A couple of interesting items this week about corporate control of public information:

A major U.S. telco censored two lines in a telecast of the band Pearl Jam. The lines were critical of U.S. president George W. Bush. From the response on Pearl Jam’s web site:

AT&T’s actions strike at the heart of the public’s concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.

And a Washington Post writer, Rob Pegoraro, has a critique of our dependence on Google’s search engine:

The technology used to figure out what pages people want to see also helps companies calculate what products people might want to buy, and therefore what ads to display for them. Do you really want one company controlling that show?

Pegoraro takes a look at other search techniques, it’s a worthwhile read for any journalist.