by cameron | Sep 14, 2008 | Australian media, Brisbane
I was on a panel yesterday at the Future Of Journalism conference in Brisbane. As you can perhaps tell from earleyedition’s tweets, my comments were not well received. As usual, I tried my best to explain that the economics of media have fundamentally changed and that means all bets are off. But, as usual, nobody listened and I was accused of being a “shock jock” espousing “revolutionary rhetoric”. Jean Burgess from QUT used the old line about “we’ve had technological shifts before and it didn’t cause the end of the industry”, completely missing the point that this is NOT about a technology shift – it’s about an economic shift.
To wit:
Fifteen years ago, if I wanted to publish something to a wide audience, the financial barriers were extreme. The cost of owning a newspaper or magazine were (and still are) very high. So very few people were able to own one. It was a limited playing field. Consequently, the people who *did* own a newspaper had the market to themselves. There was limited competition for people’s attention. As a result, they could carve their local market up between themselves and fund their business through advertising.
However, today, anyone can publish something online. The economic barriers have been removed. Consequently, there are 75 million active blogs that I can read, not 4 newspapers. And so audience attention is fragmenting and the traditional news companies can’t control it. As they lose audience, their ability to generate advertising revenue diminishes. As revenue declines, they can’t afford to maintain their old cost structures, so they start downsizing. Sound familiar? It’s a negative spiral. And there is NO. WAY. OUT.
Anyway, I’d like to thank Antony Funnell from ABC radio’s “Media Report” for doing a great job moderating our panel. He did a good job getting everyone’s views, including the ones that were extremely unpopular.
by cameron | Sep 12, 2008 | Cuba, Uncategorized
Oh yeah I want this!
You can also get the Fidel action figure:
If I had both of them I’d stage re-enactments of the Cuban revolution on my living room floor. I wonder if you can get Batista, JFK, Khrushchev and the Granma as well?
Don’t forget it’s my birthday on Oct 10. With shipping times factored in, you need to order TODAY. It’s time for an outpouring of Cam love.
UPDATE:
Actually this Che figure is even better! He looks badass.
by cameron | Sep 12, 2008 | Australian media, Brisbane, media 2.0
I’m one of the speakers at the “Future Of Journalism” conference here in Brisbane tomorrow, which is kind of amusing as I’m the furthest thing you can get to a journalist. I’m a panelist on a session called “Who is going to pay for journalism?” and my answer is going to be “frakked if I know”.
As I’ve been saying for five years now, this isn’t about blogging versus journalism. This is about the economic model that old media companies prospered under for the last century being defunct. And it doesn’t matter how much bitching or whining journalists do about it, the fact is, the party is OVER.
Now that doesn’t mean we all don’t want great investigative journalism. As a society, we need it. I just don’t know who is going to pay for it. Of course we all know now that privatized investigative journalism is flawed, as is state-controlled journalism, but they are better than nothing.
As I said on Bronwen’s blog the other day, I don’t remember seeing many Australian journalists going out on strike over the last 20 years as the quality of journalism in this country reached ever-deeper lows. I don’t remember reading too many stories in the AGE or SMH about how tabloidy our news was becoming, either. They just shut up, stuck their heads in the sand, and took the money. They fiddled while Rome burned around them. It’s too late to cry foul now kids.
Meanwhile the Newspaper Association of America just reported that total newspaper advertising revenues fell by $3 billion in the first six months of this year to $18.8 billion, the lowest level in a dozen years.
(Thanks Bron for the link).
by cameron | Sep 12, 2008 | US politics
I was thinking about this over breakfast this morning…
Why, in the last sixSEVEN years, hasn’t there been another terrorist attack on the USA?
Perhaps it’s because the Dept of Home Security are doing a bang-up job keeping America safe. However, knowing what we do about how effective America’s intelligence services are (not very), that seems a very unlikely explanation.
The alternative explanation might be that the terrorists don’t need another attack because they’ve already won.
Assuming there really is a guy called Osama Bin Laden, has he won?
Here’s some questions to ask yourself:
1. Is America’s reputation abroad stronger or weaker today than it was pre-9/11?
2. Is America’s economy stronger or weaker today than it was pre-9/11?
3. Is America’s internal political climate more or less divisive today than it was pre-9/11?
4. Does America have more or less enemies today than it did pre-9/11?
BONUS QUESTION:
5. What would most Americans say the reason for the 9/11 attacks was?
I’m guessing a poll would show most think “they hate our freedom” is the answer. FAIL. I suspect most Americans have learned nothing from the last six years.
Meanwhile Americans deaths in Afghanistan hit a new high, while the US bombs Pakistan.
Meanwhile Russia sends TU-160 Blackjack bombers to Venezuela, reminding me of the Cuban missile crisis.
Before the war, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsay estimated the cost at $100 to $200 billion. So the White House got rid of him and “re-estimated” the cost at $50 to $60 billion. It’s going to end up costing over $3 TRILLION.
That’s $3 trillion of taxpayers money that would be going to healthcare, to creating alternative sources of renewable energy, or to developing better relationships with countries around the world. It’s $3 trillion that is, instead, making certain American weapons manufacturers, military contractors and construction companies, very wealthy, while the US unemployment level is at a five-year high and employment growth is the weakest since the Great Depression.
I submit to you that if bin Laden’s objective was to hurt America, he has already won.
by cameron | Sep 12, 2008 | Christianity, Podcast
My guest today is Robert M Price, a Professor of Theology and Scriptural Studies at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary in Miami Gardens, Florida. He is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar and the author of many books and articles on religion. Some of you may remember Robert from his appearance in the documentary The God Who Wasnt There.
Robert joins me today to examine the historical case for Jesus. We examine the evidence for the standard arguments Christians have for believing that Jesus existed:
- Are the New Testament Gospels or Paul’s letters really eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life?
- Are there any non-Christian contemporary accounts of Jesus’ life?
- Is there any evidence for the Resurrection?
- Is it true that there is more evidence for Jesus than any other person in history?
- Is it logical that because we have multiple versions of Jesus’ life that is must be true (what is known as the “multiple attestation” argument)?
- If Jesus didn’t exist, why does everybody think he did?
You can find out more about Robert on his site and you can listen to his podcast, The Bible Geek.
This show is the long-awaited follow-up to my interview with Australian Christian historian and theologian John Dickson that I did in January 2007.
Please support the show by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
by cameron | Sep 11, 2008 | Uncategorized
“There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.”
Ezekial 23:20
I kid you not.
Thanks to Andrew Sayer to the link!
by cameron | Sep 11, 2008 | Iran, US politics
Just a few things that have caught my attention this morning:
1. Ron Paul refuses to endorse McCain and instead tells his supporters to vote for a third-party candidate. I love this quote from him:
“It might diminish my credibility,” said Paul (when asked to endorse McCain). “I don’t like the idea of getting 2 or 3 million people angry at me.”
2. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman gets arrested outside the Republican National Convention for doing nothing.
You have to watch the video and read the story. It’s horrifying.
3. British American Tobacco targets kids with their advertising.
BAT claim they don’t want children to smoke, but then get “caught in Malawi, Mauritius and Nigeria using marketing tactics that are well-known to appeal to youth: advertising and selling single cigarettes, and sponsoring non-age-restricted, product-branded musical entertainment.”
I’ve got a bunch of great interviews in the can ready to release to you, including a chat with the music critic who introduced Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love and a representative from the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights who told me American should nuke Iran. Apparently they don’t have any rights. And tonight I’m interviewing Robert M Price, a theologian and biblical scholar who agrees with me that Jesus probably didn’t exist. So stay tuned!
by cameron | Sep 10, 2008 | Christianity, Podcast
I had the very great pleasure of hanging out with Pastor Dr Craig Johnson in Paris back in July. We had a terrific time, including some very great laughs walking through the Louvre. Craig is an Evangelical Protestant clergyman. He is the founder and Pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship in Agoura Hills, California. He is currently the host of two weekly television programs: Another Cable Show about God and The Veritas Forum, and he has authored three books: Nehushtan: The Enemy of Revival; The Alexander Code: Alexander the Great and the Hidden Prophecies of the Bible; and Tardemah: The Deep Sleep that Awakens Your Dreams. He has degrees in Theology and Philosophy.
While in Paris, we talked a great deal about Hitler and the roots of Antisemitism, something Craig happens to know quite a lot about.
So, following on from this blog post I did recently, we chatted today about the roots of Hitler’s worldview and whether or not Hitler and the Nazi’s were Christians. I, of course, take the position that Hitler and the National Socialist Party were Christians – Craig argues they were not.
My main references are:
This list of quotes from Hitler’s speeches and writings in which he professes his Christian beliefs here.
The official National Socialist Party Platform which states:
“24. We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the Germanic race. The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any one denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility.”
I think Hitler was just trying to bring Matthew 13:49-50 to life:
| 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, |
| 13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
After all, didn’t he build furnaces of fire?
Craig references a book called “Hitler’s Table Talk”, which is a series of statements Hitler said in private meetings, which were apparently recorded and transcribed. You can download a copy of “Hitler’s Table Talk” here. But you should first read this analysis of the book’s English translation which claims that the English version has been deliberately translated to sound much more anti-Christian than the original German. Also read this post which explores the credibility of the men who discovered and translated the document. The bottom line seems to be that Hitler definitely believed in Jesus but thought the version of Christianity developed by Paul of Tarsus was akin to Communism. Hitler also believed he was following in Jesus’ footsteps by attacking the Jews. So the question is – does that make him a Christian or not?
Please support the show by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
by cameron | Sep 3, 2008 | Atheism, religion
Today I came across a relatively new blog called “Brand New Atheist” written by Rob Jones. In his first post, entitled “From believer to non-believer, how I got to here, 36 year-old Rob explains how he went from being a church-going Christian to an atheist over a period of about 10 months of personal introspection. Just another data point for people who say “you’ll never convert a Christian”. Perhaps *I* won’t convert one, but if there is enough information out there for them to consider for themselves why they believe what they believe, and if they are courageous enough to examine their own belief system honestly, then, like Rob Jone, they might convert themselves.
by cameron | Sep 2, 2008 | Podcast
ANGUS, THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING is the new film by British director Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, BRIDE AND PREJUDICE). The star of the film is 16 year-old Georgia Groome.
I chatted with Georgia today about life, acting and finishing her A levels. I also tried to get her to do a duet with me of “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, but then I failed to remember the lyrics and she totally PWND me.
Please support the show by throwing me some cash to cover the bills or, if you’re tight on the cash front, by blogging or Twittering about the show or joining the G’Day World Facebook group. There is a list of things you can do to support the show here.
