Media Diversity

Newsstand in central Madrid, Spain. Where?

A curious assortment of news and media products also in Madrid, Spain Where?

Some 5 Euro DVDs in a strange categorization schema. Not sure these all belong together in the same selection, as Boris pointed out. Disney? Al Pacino and Robert De Niro?Where?

A curious diversity of media selections at many of the newsstands seen out and about central Madrid. Most barely stopped short of selling small household items. You could get DVDs certainly, along with a variety of newspapers, both lauded broadsheets as well as the usual assortment of pulp hobby, entertainment, fashion and sports magazines. It’s curious to see these alongside of hardcover, shrink wrapped editions of the Life of Stalin, tomes titled the History of Philosophy and speciality, custom-published magazines with nattily groomed Barack Obama on the cover.

Why do I blog this? Observations bout media distribution practices. Curiously, I don’t exactly recall seeing DVD rental outlets, which I was not on the look-out for. I wonder if the newsstands also serve as DVD purchase/rental outlets. It is barely worth noting that I attempted to watch “Lost” during my nine days in Espana (a fella has his curious vices..) but was stymied by a notice that showed in the video frame — this show is not available outside of the United States. Hrm. In some ways, I suppose this is a signal of old media — both the institutions as well as the material. People more often than not seem to be turning to their peers and trusted allies to obtain the things they want, and those networks grow stronger as the one or several to many networks crumble and fall.
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