Magazines Doing Better in 2009

By Ryan Franker

Out of the 249 magazines the Magazine Publishers of America keep tabs on, only 22 magazines actually saw their ad revenue increase. The other 227 lost ad revenue compared to the figures in 2008.

Meredith Corporation is one of the companies that has a magazine will an increase in the ad revenue, Meredith actually has five different magazines that saw an increase in their ad revenue.

It is a small miracle that Meredith was able to get the revenue of five magazines up, since the company had to lay off 7 percent of their workers in 2008.

An employee for Meredith believes the company's success was with Meredith building a brand for the magazines and the internet, said Patrick Taylor. Making the website really user friendly helped give the magazine more exposure, which also helped the ad revenue go up too.

(Photo Credited: flickr)

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With All of the Other Popular News Headlines, Iraq Seems to Be the "Forgotten War"

By Taylor Finch

Now that news is starting to pay attention to the war in Iraq again, many wonder, now that it is fresh in our minds, why there has been barely any coverage on the war for the past couple years.

In early 2007, the Iraq War dominated headlines. Mark Jurkowitz, PEJ's associate director, believes this was merely due to the battle going on between former President George Bush and the Democratic Congress about persecution of the war.

Although the war was perceived to be covered fairly well in 2007, the coverage of the war still only added up to be about one percent of the total news hole.

2008 was about the same, with the Beijing Olympics overshadowing any hope for a headline featuring Afghanistan or the war.

A small turn around from the preceding years happened in 2009 though, with a spike in coverage of the war, ironically beginning the week of the Aug. 20th elections. Coverage reached 10 percent for that week, which was much higher than the last two years.

This spike can mostly be contributed to President Obama's U.S. Domestic Policy Debate, which is the exact reason 2007 was also a better year for coverage on the war.

The Iraq War is obviously seen as being neglected in the news, but many factors, such as the distance from Iraq and the fact that the president must deal with other pressing issues at this time, can be the answers to the lack of coverage.

(Photo Credit: christinaaddie.wordpress.com)

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Cracking Down On Social Networks

by: Amy Johnson

Sometimes, the world of Twitter and Facebook aren't all they're supposed to be. It is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, but what happens when updating status' puts you at risk with your job?

Professional sports leagues such as the NFL to media outlets like the Washington Post are all struggling with how to make sure their employees don't expose the inner workings of their transactions. The goal is to plug the leaks of confidential information about potential productions such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Contracts with clauses about the use of Facebook and Twitter are not out of the ordinary for many newspapers. Some journalists have gone as far to create two different accounts, one for family and friends and one for co-workers.

Seeing a crackdown by many different companies is not out of the ordinary, especially when the employee is in the public eye. It can cause backlash to a story the company is working on and get the word our before all the facts are there.

The problem with social networking sites is that it is hard to tell when people are being serious or when they are being sarcastic when updating a status. In the world of big business and Hollywood, anything someone says is under scrutiny. The idea of two Facebook accounts for business and family isn't a bad idea; nor is it a bad idea for companies to put clauses in their contracts for confidentiality.

(Photo Credit: flickr.com)

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