That's Capital

That’s Capital Topic: Media Economics Los Angeles has become an increasingly complicated media market. Television, especially news coverage, spans a broadcasting market for too motley and sprawled to communicate a coherent message. Radio continues to shine; with all that time spent in cars, people would gnaw their left arms off if we didn’t have something to listen to. And print… *sigh*… print has fallen on truly hard times. Let’s start at the top or the center if you will: The Los Angeles Times. Since scooping up a clutch of Pulitzers in 2004, the paper seems hell-bent-for-leather to show that defeat... Read more →

That’s Capital Topic: Media Economics So Rupert Murdoch has his eye on Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal and the WSJ’s staff ain’t havin’ it. So they walk out. My oh my, the irony and the righteousness are so thick you’d need a good samurai sword to cut both. Don’t get me wrong: the WSJ writers have plenty to worry about. Murdoch’s political views aren’t so much of a concern – after all, it’s not like the WSJ is a leftwing rag – but his views go beyond just plain Conservativism. Seriously, when he was asked about his Conservativism... Read more →

That’s Capital Topic: Media Economics The trends regarding online selling being more flat, open, and personal seem to mirror well developed trends in music and porn. This isn’t said to make light of how broad these trends have become. Porn has a long history of being at the forefront of innovation in the use of media technology; this goes all the way back to using early printing press technology to make “adult” storybooks. And the widespread distribution of music by “amateurs” through digital aggregators such as CD Baby and conduits such as Kazaa foreshadowed how other media (like movies and... Read more →

I have a few things I’d like to respond to regarding Jonathan’s comments on the Palestinian meltdown. One: Being really good at fighting with or complaining about one’s enemies has very little to do with being able to run anything, from basic institution building, to the more vague but equally powerful effort required to build a sense of common purpose among a people. Not to mention developing ways of resolving differences. That’s as true for couples – who may fall madly in love, but if they can’t figure out how to deal with their darkness, they are doomed – as... Read more →