Ex-NFL player Burress enters prison

By Ryan Fuerstenau

Plaxico Burress is supposed to serve two years in prison on charges of attempted criminal possesion of a weapon after he shot himself in the leg. Burress was not licensed to carry the weapon which was a 40. caliber pistol he had in his waistband. Burress is famous for his game winning catch in the 2008 superbowl but has recently fallen out of favor. First he missed practice and was fined, then he threw a ball into the stands and yelled at a referee.

For a person like plaxico Burress who is constanlty in the spotlight and scrutinized by the media he should have had the common sense to know he was taking a chance carrying the unlicensed firearm. The media looks for high profile individuals doing things that will sell them papers or bring them ratings. Since Burress is such a high profile target, especially after the superbowl the media could be considered a kid in the candy store.

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Newspaper Advertisments Making a Comeback

By Ryan Franker

"We have to see the bottom if these companies are going to survive." Alexia Quadrani, analyst at J.P. Morgan

Ever since the recession, the advertisers for newspaper have taken a large hit. They are the main source of income for newspapers, when the advertisements sales are bad then the newspapers does not have a lot of money to work with.

People are saying that others are slowing starting to buy stocks back on newspapers because they have heard the rumor that the advertisements are doing better. Gannett, McClatchy, and The New York Times Company have had their stock jump more than 10 percent or more. With the jump those companies have reached the highest prices they have had this year. The fourth quarter is suppose to look the best for the newspapers ad industry. Some major names in the media are saying that the ad industry will start making a rebound. But newspapers will be the last media that will get the comeback of advertising.

Even though the ad revenue will have a good fourth quarter, next year could possibly be worse. But it will only be modestly worse. 2008 was a horrible year for the advertising, they fell dramatically and hard. Holiday advertising is going to be very crucial for the media. The publishers need to see the advertisement numbers leveling off. People are seeing the loss of jobs in the media.

With the advertisements leveling off, that means the newspapers will have more money and will not have to cut that many people and everything else that they are cutting to keep the newspaper afloat.

(Photo Credit: ActiveRain)

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Katie Couric Moves to Social Media

By Taylor Finch

A new web show launched intself into social media tonight titled "@katiecouric." The web-based show features CBS Evening News anchor Katie couric, as she conducts one-on-one interviews with high profile guests. These guests range from politicians, business tycoons to celebrities, and even others involved in top news stories. These interviews include "integrated facebook chat" and is broadcasted live on CBSnews.com.

Tonight was the first night @katiecouric aired on the web, featuring special guest Glenn Beck, who discussed politics and his new book, "Arguing with Idiots, How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government."

Though tonight was the first night of this particular online show, Couric and those at CBS are definitely not new to web-news. Last year CBS covered the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on their website, with Couric in the lead. They also used facebook to allow followers of the conventions to submit video clips and feedback about what was going on in politics.

With CBS moving to the web and social media sites, it just makes sense that this will soon become popular and other T.V. news channels will follow suit.

(Photo Credit: Image Editor)

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Obama Overexposed?

By: Chris Mars

Last week we heard President Obama's opinion on the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident at the 2009 VMA awards, this week Drew Westen of CNNPolitics.com reports that Obama may be overexposed. Westen focuses on Obama's healthcare plan and process for introducing it to the public, but the headline makes you wonder about the broad scope.

The two topics I noted above are very different in importance but receive about the same press time in the media. In my opinion, I feel like there is more interest in what Obama will have to say about Serena Williams' outburst at the U.S. Open rather than what he plans to do with our nations future.

(Photo credit: NY Daily News)

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The Future of Newspapers

By: Amy Johnson

Newspapers throughout the United States are battling with the Internet to keep its readers and advertising earnings. Several newspapers are being forced to shut down, and plenty of journalists have lost their jobs. The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times owner Tribune Co. has filed for bankruptcy.

Congress has expressed interest in helping out the newspaper industry; several bills have been introduced that would approve newspaper companies to be considered as nonprofits with tax breaks.

President Obama recently talked about the financial crisis many newspapers are in. "Journalistic integrity, you know, fact-based reporting, serious investigative reporting, how to retain those ethics in all these different new media and how to make sure that it's paid for, is really a challenge," Mr. Obama said. "But it's something that I think is absolutely critical to the health of our democracy."

If this is the case, President Obama better take a good, fast look at the bills trying to be passed through Congress. At the interview, Mr. Obama stated that he had not even seen these bills yet, but he would not mind taking a look at them. The issue of newspapers filing for bankruptcy and journalists losing their jobs is nothing to fool around with. It did not take long for newspapers to lose their readers and money; if this is overlooked for much longer, the newspaper industry will be in a hole too deep to get out.

(Photo Credit Rebecca Coleman)

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