Kevin Rudd, Al Jazeera wants you. Al Jazeera’s English-language news network had its first Australian triumph yesterday when it made its debut on local television screens, and it hopes to make a second breakthrough by convincing Australian government leaders to appear before its cameras. — The Australian
China censors Obama. Barack Obama championed the cause of open dialogue yesterday in what he had hoped to be the main public event of his first visit to China, but most of mainstream Chinese society may never know. Chinese propaganda authorities appear to have made last-minute decisions to pull internet and satellite television coverage of what had been billed as an unscripted ”town hall-style” gathering in Shanghai. Satellite coverage on Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV – which is accessible in southern China and in affluent residential areas – was cut after several minutes. The website for the Chinese Government’s own Xinhua news agency initially greeted browsers with this error message: ”Access Forbidden”. — Sydney Morning Herald
Meanwhile, Detroit launches third daily newspaper. Publishers of The Detroit Daily Press said at a news conference Friday that they will launch a third Detroit-area daily through newsstands on Nov. 23, with home delivery to commence a week later. Brothers Mark and Gary Stern, who published dailies during newspaper strikes in Detroit and other cities years ago, plan to distribute 200,000 copies of their first edition in three counties. — Editor and Publisher
Obama: not a fan of Twitter. President Barack Obama has one of the most popular Twitter accounts with over 2.6 million followers. It should be no real surprise that most of the time it’s not him tweeting from it, instead its various people within the White House communication team that use the account to send out information. And now that he is the President, certainly there are some security concerns with him using something like Twitter. But, did you know that he’s actually never used Twitter at all? — TechCrunch
Meet the Beeb’s first Social Media Editor. BBC News has appointed Alex Gubbay as its first Social Media Editor. Alex is currently Interactive Sports News Editor for BBC Sport, and will take on this new role in January, leading editorial development of user-generated content and social media initiatives across the Newsroom. He will coordinate the work of correspondents and reporters using social media tools, ensuring best practice is developed and shared within BBC Journalism. — Media Network
Twitter drops “Suggested Users” list Social-media site Twitter plans to scrap its hand-picked list of “suggested users” to follow after controversy erupted over the selection of people on the list, a company executive said Monday. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said the company was seeking a more systematic way to introduce its prominent posters, including sports figures, celebrities and politicians, to newcomers to the site. — Salon
Would you like a busker with your coke? Coca-Cola has signed up buskers to sing its familiar festive jingle “Holidays Are Coming” to a captive audience of the London Underground’s 3.5 million daily Tube riders. In a deal with the London Underground, Coca-Cola will sponsor the licensed busking scheme in the run-up to Christmas. Singers and musicians at stations around the network will be given sheet music or CDs so that they can perform the official holiday song. — Advertising Age
[Would you like a busker with your coke? ]
In any half-way decent society, they’d be “festively” pushed off the platform and under a train.
I second Paddy’s suggestion.
Of course to avoid the constant assault of advertising in public spaces from plans like this you a forced to wear and use an iPod or similar mp3 player and then they wonder why nobody can hear emergency announcements.
Bollocks to Coke in the underground. I was a busker in the London underground from 1979 to 1984 (Bob Dylan, Stones, etc) – favourite pitch was Tottenham Court Rd Northern Line. The underground police used us as “quieters” for the general vibe there. Officially we were illegal but we performed a useful social function – calming the populace. It was anarchy in the kindest sense. Buskers would write their name on a convenient poster early in the morning for an hourly pitch at a particular spot and queue up nicely and come back for their gig at the appropriate time. It was pure capitalism. Any abusers were ostracised by the rest of us and didn’t last long. It was completely self- regulated – no laws from the authorities, no taxes, no money if you couldn’t sing good, heaps if you could…Full of outsiders who refused to work for the man…and now Coke NoNoNoNoNo