California's social-media privacy law went into effect Jan. 1.

WSJ: Wall Street Battles States on Social-Media Protections

With all the disparaging comments that are made about the media, one effect of the 24-hour, instantaneous news cycle has been that the internal debates taking place within the executive branch and the military have been disseminated to the public in real time.

CNN: Commentary: Obama should listen to Biden

Moreover the halo effect from the hot-selling media players has led to a surge in sales of Apple desktop and laptop computers that has made Apple a player in the computer market once again.

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Soon after the dawn of commerce on the World Wide Web in 1995, a passel of entertainment giants and new-media boutiques tried creating online entertainment, to little effect.

FORBES: Intertaining Yourself

Others will read the comment as a simple reference to the effect that any poor-performing franchise in a top media market has on its respective league.

FORBES: Is Sandy Alderson The Mets' Response To Bernard Madoff?

California, Illinois, Maryland and Michigan adopted social-media privacy laws last year, and a similar new law in Utah takes effect in May.

WSJ: Wall Street Battles States on Social-Media Protections

But it also gives the chance to explain how Edward Morel and Roger Casement launched what was, in effect, the first international human-rights campaign, using the mass media to bring an unstoppable torrent of public criticism to bear on the Belgian authorities.

ECONOMIST: Europe 1900-14

He is both a savvy media operator, and a shrewd negotiator - two attributes his supporters say he is using to good effect in the BA dispute.

BBC: BA strike: The three men trying to find a solution