The Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias on how the ownership of public space by private corporations is impacting documentary makers.

From AP via globeandmail.com:

In a controversial ruling involving Canadian folk singer Loreena McKennitt, a British court of appeal effectively set limits Thursday on what may be written about celebrities and other public figures.

Agreeing with a lower court's decision, Lord Justice Buxton of the Court of Appeal in London said a 2005 book, Travels with Loreena McKennitt: My Life as a Friend, had breached a duty of confidence.

The three-judge appeals panel said portions of the self-published memoir, by former Montrealer Niema Ash, a long-time friend and associate of Ms. McKennitt, were intrusive and insensitive.

Effectively defining the boundaries of such disclosures, they said they were covered by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights,which governs the right to respect for private and family life, and not by Article 10, which enshrines the right to freedom of expression and “to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority ... regardless of frontiers.”

From AP via CTV.ca:

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Suddenly and shockingly, Belgium came to an end. State television broke into regular programming late Wednesday with an urgent bulletin: The Dutch-speaking half of the country had declared independence and the king and queen had fled. Grainy pictures from the military airport showed dark silhouettes of a royal entourage boarding a plane.

Only after a half hour did the station (RBTF) flash the message: "This is fiction."

It was too late. Many Belgians had already fallen for the hoax.

The NYT's Virginia Heffernan on Amanda Congdon, who has jumped -- after being pushed from Rocketboom -- to being the video blogger for ABCNews.com.

Timothy Garton Ash keeps score of the Bush administration's record in the Middle East. By his count, Dubya is basically batting not far above zero.

The interview guest on the Daily Show Thursday night was Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Life inside Iraq's Green Zone.

I was puttering around and didn't listen to the whole thing, but what I did hear left me aghast.

Chandrasekaran, a Washington Post editor who spent 18 months in the Green Zone after the invasion, told what should be a mind-boggling tale. The Bushies essentially sent an army of party hacks to rebuild Iraq, using vetting questions like whether the candidate had voted for Dubya in 2000, even asking them their views on Roe v. Wade.

As a result, some sterling hires were made. A 24-year-old with no experience whatsoever in the financial business was put in charge of relaunching Iraq's stock exchange.

A 21-year-old, who hadn't graduated college and whose previous job experience was driving an ice cream truck, got put on the team in charge of Iraq's interior ministry.

It sounds unbelievable. Here's part one and here's part two.

A caution: There are some blurbs promoting his book on the website. At least two are from Washington Post colleagues of Chandrasekaran (Steve Coll, David Maraniss) -- although they aren't identified as such.

The Daily Show's Samantha Bee took a look under Al-Jazeera English's hood and found it wanting. A sample question:

Will Stebbins, bureau chief, A-J English: "We're looking to produce a journalistically quality product."

Bee: "Aren't you trying to appeal to an American audience?"

Stebbins: "Well, the principle behind the structure of Al-Jazeera English is a recognition that culture and geography clearly affects one's view of the world."

Bee: "Yes, congratulations: Your mom and dad are watching. I get it."

She offered some suggestions for sexing the network up to make it more palatable to the average American. Media junkies may well find her efforts amusing and sadly true.

Here's the 'Newsweak' link.

As a special two-for-one offer, also see Jon Stewart's item on Les Newserables, the new France 24 satellite news network.

Hmm. President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and that it was out to turn his citzens into slaves.

Here's what editorialists in the two countries have to say about it.

Update

Pakistan announced on Friday that it had arrested 500 Taliban in the past year and had turned most of them over to Afghanistan.