New York Times Reporter Saved, Two Dead

By Tessa Leone

Britain speaks out to defend its perilous rescue mission executed last Wednesday in northern Afghanistan. New York Times Reporter, Stephen Farrell was kidnapped after his hasty decision to enter uncharted territory on Saturday. Farrell's Afghan assistant and a British commando were killed during the raid.

The orders were authorized by the British defense and foreign secretaries. Critics question the considerable risks that were taken to rescue the reporter and the casualties that were lost in the endeavor. Claiming that options of peaceful negotiations and possible ransoms were not well explored.

The British New york Times reporter is now safe and was unharmed in the raid.

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Simpson College Says School Will Work Will Students As They Report Symptoms of H1N1

By: Bethany Christenson

Jim Thorius, vice president of student development, says Simpson College will work with students to help keep H1N1 under control. Simpson now has an web reporting form for students to help keep symptoms under control. If they fill out the form and realize that they have multiple symptoms they can call or fill out a sheet and turn it into health services.

They are encouraging students to go home for at least 24 hours, but if travel is not possible they can provide them with an isolated room within their residence hall. Roommates can also move out of their rooms temporarily during this time and can be provided with an alternative room.

Thursday Simpson reported a student with symptoms consistent with those of H1N1. This is the first case reported at Simpson.

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Missing Yale Student Found Inside a Wall

By: Mallory Tandy

The remains of who investigators think is Yale graduate Annie Le were found at 10 Amistad Street inside a wall. Le was 24, and was supposed to be married today. Le was last seen entering the Amistad medical research building on a Yale security camera around 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Police are still working to remove the body from the wall and are calling it a homicide. College is a place of learning and fun, to know such brutal acts can happen at such a well known college is astonishing and quite frightening. Should college's make improvements in security? Are Simpson College students safe?

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Mark Briggs

By: Chris Mars

Mark Briggs has a mission to help journalists adapt to new media and puts a focal point on what the viewer wants out of media. In one of his blog posts, Briggs reflects on how a news media organization should focus on creating an 'insanely great' news web site to attract new revenue.

As we see a growing trend in news companies using sites like twitter to reach readers it becomes apparent that the content in Briggs' blog is useful. He reflects on Bernard Lunn's scorecard, called "Six Milestones from 30 Seconds to 3 Years."

These milestones can measure the growth of the web site and set goals to keep customers or viewers coming back to reuse services. Put yourself in the reader's shoes, what would you want out of a news media website? Here is what you would want the reader to say...

30 seconds: “I get it.”
3 minutes: “I’ve used it and still get it, and it has not annoyed me yet.”
3 days: “I find this really useful or fun.”
3 weeks: “I am raving about this to other people.”
3 months: “I couldn’t imagine not having this, and I’m boring my friends telling them about it.”
3 years: “How weird to see this on Oprah.”

The functionality of these milestones can bring a sense of direction back in this fast paced, whirlwind media. Its easy to get caught up in the endless possibilities on the web but these milestones serve as a guideline to building a functional service for users.

With the competition lurking just a click away, focusing on what the user wants has become the key issue in building an 'insanely great' news web site.

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Obama says he expects 'good health care bill'

By: Bobby Reese

President Obama believes he has convinced congress to pass the new health care bill. When Obama addressed congress he said that he was open to new ideas. He told the republican party which opposed his plan that he believes that they can compromise and come up with a plan both parties can agree with. Obama has made it clear that he will install a health care plan but this is big news because he is willing to work with the republican party if they can support him.

Obama has made it clear that he does not think the plan should be about a left or right push from all of the lawmakers. He thinks the plan is not for just the benefit of the democratic party but for the country as a whole. I think that Obama has brought up some good points and I am getting a little more used to the idea the more I hear about it. Obama has good intentions and believes that this plan will help americans live their lives better.

Over 47 million americans do not have coverage. This new plan will help cover more Americans and will help a lot of people. I think that whatever has been going on lately has not been working, so what is the problem with trying something new?

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Pay to Read the News?

By Ryan Franker

Four big companies sat down with the Newspaper Association of America. They are trying to find a way on how the online newspapers can get money from their online articles. But charging the readers is the biggest concern the newspapers have. The reason the newspapers are wanting to start charging their readers is because the journalism business is struggling really bad right now with trying to keep up with the technology and their readers. Making their readers pay to read articles online would be one way to make sure that they are getting some money in from the articles that are being written.

If you think about it, you have to pay to read a hard copy of the newspaper, so why not charge that same amount online, and you can read the paper for a whole day?

Google has come up with a way to charge people for reading the articles on Google News. Google like the idea of having an open media source, but they don't want it to be free. They have proposed a idea of Google Checkout. The reader would have to sign in to access the newspaper or articles. The payments that could be done is a basic subscription to the newspaper, or a micropayments, which is you pay per article that you would like read.

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Advertising on Twitter?

By Michelle Zimmerman

Twitter is becoming increasingly more and more popular around the world and as any other company it would make sense that the owners would like to make a profit. Therefore to remain free for the members they needed to look into other options such as advertising.

It is important to Twitter that they remain a site that is merely focused on members communicating being that communications between members is the entire purpose of the site. If there is any type of advertising it will remain in small quantities and not override the motive of the company.

Facebook and Myspace are prime examples of other social networks that use advertising to maintain free memberships. Being a member of both of those networks I among other users dislike the amount of advertising that occurs all over the sites. There is constantly something flying across the screen and almost retracts me from continuing the use of the site.

Hopefully Twitter continues to keep their objective in mind and does not overflow the community of the site with advertisements because it possible they will lose supporters.

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'Tis The Season To Stay Healthy!

By Keri Waterhouse

Things as simple as a hand shake, a small peck on the cheek, or a friendly hug can help get one into trouble during this terrible flu season. The scary "swine flu" or known now as H1N1 has traveled it's way around the world and infected more than a quarter-million people and has caused more than 2,800 deaths.It's a scary thing to think about. We all get that nasty bug called the flu, so no one really thinks about it.

I remember when I first heard about the swine flu last May. Everyone was freaking out about it. It was in Texas and out of the U.S. Some people even cancelled their flights to go on vacations. To me it wasn't that big of a deal. I never thought it would actually get near me. When reading about the synptoms you would think you just had the common flu. The symptoms include; fever (100F/37.8C) or greater, sore throat, cough, headache, body aches, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea. The way things are spreading is by washing your hands after sneezing or coughing, touching your eyes or mouth, kissing, touching others that are sick, or just not taking care of yourself.

I never really thought anything of this sickness until I came back to campus this fall and we were told that students at neighboring colleges had confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, and told us that it probably wouldn't be long and that virus would find its way onto our campus. Sure enough, a week later it did. Simpson had its first case of the H1N1 virus last week.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/13/france.kiss/index.html

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Soldier detained in contractor's shooting death

As far as this one goes a civilian contractor was killed at a military base in Tikrit, Iraq. Apparently a U.S. soldier was detained in connection with the death of the contractor but so far no names have been given out. This one kind of makes you think about how well trained the military really is. Discipline is key for the army so you would think that if something like this happens it would be an accident. however when they say that they detained a soldier it really begs the question about how our soldiers morale and discipline could be waning when there is no end to the militaries occupation of Iraq. Check it out here http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/13/contractor.death.soldier.held/index.html and tell me what you think on the topic.

Ryan Fuerstenau

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Cronkite Remembered, Media Critiqued By Obama

By: Amy Johnson

Walter Cronkite was one of the most influential people in the realm of media. An anchorman for the CBS Evening News, he was often called “the most trusted man in America." The media and world of journalism has come a long way from having a journalist that America can trust.

President Obama paid respect to the late Cronkite recently, who died this past July.

He stated that “ 'the most trusted man in America' -- wasn't bestowed upon him by a network or advertising agency, but earned through decades of painstaking effort."

It's true. Many Americans that were fortunate enough to watch Cronkite nightly had a voice they could trust. He told the news exactly like it was. In comparison of the serious news that Cronkite reported on in years past, today's journalism has gone soft. Celebrity scandals and reports on the intimate, personal lives of people through the United States have taken over the front lines of the news.

What will it take to get back to the investigative journalism that Cronkite so skillfully mastered? It is tough to say. Perhaps getting back to a way of journalism where reporters don't have to stay neutral and unbiased because of fear they'll be fired. Or maybe it is such a thing that the internet and television has taken over, showing more and more soft stories such as the "Jon and Kate Plus 8" scandal over those with more substance; or perhaps it is America the people's own fault, loving the softer stories more than those that actually impact their own lives.

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CNN Proves Journalism is Still More Reputable than Internet and T.V. Reporting

By Taylor Finch

Friday morning, Sept. 11, CNN stirred up the news by announcing that the Coast Guard was trying to fend-off a suspicious vessel on the Potomac River. All morning, CNN proceeded to show video clips and make breaking-news reports on what they assumed was an issue, as well as other news stations, including Fox News, following suit.

Concerns escalated when flights were delayed at the Regan International Airport, due to the story. Washington, D.C. police, officials, and even the Pentagon had no idea of what was going on. Despite this being the anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, CNN presented a story that, once again, had the nation thinking there was an emergency situation about to replay eight years later.

All stories came to a halt when the Coast Guard announced nothing serious was happening. They were just going through a "routine and low-level" Coast Guard exercise. The Coast Guard also said that they felt the need not to notify anyone of their exercise because it was so routine and was not intended to affect anyone. And, when CNN did call them to confirm the story, the Coast Guard told them there was no need to report anything.

CNN realized they were wrong, but ended up blaming it on the Coast Guard for performing such exercises on that particular day. CNN also attempted to defend their mishap by saying that it would have been "irresponsible not to report what they were hearing and seeing" on the videos and unencrypted radio chats, that were not meant for the public to hear anyways.

Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Currier says that now they will be more careful with the press. This is just a reflection of how reporting bad or false news is becoming a growing problem in American media, with all of the news stations trying to always be the first to report big news stories. Because of this, Journalism is made to look even better and will hopefully always be a dependable source to come to for the "real" news.

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Clean Water Act Violations Lead To Health Problems For West Virginian Citizens

By Meghan Vosberg

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink, unless you want rotting teeth, skin rashes, burns, and chemicals that can give damage to the kidneys and possibly cancer. Polluted water plagues homes near Charleston, W. VA. Families wonder why they get digital cable and internet connection in their homes, but not clean water. Nearby coal mining industries pollute the water with heavy metals such as lead, and nickel. The tap water has also contained arsenic, manganese, barium, and other assorted chemicals.

But the motif does not only exist in West Virginia. Forty years ago, the Clean Water Act was passed by Congress. This Act was established to make those companies that wrongly dispose of their chemicals have to pay a fine or jailed. Unfortunately in recent news, this Act has been ignored. The Clean Water Act has had violations rise regularly throughout the United States.

Violations to the Clean Water Act have been made more than half a million instances. Manufacturing plants, and other workplaces that involve chemicals have violated this act in the last five years. But when the results of not reporting emissions and dumping poisons into the water are birth defects, cancer, and other health problems, shouldn't we do something else to stop this?

(Photo Credit: Ryan Griffis)

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