Television

Electoral TV Debates in Canada are Bullshit

jesse — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:36:51 -0400

Today the consortium (monopoly) that controls the televised leaders debates for the Canadian federal election decided that they would exclude the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May. In doing so they have discredited their own debates, and will alienate a great many of Canadians who will rightly see a political class as being terrified of environmental issues.

I am not a member of the Green Party, and I will not be voting for them this election. However I am an environmentalist, and I do think it is a crucial issue in this election. I am also smart enough to recognize that the Green Party is *not* a one issue party, and that they have just as many policy positions, and just as many candidates as any other party in the country. It is clear to me that the reason they are being excluded is not because they do not qualify, but rather because the fear, from an optics perspective, is that by including them, the environment will become a more dominant issue. With Green leader Elizabeth May in the debates at least two leaders (May and Dion) if not four (May, Dion, Layton, and Duceppe) will raise the environment as an example of the Tories being totally asleep at the wheel.

Online Socializing and the Space of Flows

jesse — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:53:06 -0500

I really enjoy appearing on the TV Ontario show The Agenda, in part because the conversation led by host Steve Paikin is always top notch, taking the guests and audience into new territory. Steve has this way of simultaneously understanding where the conversation is going while also keeping it grounded in language and concepts that are as accessible as possible. This type of intellectual populism is precisely what I think enables engaging television.

Last night's panel was on the subject of "Socializing Online", it was produced by celebrity TVO producer Mike Miner, and my fellow guests were Nancy Baym from the AoIR, Maggie Fox of the Social Media Group, and Will Pate, community evangelist and host of commandN. While there wasn't as much debate or disagreement compared to past shows, we were able to really build off of each other's comments and insights to reach a high level of discourse.

Review of CBC Fortune Hunters

jesse — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:41:59 -0500

Today I received a review copy of the upcoming episode of Dianne Buckner's Fortune Hunters that airs this weekend on CBC Newsworld. I'm always happy and willing to receive movies, TV shows, books, and other media, and I promise to be both honest and relatively prompt with my review.

While I was not able to watch the first and debut episode of Fortune Hunters that aired last Saturday, I enjoyed watching the second quite a bit. Of course I do have some criticism to share, which I will detail below, however the overall production and content of the show was great, creating an entertaining and informative half hour.

The stated mission of the show is to focus on the hottest trends, with a focus on how to capitalize and make money off of them, hence the title, Fortune Hunters. Each episode has a theme, and this second installment is about the "web".

Huckabee and Obama Win in Iowa Thanks to the Internet

jesse — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:55:00 -0500

Yesterday's results in Iowa demonstrate that the Internet is playing a central and strategic role in the 2008 US Presidential Election.

Mike Huckabee, with the help of Chuck Norris, has been able to defeat Mitt Romney who out spent him by a factor of 20! Some estimates put Romney's Iowa expenditures at $10,000 per vote.

Barack Obama, with the help of Obama Girl, has been able to defeat Billary who admittedly had low expectations for Iowa to begin with. It's also worth noting that John Edwards has been able to stay in the race, in no small part due to his sophisticated Internet operation.

Of course I'm not suggesting that literally the videos I cite above are responsible for the victories. Rather the candidates who won did so against the odds and the Internet played an important role in that victory.

Which brings me to the story many journalists are missing this morning, which is Ron Paul. His results in Iowa may seem small compared to the victors, yet 10 and 11 percent is actually quite impressive for the congressman from Texas.

Ron Paul is running the most successful Internet campaign of any candidate because he and his campaign team make no effort to control their online activity. What shocks most journalists and political consultants is the way in which the Ron Paul campaign is autonomous and spontaneous.

The $20 million dollars raised in the last quarter of 2007 will go along way to keeping Congressman Paul in the race. He may not win, but he will affect the process as a whole.

Today, after Iowa, it's clear that there is great sentiment for Change. Huckabee, Obama, Paul, all are candidates that campaign from the outside, call for change, and embody the Internet's President.

Mind you, don't count out Billary and John McCain. The former has money and a machine that can keep them competitive right till the end. McCain has also been using the Internet quite effectively to offest his fundraising problems. He may easily win New Hampshire now that Romney is on the ropes.

For the record, I like aspects of all these candidates. I'm loving this election, and am looking forward to it getting strange, weird, and totally out of control!

3D Dialogue: The Politics of Buddhism in Burma

jesse — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The following segment from 3D Dialogue is a great example of how the show combines politics, religion, sociology, and economics to cover a story in a unique way, especially when it comes to complex issues such as the recent protests in Burma. This interview with Bush Gulati, from the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, provides an overview of the role Buddhist Monks play in the struggle against the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

The Clash of the Titans 2.0

jesse — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The past two weeks have seen a number of announcements by Microsoft, Google, and Facebook that have set the stage for an incredible clash of the titans when it comes to the future of the Internet.

The Perpetual Information War

jesse — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

I've done a number of CBC segments recently around computer security and information warfare. While trying not to be sensational, these are subject areas that I feel require more attention, certainly from the news media, but also from the public at large.

On the one hand they are fascinating unto themselves, and don't require any added emphasis to denote severity, yet at the same time, the phenomena generally flourishes due to the ignorance and fear of average computer users.

A Review of The Tudors TV Series

jesse — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

I'm just about finished watching the first season of The Tudors TV show. Set in 16th century Europe, the show is an excellent blend of sex, politics, religion, history, and of course violence that makes for entertaining television.

Social Media and the 2008 US Presidential Election

jesse — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

I've always loved politics. Since an early age I've been fascinated by all levels, and for that matter all jurisdictions. I suppose this is what fuels my news consumption, and relatedly what attracts me to innovative uses of technology. The upcoming US Presidential election, which is arguably already underway, promises to be quite a battlefield when it comes to the use of technology, explicitly social media, such as facebook, youtube, etc. It was with this in mind that Nancy Wilson and I had a chat about the election, and just how nasty it may turn out to be, thanks to the fog of war the Internet fosters when it comes to campaigns and electioneering.

3D Dialogue: Little Mosque on the Prairie

jesse — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

I quite enjoy the CBC sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie. I find it an excellent example of what Canadian television can achieve when given the proper funding and development environment. The show's creator and producer Zarqa Nawaz came on my show 3D Dialogue for an interview regarding where the show came from and the rationale behind its characters and context. Season 2 of the show will air on CBC this coming fall and I'm looking forward to see how it progresses.