Second Life Media Hubs

The first place that I visited was the CNN iReport news hub and it is not a recommended sim. Not only is this simulation boring, it is layed out very poorly. A few of us from the class did pose to get an interesting picture out of the location though.

Also there is no news going on here, the only thing somewhat entertaining was a free news gear outfit!

This is Malmi reporting for duty, now lets go check out a more interesting media location. Thomson Reuters displays a much more interesting design that offers several videos ranging from technology, to entertainment, to second life, to top news.

Thomas Reuters also has a scientific island that even offers more. Here is an aerial view of the island:

And the amphitheatre inside:

I am uncertain if these locations are truly culture industries. Both CNN and Reuters come from real life media companies, they are attempting to gain publicity through Second Life. They want to get as many audience members as possible and are intruding a virtual space. But they are just reporting news, generally as objective as possible; they are not producing standardized cultural goods to manipulate the masses into passivity. They are not producing products, but are producing ideas that may have a bias. But is this enough to make them a culture industry, I don't think so, what do you think?