Comments on: Dan Abram’s Mediaite.com Launches: Further Blurring the Lines Between Church and State http://racetalkblog.com/2009/07/07/dan-abrams-mediaite-com-launches-further-blurring-the-lines-between-church-and-state/ Media, Communcations and Public Relations Fri, 25 May 2012 01:25:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Kyle Austin http://racetalkblog.com/2009/07/07/dan-abrams-mediaite-com-launches-further-blurring-the-lines-between-church-and-state/comment-page-1/#comment-6791 Kyle Austin Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:42:48 +0000 http://racetalkblog.com/?p=1762#comment-6791 Hi Sara, You're right with that. It's certainly US-based, with a focus on the celebrity of being in the media. However, Dan is certainly not the first (and won't be the last) to apply that type of nearsighted focus to looking at the media. -Kyle Hi Sara,

You’re right with that. It’s certainly US-based, with a focus on the celebrity of being in the media. However, Dan is certainly not the first (and won’t be the last) to apply that type of nearsighted focus to looking at the media.

-Kyle

]]> By: Sara Wedeman http://racetalkblog.com/2009/07/07/dan-abrams-mediaite-com-launches-further-blurring-the-lines-between-church-and-state/comment-page-1/#comment-6788 Sara Wedeman Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:37:50 +0000 http://racetalkblog.com/?p=1762#comment-6788 The ethical problems you describe are only the beginning of the story, actually. The data collection and ranking methodologies Abrams describes as "objective" are anything but. Here's what jumped out at me when I looked at the site. It appears to draw its data only from English-language outlets, primarily American ones. English may be a dominant trade language, but America is not the world, and is not even remotely representative of the non-English speaking world. This is particularly so terms of the prevalence of internet access and all that stems from it. My guess is that <i>CNN international</i> (in English & other languages but not shown in the US), <i>Al Jazeera</i>, the <i>Agence Presse</i> (FR) & thousands more, are not included in the <i>Mediaite</i> data set. Come to think of it, what happened to all those Farsi (Persian) language blogs and tweets from the recent election there? I doubt they were included either. In short, to call these rankings "objective" is an outright lie, Instead, they are primarily a product of Abrams' and crews' colossal blind spots (or if one wants to be kind, ignorance) in the areas of research methodology and ethics. To think that anyone would take the <i>Mediaite</i> rankings seriously, let alone use them as a basis for decision-making, is a very disturbing prospect. The ethical problems you describe are only the beginning of the story, actually. The data collection and ranking methodologies Abrams describes as “objective” are anything but. Here’s what jumped out at me when I looked at the site. It appears to draw its data only from English-language outlets, primarily American ones. English may be a dominant trade language, but America is not the world, and is not even remotely representative of the non-English speaking world. This is particularly so terms of the prevalence of internet access and all that stems from it. My guess is that CNN international (in English & other languages but not shown in the US), Al Jazeera, the Agence Presse (FR) & thousands more, are not included in the Mediaite data set. Come to think of it, what happened to all those Farsi (Persian) language blogs and tweets from the recent election there? I doubt they were included either. In short, to call these rankings “objective” is an outright lie, Instead, they are primarily a product of Abrams’ and crews’ colossal blind spots (or if one wants to be kind, ignorance) in the areas of research methodology and ethics. To think that anyone would take the Mediaite rankings seriously, let alone use them as a basis for decision-making, is a very disturbing prospect.

]]> By: RaceTalk http://racetalkblog.com/2009/07/07/dan-abrams-mediaite-com-launches-further-blurring-the-lines-between-church-and-state/comment-page-1/#comment-9781 RaceTalk Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:36:51 +0000 http://racetalkblog.com/?p=1762#comment-9781 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">New RaceTalk Post: Dan Abram’s Mediaite.com Launches: Further Blurring the Lines Between.. http://tinyurl.com/le3v9j</span></span> New RaceTalk Post: Dan Abram’s Mediaite.com Launches: Further Blurring the Lines Between.. http://tinyurl.com/le3v9j

]]> By: RaceTalk http://racetalkblog.com/2009/07/07/dan-abrams-mediaite-com-launches-further-blurring-the-lines-between-church-and-state/comment-page-1/#comment-7777 RaceTalk Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:36:51 +0000 http://racetalkblog.com/?p=1762#comment-7777 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">New RaceTalk Post: Dan Abram’s Mediaite.com Launches: Further Blurring the Lines Between.. http://tinyurl.com/le3v9j</span></span> New RaceTalk Post: Dan Abram’s Mediaite.com Launches: Further Blurring the Lines Between.. http://tinyurl.com/le3v9j

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