[antimedia] antimedia: Austin Bay's opening remarks

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Posted by antimedia:
Austin Bay's opening remarks
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1145711618.shtml


   Austin Bay began the conference by talking about the speed of not just
   information transfer but also the speed of travel. He used the example
   of a doctor in Houston using video transmission to diagnose a patient
   in New Guinea, prescribe medication through a pharmacy in Hawaii which
   is then transported by jet to the patient, who receives his treatment
   within hours of his diagnosis -- perhaps faster than you can leave the
   doctor's office and drive to your local pharmacy, drop off the
   prescription and come back to get it later.
   Such is the world we live in, and it requires that we get the story
   right the first time -- that we not allow the lies to take hold.
   Austin just gave a great line - 24 hour television is, for war,
   disasters, crime and celebrity, like pornography is to sex - instant
   titillation and repeated orgasm that is degrading and insulting to the
   people actually involved in the events. (This is not an exact quote.)
   Milbloggers on the front lines report the war as it happens, raw,
   unedited, visceral and certainly uncontemplated. But it's real and
   true and not suitable for TV. But it's desparately needed in a world
   where "news" is nothing more than sensationalism and exploitation. (My
   words, not Austin's.)