March of the tastemakers

If you can get to it (free registration gives you a limited number of articles a month), the FT today has a very interesting examination of social curation sites such as Pinterest. Networks of friends and contacts are becoming a … Continue reading

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“Fair to the truth” journalism

Jay Rosen’s blog Pressthink has an analysis of the new National Public Radio ethics guidance that tries to move the station away from “he said, she said” journalism, or in Paul Krugman’s magnificent phrase “Views still differ on shape of planet“. … Continue reading

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European Parliament voting reform proposed

A proposal before MEPs on March 14th proposes changes to European Parliament voting, including shifting the election day from June to May, to link in better with the appointment of new Commissioners, and a small element of pan-European voting, with … Continue reading

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Digital downsides

Paul Clarke has pointed me to a recent piece of research (PDF) undertaken by Ctrl Shift for Consumer Focus. It’s called Digital Downsides, and considers ways in which new technologies and channel shift can harm the interests of consumers. The report … Continue reading

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Is this Dalston?

I’ve talked to a few people about Euan Mills‘ excellent little project to find the place people describe as “Dalston” (a suburb of North London), but have never been able to find the link to it. So, thanks Strange Maps blog, … Continue reading

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Dueling Cults of Personality

This thoughtful piece is about the US Primary campaign, but it doesn’t take much to translate it to the British context: I seem to keep encountering folks who respond to new bits of news unfavorable to their guy by reflexively … Continue reading

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A bit of love for the Living Voters Guide (Washington state)

Via the DO-Wire mailing list, I came across a great little site set up to help voters discuss and learn about the ballot initiatives in the 2011 elections in Washington state. You can take a look here: Your guide to … Continue reading

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Twenty-four relatively contented people

Via Involve, I’ve come across two case studies of citizens’ juries being used in the NHS – one in Oldham which looked at fairness in commissioning, and one in Buckinghamshire which looked at setting the priorities for dementia care. Both … Continue reading

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SuperPACs – richer than Bruce Wayne, and probably more powerful

Disturbing read about US SuperPACs – the effectively unregulated campaigning machines created by recent legal decisions. Unhindered by campaign finance rules, they can shovel money into attack ads, and take unlimited donations, as long as they aren’t officially co-ordinating their campaigns … Continue reading

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Eric Cantona runs for President of France

Eric Cantona has written to all the mayors in France appealing for their support to stand in the French presidential election. Libé has his original letter, in which he describes himself as an “engaged citizen” and promises to campaign against … Continue reading

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