Wednesday Link-Off: The Home Stretch

All three US Presidential debates are done and now we wait for people to vote. With any luck, they won’t all vote for tax cuts for the 1% and tax hikes for the middle class (i.e. voting Romney). Anyway, let’s kick off with Canadian actress Emily VanCamp.

The third Presidential election debate was on Monday. The pundits are in agreement that President Obama took home a solid win. (Daily Kos)

Now that the debates are behind us, what did we learn from them? (Washington Post)

Some reporters make their names during elections. Here’s a look at some of the young journalists who have come to prominence during this election cycle. (iPolitics)

After the jump, debate fact checking, Chevy Chase blows up again on the set of Community and the James Bond mega mix. Continue reading

The Newsroom: Sorkin’s Modern After School Special

Whenever I see a blogger or TV critic wax poetic about an older network comedy, they often bring up episodes that touched on more serious topics. These episodes that touched on controversial or social issues were called “After School Specials” after the ABC TV movie series of the same name.

After school specials (or “very special episodes” as they were occasionally called in network TV) have essentially disappeared from the network TV landscape. Sure, kids shows will touch on an important topic every now and then but when was the last time you saw something you would call an After School Special. One of the few shows on TV that does touch on important social issues is The Newsroom. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: The New Media Rises

You probably didn’t notice but I was on vacation last week. Thanks to Jackie for covering for me and doing last week’s Wednesday links. I’m back in action today with the Sunday links. We’ve got a big week of programming coming this week. All that’s missing is the podcast. I am hoping to live blog today’s Edmonton Indy over on @LowdownLive but no guarantees. But first, here’s Canadian model Kim Cloutier. If you look up Canadian models on the interweb, she seems to be the consensus favourite.

When I first heard about the theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado, I didn’t see it first in a newspaper or on TV. Twitter was the first to the story. Here’s a look at how Twitter and the rest of the social media is reshaping the modern newsroom. (GigaOM)

Reader Sarah tipped this next article to us. A while back, we linked to an article about former CNBC, now ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell getting duped by a fake tip. It turns out that this sort of thing goes beyond one guy. In fact, there’s a website called HelpAReporterOut which is full of people doing the same thing. (Forbes)

You’d think that being a member of the press during a political campaign would be pretty easy. Everything a candidate or his team says would be on the record. Except that campaign press offices for the two US Presidential candidates get to approve the final wording of quotes under penalty of being cut off from the campaign. (New York Times)

After the jump, the lessons the 2012 US basketball team can learn from the Mighty Ducks, Rush Limbaugh and rational thought are two things that don’t go together and call me Obi. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: Beating The Heat

The trouble with having two national holidays in the same week is that the blogosphere basically shuts down. As a result, we’re a little short on content today. We’ll try to make do with what we have. So stay inside with the AC on and read our links to pass the time. First, though, here’s Canadian model Danielle Knudson.

We’ve heard about Mitt Romney’s unexpectedly low income tax rate. How does he do it? That would be his off-shore accounts. (Vanity Fair)

We’re going to hear much more about Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Scientology before the divorce plays out. Among the things we’re hearing about is how Tom and Scientology literally auditioned actresses to be the third Mrs. Cruise. (Business Insider)

It was a bad week if you were ESPN’s Chris Broussard. He caught a bit of flak for taking tweets by NBA players and passing it off as info from sources. (Awful Announcing)

After the jump, the Americans are rebranding Canada, the finalists to replace Regis and how not to do fireworks shows. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: Canada Day 2012

I wasn’t sure I was going to do a linkdump today but here we are. Since it’s Canada Day, let’s kick it off with Hottest Canadian bracket #1 overall seed Kim Cloutier.

The big news of the week that Romneycare Obamneycare Obamacare was saved by the Supreme Court. SCOTUS basically came up with a unique interpretation of the Affordable Care Act to save it. (Wall Street Journal)

Is BuzzFeed a cool collector of internet miscellany or a blatant plagiarist website? (Gawker)

With the final of Euro 2012 this afternoon, here’s a look at how Seven Nation Army became the biggest song in the sports world. (Deadspin)

After the jump, more on the Sandusky case, some Canada-centric links and a proper double loop-the-loop. Continue reading

Wednesday Link-Off: Media Matters

It’s the middle of the week which means it’s time for another set of links. To switch things up, let’s go with Nina Agdal who I think might just make a run for next year’s SI Swimsuit cover.

So what’s really life backstage at the Final Four for the media? It’s full of drama and intrigue. Yes, I said that about the sports media. (Salon)

Dan Patrick and Keith Olberman reunited The Big Show on stage to mark the 20th anniversary of their first SportsCenter together. It was, as expected, awesome. (Fang’s Bites)

What’s the latest trend in pay cable channels? Sexposition. And, yes, this link is safe for work. Just don’t Google the word. (The Star-Ledger)

After the jump, where will Beadle go, Chris Jones quits the internet and how to quit a job… that you don’t actually have. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: Media Blitz

It was a big week for us at the blog last week. We had more people drop by this past week than in the whole month of January thanks to the SI Swimsuit Issue. So to celebrate, here’s one of my favourite SI Swimsuit models Cintia Dicker.

Craig James will indirectly feature in the new Friday Night Lights movie Jackie mentioned yesterday as it will parallel the Mike Leach story. But will the movie also feature a player’s father who creates his son’s entire career through his influence as a broadcaster like Craig James did? (Sports By Brooks)

Kate Upton has been doing the media rounds since making the SI Swimsuit cover. However, the media is treating her like she’s a blonde bimbo rather than an actual woman. (Midwest Sports Fans)

George Lucas’ daughter is a professional MMA fighter and is in a title match this weekend. Maybe she can kick everyone’s ass over Jar-Jar Binks. Actually, I’ll settle for kicking Jake Lloyd’s ass because he was worse than Jar-Jar. Yeah, I said it. Anakin was worse than Jar-Jar. (Sports Illustrated)

After the jump, the highest paid players of all-time, could Mass Effect make a great TV series, and Liam Neeson’s voice mail greeting. Continue reading

Wednesday Link-Off: Tech War

Well, we survived yesterday’s solar flare and narrowly escaped SOPA. That doesn’t mean that the internet isn’t turning into a bit of a battle ground. But we can all agree on Arianny Celeste.

The story of Joe Paterno’s death quickly became more than a story about a man dying. It was more a case study of the modern media and it’s shoot first, ask questions later mentality. (Poynter)

With MegaUpload getting shutdown by the FBI, other file sharing websites are tripping over themselves not to suffer the same fate. But are they signing their own death warrants? (Gizmodo)

TV writer/director/producer Ken Levine shows how it’s much harder to be an actor trying to find steady work than a writer in Hollywood. (By Ken Levine)

After the jump, Ray Hudson’s commentary genius, all about Super PACs and another great Family Feud clip. Continue reading

Sunday Link-Off: Deadline Day Prelude

I’ve never heard of Brazilian model Raica Oliveira before but I’m willing to bet we’ll hear from her again soon.

One of the biggest names in hockey trade rumours is Eklund of HockeyBuzz. He’s a pretty controversial figure among both the traditional and new media members but this piece by Adrian Dater is a refreshingly fair look at the anonymous hockey blogger. (Sports Illustrated)

In the world of TV media peddling trade rumours, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos really hates TSN. He tried to inform someone on of such on Twitter in what was probably supposed to be a DM. The only problem was that he didn’t DM his thoughts. (Pension Plan Puppets)

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the most important day in Canadian history since Henderson scored on September 28, 1972. So here’s another look at the anatomy of Sidney Crosby’s golden goal. (The Globe and Mail)

After the jump, Player X gets censored, Two and a Half Men (on the court and on TV) and a painful way to promote a golf tournament. Continue reading

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: How TV Forces the End of Jury Trials

It’s not often I go into heavy stuff like this but reading an article about a brewing scandal in Formula One got me thinking about trials. The article made note of the fact that the law says that all people are considered innocent until proven guilty. But I think that the idea that people are always considered innocent until a judge or jury of their peers says otherwise has become antiquated and no longer holds true in modern society. I think that TV crime dramas and the 24/7 news media obsession with crime stories means that most people think that a person must be guilty if the police have charged them. I think that means we should soon see the end of jury trials in our innocent until proven guilty society. Continue reading