Apple's 1984 "Big Brother" ad

An article over at Ad Age brings up an angle on the whole auto industry bailout probably not considered much before.  The fact that a yet-to-be-appointed “car czar” will have control over a multibillion dollar advertising budget for the big three.  Under the guise of “oversight,” this would effectively “Create World’s Most Powerful Marketing Exec[utive].”  

The draft rescue plan for Detroit sent to the White House by Congress yesterday calls for the appointment of a “car czar”…

Read the full story

O’Reilly writer Andy Oram makes the case that the assertion President-elect Barack Obama’s victory is in large part due to his campaign’s effective use of the internet is an overstatement, to say the least.  Oram counters that when all is said and done, the mainstream media is what had the most significant impact on the elections.

I feel I have to temper the hype over how the Internet has changed elections. There’s no doubt that the Internet provides enormous potential, and that people have been…

Read the full story

Over 120 members of Congress sent a letter to the FCC this week arguing against new localism mandates being considered by the Commission. Led by Marsha Blackburn, these legislators are rejecting calls to embrace government control of content on the airwaves. As the letter correctly points out, imposing new federal rules on broadcasters is likely to exacerbate the very problems the FCC seeks to remedy.

Giant media companies are accused of silencing independent voices and depriving communities of diverse news coverage. Yet not…

Read the full story