Category Archives: media democracy
The metered Internet threat to innovation & access to information
Remember the early days of mass public access to the world wide web? Back when AOL was king, noisy dial-up modems were par for the course and having any graphics on a webpage was super-fancy? Remember in 1993 or so, … Continue reading
Canadian DTCA Charter Challenge Indefinitely Adjourned…and a tree falls in the forest
The News In the middle of financial turbulence, potential bankruptcy, and a storm of management changes, CanWest Global has decided to seek indefinite adjournment of their court case challenging Canadian restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. In summary, … Continue reading
Filed under government, Health, media democracy, privatization
YouTube videos on CanWest info issues
I don’t have a television, but I do love to watch stuff on my computer. Back in the last millenium, when I did have a TV, I didn’t have cable anyway, so I am easily impressed with the amazing diversity … Continue reading
Canadian Election Advocacy Resources
While there’s been a lot of coverage of the US Election (in particular the, er, interesting choice of an apparent wannabee book-banner as Republican VP nominee), the relatively un-showy and non-flashy Canadian Federal Elections aren’t getting much press in the … Continue reading
Filed under government, media democracy, The Profession, tips and tools
Tomorrow’s History & the Role of Public Libraries
I’ve been thinking about digitization and history; specifically the trusim that history is written by the victors (aka the privileged), and what that means for our current era. With literacy and war-conquests-slash-oppression on the part of literate groups, orality became … Continue reading
Irresponsible health news reporting redux: the CBC on bone density & breast cancer
Can you stand to hear me kvetch again about irresponsible health reporting? Today it’s the CBC (among others), whose health headline screams: Bone density level may act as predictor of breast cancer It’s one of those articles without a byline, … Continue reading
Filed under gender, Health, media democracy, publishing
The Vancouver Sun parody & SLAPP
When I moved to Canada, I was shocked to learn that parody is not a specially protected form of speech here. It is in the US, and I like to think I made pretty good use of that principle over … Continue reading
Filed under censorship, Intellectual freedom, IP, media democracy, Other blogs, publishing
Net Neutrality in a Nutshell
Here’s the backgrounder I pulled together for the BCLA Resolution on Network (Net) Neutrality. A great debt is owed to Danielle Dennie (of LibrarianActivist fame) for her assistance in writing both the resolution and this backgrounder. Yes, this has been … Continue reading
Filed under media democracy, net neutrality
Brand Sponsorship of YA Novels?
As a major YA novel fan, this made me want to cry. A NYT article this week discusses what happened with the innovative and bestselling “Cathy’s Book” and what is in the plans for a new tween series, “Mackenzie Blue.” … Continue reading
Filed under media democracy, privatization, publishing, school libraries
