By: Chris Mars

I've been reading a book titled "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Its a guide to building quality relationships in the corporate world and focuses on setting and achieving goals.

In one portion of the book it talks about the "networking jerk", we all know the guy who talks to everyone and pretends he/she is your best friend. This person never really makes any connections or offer any valuable information to help others. Ferrazzi gives a few tips to ensure your not the networking jerk, one of which is "don't come to the party empty-handed."

In this section he refers to bloggers as "stars of the internet world." He talks of how the world of a blogger is a loop, offering and receiving information. This has really changed my outlook on how blogging works and how to handle yourself in social network settings.

It's all about connecting to others because your only as good as what you give away. My advice for the day is to go buy Ferrazzi's book and see how building real connections will put you ahead in the future. You won't be disappointed.

Photo credit: amazon.com

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Magazines following the Internet trend?

By Michelle Zimmerman

Magazines have been one of the last to find interest in publishing material over the Internet but it seems as though the time might have come.

It is not official that magazines will go online but it is rumored that soon the magazine industry will makes its mark on the Internet. The plan seems similar to the newspaper industry only all magazines would be available for purchase from a website. It has been compared to an "Itunes for magazines".

Magazine publishers will group together and create Web sites available for consumers to purchase different magazines.

People will be able to purchase the magazines on the Web site and get them in different forms. The prints would be viewable on the Internet or cell phones.

Magazines are not the only group from media interested in this type of partnership. Many television shows partner with online television shows as well as music labels and online music Web sites.

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Free

By: Mallory Tandy



Two western journalists who were kidnapped in August 2008 were set free in Somalia, Sudan on Wednesday after fifteen months of being held captive.



The captives were Nigel Brennan, who is an Australian photographer, and Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian freelance reporter. Lindhout talked about her memories of being beaten and tortured, setting a horrific and terrifying scene.



Usually captives do not get held for so long, but they think greed was behind it, the kidnappers asked for $1 million since the kidnapping. It is still a mystery who the kidnappers are, they have not been able to find them.



The kidnappers would let Lindhout call her family and ask for ransom but her family did not hav that kind of money, but the kidnappers thought everyone from Canada were rich. Lindhout was beaten on a regular basis.



Mr. Brennan said they were kept in chains and pistol-whipped for ten months after they had tried to escape.



The two journalists were handed over to government soldiers on the outskirts of Mogadishu.



This is crazy, I feel so horrible that this happens all the time around the world and sometimes not much light is shed on these kinds of stories, people would rather know what Britney Spears is doing, and it's sad.

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Wal-Mart Was Black Friday's Hot Spot

By Keri Waterhouse

Many shoppers went to Wal-Mart, which is the nation's greatest retailer, on Black Friday in hopes of securing some of the early deals of the holiday shopping season. Items such as the large plasma and HDTV's, $3 slow cookers, and the laptops that were under $200 were the highly wanted items this year.

Unlike past years when shoppers got ready the night before in order to be the first ones in the store, Wal-Mart said it would offer extended hours at their non-24 hour locations to accommodate the post-Thanksgiving shoppers.

The move was also viewed as a response to the tragedy that happened last year at the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream New York. When an employee was trampled to death by thousands of eager shoppers that went rushing in the doors when they opened.

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Obama's Job Summit-Google & Disney

By Keri Waterhouse

The executives from Google and Walt Disney are going to join other company chiefs, academics, labor leaders and mayors at President Obama's jobs summit this week.

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt and Disney chief Bob Iger are going to be among about 130 people that will be attending the meeting that is this Thursday.

The 130 experts from unions, government, academia and other companies will be seeking ways to jumpstart job creation.

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By Tessa Leone

The media was ruled by adds publicizing the Black Friday sales this weed. You couldn't escape them. The radio started playing the Christmas melodies and the Christmas commercials, the network channels were bombarded by Christmas deals and door buster sale notifications, mailboxes were stuffed full of coupons and sale adds.

Merchants were ecstatic when they saw more shoppers than previous years combined push through their doors at 12:01 on Friday morning, but their relief was short lived.

Shoppers were in for deals, and thats all. Reports showed an increase in headcount and a disturbing drop in spending per person.

Many stores lost money with all of the advertisments they created compared to how much merchandise was actuall purchased.

This appears to be one side effect of the recession; a bargain hunter. Is America becoming smarter or just poorer? And what will this mean for the advertising industry and their relations with print and televised media?

Photo Credited to www.behindthecounter.org

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LA Times transsexual sportswriter found dead

By Zach Jevne

Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner, also known as Christine Daniels, was found dead last week. While cause of death remains unknown, suicide is suspected.

In an essay published in the Times sports section in April 2007, Penner announced that he was a transsexual sportswriter. The long-time columnist made headlines when he shocked colleagues and readers that he would be transitioning to become Christine Daniels.

He wrote in the essay how difficult his decision was to reveal this to the public. In a very personal account, he explained what being a transsexual is and how it affects one's life. Also, about the perception in society and how difficult a transition it would be.

His essay was one of the most-viewed stories of the year and featured over 1,000 responses online the day it was published. The LA Times ran a story about Penner recently after his essay about the beginning of his transition.

After the essay, Penner began writing for the Times Web site as Christine Daniels. He also wrote about his transformation in a blog entitled "Woman in Transition." In October 2008, LAT announced that Mike Penner would be returning to the paper and return to using Mike Penner in the byline.

Penner began working at the Times Orange County edition in 1983, covering high school sports. Over 25 years he's covered the Olympics, tennis, soccer, the Angels and sports media. He also spent time writing an NFL column.

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Criticizes Towards CBS

By Brianna Carlson

Adam Lambert kissed another man at the American Music Awards last Sunday. This has caused an outburst of opinions.

Lambert was on "The Early Show" this past Wednesday. CBS decided to rebroadcast a clip from the previous incident.

CBS blurred the scene in which Lambert kissed the man, but on a previous show they did not blur a scene of Madonna and Brittany Spears kissing at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003.

Some people don't think this is fair because gay and lesbians are not being treated the same as other people.

(Photo Credit: Picasa Web Albums)

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Shows Online, Brought to You by ...

By Laura Reid

Advertising companies are starting to find their way around the Web, and so are shows that are now seen online. Webisodes, what these shows are called as part of branded entertainment, are becoming more and more popular with media corporations as they find new places to capture viewers' eyes as they focus more on the internet. Companies like Clorox are financing webisodes for sites like nascar.com and disney.com.

Even smaller companies can compete in this market. American Family sponsors "In Gayle We Trust," a ten-episode Web series that is apparently getting great viewership, although prime-time Webisodes are far in the future.

I think for advertisers this is a great way to start earning money. Advertisers need to be aware that it will probably be impossible to reach some of their greatest heights of profit margins that they hit many years ago, but a method like this can surely lay out a way to recover from losing money. Advertisers are beginning to understand that they need to follow the viewers.

(Photo Credit: Fernando Johann)

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Magazine Rivals Lay Down Their Arms and Join Forces

By: Chris Mars

Rival publishers have been planning to open an on-line store similar to the itunes store to generate new digital media. This new store would make up one of the biggest alliances among rival publishers ever and would include magazines like The New Yourker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Sports Illustrated.

John Squires, an executive vice president at Time Inc., has been heading up the new project and would leave his current position to get the new store up and running. Each different publisher would be responsible for creating a digital version of their content but would hopefully benefit from producing larger revenue.

This is a step towards saving the magazine industry and adapting to new media. Squires says its very important to remind readers that the magazine experience is worth the cost.

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Dangers of Facebook

by: Amy Johnson

Social networking sites – a source for good or evil?

Sites like Facebook and Twitter have quickly become the new way of keeping up with family members and friends all over the world. Especially with Facebook, people can keep up in many different ways; writing on walls, composing a private message, and being able to create events to let people know what's occurring are a few of the options.

A current event called “Kick A Ginger” day, referring to redheads, was held on Nov. 30 of this year. Many jokes have been told about gingers thanks to an episode of “South Park,” and the event was more than likely meant to be the same – a joke.

A few kids from a California middle school took it literal. A 12-year-old boy was beaten up by a group of classmates in two separate incidents; the Facebook event is linked to the case. The annual “Kick A Ginger” day caused the same kind of results last year.

People need to be able to distinguish between the difference between a joke or a real event. Perhaps Facebook should take a precautionary measure for events that have more than 500 guests; if Facebook sees an event such as “Kick A Ginger” day, they would be able to delete it before more and more people get involved.

(Photo Credit: Flickr.com)

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No more Oprah

By: Mallory Tandy

Oprah has decided to leave "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and focus all her time and energy on her cable network "Oprah Winfrey Network". Her show will sadly end on Sept. 9, 2011. This means a great loss for CBS, they will lose millions.

Larry Gerbrandt, who is an analyst for the firm Media Valuation Partners says that any new show they are going to replace it with will not draw as many viewers as Oprah did. It is a huge blow to the fortunes of broadcast television.

Will Oprah's new show do as well as her hit show she has now?

I think Oprah's viewers are so dedicated to her and love her they will watch anything she is on.

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Media luck is starting to change but jobs are still at loss

By Michelle Zimmerman

Although it has been seen in the past few months that the media has begun to take a new, bright direction in their industry, people all around are still losing jobs.

AOL announced last Thursday that they would again be cutting another 2500 jobs. The industry explains job cuts similar to AOL's are because most jobs are no longer needed.

Over the year there have been multiple job cuts all over the media industry which at first did not effect much of the production of companies. As the year continued along with more job cuts, it is expected that many companies are now cutting to a save costs but can possibly suffer from the lack of employees.

The media industry is thought to have an increase earnings because of the precautions companies are now taking to consider lower costs. Sadly it is not because of an increase of revenue.

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Making Driving Safer One Less Cellphone at a Time

By Meghan Vosberg

We have all been told; wear your seatbelt, look both ways before you cross the street, and don't talk on your cell phone while driving. But since most people insist that they and their cellular devices are attached at the hip, they look to hands free voice technology.

Ford and Microsoft are selling devices that are powered by voice commands to dial phones, but studies have shown that even this way of trying to keep drivers safe still can prove dangerous. Therefore more technology is made to solve the problem cause by technology that was created to solve the problem of a different set of technology.

Zoomsafer is the new handsfree technology. It's a free service that uses your phone's GPS sensors and determines if the speed you're driving is safe. If it deems your speed dangerous it will turn off your cell phone until the car is stopped.

Photo Credit: wikipedia

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Oprah Says Goodbye in 2011

By Keri Waterhouse

"TheOprah Winfrey Show" began as a local Chicago talk show and grew over two decades into the foundation of a media empire worth billions, is going to end its run in 2011after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey's production company said Thursday night.

Winfrey became a billionaire and one of the most powerful women in entertainment, plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast on Friday, said Harpo Productions Inc.

Winfrey's 24th season opened earlier this year with a bang, as she drew more than 20,000 fans.

A lot of loyal fans and viewers will be devistated to see her go. She has touched so many lives and has a lot of followers.

http://www.kcci.com/entertainment/21668599/detail.html
http://indyposted.com/6396/oprah-show-going-off-the-air-in-may-2011/

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Advertisers Biggest Night

By: Amy Johnson

On Feb. 7, 2010, the annual Super Bowl will be held. Many people tune into the Super Bowl for a very different reason than watching the game – the commercials.

Advertisers pay dearly for mere seconds of ad spots for this big event. According to the network's head of sports sales, CBS is only 10% from having all of its ad space completely sold out. It is likely that there are only six to 12 30-second ad spots left out of the 62 that are typically sold for the event. CBS says that there are a few spots left to sell in the first half of the game, but that most of the remaining time slots are in the forth quarter of the game.

With the economy in as battered of a state that it is, will advertisers be less likely to pay millions of dollars for an ad slot during the Super Bowl? If last years numbers hold true, the answer is yes. No American automaker, nor did FedEx Corp., buy ad space for the game last year.

With 30-second ads going at a rate of $2.5 million and $3 million, is it worth it for advertisers? Yes. The Super Bowl is one of the few times that people actually turn the television on with the intentions of watching the commercials.

(Photo Credit: Flickr RMTip21)

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Sullivan Denies Spreading Palin Rumors

By Zach Jevne

Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, continues to make news.

This time Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan is the target, but he's firing back. In her book, Palin writes, "formerly reputable outlets like the Atlantic ran with the loony conspiracy that I was not Trig's mother."

During the McCain campaign, Sullivan expressed skepticism in Palin's pregnency and wondered if one of Palin's daughters, Bristol or Willow, were the mother.

Sullivan responded by saying, "My blog never ran a story that Bristol or Willow was the mother of Trig. And I never aired any conspiracy stories."

During this point in the campaign, around the end of August in 2008, Sullivan began to inquire about the pregnancy and birth of Trig. He asked the campaign to prove that she was the biological mother of the 4-month old. He says now, in response to the book, that she "failed to produce any such evidence. If she hadn't used the baby as a central political argument in favor of voting for her, I would not have cared."

It's no surprise that Sullivan jumped at the chance to defend himself against her statements in the book. Clearly there is no love lost between the two.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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By Taylor Finch

This week's cover of Newsweek displays a photo of Sarah Palin showing a little leg in running shorts, which has many people questioning whether or not this is a sexist depection of Palin.

Meghan McCain is one who believes it is sexist and offensive to women.

From one of her numerous blogs, McCain writes: "[The photo] is the most sexist thing I have ever seen...[Palin] has broad national appeal for a whole slew of reasons, very few of which having to do with how she looks in running shorts."

There may be an ample amount of coverage on Palin that could come off as sexist, but to most of the people reading her book and idolizing her, the Newsweek cover is not one of these sexist pieces.

This particular photo of Palin was not even intended for Newsweek, but was an extra photo left over from a recent Runner's World shoot that Palin, as a marathon enthusiast herself, willingly posed for.

For Palin to not only endorse herself as a politian, but a runner and mother who is, believe it or not, human, is actually rather empowering to all women.

This merely takes her political self and enhances it with the fact that yes, Palin is a feminine, female politician.

(Photo credit: thehollywoodgossip.com)

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A Bleak Outlook

By Tessa Leone

Time.com has just released a list of 10 major newspapers that are predicted to either fold or move to a strictly Web based publication within the near future.

On this list is: The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Philadelphis Daily News, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Miami Herald, The Detroit News, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Sun Times, The Daily News, and The Fort Worth Star Telegram.

" It is hard to imagine that when I am old I will have to explain to my children what a newspaper was," said consumer Gina Telaroli.

It looks like the economy and news industry are taking some hits, although with the forecasted discontinuation of all of these newspapers the environment is at least benefiting.



Photo Credit: photobucket.com

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Paying for Online News

By Ryan Franker

A survey was taken to 5,000 people in America and nine other countries, on whether they would pay for online news.

About half of Americans, 48%, said they would pay for online news and even news that is on their mobile phone, but said they would only pay about $3 a month for news on the Internet. The people in Great Britain tied with the same percentage of Americans willing to pay for online news, while Australians tied with the amount willing to pay for news with Americans.

Italians are willing to pay an average of $7 a month for the online news.

There is a large difference in how many news outlets the Europeans get their news and how Americans get their news.

In Europe there is a generally dominated by a couple large news outlets, where in America it is all over the place. Europeans are more willing to pay for news, just because they cannot go to a free news outlet like Americans do.

The people that are more willing to pay the money to read the news online, are the readers that have avid newspaper readers.

(Photo Credited: flickr.com)

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YouTube Direct

By: Chris Mars

In recent news we have seen the steady decline of old media. Following the same trend we have seen a decrease in students declaring Journalism as their major of choice. The news industry is changing but the opportunities to become a self-made journalist seem to be limitless.

With the capabilities of new media and new technology it's becoming apparent that anyone can report the news. You Tube Direct is a new platform that capitalizes on the abilities of You Tube by giving you the same features on your site.

This new feature allows news organizations to solicit and verify news footage on their web site, giving video makers the ability to participate in your news gathering process.

See the benefits and how You Tube Direct works here.

Photo Credit: You Tube Direct

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CBS Attempts New Project

By Brianna Carlson

"CBS Reports: Where America Stands" is the new series CBS plans to launch. Sampling of the series will take place within the first couple weeks of January.

This series will report topics concerning health care, the military, the economy and crime. It will not only discuss current events, but the show will also give reports as to what happened 10 years ago on the issue and what is predicted in the next 10 years.

One example of the show will be discussing military issues. How has the military changed in the past 10 years, and will it be strong enough in the next 10 years after the war we're currently in.

Diane Sawyer will be taking Charles Gibson's anchor position for ABC's "World News" during the same hour that the new CBS series will show. CBS is hoping the different audiences won't like Sawyer taking over at ABC and possibly look for other options to watch.

Photo Credit: (horizonspeakers)

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Online Media Proved to be a Success through Fort Hood Happenings

By Michelle Zimmerman

I first heard of the tragedies of Fort Hood through a text message from the Des Moines Register stating there had been a shooting killing at least 11 people, none of which were from Iowa. This text message was only one of the thousands of different ways the information of Fort Hood spread Nov. 5.

Internet media streams were filled with updates about the shooting and Twitter was a top Web site notifying the public of occurrences as they were happening. A few users of Twitter were actual soldiers on site of the attack that were tweeting information they knew. Many of the soldiers were unsure of what was happening but knew of some type of shooting.

As Web sites continued coverage over the tragic event, many topics covered the shooter, his affiliation with his Muslim religion, and possible motives. As the information was being spread over the Internet it is unsure where exactly the news became incorrect.

The Internet media was suddenly stating that there had been multiple shooters at the scene, and 1 shooter had been killed during the 7 minute killing spree. Although this is obviously a lie, it took some time for journalists to recover the truth and marks a weakness in the process of Online media. Sometimes it is possible for incorrect news to be stated and it isn't long before those lies are spread as truth.

On the positive side, the Internet medias all showed a strong connection. Many companies and journalists were streaming information as quickly as they received it and this was pleasing for the audiences they were reaching out to. People of the U.S. as I am sure around the world wanted accurate information immediately.

Working together these journalists were recognizing other journalists in the industry that were providing similar information that audience members might find useful as well. Together the Internet media proved why it is considered so efficient. People were given information in a timely matter, most of which was very accurate.

I believe the media on the Internet covered this tragic occurrence very well. As soon as I received the text message I was able to get to a Web site that was posting news feeds momentarily with the newest updates.

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Prescription Drug Prices Are On The Rise

By Keri Waterhouse

Drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by taking off $8 billion a year after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

The industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. This is going to add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug makers are saying that they have valid business reasons for the price increases. While some of the critics are saying that the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in the next coming years.

Having prescription drug prices raised it’s going to make it difficult for people to afford them. Bad things could start happening because of this rise in prices.

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Is AOL in trouble?

By: Mallory Tandy

AOL recently cut 100 jobs and is making a drastic move by deciding to leave Time Warner Inc. Time Warner has said that AOL has had charges for restructuiring for as much as $200 million possibly due to work force.

Tim Armstrong, a former executive of Google Inc, took over AOL in March, has been trying to keep the optimism up for the workers, updating them regularly of what is going on with the company and what the future holds for them.

Time Warner approved the plans for AOL to spin off in May. This will make AOL an entirely separate company, which hopefully should lead to success after the failed merger between the two companies that occured in 2001.

I am not an AOL user, it never interested me. I am no sure if being it's own separated company will help them at all, it may continue to go down hill.

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Dell Tests Their Version of the Smartphone

By Meghan Vosberg

Dell has now officially joined the Smartphone family by launching their new Dell Mini 3.

Powered by Google's Android operating system, this new piece of technology will not be launching into the United States unlike Samsung, HTC, and Motorola. China Mobile, the largest phone company in the world, will be the first stop for Dell with its distributing of its new Android handset. The launch date has not yet been confirmed.

Rumors circulated earlier this year that the smartphone project had been postponed. There is still not much known yet about the Mini 3 as Dell has not released information other than the phones are thin touch screens with no visible keyboard.

Will the phone ever reach the United States? The answer is still unknown but Dell was sure to point out that the company currently sells 3G notebooks through AT&T and Verizon.

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Publisher in Portugal Picks a Fine Time to Start a Newspaper

By Laura Reid

A Portuguese publisher has decided to start up a newspaper during a time when newspapers are beginning to call it quits to print. João Palmeiro, the president of the Portuguese Publishers Association, has started up a newspaper called "i", which stands for "informação", or information in portuguese.

This newspaper is set up like a magazine, with it stapled in the middle. It also places op-ed pieces before business and political news, since many people already receive their main news over the Web. This allows for a fresher take on the news.

The paper has started in a good position, with their sales higher than expected with over 11,000 subscribers. Just like other papers, however, advertising sales are below expectations.

I find this very interesting that a publisher had the courage to start this when the entire industry is failing. There is also a Web version, which would be expected, but the hard copy is fairing well in this economy. Maybe this will prove that print newspapers will survive just a little longer than expected.

(Photo Credit: Alex Barth)

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"Modern Warfare 2" Craze

By:Chris Mars

Nov. 10 was just like any other day for everyone except the gaming world. The release of "Modern Warfare 2" had 4.7 million people happy after the first day of sales. My roommate was one of the dedicated 4.7 million who purchased the $59.99 video game the first day. His had been reserved but he still had to stand in line for two hours.

After seeing and playing the game for a very brief time I was shocked at how realistic the graphics are, its really does look like real life. After leaving the next morning and coming home late at night to find him in the same spot I realized why we are the most uninformed generation. Instead of paying attention to the news or keeping tabs on our political leaders, many youth spend hours or even days playing video games. After these long sessions of battling online or completing missions there is little time left to dedicate to news.

This is on top of the months of searching and researching the game prior to its release. It's amazing the time and energy our generation spends with video games and and what I like to call "zombie media." These mediums require little physical effort and no educational benefit either. Sure, games like "Modern Warfare" have so historical appeal to them but it's nothing significant and goes unnoticed a majority of the time.

I'll stay away from "Zombie Media" as much as possible.

Photo Credit: www.COD6.org

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Facebook Precident

By Tessa Leone

Rodney Bradford, a nineteen year old from New York City has won the first court case by using Facebook, a social networking unit as evidence.

Rodney was accused of robbing two people on October 17th in the Brooklyn housing unit where he lives. He was held for twelve days and was expected to be convicted.

Bradford had eye witnesses claiming his innocence but no hard evidence to prove his wear abouts, except a Facebook message posted on his girlfriends wall asking her where his pancakes were.

At 11:47 on October 17th the phrase "Where my IHOP?" was posted from Bradford's computer using his Facebook account.

This news was presented before the judge and Bradford won his case.

"This is the first case that I am aware of in which a Facebook comment has been used as alibi evidence. We are going to see more of that because of how prevalent social networking has become." said Dallas lawyer John G. Browning.

Picture credit: msnbc.com

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Journalism grad school applications on the rise

By Ryan Franker

Journalism grad schools have seen a rise in the number of people applying. New York University has seen a six percent increase in applications from last year.

NYU's increase is nothing compared to some other journalism schools, but with this increase it gives the schools hope that journalism is going to take off again. Stanford saw a 20 percent increase, while Columbia saw a 38 percent increase.

The students don't all intend on going straight to writing hard-hitting stories, one student said that he is wanting to work on documentary films or advertising. Those are still part of journalism and Associate Director Stephen Solomon tells his students to, "study other subjects that interest them in conjunction with journalism, and gives a competitive edge and a depth of knowledge."

There are a lot of different field that journalist can go into, Solomon also encourages his students to become broader in the journalism field, such as blogging.

The students believe that journalism is not going to die out, but you need to be open in what you want to do. "I think the value in journalism is communication, which is something that will not die," said Margaret Eby, a second-year graduate student.

(Photo Credited: flickr.com)

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Simmons' NBA Book Top Seller

By Zach Jevne

If you just picked up a copy of Bill Simmons' new book, The Big Book of Basketball, it might take you until the end of the NBA season to finish it, or longer.

Simmons, also known as the "Sports Guy," just released his second book, all 697 pages of it. The book is all about the NBA, features 1,032 footnotes and has just topped the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list.

The popular Simmons attractes 1.4 million page views to his column, which is featured on his own ESPN Web site, "Sports Guy's World." His podcasts, "The B.S. Report," are downloaded two million times a month.

I wasn't much of a fan when Simmons first started gaining national fame with his column (c. 2002), which I was introduced through "ESPN The Magazine." His writing featured too much of a Boston-bias for my taste.

I began listening to "The B.S. Report" and reading some more of his columns a couple of years ago and began to enjoy his work a lot more. He is able to crack me up occasionally and his knowledge of the NBA is unrivaled. He is funny, but not hilarious. Sometimes I don't care for his pop culture references, especially the MTV ones.

One of his new platforms for his "well-informed, snarky" takes on sports is Twitter. Simmons has over 980,000 followers. A tweet on Tuesday night served as a reminder to watch ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series tonight, for which he is an executive producer.

His columns are usually too wordy for me to read on a consistant basis, but enjoyable when the time is taken to get through one. For that reason, his Twitter account, "sportsguy33," is my favorite way of keeping up with what he is thinking.

As a passionate fan of the NBA, I'm glad Simmons wrote a book about the league. I respect and admire his passion and the amount of information he has on the subject. I will enjoy his book, even if it takes me three years to get through it.

This is Simmons' second book. Now I Can Die In Peace was released in 2005, a year after his beloved Red Sox won the World Series. He recently appeared on the "Colbert Report" to talk about his book.

(Photo Credit: David Shankbone)

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New York Post Editor Gets Fired Over a Comment About a Cartoon

By Taylor Finch

A now former New York Post editor has decided to sue the newspaper, claiming she was fired unjustly after making a comment about the "racist" cartoon that appeared to compare President Obama to a chimpanzee.

Sandra Guzman, a black, Puerto Rican associate editor for the New York Post, filed the lawsuit Monday after being fired on September 29 for what she believed was retaliation for her complaints.

Though the New York Post Chairman, Rupert Murdoch, explained that the cartoon's image depicting a policeman shooting at a crazed chimpanzee was merely a play on an actual incident that happened in Connecticut, he later apologized for the inappropriate cartoon after Guzman's allegations of the cartoon's inappropriateness.

The newspaper claims that Guzman was fired on the basis that they were planning to cut the monthly insert that she edits, ultimately letting her go along with the insert, although she had worked there for over six years and had received "strong performance reviews."

Guzman plans to seek "compensatory and punitive damages" for the newspaper inflicting racist and sexist conduct, not only with the cartoon, but also for happenings within the office infrastructure, such as a senior editor constantly referring to her as "Cha Cha #1."

This is not looking good for the New York Post, especially during a very fragile time for the newspaper industry.

(Photo Credit: www.noquarterusa.net)

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Library Gets Hit By Media

by: Amy Johnson

The world of media is changing constantly. Radios still play a big role in giving people news, but it has been taken over by television that has video and more commentary to go along with it. Newspapers are seeing a decline in sales as more and more readers are getting their news from the Internet.

A change in the way people use the library is also in the works.

Google Book Search searches the full text of books that Google scans and converts to their database. Google has put a limit on the number of viewable pages in an attempt to prevent copying pages that are under copyright.

The publishing industry and writers' groups view this as infringement to copyrighted work. Many publishers and companies have sued Google over this, saying what they are doing is a massive copyright infringement.

A big step was made recently in the struggle Google has faced. A federal judge in Manhattan granted an extension for a revised settlement to legalize Google's plan to create its own library of digital books.

The original agreement arose from a lawsuit filed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google, also claiming copyright infringement. After a settlement was reached in October 2008, it faced objections from people of every kind: authors were upset, librarians saw problems with the idea, and rivals were upset.

In September, the Justice Department recommended that the court reject the settlement in its current form. The department were hopeful that a new agreement could be reached as it offers many benefits to readers and scholars.

This is a big step in the world of media. People would be able to find the book they are looking for online, pay a small fee for it, and download it right to their computer. It's simple, and readers would not have to leave their home for a bookstore or a library. It would all be at the tips of their fingertips.

(Photo Credit: timetrax23 at flickr)

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Anita Dunn Steps Down Her White House Position

By Keri Waterhouse

Anita Dunn, the White House Communications Director is stepping down by the end of November. She will be replaced by her deputy Dan Pfeiffer.



Her departure was expected because she took the position on an interim basis early this year. The White House had thought Dunn may leave before the end of 2009.



She is leaving at a critical time for the White House, with the administration trying to get the Senate to follow the House of Representatives' lead to pass the health care reform.
She was a vocal critic of Fox News and last month accused the network of being a "wing of the Republican Party," will remain as an outside consultant to the White House and continue to be involved in strategy.



Pfeiffer has been most likely known to be the candidate to replace her. Pfeiffer worked on Barack Obama's presidential campaign and also for several Democratic senators, including Indiana's Evan Bayh.



Dunn assumed the communications post on an interim basis after Ellen Moran stepped down for a job at the Commerce Department.





Her stepping down at this time of the year will be hard for them. She has played a big role in the White House. They are in a tight spot right now with the health care reform. They could use someone like her to get this through. Hopefully he will be a good replacement for her position.

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NBC deal is under review

By Brianna Carlson

Comcast plans to take control of NBC Universal. Updates will be announced in the next couple of weeks, but this will be the Obama administration's media regulator's first test.

Comcast is the biggest cable system operator in the United States so adding NBC Universal to the picture will just expand Comcast.

The combined entity "would be calling the shots for one out of every five viewing hours in the United States" estimated Bernstein Research.

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Keeping readers attention

By: Mallory Tandy

Journalists can no longer just have a story with text and expect a large number of people to read it. There now has to be videos and pictures that are strategically placed in an article. If there are videos to go along with a story more people will be interested in the story and want to read it and watch the video that goes along with it. Journalists are now having to do more with their articles to draw attention and keep a reader's attention.

I think it is a good idea to have videos and pictures to go with a story, i am more interested in a story if there are pictures or videos.

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The Media's Misleading Healthcare Prices

By Michelle Zimmerman

The media is always expediting the latest information on the health care reform our nation is undergoing but is the information they are providing accurate? Many people in the media industry have yet to establish the costs that the health care reform may require when it is completed and many people are worried this type of information is relevant to the public.

Until a few days ago there hadn't been an article defining the currency that would be involved with this new health care package. That is until Ezra Klein from the Washington Post gave detailed information of what exactly this health care package would include; including the prices.

It can easily be noted that the United States health care prices are out of the roof. Compared to other nation's we rank the highest and many of the blame has been put to insurance companies. That is once again until the information Klein wrote about. Klein states that a large amount of the money in health care is going to the doctors and pharmacist who over the years have increased the prices of medical services.

I feel what Klein wrote is very important to the public because I, as I am sure many others as well, believed that the price of health care was at the fault of the insurance companies. I now feel educated to the idea that maybe the prices of medical services are over exaggerated and that then effects the cost of insurance to increase.

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Social Isolation vs. Social Networking

By Meghan Vosberg

With all of the status updates we notice our Facebook and Twitter friends posting we should feel closer to them, right? Wrong. People who use social network sites like Facebook are 30 percent less likely to know their neighbors and 26 percent less likely to give them companionship.

Compared to 20 years ago, America's social circle is much smaller today. But unlike most assumptions the blame does not go to digital technologies.Actually people who use their cellphones and other digital technologies are more likely to volunteer their time at local organizations.

Mobile phone users tend to have a circle of close friends that include 12 or more people and those who send instant or picture messages have about 9 percent larger social circles than nonusers. Mobile users are also seen to be more diverse, meaning that they keep in touch with many people from different backgrounds. This is opposite of public belief.

Photo Credit: Ben Stein

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Google not in the 'Content' Business

By: Chris Mars

Recent rumors about Google's plans to buy the New York Times are dismissed by the Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. The interview explains Google's decision to stay away from the "content" business and instead "focus on being a supplier of platforms." Schmidt stressed the fact that they need the content but they are "better off powering it, not writing and owning it."

This is positive to see Google turn down this opportunity and realize their abilities. Although, it would make for a pretty interesting and powerful marriage. Even though Google had a solid reason to turn down the opportunity, could this be a nice way for Google to say the New York Times' future isn't worth the risk?

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Better-Than-Expected Profit Is Reported by News Corp.

By Laura Reid

Fox News Corporation has reportedly had a profit this recent quarter, mainly from their television networks and movie studio.

Fox News mogul Rupert Murdoch has said that the cable channels that he owns have grown in profit because cable channels are now taking over most of the ratings as compared to local networks. While the News Corporation was down in revenue a couple million dollars, the net income was up 11 percent from a year ago.

Most of this money I think is coming from the recent events dealing with the White House. No other major network has been able to boast such profits, and that's because they are not butting heads with the Obama Administration. Murdoch's newspapers, The Wall Street Journal and The Dow Jones, are not doing well. It's all about the entertainment for viewers which is why I think Fox was able to succeed this past quarter. I would wait until everything has died down between these two groups before they continue to boast good profits.

(photo credit: mroach)

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Pricey Redisign

By Tessa Leone

The Iowa Sex Offenders website, iowasexoffenders.com, went under a 250,000 construction process to add to the efficiency of the site. Grants funded the pricey redesign.

You can now not only view convicted sex offenders and where they live in regards to your home, but you can also join blogs, receive email notifications and view online prevention plans targeted at parents.

Website users can create a name and password and log into the registry. It's much more interactive and informative and aims at equipping parents with the necessary information to keep their children safe from sexual harassment or molestation.

Interaction seems to be the conman thread of evolving media and technology. In the past this media was strictly a one way spectrum of news, providing readers with warnings and potential dangers withing their communities. Now the readers can respond and share concerns of their own. The readers are becoming the reporters.

Photo Credit: Photobucket

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Magazine Offered Online-Only

By Zach Jevne

Starting in January, a new magazine launched earlier this year will no longer be a magazine.

Purpose Driven Connection, a magazine published in partnership with Rick Warren (left) and the Reader's Digest Association, announced that beginning in January 2010 they will stop publishing in print and move to online-only.

Warren founded the Saddleback Church in 1980 in southern California. It is a popular evangelical Christian church and is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Our biggest discovery was learning that people prefer reading our content online rather than in print, becasue it's more convenient and accessible," Warren said.

The magazine's fourth and final print issue will be released later this month and will be a Christmas issue.

The original plans were for a quarterly magazine and various multimedia offerings aimed at Warren's Christian audience. The Saddleback church averaged nearly 20,000 people each week in 2008, which ranked eighth in the country according to Outreach Magazine.

RDA says they are offering to refund unused print subscriptions to the magazine. However, upon visiting the site, a link to subscribe to the magazine is still available.

Purpose Driven Connection serves as a good example to the differences between Web and print content and where the future of print is going.

"An online magazine allows us to minister to people internationally; provide more content and features than we could fit in a print magazine; create interaction and two-way dialogue; and offer it for free, " Warren said.

All of those examples were featured in discussions this week comparing Web news and print news.

(Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Apple Pushing It To The New Level

By: Amy Johnson

Apple is taking it to the next level.

The company is trying to get television networks to sign up with iTunes for a service that will let those interested download an unlimited amount of television shows for around $30 a month.

Apple has been flirting with cable companies for months about the idea. Sources say that nothing is set in stone as Apple is still in the early phase of talks.

Movies and individual episodes of shows can already be bought by iTune users, but this new monthly subscription-fee would target cable companies. Fans would be able to watch their favorite shows without counting on the cable companies to show their favorite programs all the time.

Networks would be paid more for shows that are more popular by Apple and less for shows that viewers are less likely to tune in to.

This new strategy for Apple would boost their success even more. Apple would be going beyond the music business and into the world of television. Not only would they be boosting their name, they would also be helping fans.

Fans can pay a small fee to be able to watch their favorite shows on the go. If Apple can get this idea off the ground, they could be introducing their iTunes fan base to something elite.

(Photo Credit - Lance Club)

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Media Denied Access to School Flu Clinics

By Taylor Finch

The Rhode Island Department of Health and school district in South Kingston together are not allowing journalists to be present at school-based clinics giving the H1N1 shot, due to the HIPAA, also known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The HIPAA was an act made in 1996 that provides federal protection for personal health information held by covered persons and corporations that gives these patients a variety of rights in respect to their health information.

A particular journalist that is known for covering the school district of Sough Kingston, was turned away by the school's superintendent and told to leave the clinic area, for he was not allowed to even take pictures of people who were even waiting in line for their shots or take statements from them.

The superintendent said the local journalist was not able to do so under the patients' protection under the HIPAA.

The journalist did not give up there. He obtained parental consent from a few mothers in line with their children in order to take pictures of their children getting their shot, but he was still denied access, even with the consent.

He found this odd, due to the fact that he has been able to cover stories dealing with the school district's past flu shot clinics.

The journalist later inquired to the Rhode Island Department of Health, only to find out that he was not allowed access into the clinic because department did not want to stir up fears about H1N1.

Though the journalist did the right thing in gaining consent, apparently the Department of Health did not see it ethical or legal to publish photos or quotes from inside the clinic.

(Photo Credit: www2.med.umich.edu)

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Are e-books the new thing?

By: Mallory Tandy

New York Publishers are hoping that electronic reading devices will increase their sales. Some say this will not happen until the technology improves.

There has been a lot of talk in the publishing world about Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and Barnes & Noble Inc's new Nook, their new electrical gadgets.

These new gadgets are unlike the technologically advanced smartphones, in that they lack a lot of the functions other devices have. Until the technology on these new devices improves, no one will want to carry around another gadget.

They do have their advantages, people can store thousands of downloaded books and have access to multiple websites, magazines, and newspapers. Students who do not have their books in before classes start can easily go online and get them through these resources. According to Forrester Research the 2009 sales will reach up to three million. Bill Stein, who was once with Institute for the Future of the Book, thinks digital publishing is going to face many obstacles.

I think having books online can be beneficial for students especially, but i personally hate reading off of a computer screen and would much rather have a an actual book. I don't really know if digital publishing will take off.

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