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Several broadcast companies that reported earnings the past few weeks have pointed out that TV station revenues were down due to the lack of political ad spending in 2009. Since 2010 is a banner year for major Congressional races, local media researcher Borrell Associates expects that TV broadcasters will have something to cheer about. The same can't be said for online media, which will hardly see a fraction of the total $42 billion Borrell says will be spent on political campaigns.

US Supreme Court decides that corporate ownership/finance of online political content should be no different than if it was written by a person -- leading to changes in rules for corporate/union finance of political campaigns.

Will the next generation read news reports? It looks like it. Some 62% of US internet users aged 12 to 17 are going online for news and political information or find out about current events, said a study conducted by the Pew Research Center published yesterday. During special events such as general elections news consumption rose to 77%.

The impact of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on political advertising and corporations could be an increase in revenues for local TV news stations.

Ultility regulators weigh in on FCC proposed regulation, stressing non-discrimination on peer-to-peer and political content by broadband providers.

Google has been awarded a patent that describes a software method for selectively restricting the availability of content on the basis of access privileges and geographical location. On the surface, it may look like this patent covers techniques for censoring politically sensitive content in specific countries-a practice that Google has recently spoken out against in its ongoing feud with China. A closer look at the patent's claims, however, shows that it has little to do with censorship and may actually relate to the company's controversial book scanning initiative.

PBS reporting on media ownership

PBS' 2003 reporting on media ownership

Google faces problems related to privacy and copyright protection in Europe. Google's most immediate challenges may be in Italy. This month a decision is expected in a trial in Milan, where four Google executives have been charged with defamation and privacy violations in a case involving videos posted on a Google Web site showing the bullying of an autistic boy.Italian prosecutors accuse Google of negligence, saying it was too slow to remove the video. But Google sees a political dimension. One of the four executives, Peter Fleischer, Google's chief privacy counsel, called the case part of "an attack on a decade of progress" for Internet companies in Italy. In Germany, German publishers have persuaded the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel to support a new kind of copyright protecting journalistic content on the Web. Analysts say the measure, which has not yet been introduced, could require Web companies like Google to buy special licenses to cite content published elsewhere.

Article providing an analysis of the collapse of Air America, and what that means for progressive talk radio.

The Daily News publisher may run for senate.

Help wanted. Must tweet. If you're "passionate about engaging millions" in advancing President Obama's \nagenda, the commander in chief has a job for you. The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America -- the successor organization to Obama for America -- are seeking a "social networks manager" to oversee Obama's accounts on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The ideal new hire, according to the official job description, will possess "strong, sharp and personable" writing skills, as well as the ability to craft messages that "move people to act" and managing multiple "complex" projects."

President Obama's 2009 stimulus package was the most expensive bill in history, yet received strong media support. This is because the media; ABC, CBS, and NBC cite supporters of the bill 3 times as often as they mention critics, and nearly half of their reports included no criticism about the bill at all!

Discusses how YouTube has changed the way we consume media, including sections TV on the Internet, viral videos, politics, and music videos.

"A marvel of passionate succinctness, Robert Kane Pappas' docu critically examines the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy. Docu asks, "Could a media system, controlled by a few global corporations with the ability to overwhelm all competing voices, be able to turn lies into truth?"

"A marvel of passionate succinctness, Robert Kane Pappas' docu critically examines the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy. Docu asks, "Could a media system, controlled by a few global corporations with the ability to overwhelm all competing voices, be able to turn lies into truth?"

"Filmmaker Robert Kane Pappas's long-winded yet terrifyingly bleak Orwell Rolls In His Grave argues that the mainstream American media are no longer the voice of American freedom. Instead, they're part of a repressive political power structure that has uncanny parallels with the dystopian world of George Orwell's novel 1984..."

Can the media really be watchdogs for us when the government is unwilling to provide the media with information?

Discussion of whether Google will leave China with comments from Chinese bloggers and media analysts.

Decreasing government subsidies to media organization is threatening the publishing industry. These subsidies include things like postal rate discounts and tax breaks.

...the ability to control connection points between different networks (e.g. business, media and economic networks) is a critical source of power in contemporary society...