Was surfing the net earlier today and came across this image on the Organizing for America blog. Organizing for America succeeds Obama for America, which helped elect the 44th president.
Historic Election Recalled 11/04/2009
I wasn’t born yet when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but I do remember where I was when the Challenger space shuttle exploded or when planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001 or when then-Sen. Barack Obama was officially elected the 44th president of the United States of America.
On Election Night ’08, I was working as an online producer at a Nashville television station. A few weeks earlier, Obama and McCain appeared in Music City for one of a handful of presidential debates held around the country. As an online producer, I was charged with writing stories, taking and editing pictures and video and posting all of them before, during and after four nightly newscasts. On Election Night, everything moved more quickly and thankfully I worked alongside dear friend and skilled colleague Angela Gardenhire.
As the election returns came in – Ohio, the Carolinas, the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) then the polls across the Midwest and finally the West Coast, people started calling the newsroom. Angela and I hurriedly monitored blog posts and filed updates along with our usual tasks. But, at one point, after ABC anchor Charlie Gibson called the election for Obama, I stopped. I excused myself and went into a conference room and cried. When I returned to my desk among the people who called me was my mother. Initially I didn’t recognize her voice, but the caller ID confirmed the source. She was crying, saying she wished my grandfather was alive to witness this feat. She also said she wasn’t sure months ago if she’d ever see this day, but she was glad for it. I added that I was very proud of fellow Americans who stepped away from fear to elect the nation’s first black president.
Last night, HBO aired a documentary produced by actor Edward Norton that provided behind-the-scenes access to the Obama campaign. I enjoyed reliving Election Night as well as learning about how the campaign affected staff and volunteers.
Iran Election’s Impact on Twitter 06/16/2009
According to Twitter, the Iranian presidential election and protests in response to the outcome are the most popular topics, which prompted the microblogging service to delay a planned upgrade Monday night.
“Our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran,” wrote Twitter co-founder Biz Stone on Twitter’s blog. “Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation.”
To get a sense of digital activism powered by new social media tools, check out a campaign timeline, critique of Facebook’s role in disseminating info and and photos of protests from around the world, click here. It was compiled by DigiActive, an all-volunteer organization “dedicated to helping grassroots activists around the world use the Internet and mobile phones to increase their impact.”
ASME Adds Obama Cover to Annual Contest 06/05/2009
Courtesy of www.magazine.org/asme/index.aspx
This year, the American Society of Magazine Editors expanded its annual Best Cover Contest to include a category for magazine covers featuring President Barack Obama. Friday is the deadline for submissions for the contest hosted by Amazon. The online retailer’s customers will vote for the finalists nominated by a panel of judges composed of magazine editors, design directors, art directors and photo editors.
To learn more about the contest, click here. The winning magazine covers will be announced at the first-ever Magazine Innovation Summit in October in New York City .
Dispute Over Obama Image Raises Questions Of Fair Use 03/07/2009
“A legal dispute over a famed poster of then-senator Barack Obama goes to the heart of a very modern-era debate over what is ‘fair use’ of images that are readily available on the Internet,” wrote Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of First Amendment Center in an article posted on the Newseum Web site. “
The article explains the dispute between artist Shepard Fairey who developed an iconic image of the presidential candidate and the Associated Press, which published a photography that served as Fairey’s inspiration.
“The dispute revolves around a complex part of copyright law called ‘fair use’ and whether Fairey’s artistic work was ‘derivative’ or ‘transformative,’” Policinski wrote in the “First Amendment Challenge: Who Owns Obama’s Image?”
For information on other First Amendment issues, please visit www.firstamendmentcenter.org and the Newseum’s Cox Enterprises First Amendment Gallery.
For information about Obey Giant Art, Inc., which Fairey and his wife, Amanda own or to watch a debate on the “Colbert Nation” regarding the copyright issues surrounding the Obama poster.
