NEWS: YouTube/CNN Presidential Debate - Tonight

Web Culture/YouTube/Videos
Found on: Youtube.com

In a matter of hours, the first of two Democratic Presidential debates will be underway, a debate that will be driven entirely on questions submitted via YouTube . The debate will be broadcast live on CNN tonight at 7 P.M. Eastern time - hmm, this could either be totally groundbreaking or utterly ridiculous.

YouTube Post:

This summer and fall, YouTube, CNN and a few engaged and engaging citizens will make political history by having the presidential candidates answer questions submitted via YouTube videos.

The first debate will feature the Democratic candidates on July 23rd in Charleston, South Carolina. Submit your question for the Democrats between June 14 and July 22 (the earlier the better). The CNN political team will choose the most creative and compelling videos, and if yours is one of them, you may get the chance to fly to Charleston to watch the debate live and offer your reactions afterward on YouTube's political video blog, Citizentube.

NEWS: Burnett, MySpace get political

Social Networks/Myspace/Politics
Found on: variety.com

Emmy-award winning television producer Mark Burnett has teamed up with Myspace to launch "Independent" a new hybrid online-reality-social network-television show.

A quick shout out to my boy Yau Man - hope you win!

Variety's post:

Mark Burnett Prods. is partnering with MySpace to discover the modern-day Mr. Smith.

The two entities are behind “Independent,” an online project targeted to become a full-fledged TV series built around a search to find the next great politician.

The show, timed to the 2008 elections, hasn’t yet been pitched to networks. It comes with a $1 million prize … and a catch: Winner must donate the money to a political cause or use it to run for office.

“This is the ‘American Idol’ of political action,” said Burnett development head Roy Bank. “We’ve been exploring for a while how to do something in and around what is going to be the topic on everyone’s tongues next year — the elections. We wanted it to be legit, and there’s no greater democracy in play right now for people in their 20s than MySpace.”

Help Save Pandora and Internet Radio

News/Web Culture/Politics/Internet Radio
Found on: blog.pandora.com/pandora

Internet radio as we know it is in dire straits and could potentially be wiped off the web.

A recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC will almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora which will basically shut them down and put them out of business.

You can do something about it, here's how:

Pandora Blog post:

To add your voice to this movement, please take a minute to sign the PETITION urging your representatives in congress to act at the new website Savenetradio.org.

And please share this petition link with friends: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

NEWS: Hacking John McCain

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Politics
Found on: newsvine.com

Presidential candidate John McCain announced today on his Myspace page that he had reversed his position on gay marriage and is now in support of it, particularly marriages between passionate females.

Sounds too good to be true - you're right, it's not. This now infamously delicious prank or what some are calling "the immaculate hack" was the handy work of Mike Davidson, CEO and co-creator of Seattle-based online news media company, Newsvine.com.

Newsvine post:

If you visit John McCain's MySpace page (as of 9am PST Tuesday morning), you will notice an interesting announcement from him. He's apparently reversed his position on gay marriage as well as revealed a bias towards attractive lesbians.

Why would a presidential candidate make such an important announcement on his MySpace page?

The answer? He wouldn't.

But I would.

You see, John McCain's people commandeered my world-renowned MySpace design template and did a few things wrong:

1. They did not credit me for the template, even though the template explicitly requested credit.
2. They used my own unmodified imagery, specifically for the "Contacting John McCain" table.
3. As if #2 wasn't bad enough, the McCain crew is actually pulling their image directly from my server on each page load. So every time someone visits the McCain MySpace page, my bandwidth is being used to deliver part of the page! Bad McCain!

NEWS: Man Behind the Clinton Clip Worked for Obama's Net Strategists

News/YouTube/Video/Politics
Found on: washingtonpost.com

With the presidential elections still a good two years away the fight for the democratic seat just got really nasty and the fireworks are already starting to fly - yeah, I'm talking about the Hilary video that's running viral on YouTube, "allegedly" sanctioned by Obama's camp.

Washingtonpost.com post:

The creator of a controversial YouTube clip that attacked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was an employee of the Internet strategy firm on the payroll of the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

"I made the 'Vote Different' ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process," Phil de Vellis wrote on the liberal blog Huffington Post.

NEWS: MySpace's China entry may fall to local partner

News/Social Network/Myspace/Geoffrey Fowler
Found on: post-gazette.com

With over a 137 million internet users, China would be a perfect match for Myspace but is there enough room in an already overcrowded sector and will Fox Corp have enough endurance to jump over all the political hurdles set forth by the Chinese government?

Post Gazette's post:

As News Corp.'s social-networking Web site MySpace tries to steer its way into China's challenging Internet market, it may find that it has to let someone else do the driving.

MySpace has been in talks with a former Microsoft Corp. executive named Luo Chuan, who until December ran the U.S. software giant's MSN online services operation in China. The 38-year-old has started his own company, and says he is in negotiations to team up with MySpace, along with additional partners including International Data Group's Chinese venture arm and China Broadband Capital Partners LP, the investment company of former China Netcom Group Corp. Chief Executive Edward Tian.

NEWS: Edwards reaching voters in cyberspace

News/Social Networks/Myspace/Jamie Shuman
Found on: heraldsun.com

If Barak Obama decides not to run for President in 2008, a) That would totally suck. b) I'll have to take a hard look at John Edwards. c)Tom from Myspace could be his running mate.

On John Edwards campaign web site, you can find links to his MySpace and Facebook pages.

Herald Sun's post:

His Facebook page says he likes basketball and Bruce Springsteen, as well as "fighting poverty," "stopping the genocide in Darfur" and the "The Shawshank Redemption."

On MySpace, the Chapel Hill resident tells the cyber-world that he's a Gemini with a graduate degree and a job. The 53-year-old is married and a "proud parent," but, rest assured, he is interested in networking and making friends.

The local Gemini is John Edwards, and as he begins his presidential campaign from this small town, he is making big use of the new media to reach perspective voters and donors.