Google...not a Media Company?

Although Google continues to reinforce that they are not a media company, last week they seemed to postion themselves with newspapers and television news shows. In David Carr's article in The New York Times, he calls this "the greatest fight over freedom of expression in years."

Last week Google announce that its division would be exiting China and moving to Hong Kong. China has strict senorship laws that are enforced by their govenment.

It will be interesting to watch as the future reveils itself, as conutries like, Austria, Itlay, and South Korea would like Google to monitor their access to some degree also. By walking away from China, and the vast opportunities there, it will be hard to see them standing for other restrictions.

How forgetful we can be when it comes to our right for the freesdom of expression and free press as residents of the United States.

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Beating out the Competition

Are you using Twitter to its fullest potential?

According to Mashable's Jennifer Van Grove, there are five major ways Twitter is beating out other social media sites.

One way Twitter is becoming more accessible to users and non-users is with its new feature @anywhere. @anywhere will soon be made available to all website owners and publishers. The feature allows anyone to tweet about something directly from any website they are on.

Twitter users also have been using it to get news exactly when they want it. This is causing a competition between Twitter and television. Companies have been taking advantage of Twitter to air spoiler alerts. Whether this is a smart move or not, users are able to find out news and facts before they could find them out from television.

This is also the case with newsrooms. Tweets are an instant broadcast of news, whereas news that is produced via newspapers and newscasts take time to produce and broadcast. However, since tweets can be produced instantly, tweeters they don't go through the process of fact checking as thoroughly.

A third way Twitter is dominating competitive media sites is by offering multiple languages. Twitter is now available in French, Spanish, and Italian. By offering other languages, it gives non-English speaking users a chance to join the Twitter phenomenon.

A last way Twitter is rising above its competition is by appealing to celebrities, media organizations, and sports teams. Statistics have found that those who have a distinctive use for Twitter, tweet a lot more than those who use it for fun. By appealing to users with a specific purpose for tweeting, Twitter can continue to appeal to other users without ever losing popularity among the avid tweeters.

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"Morning Joe" an Eye Opener in the AM

"Morning Joe", hosted by Joe Scarborough, former Republican member of the House of Representatives, has pushed ahead of CNN's "American Morning" according to recent ratings.

According to an article by David Hinkley of the New York Daily News, Scarborough's radio show is also beating out Glenn Beck on WOR (710 AM), 10 a.m.-noon and has been for months.

Of course, Scarborough can't make a dent in Fox's one million viewers, but Scarborough is appealing not only because he is more of a moderate Republican, but issues are discussed respectfully, without the inflammatory rhetoric. In Scarborough's own words, "His goal from the start, he says, was to show a conversation, "not people standing up waving their arms and shouting."

Typically, MSNBC features all Democratic views; but Scarborough provides the balance, a window into the other side that is palatable, entertaining and even educational. Joe's cohost is Mika Brzezinski and her father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor and a foreign policy expert, is a frequent guest and offers insightful observations into foreign affairs.

"Our goal is to present hard news and conversations on policy in a civilized manner," says the conservative Scarborough. ". He admits there are more liberal guests than conservatives because he wants to present both sides, not just have someone who agrees with him.

Tired of your friends at Fox. Have your morning cup with Joe.

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More Options at Starbucks

New Yorkers now have even more decisions to make in the morning at their local Starbucks. Not only do they need to select the coffee and breakfast of their choice, but now which newspaper they want to read. For the past 10 years, The New York Times has been the only newspaper sold at Starbucks. The Wall Street Journal will now be available in 450 stores in New New York City, select areas of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

The Journal is optimistic about their new relationship with Starbucks. "This allows us to expand that sampling environment, making sure that more people are aware of all that is within The Wall Street Journal," said Lynne Brennen, senior VP-circulation for the Journal. "It's a huge opportunity for single copy, of course, but I actually see it rippling through home-delivery subscriptions and subscriptions to WSJ.com."

Starbucks and The Journal have not commented on what the future may hold for additional distribution opportunities.

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