Censorship in the Information Age
It doesn’t work. Some day, people will understand this. But not today.
Tim Robbins gave the keynote speech at the National Association of Broadcasters Show. Once the NAB found out what he was going to say, however, they ordered the press covering the event to turn off their cameras. They didn’t say anything about audio recorders.
And so, we can listen to the speech that frightened the NAB.
[Ed.: Blake informs me that the video was broken when he tried it. Here's the YouTube version.]
It’s a pretty good speech, actually. In it, Robbins calls upon the media to take some responsibility for their programming, to acknowledge their role as shapers of the culture, to rise above tabloid programming. That the NAB was so frightened of this message as to try to censor it speaks volumes about the kind of people who run our traditional media.
Well, to those guys I say… Tough shit. The message got out. And it will get far more attention for the fact that you tried to quash it. And the very fact that it got out underscores a vital concept, one Robbins didn’t mention but probably should have: adapt or die. Because we don’t need you any more.
April 16th, 2008 20:19
I can’t get the thing to play. If all the content they’ve got is an audio file, why can’t they just post it as a freaking MP3? As the kids say these days, FAIL.
April 16th, 2008 21:49
I know, dude, I know. Well, technically, there’s a brief bit of video of Robbins before the feed was cut. So it’s not purely audio. But I would rather prefer if it were, really.