Comments on: How free is free?

By: Brett Bellmore

Brett Bellmore — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:33:04 +0000

If never getting around to issuing a correction for a mistake makes it a lie, our newspapers are full of lies. (And, indeed, I’ve noticed that journalists’ mistakes seldom undermine their papers’ editorial stances.) Are we holding Limbaugh to a higher standard than, say, the Detroit Free Press? (Which I fought a decades long losing battle with, to get them to live up to their corrections ‘policy’.)

I’m all for the idea that journalistic mistakes should be corrected without exception, but maybe we could get journalists to adopt that policy before entertainers.

None the less, I’ll suggest it.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:43:23 +0000

Maybe Brett’s statement was a mistake rather than a lie, but I don’t think the same applies to Limbaugh. Has he issued a correction?

By: Brett Bellmore

Brett Bellmore — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:07:14 +0000

I think “mistake” is probably a better choice of words, but I’ve just confirmed that the pdf is searchable.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:46:37 +0000

Who knows, maybe it does. Nobody would know, including the members who voted on it. The stimulus package is certainly a great example of opacity: Released hours before the vote in the form of unscanable PDF, with so little bandwidth allocated people are still trying to download the huge files.

It was released though, which is more than you can say for some bills. Support the Read The Bills Act/

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:33:11 +0000

I see Brett is spreading the latest Limbaugh lie.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:26:10 +0000

Hey, at least the US has Pacer. I work directly opposite London’s Royal Court of Justice and it’s still a pain in the arse getting supposedly public documents.

By: salient

salient — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:37:42 +0000

Salacious – I think Eszter’s found the solution to that problem, actually. It’s the awkward spacing that makes Randall’s parentheticals look mismatched. Or use ddots{smile}?

By: Brett Bellmore

Brett Bellmore — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:41:35 +0000

“Wish the Stimulus contained $100M to scan the Library of Congress into The Commons. ”

Who knows, maybe it does. Nobody would know, including the members who voted on it. The stimulus package is certainly a great example of opacity: Released hours before the vote in the form of unscanable PDF, with so little bandwidth allocated people are still trying to download the huge files.

Obama’s transparency promise didn’t last long…

By: Righteous Bubba

Righteous Bubba — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:37:52 +0000

Somewhat OT trivia:

Workshop Leader: Can we get a handheld mic for a Q&A after the lecture?
MenD: No problem.
WL: Oh, and we’re worried about one of the delegates. She tends to go off a little. If she does, can you cut her mic?
MenD: I’m sorry?
WL: Can I give you a signal if we need you to cut her mic?
MenD: This is a media conference.
WL: So?
MenD: On censorship.

By: beamish

beamish — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:30:43 +0000

This post illustrates the importance of Randall Munroe’s TED presentation.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:58:24 +0000

Man, I sent in my 10 box-tops and $5 to Henry for my “friend of CT” button months ago and am still waiting. I’m starting to think it might have been some sort of scam…

By: Eszter Hargittai

Eszter Hargittai — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:35:13 +0000

Got it, post updated.;)

By: Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:15:26 +0000

I’ll trade an “As commented on” sticker for a “friend of the blog” sticker any day. And that goes for Whimsley too, Tom!

By: salacious

salacious — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:18:56 +0000

“Included is work by (and an interesting photo of:) CT commenter Aaron Swartz.”

http://www.xkcd.com/541/

By: Eszter Hargittai

Eszter Hargittai — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:13:51 +0000

Yes, thanks Sumana, it’s one of the resources mentioned in the NYTimes article.