mediageek

Author: Paul

  • Independent Media Headlines

    Independent Media Headlines Considering how much time I spend on my radio show, it’s strange that I don’t mention it too much on this weblog. So here’s a link to the headline news briefs I’ll read Sunday morning. Some of this stuff already appeared here, others are new. The feature for the show is an…

  • Webradio — a Slight Return

    Webradio — a Slight Return This year saw a massive decline in broadcast radio stations also broadcasting on the Internet. This is due to the recording industry association (RIAA) pursuing the payment of royalties for Internet broadcasts that they don’t collect for conventional broadcasting, and due to questions about additional royalties owed union voice talent…

  • Victory for Non-Comm Radio: No Auctions

    Victory for Non-Comm Radio: No Auctions The Media Access Project announces and celebrates their court victory with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals overturning an FCC decision to make non-commercial broadcasters compete at auction for spectrum space. As part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 Congress ammended the Communications Act (section 309(j)(1)) to specifically…

  • DVD-R Mania

    DVD-R Mania We just got a new DVD-R Recorder/Burner today at work, the $800 Pioneer DVR-A03. We’ve waited about 2 months for this unit, since the retail box version has been only available in smaller quantities. I believe the drive has already been shipping in the high-end Apple G4. For those who don’t know, this…

  • Who’s a geek?

    Who’s a geek? Just read a pretty useless article on CNN.com about a silly survey on supposed geek lifestyles conducted by the Industry Standard. Not otherwise blog-worthy, but for this tidbit: 9 percent own a minidisc player–a cool, useful and supported niche digital technology–and 6 percent have a laserdisc player–a cool, unsupported and recently obsolete…

  • Tampa’s Party Pirate Loses His Amateur Radio License

    Just a quicky, thanks to a post on the Free Radio Network’s Grapevine — Doug Brewer, who operated the Tampa, FL based “Party Pirate” unlicensed low-power FM station, until being shut down a year and a half ago, has been hit by the FCC again, according to this “ORDER OF REVOCATION AND OF FORFEITURE” from…

  • The Results of Consolidation in Action: The Case of WXRT, Chicago

    The Results of Consolidation in Action: The Case of WXRT, Chicago WXRT is one of the last pioneering commercial FM rock radio stations left, still known for playing new artists and keeping a relatively eclectic playlist. However, the Chicago Tribune reports that is changing, seen most clearly in the dismissal of DJ Johnny Mars, who…

  • Reporting on “The Media Borg” Requires Independence

    Reporting on “The Media Borg” Requires Independence Taking advantage of their independence, Salon just kicked off a series of articles on corporate consolidation of the media with their first article, “Assimilating the Web.” It’s quite true what the editors point out in the series introduction: “Fox News is not likely to alert the public to…

  • The Death of Free Radio Austin and Survival of Micro-Kind Radio

    The Death of Free Radio Austin and Survival of Micro-Kind Radio The Austin Chronicle has a nice feature article on the history and shut down of unlicensed microbroadcaster Free Radio Austin, which is compared to Micro-Kind Radio in neighboring San Marcos, TX, which has managed to stay on the air through shrewd administrative and legal…

  • Site Redesign?

    Site Redesign? I’ve been thinking about redesigning the site for a while. Trouble is, I’m no designer. But what you see is my attempt. I’m curious to know what anyone might think–so e-mail me with any comments at paul@mediageek.org. To compare with the previous design, just look at any other page, which I haven’t yet…