jmt390's blog

All mighty, yes? All knowing? Perhaps not. At the 2009 New York State Communications Association conference last week John Durham Peters, professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa and author of Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication delivered a keynote address revisiting Google’s likeness to God.  Read More »

I’m a couple months away from my MA thesis deadline and, naturally, I change my central question as often as I do my underwear – maybe more so. The latest question has spiraled into a number of unmanageable sub-questions, and the unlimited Sangria brunch I consumed on Saturday failed to bring me any steps closer to answering them (though I did manage to pen a rather unintelligible paragraph or two when I got home). So I’d like to pose the most pressing of these questions to gnovis.  Read More »

In the post-Watergate America it used to be that citizens were distrustful of government and relied on the media for enlightenment and accountability. Today, more than half of Americans are distrustful of the media, begging the question of who (or what) we'll turn to for government accountability - the watchdog role that the 'Fourth Estate' has historically filled.  Read More »

Evoking Pink Floyd's "Another brick in the wall" lyrics, conservatives have lambasted President Obama's upcoming Web address on education. The President will use the opportunity to speak directly to students across the nation on Sept. 8. But right-wing political leaders and think tanks have dubbed this a lesson in brainwashing and a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign targeted at America's youth.  Read More »

No, not quite. That happened years ago when MTV began tinkering with its programming and started slowly phasing out music-related content. New Yorkers, at least some of them anyway, are mourning the loss of MTV’s iconic Times Square studio on Broadway after landlord S.L. Green and the music network’s parent company, Viacom, opted not to renew the space after the 12-year lease term ends.  Read More »