Category: media

Chinese actor-director Xu Jinglei’s blog has been declared the most-read blog in the world. She gets visitors at a rate of more than 100 every second and has had more than 100 million page views in less than two years.

“There are still disturbingly few gay roles in mainstream television and, when they are written, it’s so often like this – a massed herd, being forced to make a point, coming on so… feverish. Who, really, wants to be defined by sexual orientation alone? Can’t characters be incidentally gay, in the same way that they are incidentally straight?”

“Should we be worried that this generation is seeking news from comedy rather than from serious programs bringing important breaking stories about two-headed goats and cars that burst into flames? Is sourcing news from comedy as stupid as sourcing calcium from Sherbies?”

“It’s Day 10 of the Chicago Film Critics Assn. boycott on all Fox and Fox Searchlight films, a protest against the studio’s practice of limiting online critics’ access to screenings. Now critics all over the country are coming forward to echo their complaints and promise solidarity, revealing a simmering hostility between studios and many online journalists.”

Emmy voters tried to be less clueless than usual yesterday. And, bless their hearts, they kind-of sort-of succeeded…

Britain’s historic Pinewood Movie Studios turned 70 this summer. “This wasn’t to be one of those tiny London-based studios where space was so tight that a cameraman could hardly swing the proverbial cat. The idea was to apply modern business ideas to the often shambolic practice of British film-making.”

The Emmys named Fox’s smash hit “American Idol” for seven more nominations, including a fifth bid for best reality competition program. “Last year’s big victor, the Fox espionage thriller “24,” was shut out of the top drama contest, as was the 2005 champion, ABC’s hit castaway thriller ‘Lost,’ which got snubbed for a second year in a row.”

“A Senate committee is expected to support legislation that would authorize regulators to enforce a nearly zero-tolerance policy on the broadcast of certain expletives that was struck down last month. The bill would give the Federal Communications Commission explicit authority to make ‘a single word or image’ indecent.”

Does YouTube, that much-ballyhooed showcase for amateur video, actually stifle creativity? “Web video isn’t an oligarchy, it’s a dictatorship. You’re either on YouTube or nobody’s watching. This dominance has a downside: The popular misapprehension that YouTube and Web video are synonymous has limited our sense of what online video can be.”

The U.S. House of Representatives soundly defeated a proposal by President Bush to eliminate the $420 million annual subsidy for public broadcasting this week. “The 357-72 vote demonstrated the enduring political strength of public broadcasting. The outcome was never in doubt, unlike a fight two years ago when Republicans tried but failed to slash public broadcasting subsidies.”