On Tuesday, Tech President’s Micah L. Sifry observed that in the lead-up to the 2008 picks for vice presidential nominees, the best predictor wasn’t a pundit or a poll, but the number of recent edits on that contender’s Wikipedia page.

In the fun house mirror of pop culture, public access television’s image has warped from high-minded community journalism to Wayne’s World-style parody. But in the 1970s, it was the social media of its time, empowering a generation of citizen reporters.

George Stoney was a major figure in those early days of public access. A documentary filmmaker, he is often credited as the father of the public access television movement, and envisioned public access to the airwaves as one small step towards public action in society. Stoney died July 12 at 96.

After scoring two goals in a Euro 2012 semifinal win over Germany yesterday, Italy’s young, eccentric striker Mario Balotelli has officially arrived as national hero, feared opponent…and political media metaphor.

The past few weeks have seen bumper to bumper traffic in the streets of – pardon the conceit – new media cartography.

This weekend’s Belmont Stakes could make I’ll Have Another the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, and attempts to predict the race abound in the sport-specific and mainstream press alike. All the hubbub—speculation about whether I’ll Have Another’s dismal starting post will hurt his chances, rundowns of his biggest competitors, endless rehashing of his pedigree and purchase price—reminds you why ‘horserace journalism’ has become a popular way to describe election coverage.