Yes, Steward shines a bright light on an indictable situation in mainstream media today... But I fear Kramer's influence is much broader and more insidious than Steward's probing reveals. I am conducting a case study on new media in Washington DC. My purpose is to explore the work and learning patterns in an emerging occupation. I have gathered and analyzed the life histories of 15 individuals who are engaged in either mainstream or new media work in DC and am now comparing the work and learning patterns within and across the two samples. The youngest person in the study, a white male who when I interviewed him in June, 2007 had just graduated college and was in the process of turning down a lucrative job with a financial firm in NYC so he could cultivate his new media practice. In the six months prior to our interview he had built a significant presence on YouTube by making videos critiquing the presidential candidates' use of new media, and in particular YouTube. Because he had built quite a following on YouTube, he had succeeded in engaging several of the candidates directly on his channel - to include having two come to his dorm room for an interview. Since our interview he has continued to make videos for his YouTube channel and is paid by several mainstream and new media outlets to provide political commentary. I have attached the story he told about how he learned his emerging new media practice, and as you will see if you have the time to read it - Jim Kramer plays a prominent role in his learning. It seems to me that Kramer's "infotainment boosterism" is being distributed to a new generation of media makers and I fear his dangerous standards and careless practices are being pulled along with it. -----Original Message----- From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Mike Cole Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 9:16 PM To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity Subject: [xmca] Must Watch: Real Journalism about Fake Capitalism > >> If you missed it, spend 20 minutes watching John Stewart interview Jim >>> Cramer of CNBC on the Daily Show. It is one of the best interviews you are >>> likely to see on TV this year and a fantastic indictment of the infotainment >>> boosterism of financial TV shows like CNBC... >>> >>> but it's not that funny. For the most part it is dead serious. >>> >>> >>> http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?collectionId=221532 >>> >> >> > _______________________________________________ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
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Story II.doc
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