Net Neutrality

Asked at Saturday’s Netroots Minnesota conference what blogs he follows, Rep. Tim Walz pulled out his iPhone and rattled off a few sites: Talking Points Memo, Bluestem Prairie, MN Publius and others. Then he showed off his favorite iPhone app — a new one that features his likeness and that of every other member [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty got it wrong last week when he talked about Minnesota’s U.S. Senate recount, but the winner of that recount got it right when talking yesterday on another topic: cyborg bugs.

The Xcel Energy Center might be the home of the Republican Nation Convention next week. But the RNC should have the its own sign plastered over the Xcel that says “brought to you by AT&T.” The Texas-based company’s PAC is the Republican party’s biggest donor, shelling out more than $1.3 million for Republican campaigns this year alone, according to campaign finance reports. And more than $168,000 of that has gone directly to the campaign for John McCain, whom AT&T has strongly supported and vice versa.

If the telecommunications industry has its way, it’ll be in charge of what Internet users can and can’t see. Web sites that pay a premium will get direct access to readers, while blogs and personal Web sites will be relegated to the “slow lane.” That discrimination by telecoms would be undemocratic, Net neutrality supporters say.

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In “Rich Media, Poor Democracy,” communications scholar Bob McChesney wrote about how democracy tends to be the first casualty in the collision of big media and big money. As keynote speaker at the Nov. 3 Citizen Media Forum put on by Twin Cities Media Alliance, he continued the theme in a discussion about “journalism’s freefall” [...]

Perry digs deep for site name: When asked about the name of his soon-to-launch community and news website a few weeks back, former City Pages editor Steve Perry joked about calling it The Hoe, as a garden-themed companion site to The Rake. But on TPT’s Almanac Friday, he revealed the name to be something deeper [...]