On October 15th, the Creator’s Project came to Brooklyn. The event was an art and technology festival sponsored by Intel and Vice Media which featured musical performances from DJs and indy groups, installations, and film/video screenings. The mission was to bring together art works by young people that use new technology. The atmosphere was buzzing, and the variety of offerings, split across a number of different venues in DUMBO, made exploring the project an adventure. For a clear view of what was on offer over the weekend, take a look at the video above.

WNET President-Emeritus Bill Baker hosted the 9th annual Giants of Broadcasting ceremony on October 14th. The ceremony paid homage to thirteen “media giants” who transformed the broadcasting industry over a span of seven decades. The luncheon was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where guests wined and dined while enjoying celebratory montages and acceptance speeches.

Honorees included Brian Williams, Christiane Amanpour, Fred Pierce, Charles Kralt, Robert Northshield, Charles Osgood, Rand Morrison, John Dille III, Brian Lamb, Frances Preston, James Arness, Rick Buckley, and Dawson ‘Tack’ Nail.

While most honorees spoke of their past achievements, current ABC international correspondent Christiane Amanpour discussed her hopes for the future of broadcasting. “I do hope in the future that we see many more women on the screen, and that there is a balance between men and women,” she said. “I would like to see the day where women were not judged by the amount of highlights in their hair, not judged by the shortness of their hemlines or deeply plunging cleavages, but [judged] for their professionalism, competence, and the quality of their work.”

The ceremony acknowledged that broadcasting is still relevant. The awards honored media entrepreneurs of the past alongside broadcasting icons of the present. The late James Arness and Dawson ‘Tack’ Nail were commemorated for paving the way for twenty-first century journalism. Meanwhile, CBS anchor Charles Osgood and NBC correspondent Brian Williams continue to make waves in modern day broadcasting.

The ceremony was sponsored by the Library of American Broadcasting, which acts to preserve historical records from past television and radio broadcasts. Their ultimate goal is to “make records available to a wide audience of academia, industry, and the public, while simultaneously keeping a weather eye on the future”. The luncheon is the Library’s biggest fundraising event of the year.

This video was produced by my students at Juilliard. Their goal: to bring classical music to a 20th century art form, the music video, on a 21st century platform, the internet. Notably, their production was financed through Kickstarter, a crowd-funding website which helps bring together donors and artists seeking funding for their projects.

The New York Times reported earlier in October that the Met has recently seen “a record amount of contributions for the fiscal year that ended in July.” The recent successes of the institution, including its HD broadcasts which reach 1,600 theaters in 54 countries, are in part owing to Gelb’s “‘effort to democratize opera’” as the Met seeks to reach new audiences. Read more at nytimes.com

News publications continue to blur the lines between newspapers, web, and television. The Daily Beast is adding ‘Daily Beast TV’, an online talk show, to its output. More at AdWeek.

The Nieman Lab has provided a nice update on the uptick in paywalls and platforms for subscriptions, such as Apple’s ‘newsstand’ in its new operating system. Notably, one startup in Slovakia, Piano Media, already has publishers distributing their subscriptions through a common paywall.

Sitcoms are making a comeback on network television. With viewer numbers down in the 18-49 demographic across all networks except Fox, one area of growth is in comedy programming. Via The Altantic

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a statement discouraging young children from using electronic media. Meanwhile, a new study from Common Sense Media reports that between 40-50% of children regularly use new mobile devices such as smart phones, iPads, and iPods. More at Washington Post

What impact are tablets having on news consumption? Some have touted the tablet as a savior of the publishing and newspaper industries, and the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s study of tablet users and their news consumption habits indicates that the written word is very much still popular with news readers, young and old. The in-depth, comprehensive study is available on their site, journalism.org

Can the creators of Skype challenge Netflix’s muscle in the online streaming market? Their attempt at revolutionizing television in 2007 with Joost – a web-based tv platform, failed to take off due to a lack of premium content. Although the market is growing crowded with powerhouses Amazon and Youtube increasing their offerings by the day, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis seem to be betting that they can offer something new with their service, Vdio, which will launch first in the UK. Stay tuned.

According to Andy Rubin, Google’s Senior Vice President, the internet giant will soon offer access to premium media and music on its Android operating system, in direct competition with Apple.

Last night, PBS premiered the first of five-parts of Women, War and Peace, a series in part featuring Liberian peace advocate and women’s rights leader Leymah Gbowee. The series seeks to “challenge the aesthetics of war” by exposing the reality of a woman’s role during warfare. The premiere comes just days after news of Gbowee’s 2011 Nobel Peace Prize win for her nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy, and gender equality.

At this year’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning, Gbowee talked about her peace efforts with project creator Abigail Disney and educator Colm Macahon. During a panel Gbowee specifically addressed the need to “challenge the media’s image of African women and women in conflicts around the world.”, and to use media to form a bridge from remote communities to the rest of the world, encouraging new ideas, thoughts and perspectives.

Gbowee shares the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize along with other two other women, Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf and Yemen peace-maker Tawakkol Karman. Gbowee told the New York Times that their win is “finally a recognition that we can’t ignore the other half of the world’s population. We cannot ignore their unique skills.”

Watch the full episode. See more Women War and Peace.

New York City Center will reopen on October 25th. The $75 million renovations allow for more comfortable seating, better sight lines, and extravagant restorations. Via DNAinfo.com.

Experimentation continues with premium video on demand as studios plan to release ‘Tower Heist’ on VOD three weeks after its theatrical release – for 59.99. The hefty price tag for viewing the early release tops recent efforts by operators to shave time off of the post-theatrical window. Earlier this year, studios entered into agreements with cable operators to offer a select number of films on VOD for 30 dollars beginning 60 days after their theatrical run. Whether consumers will be willing to pay such a high price to watch a movie at home is a major test for the film industry, which is setting a new course as the DVD market shrinks and the studio-backed ultra violet digital locker system is rolled out. UPDATE: Universal has canceled its plans for the experimental release, via THR.

Time Warner and Vivendi have placed bids on Polish broadcaster TVN. TVN’s parent company, ITI Group, is seeking the sale of its controlling 56% stake in the broadcaster.

A new report from Digital TV Research indicates that global online tv and video revenues are expected to grow “more than five fold” their current levels by 2016.

The Federal Communications Commission is trying to encourage more Americans to use high speed Internet. In collaboration with various private companies, the FCC plans to offer free computer training to individuals in disadvantaged communities.

On Monday, American journalist and author Pete Hamill joined New York Post theatre columnist Michael Riedel at the Center for Communications Panel, Pages from the Past. Hamill is best known for his international reporting and his best-selling memoir, A Drinking Life.

The panel was a part of a screening event, which featured the films Deadline- U.S.A. (1952) and The Paper (1994). Each film recalled a journalist’s experience at a newspaper at the height of the print era.

__________

Following, Hamill reminisced about the “old way of doing things,” the newspaper printing process before the rise of digital media. The social atmosphere, said Hamill, is an essential part of newspaper production. Approaching the 5 o’clock deadline was “the biggest adrenaline rush of all time” which included the “furious clacking of typewriters” and celebratory drinks following the day’s successes.

According to Hamill, the Internet takes away the “climax” of a newspaper’s front page.  Online, the newspaper is capable of moving onto something new in the “next thirty seconds” after publishing a big story. The ability to constantly inform the public leaves no room for finality, or achievement.

“[The publishing industry] is prematurely surrendering, says Hamill, “there’s no reason why they can’t coexist with the internet like stick shift and automatic did for years.”