The Alphaville Herald
| The Alphaville Herald | |
|---|---|
| Web address | alphavilleherald.com |
| Slogan | "Always fairly unbalanced" |
Type of site | News |
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Peter Ludlow (Urizenus Sklar) |
| Editor | Mark P. McCahill (Pixeleen Mistral) |
| Launched | October 23, 2003 |
| Current status | Online |
The Alphaville Herald is an online newspaper covering virtual worlds, founded by Northwestern University philosophy professor Peter Ludlow (known by his pseudonym Urizenus Sklar) on October 23, 2003.[1] According to scholars Constantinescu and Decu, the newspaper was the first "virtual free press," pioneering mass communication in virtual worlds.[2]
It was originally a newspaper for the Alphaville virtual city of The Sims Online, where Ludlow used the avatar Urizenus Sklar. Its stories uncovered in-game scams and cyber-prostitution,[3] and highlighted Electronic Arts' indifference to the negative consequences of their game and the problems of virtual democracy.[4] EA terminated Ludlow's account, which made international headlines,[5][6] and the newspaper migrated to another virtual world, Second Life, in June 2004. Sklar (Ludlow) is currently a Contributing Editor, while the avatar Pixeleen Mistral, revealed by Ludlow in 2010 to be Internet pioneer Mark P. McCahill, is the newspaper's Managing Editor.[7] Various people have written for the publication, including Catherine A. Fitzpatrick.
For some time, the newspaper was known as The Second Life Herald.
Literature
- Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace, The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse, MIT Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-262-12294-8
References
- ↑ Bonnie Brennen, Erika dela Cerna (2010), "Journalism in Second Life," Journalism Studies, 11:4, 546–554. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616701003638418
- ↑ Constantinescu, Diana and Decu, Andrei, "Social Cooperation within Virtual Worlds: Old Social Phenomena Emerging in New Environments" (October 1, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2000872 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2000872
- ↑ Joshua A.T. Fairfield, "Virtual Parentalism", 66 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1215 (2009)
- ↑ Henry Jenkins (December 22, 2003). "Playing Politics in Alphaville". Technology Review. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
- ↑ Amy Harmon (January 15, 2004). "A Real-Life Debate On Free Expression In a Cyberspace City". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
- ↑ Mark Ward (December 22, 2003). "The dark side of digital utopia". BBC. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
- ↑ "Pixeleen Mistral Files Legal Response to Venkman’s DMCA Abuses | The Alphaville Herald". Foo.secondlifeherald.com. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2013-12-14.