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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 20, 2009 CONTACT: Juliana Johnson (312) 575-9500 (office) (847) 691-9278 (cell) julianatjohnson@gmail.com PRESS RELEASE: “News Platoons Taking Internet by Storm” Arizona News Platoon is Launched! On Tuesday, January 20th the Arizona News Platoon will be joining four other state Platoon sites. The website, www.Arizona.NewsPlatoon.com, will work to promote local government transparency and accountability, provide a news platform for local activism networks, and aggregate the top news stories happening across the state. In wishing the News Platoon the best of luck with the launch, Senator Sylvia Allen (AZ-5) stated, "As you know the supporters of the liberal...

Back in 1960 the skills required to become President of the United States changed forever. That was the year that John F. Kennedy debated Richard M. Nixon on national network television for the first time. When reminiscing about Kennedy's win, pundits love to cite that he was tanned, good looking, had great hair and had his make-up professionally applied, while Mr. Nixon appeared pale, had a nervous demeanor and sweaty brow. They say that Nixon won on the radio but Kennedy won on TV. 1960 ushered in the era of the Network politician. For better or for worse, after the...

Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China's Xinhua news agency reports. The killing has sparked outrage in China, with thousands expressing outrage in Chinese Internet chat rooms, often the only outlet for public criticism of the government. The incident has also alarmed advocates of press freedom, who say municipal authorities had no right to attack a man for simply filming them. Police have detained 24 municipal inspectors and are investigating more than 100 in the death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive,...

Weblogs again are playing a central role in a major story -- this time the uproar over the veracity of old memos cited in a "60 Minutes" report questioning President Bush's National Guard record. But this go-around shows how the blogosphere may be maturing from a medium characterized by just commentary and the usual anti-media hyperventilation to one where reporting skills are also taking center stage. Bloggers with expertise in the arcana of type fonts and typewriters have weighed in on the debate, while others have unearthed old manuals on the capabilities of electric typewriters, described military protocols in preparing...

The left needs a gruffer voice for the talk-radio gameBY MARK MCGUIREAlbany Times Union   So liberal Democrats want finally to get serious about the talk-radio game, a medium that's almost an exclusive playground and pulpit of the right.Good luck.A pair of Chicago venture capitalists and Democratic donors, Sheldon and Anita Drobny, are reportedly talking to comedian Al Franken and other liberal entertainers about radio gigs. The idea is to develop a lineup of liberal pundits to sell to commercial radio stations. Democrats — especially the party's liberal wing — face hard times, and not just in Congress.They complain they...

Now that the Democrats have had their backsides handed to them, analysts are expecting them to spend a lot of money researching such things as why they were so roundly rejected by exurban voters, and whether Al Gore has any life left in him for another run in 2004. But I wonder if they might do better if they just saved their money and bought up some talk radio stations. When the political scientists start studying this midterm election, I think they'll find that conservative talk radio was the GOP's most effective secret weapon — "secret" only because people who...