http://www.stephenboykewich.com official website of journalist and media strategist Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:37:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Via MemriTV (the Middle East Media Research Institute), a mesmerizing and unbelievably funny video purporting to be an Iranian Intelligence Ministry broadcast about foreign conspiracies against Iran. It reveals the secret truth about how John McCain, George Soros, velvet revolution theorist Gene Sharp and CIA Iran expert "Bill Smith" plot ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/07/the-next-iranian-revolution/ A bit of unintentional humor from a recent NYTimes story, "Seeking to Save the Planet, With a Thesaurus," based on accidentally leaked poll findings and messaging recommendations from ecoAmerica, nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm. Granted, ecoAmerica has its work cut out for it: a Pew Foundation poll released in January ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/06/rebranding-the-apocalypse/ [caption id="attachment_420" align="alignnone" width="316" caption="Alhurra's "Inside Washington""][/caption] I hope there was a time we were better at propaganda than this. Via ProPublica, the results of a U. Maryland/Zogby poll show that the ratings for the U.S. Arabic-language satellite TV channel Alhurra, which began broadcasting in 2004, are down to 0.5 percent in ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/05/ratings-for-bush-boondoggle-arabic-tv-below-margin-of-error/ [caption id="attachment_405" align="alignleft" width="134" caption="Vladislav Surkov"][/caption] Via Johnson's Russian List and Politcom.ru: On May 12, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev created a working group to make good on his promise in April to local NGOs to "soften" the current draconian laws on NGO registration. The head of the organization? The Deep Purple loving, Noam ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/05/the-fox-in-the-henhouse/ From the BBC: Lugovoi poised to run for mayor Andrei Lugovoi, the prime suspect in the murder of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, is set to run for mayor of the southern Russian city of Sochi. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is backing Mr Lugovoi as its candidate, although it has ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/03/with-an-almost-exquisite-depth-of-absurdity/ Today's NYT online has an interesting forum on the future of journalism in an age of expiring print dailies. Amid a handful of confused suggestions -- mostly based on the idea that people can be made to pay for content they've been getting free for years -- there's some good ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/02/battle-plans-for-newspapers/ KHARTOUM (AFP) — Sudanese men can now get a haircut and a shave at a tiny barber shop named Barack Obama in tribute to the man being sworn in as US president on Tuesday, despite strained ties between Khartoum and Washington. A huge portrait of Obama with his name written in ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/01/sudans-obama-barber-shop-open-for-business/ [caption id="attachment_363" align="alignnone" width="420" caption="Russian Orthodox Epiphany in Rostov. Photo by Sergey Ponomarev/AP."][/caption] From "Russians Strengthen Their Faith and a Tradition With an Icy Water Plunge" in today's NYT: Galina Burasvetova, a 50-year-old hairdresser in a red bikini, said she had first taken part in the ritual during an agonizing period in ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/01/accidental-poetry/ From the indomitable Chris Weafer, a.k.a., "The Weaf," former Alfa Bank strategist, current UralSib chief strategist, former and current heavyweight champion commentator to Western journalists on the nexus of oil and gas business and politics in Russia and the CIS, a clean, sober analysis of the winners and losers of ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2009/01/clean-and-sober/ I read it first in ITAR-TASS, where is seemed almost charming: Shoes Thrown At Member Of Ukraine-NATO Committee In Odessa ODESSA, December 19 (Itar-Tass) -- A ceremony of the opening of the Euroatlantic Cooperation Centre on the basis of the South Ukrainian Pedagogical University ended with a scandal on Friday. A young ... http://www.stephenboykewich.com/2008/12/shoe-throwing-craze-hits-ukraine/