Saturday, November 22, 2008

Weekend Video Salon

Those darn bloggers sitting around in their jammies! Enough questioning already:

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Radiologic: WXIT 1200 AM


Aisling Broadcasting's WXIT 1200 AM
is a 10,000 watt, daytimer station. WXIT's transmitter is located in Blowing Rock. As indicated by the station's coverage map at left, WXIT's main coverage area is Watauga County. Given the High Country's topography, it's pretty hard to pick up WXIT anywhere else.

So, WXIT is a station that provides solid radio coverage to the Watauga County market: Boone, ASU, Blowing Rock, Meat Camp, Aho, Zionville.

WXIT's syndicated talk programming consists of a stable of all right-wing shows. Folks like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Neal Boortz. Not a single opposing viewpoint in the house. Zilch. Zippo. Nada.

Here's the question: Did you happen to catch the election results for Watauga County? You know, one of the three blue counties in western NC? The county that went blue by a margin of 52 to 47 percent? Yes, THAT ONE.
We're thinking that this interesting fact might just pose a bit of a conundrum to the programming folks at Aisling. Why does Aisling insist on broadcasting talk shows that skew hard right, when the demographics simply ARE NOT THERE?
Well, maybe the new CEO at the out of town media borg which seems ready to absorb Aisling will change things. Ya think? After all--he runs his radio empire like it's 1977--but more on that later.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

ASU Makes E&P: Racism

Kudos to The Appalachian, and Anne Baker for covering an important story. No one benefits when things like this are swept under the rug--or chalked up to "youthful indiscretion":

The differences between “free speech” and “hate speech” have been questioned after several recent incidents occurred on Appalachian State University’s campus.

The incidents were prompted by the outcome of the Nov. 4 presidential election where Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s 44th president.

“What [the university does not have] a handle on is, [are the events] widespread, [are they] isolated and how many of our students are affected,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development Dino DiBernardi said. “It’s really just a matter of trying to figure it all out."

With any election, some people will naturally be disappointed in the outcome.

However, it has come to the attention of the administration the “disappointment” has been expressed numerous times through the harassment of black students in residence halls and casual attitudes regarding assassination attempts against Obama.

Vice Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said several students encountered threatening conversations or “racially charged, horrible statements” in the residence halls after celebrating Obama’s victory.

The conversations also included a statement suggesting Obama may not be alive in 2009, Wallace said.

At least one t-shirt has been seen around Appalachian’s campus with the phrase, “Obama ’08, Biden ’09” displayed on it.

...

Appalachian students attempted to combat racism with an event yesterday.

Paul V. Ford, criminal justice and criminology graduate student, hosted “Unite Against Racism” on Sanford Mall as a project for a sociology class.

Attendees brought pictures, CDs, articles and other objects symbolizing racism to the area and “buried” them in a time capsule.

The capsule will be stored in Belk Library & Information Commons’ archives for 20 years, where it will then be opened by future students so they can see how racism has changed in the country.
And looky here...some international attention to the story from today's Editor and Publisher:

At Appalachian State University, the administration has expressed disappointment at the numerous times black students have expressed being harassed in residence halls since the election. The Appalachian, a student newspaper serving the university, also reported conversations suggesting Obama may not be alive in 2009 and a t-shirt seen around campus that reads “Obama ‘08, Biden ‘09.”

Is this unwarranted attention? By no means. Calling for the assassination of the president-elect is inexcusable. What this should be is a clarion call to the university administration that:

1) There exists a big opportunity to educate students about the importance of diversity and tolerance.


2) Some questions need to be asked about the quality of the education incoming students are receiving--regardless of their GPA.

3) This this is no time to sweep another controversy under the rug. The administration had better get ahead of this issue NOW--and not just in terms of public relations (spin). ASU can only rely on a winning football team for so long in order to generate good press.

Update: We have yet to see reports of these incidents on Aisling Broadcasting's goblueridge.net or on the Watauga Democrat's website. Why?

Friday, November 14, 2008

Here--Try This Pod

One of the main reasons our organization came into being was because we felt the High Country's highly-consolidated media landscape was failing to address local concerns--as well as failing to include diverse opinions, both in print and broadcast media.

And unfortunately, this consolidation is most likely going to continue--at least on the local level--as Aisling Broadcasting appears to be on the cusp of being absorbed by an out-of-town media Borg.

But on the federal level, change of a different sort is afoot. Yes, the FCC transition team has been named:

Two academics — Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach — will lead the Obama FCC transition team with the responsibility of advising the incoming administration on policy, budget and personnel matters, the Obama-Biden office announced today.

Crawford is a professor of law at the University of Michigan, teaching communications law and Internet law. She was a partner with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale) until the end of 2002, when she left to become a legal academic. Crawford recently ended her term as a member of the board of directors of ICANN.

Werbach is an assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the organizer of the annual Supernova technology conference. His research explores the legal and business dynamics of information and communications technologies. During the Clinton administration, he served as counsel for new technology policy at the FCC.

"The teams will begin their efforts today, and will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in," the Obama transition office said.

...

So, we shall see. Now that the elections are over, we plan to take a more detailed look at the Borg that wants to absorb Aisling. Might be kinda fun.

Full article here.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Weekend Video Salon: Need Some Space?

We live in a very rural area. The issue of White Spaces is really important to us:



...

"Our first object should therefore be, to leave open ... all the avenues to truth," Jefferson explained. "The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press."

Jefferson's call to "open all the avenues" still resonates in the age of the Internet. The avenues we need most desperately today are those that have been shuttered by a controlling class of lobbyists, who tirelessly ply the corridors of Washington, D.C., to keep the media in the hands of a few.

...
For more information, click here.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Future

Just Breathe

Breathe

Vigilance

Democracy requires it:


If you spot anything while voting or helping out that seems out of
place--anything--report it. The campaign and voter protection organizations
can't help remedy problems unless there's a record of it, so do not hesitate
to report an issue, no matter how minor you think it may be.

Obama Voter Protection:
Call 1-877-US-4-OBAMA (1-877-874-6226) and let them know
what problems you're seeing. If you can't get through, use this online form
and/or call your local campaign HQ.

You can also call Election Protection, a nonpartisan organization:
For immediate assistance, call the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline.
To report problems to Election Protection’s state teams through Twitter, use these guidelines.
Track incident reports received through the hotline at OurVoteLive.org
Keep an eye on voting issues as they are reported at the OurVoteLive Blog
Follow breaking voting news and issues at the 866OurVote Twitter account

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Goo-Goo Syndrome

Now here's a religious radical who tells it like it is. At least he's honest about why heavy voter turnout is bad for him--and his fellow radicals:
Paul Weyrich, father of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups tells his flock that he doesn't want people to vote...
...
Weyrich: "Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome -- good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.
Audio here. Full post here.

Election Night Coverage

Planning on listening or watching as the election results roll in? Tired of the same old talking heads? Allow us to suggest a few alternative sources for election night coverage:

1) Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! will be doing a special five-hour broadcast on November 4th from 07:00PM–12:00AM ET to bring you the 2008 election results as they come in.

The program will include live coverage of the results as the polls close, on-the-ground reports from across the country, reactions from across the globe, and running in-depth analysis and commentary from a wide range of guests you won’t get anywhere else.

On November 5th, the morning after, Democracy Now! expands to a two-hour broadcast from 08:00AM–10:00AM ET to provide complete coverage of the election outcome.

2) Air America

3) Maron vs. Seder (for a more humorous approach)

4) NovaM Radio Network
On Election Night, Brad Friedman of The BRAD BLOG will be anchoring Nova M Radio's coverage from 3:00 p.m. to at least Midnight (and possibly later), PST. That coverage will be not of the horserace, but of the track conditions, with stories of disenfranchisement, voter suppression, long lines, last minute legal rulings, any challenges that arise, etc. The networks and cable won't give any attention to these issues, but you know we will! We'll have up-to-the-minute information and a number of live guests. (from velvetrevolution.us).
If it's flashy graphics you crave, then why not just tune in to some election night TV program, put the TV on mute, and crank one of the above programs up?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Weekend Video Salon: Cost Of Recovery

Locals know best. Watch as the residents of Wasilla, Alaska (both Democrats and Republicans) talk about Sarah Palin's role in deciding that victims of rape should be charged the cost of a rape kit:

Saturday, November 1, 2008