Smaller Organizations Use Social Media To Be Heard

It is common to be following or a fan of major companies on Twitter and Facebook. For instance, CNN Breaking News has 2,870,755 followers on Twitter and Starbucks currently has 5,620,853 fans on Facebook. Though the masters of the media are popular on social networking sites, smaller companies are also using these sites. Of course the large companies are overly dominating, but small companies such as City Year are doing what they can to get noticed.

City Year is located in Boston and is dedicated to helping solve the problem of failing schools. It was founded by two Harvard students who believed that people could change the world and were inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. City Year has been around for about 20 years. Every year, City Year hires young leaders called corps members to serve full time as tutors, mentors, and role models to make a difference in the lives of children and transform schools and neighborhoods. These corps members are from 17 to 24 years-old. There are more than 1,550 corps members in full time service across America helping students’ attendance, behavior, and coursework. Though City Year is based in Boston, they have been working on improving schools in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Columbia, Cleveland, and Sacramento. City Year has also gone global by working in London and South Africa. To achieve growth and goals, City Year must significantly increase applications.

One way City Year has increased recruiting is by using social media, such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. City Year has their own account on Twitter, channel on YouTube, and page on Facebook. Though they only have 3,188 followers on Twitter and 5,967 fans on Facebook, the number is growing and it has spread awareness and information about City Year greatly.

It just goes to show that small organizations, such as City Year, can become successful and well known through social networking. Social networking is changing media, and it is important to keep the smaller organizations running.

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Football Coaches Victims of Libel

State champion football team Sacred Heart-Griffin Cyclones may be successful on the gridiron, but off the field they're fighting a different type of battle.

In Springfield, Illinois, the football coach at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School and his assistant coach are suing the former defensive coordinator for libel. In case you are not fully aware of the media law slang, libel is something that can damage a persons reputation or misrepresent them in a false light.

The accused has made comments on Facebook about the head and assistant coaches, using labels such as "pedophile" and "thief," according to the State Journal-Register. These online insults, which the coaches claim have been going on for the past three years, have now led to a $200,000 libel lawsuit.

Sacred Heart-Griffin High School holds a simple, yet powerful mission statement: "Academic Excellence in a Community of Faith." I can only hope that this regrettable lawsuit gets resolved before the good name of the school and the community are damaged any further.

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The iPad and the Future

Many in the newspaper industry have been searching for a new technology to come along that could save the industry and bring it back to its once-thriving status. With the release of Apple's new iPad, many have proclaimed that salvation has arrived. However, some are critical of the praise, questioning if the iPad will truly reverse the current downturn.

Writing for the Online Journalism Review, Robert Niles points out that the iPad does include many improved features. It contains a larger screen than an iPod or iPhone, and claims to come equipped with a display better than that of a Kindle or other e-readers. He also contends that a few innovators within the business will find creative and successful ways to utilize the iPad. However, for the most part, Niles remains unconvinced, writing "people have been rejecting and, in increasing numbers, continue to reject paying for content offered by newspapers' newsrooms, in any medium."

How then, are newspapers to adapt to the 21st world? According to Niles, newspapers are failing simply because of their content, and to get back on track must follow a few simple steps. First, they must place a greater focus on technological savvy and specialization in hiring new employees. In his model, Niles projects that writers must specialize their reporting to narrower categories. This alone however, will not be enough. Ultimately, newspapers will have to drop their objective reporting for more colorful and pointed pieces.

Niles certainly has a valid and well-argued point. Media outlets such as Fox News have been extremely successful through subjective reporting and commentating and more and more people admit to obtaining their new from John Stewart. Perhaps newspaper's objective writing style and general content truly has lost the interest of readers within the 21st century. However, I believe that it is still too early to estimate the impact the iPad will or will not have on the industry. As its popularity increases, I'm certain that those innovators in the industry will find a way to successfully use the iPad and future technology to bring a breath of life back to the industry.

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iPad Might be Replacing Textbooks

Scrollmotion has been working to begin transfering textbooks to be compatible with the new iPad. Publishers that would be considering this transfer include McGraw Hill and Kaplan. This would also include online quizes, video, and other media items that are good resources for users of the textbooks. It is also able to take notes. This idea of switching textbooks to virtual media is a great idea. It helps cut down on the cost of printing textbooks and would send the idea of electronic textbooks soaring. The idea is the problem of reselling useless textbooks. Publishers would most likely not be willing to let students resell the electronic textbook. This can be a problem for many of the poor college students.

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