Quick Clicks

The Networks | Sampling of Affiliates | Events and Chat areas | Try it out! | Organizations | Museums | Criticism | General | Try it out!(2)

The networks

Some networks offer chat rooms or forums and Web visitors are encouraged to e-mail the networks, but the focus seems mainly to be self-promotional. The Web is, of course, becoming a major promotional and advertising venue, and the networks have never been known to shun self-promotion, so this is natural. As the Web "matures" and continues its reach into everyday life, and with new technological advances, we may see a shift in the way the networks deliver information and even in the content of programming--WebTV, shows developed for the Web site and promoted on the television, more and richer content that appears only on the site.

The affiliates

The Web sites of affiliated stations (those who carry the programming of the network) tend to follow the lead of the network. However, they sometimes carry information pertaining to programming or stories featured on locally produced shows which may be of interest to you. Independent stations are often a bit more interesting. Most local stations have a Web site, and you can find yours either by searching on the call letters or by visiting the network site and clicking on your state, and then on your local affiliate.

The others

Of course, fans, watchdog organizations, museums, and anti-television cranks also flourish on the Web, adding their own content and drawing our attention to the role television plays in our culture.

The Networks

• ABC
• CBS
• NBC
• PBS
• FOX
• UPN
• Warner Brothers Note: this is not the site for the WB network, but for Warner Brothers-owned shows on its own and other networks.
• For cable stations see cable -- the links page

Sampling of Affiliates

NBC: WNBC New York, NY * WBBH, Ft. Myers, FL

ABC: KVUE, Austin, TX * KOMO, Seattle WA

CBS: WRDW Augusta, GA * KCBS, Los Angeles, CA

FOX: WXMI Grand Rapids, MI * WPXT Portland, ME

PBS: KTCA St. Paul, Minnesota * KUED Salt Lake City, UT

UPN: WUPL New Orleans, LA * KBHK San Francisco, CA

WB: KFBT Las Vegas, NV * WWHO Chillicoth, OH

Independent: KNVA Austin, TX * MFMZ Allentown, PA

Events and Chat areas

Several browsers and online services offer special events or opportunities to enter into a "live" conversation with someone in the media: an entertainer, writer, producer, or newsmaker, for example. Most services and browsers also offer bulletin boards where you can post comments or pose questions on a specific topic or show, and chat areas where you can enter into live conversations with other people from around the world in a discussion of news events, specific shows (Seinfeld, X-Files and Star Trek, for example) or the afternoon soaps. There are also hundreds of newsgroups and mailing lists/listservs that bring people together to talk about common interests.

Some of these include:

• Online Services: America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy, and the Microsoft Network often offer entertainers and newsmakers for an evening live chat.

• Browsers and search engines: Netscape, Yahoo, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, and other browsers or search engines offer a number of events and chat areas to discuss entertainment and news stories.

• MSNBC Chat

• Ultimate TV

• The networks also provide chat areas and bulletin boards.

• There are two excellent Web resources for locating newsgroups and mailing lists. But don't forget your netiquette if you decide to join in!
  • DejaNews is a search engine for newsgroups. As with a Web search engine, entering keywords will return links to newsgroup articles that contain your keyword.
  • Liszt, the mailing list directory, is a guide to a wide variety of mailing lists (complete with instructions on how to join them).

If you conduct a search for a particular entertainer, director, or writer, for example, you will also discover various fan clubs, student associated sites, and other links that will lead you to additional information.

Organizations

The Web sites listed below are just a sampling of those that offer information on a variety of aspects of television: acting, journalism, the business of broadcasting and so on. You'll find information particular to that organization, as well as archives, and information on careers and interns.

• Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
• National Association of Broadcasters
• National Academy of TV Journalists
• American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

Museums

Museums that focus on television or film are great resources for information on the history of the medium, archives and video libraries documenting important television events and sometimes commentary on those events (some quicktime video available for viewing on the Web), as well as bibliographies of where else to look for information.

• Museum of Television and Radio (USA)
• UCLA Film and Television Archive (USA)
• MZTV Museum of Television (Canada)
• National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (UK)
• Museum of Moving Images (UK)

Criticism

Criticism of the media is nothing new, and those groups who have long been critical of what we see in television programming--particularly the news--have Web sites as well. For additional resources see Media Ethics.

• The FCC For the latest in rulings from the FCC or for comments from the commissioners.

• Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) FAIR is the national media watch group which offers well-documented criticism in an effort to correct bias and imbalance. FAIR publishes the magazine EXTRA!, the radio show CounterSpin, and the syndicated column Media Beat, by Norman Solomon.

• Accuracy in Media (AIM) AIM investigates complaints of media misdeeds and works for higher standards in reporting. The Web site includes articles from their bi-weekly publication.

• Media Alliance A nonprofit organization which works to promote fairness and accuracy in the media. They also offer classes in an array of media diciplines and post job openings.

• Media Watchdog A collection of electronic resources related to media accuracy and censorship.

• Also look for magazines which feature articles critical of the media in general and television in particular.
  • MediaCulture Review A compendium of the best features, commentary, and criticism from the alternative press and elsewhere on media, technology, and culture.
  • HotWired MagazineGo to the Synapse section of the site, and bring along the latest browser version you can find. Look especially for Jon Katz on how the media covers Internet news (before Synapse, his column was called "Media Rant").
  • Slate
  • Feed Magazine
  • Premier Magazine

• Visit John Labovitz's E-ZINE LIST to browse through intenet e-zines listed in the television and media categories.

General

Be sure to check out The Gilbert Links, an extensive listing of Web sites for television, cable, and radio stations, online journals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as media organizations from the U.S. and around the world. Just click on the "media" link when you get there.

Check out Web sites for entertainment magazines and television shows for news and gossip with a generally more tv-positive spin: Entertainment Tonight, EXTRA, Entertainment Weekly.

For additional reviews and comments check the Web sites of newspapers listed on the Newspaper page of this Web site such as: The New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune.

Try it out!

Since this list is nowhere near exhaustive, do some searching and create your own bookmarks of sites including:

• your local television stations

• specific shows--there are many sites which follow the various soap operas, Rosie O'Donnell or popular prime time shows like Seinfeld, 3rd Rock, and the X-Files

• interest groups

• other related sites (e.g. Broadcasting and Cable Online Magazine)