Nick Lewis: The Blog

The Pentegon has created its own news channel. The Pentagon's rationale is explaned by this no non-sense, spin free report from the distingished Washington Times:

The Pentagon has created its own 24-hour television channel to cut out the middleman -- the national media -- in covering news events at the headquarters of the world's most powerful military.

I've just create a new site called the Emergency Action Blog. It's intended to be a site that can be launched at a moments notice in the event of a major disaster, such as the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Next time there is such a tragedy, we aim to have a ready made collection of powerful and adaptable tools for volunteers and aid-workers. The bloggers at Harvard's Global Voices and WorldChanging have already taken notice, and begun offering their support.

David Weinberger has posted a rather alarming piece of information: A Boston Globe article entitled "It's the 'pure entrepreneur' who often leads the way". Now, the reader might be wondering why I would find such an article alarming... Well, firstly, because I've taken a bet, and dropped out of college this semester. The reason being that I didn't want to miss the unusual opportunities of these times. A semester of college would literally mean that thousands of people would shoot ahead of me in terms of their ideas and knowledge -- and we can't have that. So every time an article like that gets published, I know that a few more people are going to become convinced, like me, that it's now or never if you are going to try to catch this approaching wave. In other words, thanks for the additional competition, Boston Globe.

A 8.9-richter scale earthquake has resulted in a giant tsunami which has killed at least 20,000 people. The giant wave was caused shifting technoic plates off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday. Sri Lanka hardest; and it has caused damage as far away as Somalia.

Relief workers have set up The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog to gather and coordinate information about resources, aid, donations, and volunteer efforts in response to the devastation in Southeast Asia. I've put the link at the top of all 163 Progressive Blog Alliances blogrolls in an effort to spread the word. (Thanks Jon L.)

Media Matters: Top Ten Outrageous Statements of 2004

-Tip of the hat to Dr. Menlo

Cyberjournalist has drafted a code of ethics for bloggers. And I applaud them for doing so. Take a quick read over it, and tell them what you think:

Cyber Journalist's Blogger's Code of Ethics:

Be Honest and Fair. Bloggers should be honest and fair in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Bloggers should:

• Never plagiarize.
• Identify and link to sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.
• Make certain that Weblog entries, quotations, headlines, photos and all other content do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
• Never distort the content of photos without disclosing what has been changed. Image enhancement is only acceptable for for technical clarity. Label montages and photo illustrations.
• Never publish information they know is inaccurate -- and if publishing questionable information, make it clear it's in doubt.
• Distinguish between advocacy, commentary and factual information. Even advocacy writing and commentary should not misrepresent fact or context.
• Distinguish factual information and commentary from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two.

Minimize Harm. Ethical bloggers treat sources and subjects as human beings deserving of respect. Bloggers should:

Jon Lebkowsky's book recommendation reminded me of a post I had cited earlier from Yul Heibel's blog.

Michel Foucault: Interview with Paul Rabinow (1984):