should be curtailed
“Gingrich said the threat of biological or nuclear attack requires America to consider curbs to speech to fight terrorists, if it is to protect the society that makes the First Amendment possible.
“Our friends at the ‘ACLU left,’ of course, were staggered at this concept,” Gingrich told an audience of Republicans at a Christmas banquet. “How could we talk about anything less than 100 percent free speech? How could we consider in any way thinking about this issue?”
Gingrich cited last month’s ejection of six Muslim scholars from a plane in Minneapolis for suspicious behavior, which included reports they prayed before the flight and had sat in the same seats as the Sept. 11 hijackers.
“Those six people should have been arrested and prosecuted for pretending to be terrorists,” Gingrich said. “And the crew of the U.S. airplane should have been invited to the White House and congratulated for being correct in the protection of citizens.”
Meanwhile Thinkprogress reports an
“EXCLUSIVE: White House Forbids Publication Of Op-Ed On Iran By Former Bush Official.”
“Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran.
Leverett’s op-ed has already been cleared by the CIA, where he was a senior analyst. Leverett explained, “I’ve been doing this for three and a half years since leaving government, and I’ve never had to go to the White House to get clearance for something that I was publishing as long as the CIA said, `Yeah, you’re not putting classified information.'”
Mr. Leverett, how about blogging your Op-Ed over at TWN
Leverett will appear on C-Span, Moday 18 December.
What say you. Are we making a difference, giving them hell, f%^u, STFU, and generally keeping their feet to the fire?
Don’t think your right to free speech on the Internet is under threat?
So timely, (pardon the pun), that bloggers have been named Person(s) of the Year. Under-reported is the item linked below. OK, jump pass the reporter’s name and read the piece.
Army Targets Truthout.org’s Executive Director, Marc Ash and Truthout reporters and contributors for Subpoenas in Watada Case.
Considering the complete a-holes who’ve been Time’s previous “man” of the year, I fear for my own selection 🙂
Pax
Yeah that thought – Time’s history to jinx – did hit me. But we’re quite a force and growing in the face of BushCheney’s and Newt’s evil mission.
Something that I didn’t know previously is that being named Times Person of the Year is not to be named the positively influential person of the year……only the person who had the most influence in the world for that year whether that influence be considered a good thing or a bad thing. They pointed out that Stalin had been their person of the year last night twice. Once he made it as a world bad guy and once a world hero and both times he was the valid choice. Now I understand why Bush made it twice. Every time they make a bad guy person of the year they also said that people cancel their subscriptions but the person of the year has been chosen using the same criteria since they began doing it and it won’t be changing to only selecting good guys. Osama came very close to making person of the year but Rudy was chosen that year. China came close to making it this year and in the discussion on CNN someone at TIME said that China is headed towards being the new global super power. I bet NeoCons passed out in their soup all over America watching that clip.
pissed on Bush’s story about Donald making the American soldier Times Person of the Year in 2003. Time wasn’t saying that American soldiers were heroes, only that people dressed in American military clothing carrying automatic weapons had the most global influence that year. Last night too, in naming You person of the year they spoke of the bloggers in the middle of the Israeli Lebanon conflict and blogging soldiers and bloggers in Iraq as being a very large part of the You! They said that people blogging from war zones was changing our concepts about death and war while we sat safe in our living rooms and if such a thing had existed during Vietnam it is impossible to know how that would have changed the whole war…..but that it would have.
“working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game,”
and
We’re here to stay.
End of Time’s jinx.
Well, before we get too self-congratulatory – how much genuine reporting ORIGINATES on blogs? Blogs are echo chambers – repeaters of information generated by reporters (and sadly, primarily mainstream reporters).
It’s a rare blog entry that actually puts some data online that has never been online before, that isn’t just being recycled from some other online source.
I appreciate people like Booman, who did that yesterday with the Huston plan information, and others like him who bring offline material into the online community. Or those who conduct interviews with people and post their comments.
But to say we’re beating the pros at their own game is, well, premature at best and utterly ridiculous at worst. There’s the potential to do this. But really, who has the next big scoop, and will it be a blogger, or a mainstream reporter?
Thanks for dropping by. Imho, it’s not who originates what that counts; it’s what’s done with the information that matters. Frankly surprised that you overlook the force bloggers have generated and their impact to mobilize to bring to the fore important issues that are given a one liner or a 1 sec soundbite by mainstream media.
May I suggest you visit Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Rozen, TWN to name a few. Let me ask, why is mainstream media so keen to set up totally independent blogs?
I’ve been to all those blogs. I have yet to see any major investigative news story ORIGINATE on a blog. I’m not saying blogs aren’t valuable. But they cannot replace the traditional media, and are very much dependent on it. The bloggers you mention all make my point, exactly.
Good grief, could old Newt sound any crazier?(yeah rhetorical question) The Muslim scholars were ‘pretending’ to be terrorists by praying..yeah good one Newt..and that the crew should go to the White House..the insane logic? of these people get more frightening all the time.
Being named Person of the Year means now, no doubt, all these neo-cons who truly hate free speech will double their efforts by hook or crook-mostly crook- to make us all go away.
‘Go Internets’!
(via Thinkprogress)
George will reacts to Time’s selection for ‘Person of the Year.’
George Will on Bloggers: “It’s about narcissism,” Will said. “So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone’s inner turmoils. I mean, it’s extraordinary.”
Will didn’t mention whether he believes writing columns for the Washington Post each week and appearing every Sunday on national television is a sign of “narcissism.”
It’s not clear, by any means, that Will knows the first thing about blogging beyond a few apparently pre-digested opinions regarding adolescents in their PJs.
Of course, his own hard-earned fees necessarily absolve him of any tinge of narcissism. Naturally! He really works, dammit! Not like those lousy kids ..
The staff of Time brought up what Andy Warhol said about everybody having their 15 mins of fame and how amazing it was that he seemingly could peer through the framework of time to the birth of this day. As far as George Will goes, will someone please tell George Will that we all need to care to some degree about the inner turmoil of the others around us. No man is an island, even the fucking NeoCons can’t be alone, and they cry and hold each other you schmuck! The juveniles who once called me their probation officer taught me long ago that nobody before cared about theirs and if someone didn’t pretty soon bad things would happen to good people all the way around and then our population just ends up in prison or victimized. If you want to be able to forget your keys in the car once in awhile, if you want to be remotely safe walking down the streets….the haves had better care about the have nots before the have nots rise up and slit your fat well fed throat George!