Story Archives of 'Media'

It's no secret that New Hampshire prides its first in the nation primary.

But these days voters and non-voters alike can enjoy another first this political season.
It's an exhibit called Pop Politics and it's showing at the Currier Museum in Manchester.
For the first time, more than 60 of the political works of Pop artist and celebrity connoisseur Andy Warhol have been collected and put on display.
NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm took in the exhibit and has this report.

Within hours of last night’s debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, people were posting responses on YouTube, including musical remixes of responses and comments by a chipmunk. If the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debates marked the arrival of television as a medium, 2008 is "the YouTube election."

For the first time, punditry and campaign ads are not beamed to us during prime time, but generated by anyone with editing software, an opinion, and some time on their hands. The proliferation of viral political videos may not elevate civil discourse, but does signal a new form of political involvement and a new player on the scene that voters and candidates are watching.

Chuck Tryon is assistant professor of film and media studies at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. He’s written about the loose category he calls "prezvids," and he’ll be leading a panel discussion on viral videos and the election at the FlowTV conference in Austin, Tex., this weekend.

For 13 years, the magazine No Depression gave exposure to alternative country music that was virtually ignored by the mainstream. Many bands of this broad and diverse genre owe a debt of gratitude to No Depression for helping them connect with a passionate and hungry fan base.

But with so many people changing their habits in this downloadable world, small print publications are having a harder time keeping that audience. Last February, No Depression announced that its bi-monthly publication would cease production, and that their May/June issue would be their last. Several niche music magazines have folded or gone digital this year, including Harp, Resonance, Bluegrass Now, and Punk Planet went under last year.

But today, No Depression launches their new website, and they'll publish their first “bookazine” in October. The magazine’s co-founder, Peter Blackstock, joins Word of Mouth on changes in music journalism and the evolution of Americana music.

Also, musician Justin Townes Earle talks about his childhood as the son of songwriter Steve Earle, his teenage infatuation with drugs and alcohol and why he prefers mountain music of yesteryear over popular music of today. Click here to listen.

NPR foreign correspondent Jamie Tarabay has spent the last nine years covering some of the largest conflicts on Earth, from the Iraq War to the intifada in Jerusalem. As part of NHPR's Talking With... series, she talks with Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester about the world of a Baghdad Bureau Chief - being arrested, shot at, blasted by an IED, roughed up by demonstrators and police, and proposed to by militiamen. She also describes her new project about American Muslims and and takes questions from the audience.

A suicide bomber wreaked havoc in Islamabad, Pakistan, this past weekend. A van laden with a ton of explosives destroyed a Marriott hotel, killing at least 53 people and wounding more than 260. The bombing came less than two weeks after the swearing-in of Pakistan’s new president, Asif al Zardari.

The attack highlights the country’s ongoing struggles with terrorism and the confusion and mistrust that many Pakistani’s feel about the so-called “war on terrorism”. The United States has stepped-up attacks on suspected terrorists in Pakistan recently as it tries to stem the tide of violence in neighboring Afghanistan. Meanwhile, domestic terrorism – like Sunday’s bombing – is on the rise in the country. Many pakistani’s distrust the actions of the US, and conspiracy-theories are swirling around who’s truly responsible for the Marriott bombing.

Deborah Dilley joins us on Word of Mouth to help us get a better understanding of popular opinion in Pakistan and other Islamic countries. She’s a writer and editor for Global Voices Online, a website that keeps track of what people are talking about on blogs all over the world.

Stories Discussed in Today's Roundup:
Pakistan Bleeds Again
Pakistan: Another 9/11, We are Burning
Jordan: A Popular Cafe Shut Down in Ramadan Crackdown
Saudi Arabia: Outcry Over Fatwa to Kill Satellite TV Owners

(Photo montage by A§ma using images from the BBC)