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jcstearns:

It’s been a big week for news and debate about press freedom and citizen’s right to record. Catch up on some of the key developments below.

Maryland ACLU Educates Local Police

“Highlighting recent court rulings and an unprecedented legal statement on citizens’ rights to record police actions…

socialgoodness:

The knock on Hollywood is that it’s been slow to adapt in the digital age. Fair or not, it’s worth noting just how revolutionary the last decade has been for Tinseltown.

Movies - even the blockbusters - are now labeled a success or flop based on their opening weekend box office. DVDs, once a huge profit center for studios, have fallen off the map. Still, while consumers clearly love digital distribution, no single platform or model has emerged. In fact, industry insiders still debate whether streaming or downloads are the wave of the future. At the same time, marketing a movie through traditional media has only gotten more expensive because everyday it gets harder to break through the clutter.

Television is also at a crossroads. The networks have seen a steady decline in ratings, while cable channels have matured into household names. Shows that once had a season or more to find an audience now operate in a world where cancelation notices often fly after a few episodes. Only sports and news continue to attract live audiences, but many networks have found that their shows have a long tail on services like Netflix.

Yet for all the chaos, audiences are still passionate about great entertaining content. Social media can move the needle. Good buzz on Facebook can push a movie’s campaign over the top and drive box office. Television viewers use Twitter and the new wave of social TV apps to redefine the viewing experience. Entertainment brands are increasingly turning to these channels to engage directly with consumers, but simply having a dedicated Facebook or Twitter presence is now par for the course. Going above and beyond with social is a key ingredient to marketing entertainment - something these brands do especially well.

more over at iMedia Connection

Creepy Olympic Mascot (London UK) instagr.am/p/NeENOUoDsS/

— Holly Bailey (@hollybdc)

July 24, 2012

Promising coverage on an unprecedented scale and record-breaking use of social media, the 21,000 journalists, photographers, cameramen and technicians will in fact be twice as numerous as the athletes they are covering

When I was a kid, wrestling for the remote was the closest I ever got to controlling media. Today, the device my daughter holds in her hand can control not just the TV but her entire known world. She take a picture with her phone, and with Instagram or Camera + she can edit, frame, caption and send it.

“The new thought here is: publish from your own site, but use all these great social networks like Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook to connect with your audience, to boost engagement, and to get as much reach as you possibly can.”

Via FCC

… social media are overall feminized, but the perception is that the dominant figures within are masculine. Why should we care? Because unless this changes, new media will not fulfill its potential to become a truly democratic source of news. It will remain a place that values tradition over innovation, conventional wisdom over new ideas, stuck in an echo chamber of voices we’ve already heard and perspectives that many of us don’t share.

From Slate, Farhad Manjoo deconstructs BuzzFeed’s methods.

An approach to Facebook that focuses on the numbers so closely is a fundamental flaw in the way most businesses approach social media in general, and is rooted in a faulty mindset.