Inhofe blocking Gore’s ‘Live Earth’ concert.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is vowing to stall Gore’s hotly anticipated Capitol concert to draw attention to global warming.

Berkeley Woman’s Iraq Quest.
Jane Stillwater is a 64-year-old Berkeley woman who left for Kuwait on Wednesday, hoping to embed with the U.S. military there and in Iraq as a blogger.

The Wisdom of Crowds.
The Huffington Post announces a new citizen journalism project that will recruit the public to cover the presidential campaign.

Musicians Campaign for Free Internet.
Rock the Net has been formed by indie musicians and labels to advocate on behalf of Network Neutrality.

Drudge and the Politico — poisonously joined at the hip.
Glenn Greenwald reveals that Politico is a wholly owned subsidiary of Drudge.

Bush, Republicans turn to talk shows for help.
“American radio talk-show hosts have become frontline warriors in a drive by President George W. Bush and his Republicans to pull off a surprise and maintain control of Congress in November 7 elections.” They “have become” frontline warriors? What does Reuters think they been doing for the last 20 years?

Fox Will Broadcast First Presidential Debate of 2008.
“FOX News and the South Carolina Republican Party have jointly announced that they will present the first 2008 presidential debate on May 15, 2007. The debate, which is expected to attract the top Republican contenders for President, will be shown live on FOX News Channel (FNC) and FOX News Radio.” Republicans staying in their comfort zone?

Cobain tops list of richest dead celebs.
“Cobain, who raked in an estimated $50 million between October 2005 and October of this year, has edged Elvis Presley from the No. 1 spot on Forbes.com’s list of ‘Top-Earning Dead Celebrities.'” I just had to include this to affirm the stupity and insensitivity of John McLaughlin, who, in the days following Cobain’s death, said…

“Kurt Cobain will not be remembered as the John Lennon of his generation. He will be remembered as the Sid Vicious of his generation- a loser.”

Digg in acquisition talks with News Corp.
“San Francisco-based startup Digg has been in recent acquisition discussions with a number of companies, including News Corp., according to multiple sources close to the negotiations.” God forbid!

YouTube Shared User Data With Studio Lawyers.
Lawyers for Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures convinced a federal judge in San Francisco to issue a subpoena requiring YouTube to turn over details about a user who uploaded dialog from the movie studio’s “Twin Towers.” YouTube promptly handed over the data to Paramount, which on June 16 sued the creator of the 12-minute clip.

The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting.
The introduction of Fox News had a small but statistically significant effect on the vote share in Presidential elections between 1996 and 2000.

Boy Scouts Get MPAA-approved Copyright Patch.
The MPAA partnered with the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts to develop the “Respect Copyrights” patch, a merit badge that Scouts can earn after reading some propaganda information on what you are not supposed to do with copyrighted works.

Google Flexing Political Muscle.
Google is trying to boost its influence in Congress with the first campaign contributions from its new political action committee. The initial round of $1,000 donations…[went] to three Republicans, including two of the most endangered GOP House members.

Papers Reach Iraq Boiling Point
Many of the nation’s newspaper editorialists have roused themselves from seeming acceptance of the continuing slaughter in Iraq to voice outright condemnation of the war.

The Russert Watch
During his ‘Meet the Press’ appearance, RNC chair Ken Mehlman was allowed to distort, twist, manipulate and obfuscate his way through every stop on the disinformation highway.

‘USA Today’ Defends Lack of Coverage for Downing Street Memo
In a report on President Bush’s joint press conference late yesterday afternoon with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, USA Today for the first time mentioned the so-called Downing Street Memo, first reported in London’s Sunday Times on May 1.

A State Run News Service?
After years of trying to destroy public broadcasting from without, right-wing Republicans are now trying to do so from within, by planting aggressive conservatives on the board and staff.

Front-Runner for Public Broadcast Agency Job Is Former GOP Chair
Patricia de Stacy Harrison, a high-ranking official at the State Department, is one of two candidates for the top job at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is the favored candidate of the CPB’s chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson.

Remixing the blogosphere
Bloggers may have sparked a media revolution by democratising journalism, but there are early signs that a new breed of website will take the idea further. Online independent media hubs are letting people collaborate in new ways.

Media companies look for ownership resolution
Merger activity among U.S. media companies is likely to remain on “pause” while federal regulators and courts try to resolve a long-running debate on the industry’s ownership rules.

ABC plans new ‘Nightline’ tribute to U.S. war dead
As he did last year, “Nightline” host Ted Koppel will recite the names of more than 900 American servicemen and women killed in Iraq or Afghanistan during the past year as a photograph of each one is shown on the screen.

FCC Panelist Wants Probe Of Product ‘Payola’
A member of the Federal Communications Commission called yesterday for an investigation of experts who tout products on television without disclosing payments from the manufacturers.

Mad Ave.’s Rush to Podcasts
A new medium means only one thing to advertisers: A new opportunity to sell

Podcasts catch on at NBC, ABC news divisions
ABC News and NBC News announced plans Tuesday to offer podcasts, the rapidly growing mobile technology.

Rupert Murdoch First Inductee in The Big Media Hall Of Shame

A Charge of Media Bias, From the Left This Time
The American media has drifted toward tabloid journalism and has been cowtailed by the Bush administration over its coverage of events such as the war in Iraq

The Tillman Scandal: ‘Newsweek’ Error Bad, Pentagon Lying OK?
Where, in the week after the Great Newsweek Error, is the comparable outrage in the press, in the blogosphere, and at the White House over the military’s outright lying in the coverup of the death of former NFL star Pat Tillman?

New Public Broadcasting Chief Wants Conservative Viewers
“Does public television belong to the Democrats?” he asks.

Sam Donaldson On Network News: “I think it’s dead.”
“…if someone shot the President, which network would you turn to? It will be cable, the Internet–something other than General Hospital being interrupted.”

Future of American Media Caucus
…six Members of the U.S. House of Representatives today announced the formation of the Future of American Media (FAM) Caucus.

GM Pulls Ads from Los Angeles Times Over Coverage
“We recognize and support the news media’s freedom to report and editorialize as they see fit,” [?]

Military Reporters Demand Rumsfeld Lifts Press Restrictions
“The danger of such restrictions should be obvious and must be fought…”

Fake Letters-to-the-Editor
After publishing hundreds of letters from a former Republican operative, California papers crackdown.