Presidential debates go online
“The 2008 election is already shaping up to be the most cyber-savvy presidential contest in the brief history of the Web. Now three major Web sites — Yahoo Elections 2008, The Huffington Post, and Slate — have announced that they will collectively host two online-only debates, one for the announced Democratic candidates and one for Republicans.
The debates will allow the candidates to participate wherever they are located around the country. Each will appear on live video, and will be able to speak to and question the other candidates through the online connection.
The debate will also be uniquely interactive for the audience. Viewers will be able to submit both written and video questions in real-time, and can blog their responses to the candidates’ answers.
The idea of hosting a virtual presidential debate was the brainchild of conservative-turned-liberal-pundit Arianna Huffington, who saw the potential for an online forum while at the World Economic Forum in Davos. That event was covered by both traditional journalists and bloggers.” — Yahoo! News
So, I can be sitting in the Coffee Zone in beautiful downtown Jefferson City (slurping Rocket Fuel)… record a 30 second question and zap the the video clip to the debate site…and see my question (and candidate responses) 5 minutes later. Or, watch what hundreds (thousands?) of bloggers are saying, about what the candidates are saying, in real time. Okay, that’s only cool to bloggers.
I find most TV debates to be a waste of everyone’s time. But I might watch/take part in something like this.
iDVD
[Mac shields up!] I created my first DVD last night, using iDVD that ships with OS X. Now, I’ve burned files to DVD’s before but iDVD makes it fun and easy to create a more finished product. Pick a theme, drag over your video from iMovie, your still images form iPhoto, pull some music over from iTunes… hit the burn button and you’re done.
This first effort looks like it. But the next one will be better. I haven’t done much with DVD’s because it seemed like a cumbersome way to share media. But this was fun and the resulting DVD looks pretty snazzy.
Triblocal.com
Tribune in Chicago just launched a new hyperlocal site today called Triblocal.com that encourages users to submit stories from nine communities, with more to come. Explains the Tribune, “The site, which will be largely unedited and self-policing, is designed to let citizens and organizations publish their own stories and post everything from high school team photos to favorite restaurant menus.” Triblocal.com also employs four of its own staff reporters to cover stories in those regions, and many of the stories from the site will be reverse-published to print. [Lost Remote]
This seems like a really good idea to me. There must be examples of radio stations trying similar things. I’m just not finding them.
Commercial radio…without commercials
“Facing increasing competition from satellite radio and iPods, Clear Channel Communications is trying something radically different at a commercial radio station in Texas: getting rid of the commercials.
As of today, KZPS in Dallas — on the dial at 92.5 FM or online at lonestar925.com — will no longer run traditional 30- or 60-second advertisements. Instead, advertisers sponsor an hour of programming, during which a D.J. will promote its product conversationally in what the company calls integration.” — New York Times