The second book in Mira Grant's Newsflesh series is just as compelling as the first, though I don't like the narrative voice quite as much. (It's a boy.) This time the focus is less on media (though of course blogging and fancy tech are still major elements) and more on medicine, medical ethics in particular.
It seems like no one remembers or gives credit to the For Beginners series. Gladstone acts like no one has done a graphic history/politics book before, like this was some crazy new idea she hatched. Clearly I'm a little annoyed at that, but I started off liking the book plenty. The first page I dog-eared to quote says this "The American media are not afraid of the government. They are afraid of their audiences and advertisers. The media do not control you. They pander to you."
In case by any bizarre chance, the mainstream media are not covering what's happening outside the convention centers at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, a good source for protest news is Infoshop.org.
Bitch magazine is looking for a Program Director.
Great publication, great town (Portland, OR), great people, living wage ($36,680*) and medical/dental/vision. I'm half tempted to apply for it myself, not that I'm qualified.
Last weekend I attended the Women, Action & the Media conference at MIT in Cambridge, MA. It was generally empowering and exciting to be at an activist event with a probably 90%+ female population--to learn about all the inspiring work being done, especially by young and youngish women of color.
I'm attending and likely presenting at three conferences this spring, and I'm excited about each one in a way I rarely do about certain giant conferences that meet in such asinine places as Anaheim, California.
These most excellent events are:
The Grassroots Media Conference in NYC on Sunday March 2
Women, Action & the Media in Cambridge, Mass. March 28-30
GLBT ALMS in NYC May 8-10
Order IndyKids for your public school library! IndyKids has been added to the list of vendors that New York City public school librarians can order for their students.