Fox Reporter Argues With Religious Nut

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

In a recent news broadcast by Fox News, an interview got heated when a female news reporter got into an argument with a guest associated with the Westboro Baptist Church.


During the interview, the news reporter posed difficult questions to the Westboro representative. The questions were far from objective, and shed a bad light on the Westboro Baptist Church from the beginning.

Unlike most news reporters this journalist did not hide her opinions on the subject. This resulted in a heated debate between the two that presented strong opinions and bad language from the Westboro representative.

Watching this as someone that is strongly disgusted by what the Westboro Baptist Church does, I was all for what the interviewer was saying.

However, from a journalistic prospective, this was a very dangerous move on the reporter's part. Entering into a strongly worded argument and inserting personal opinion in a news broadcast is risky.

Although I applaud her for what she did, I hope she didn't lose her job over the incident.

Photo Credit: k763 on Flickr.com via Creative Commons

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The Right Cue

Creating a video blog can become challenging for many people based on how unnatural it feels. Fortunately, there is a new program that was recently created called CuePrompter.

The CuePrompter program is an online teleprompter that allows you to copy and paste your script into your computer. Once doing so, the Cueprompter takes over and allows you to feel like the television reporter you have always wanted to be.

The great thing about Cueprompter is that it gives more assistance to the user by letting you set your script and talking points. Doing so allows things to run smoother since it is on a teleprompter, rather than in essay format in a Word document.

Another beneficial aspect of the Cueprompter is that it allows you to control the speed of how fast the text scrolls across your screen. This can improve people’s speaking skills because it can help us slow down our pace if we speak too fast or speed up our pace if we speak too slow.

CuePrompter also allows you to pick the font, color and size. This will come in hand for those of you who have trouble seeing because it allows you to adjust it to your specific personal needs.

This program can also come into play for interviews, conference calls and any other situation that you need help speaking in front of people.

The best part about this is that it is free!

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Earn From Your Blog

Out of the tens of thousands of blogs out there, as a beginner, yours probably doesn't stand out among the most known ones. To make yours stand out there are a few things every blogger should know.


Online, there are thousands upon thousands of blogs with the same content. If you're wanting your blog to stand out, do not write about the same topics; it will probably just get lost in the flood of them. Here are some helpful tips to point you in the direction of succesful, money-earning blogging.


1. Quality and Focused Content is the biggest factor in which your blog is evaluated. Do not borrow commonly used articles/content and refer to other blogs or sites. Do borrow methods in which they use. This means styles or templates.


2. You must know what your end-used is searching for. They come to your blog for a reason, and what is it exactly? Most of the time, the best blogs are the personal ones rather than commercial. Personal ones can be more touching, like diaries or personal experiences.



3. Confidence is key. Your blog must provide confidence and hope to visitors so that you can turn them into loyal readers or subscribers in a short span of time.



4. Proof. Writing your blog like a commercial one without proof may upset your readers. Try to write your personal experience including some main aspects in the ways you adopted, the mistakes you committed, the sources you referred to, etc... This can increase your readers and even your page rank.



Unlike other blogs, personal blogs make readers believe that the blog is completely true and it is solely for them. Creating this feeling in the readers mind is not a simple task. But if you follow the tips above then you are already on your way to success.


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Keeping them Honest

Monday, April 11, 2011

An article recently posted at Suite101 posed an interesting question: How can media and news outlets report the truth when they depend on sponsors that keep them in business being happy?

The point is that any news organization's decision regarding what stories to run or who to investigate will take into account how those investigations or stories might affect the groups giving them millions of dollars.

This is especially true in a modern setting when print media needs every bit of revenue anyone will throw at it. Organizations can no longer just decide to drop a sponsor for the sake of reporting the truth.

Because of all this financial pressure companies are able to do more than just keep the media from covering something: it can actually dictate what the media covers. This whole situation is even more complicated because of the wide outreach many conglomerates have, one large company really controlling dozens of others that have a wide range of interests and ventures.

The question is how can journalists still maintain a commitment to the truth with all of these outside influences "pressuring" them to say one thing or another? Without a significant change in the nature of journalism, the best anyone can hope for now is that no one is corrupt and that a PR-damaging story doesn't surface about someone barely related to a sponsor.

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Taking Care Of Business

With the sun shining and the busy time of finals approaching, many college students are feeling a lack of time to complete everything.

However, if a student wants to receive
good grades for the end of the term, he/she must decide to prioritize what is most important to get accomplishments completed. With teachers piling on the papers, tests, stories, and quizzes, many students feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish these goals.

Journalist students are not allowed many opportunities to get off track. To be involved in journalism, a person is constantly
reporting, advertising, and researching for the next story he/she will deliver. How can a person maintain his/her focus consistent.

One good tip for students is to take advantage of writing lists. Lists benefit journalist students especially because writing a list of daily plans, homework, and meetings is a great way helping to manage his/her time. Seeing a schedule planned out for when there is free time to study or relax helps students know when to fit homework and other events in.

Another good tip is to not cram everything in at once. Whether it's allowing time to go for a run to clear the mind or watching a television show,
taking small breaks in between tasks allows a person to tackle assignments with fresh eyes and a clear head.

One last tip is to remember to get enough sleep at night. Although it's the end of the year and people want to spend time with classmates, getting the right amount of sleep at night allows students to feel alert and more energetic throughout long days rather than simply going through the motions.

While receiving a lot of pressure from teachers, coaches, parents, and peers, students must remember that staying calm and balancing time evenly is the best solution to helping stay focused.

Although a person may feel frustrated, panic can take over a person's life and put him/her under additional unneeded stress.

Finishing the school year off with good grades and completed tasks can allow a person to feel great. Living a healthy lifestyle of rest and maintaining focus can allow a person to prevent stress.

So whenever you're feeling down in the dumps and like it's impossible to finish, always remember to take a deep breath and smile.

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Five Myths about the Future of Journalism

Online news consumption is becoming more popular through technological advances. There has been major talk amongst individuals about the future of journalism.


A major issue we face is what information is true and what is false. Below, are five myths that have been discussed amongst the journalism world.


1.Traditional views of media are losing audience

- This is not true because individuals are consuming the same traditional newspaper providers. The only change is that they are consuming the information online instead of through the source of a newspaper.

2.Online news will be okay as soon as advertising catches up

- Online advertising received the most profit last year. The problem with this is that the money doesn't go to the news industry or journalists, it pays the search engines.

3.Content will always be the winner

- It has been common in the past for a newspaper who has given the public the most current information is naturally the most popular. Since technology is on the rise the demographics of individuals are becoming more popular.


By the use of demographics, technology can determine what consumers are interested in through the way they access the web. Certain products can be determined based on the websites that consumers visit.


4.Newspapers around the world are declining

- Increased literacy rates are increasing newspaper consumption. Countries such as Egypt and Lebanon are facing higher newspaper consumption due to more literate people.


5.The solution is to focus on local news

- Local advertising companies are not putting their information online which means that newspapers can't generate revenue from this source. Another influence is the significantly low amount of dollars local newspapers generate.


Online media is becoming more popular, but this does not mean that journalism is going to becoming insignificant. The news industry still needs journalists to go out there and supply the public with a good story, whether it is online or through a hand copy of the newspaper.


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Manage Your Social Media

Social Media plays a vital role in our lives today along with e-commerce businesses. Managing one social media account can be a full-time job let alone managing multiple social media pages.


However, there are services that can help you manage all of your social media on one site.

HootSuite is a site that lets you update Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WordPress. It allows you to schedule posts, and it keeps track of your visitors. HootSuite is perfect for larger companies.

TweetDeck is an app that allows you to update Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Google Buzz and Foursquare. It makes all of your contacts available from each social network. Scheduling posts is another benefit of TweetDeck.

One great site for small businesses with social networks is Ping.fm. It's a site that can run 30 social networks including: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and Foursquare. You are able to schedule posts and update your social media accounts.

Scheduling posts is one thing that is common among these three sites. People seem to enjoy that benefit of these sites. With how busy people are these days it comes in handy to be able to schedule your updates.

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Stop The Nonsense!

Sunday, April 10, 2011


Think about the headlines you've seen recently. What were they about?


The goverment almost shutting down or an update on the troops? How about any celebrities-tattoos,weddings,babies and arrests?


What I've seen is a celebrity getting a new tattoo and I don't care. In the end that nonsense doesn't matter.


I have a sorority sister who is married to someone in the navy. She was worried about what would happen if her husband didn't get paid.


That is something newsworthy. It seems there is a large group of journalists out there who report on nonsense.


How many of us can say we know what was in the agreement late Friday night?

Yet we know about the lives of people on the Real Housewives franchise, Jersey Shore or the Teen Mom series.


Does that really matter? No. Journalists have the unique position to impact people's lives and instead of doing so positively the do this stupidly.


For any journalists and aspiring journalists out there please think about what you are going to report on, you can shape what people see, make it relevant.


Photo Credit: Hulu.com


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How to Interview


Interviews are one of the most important parts to journalism. Without interviews journalists stories become less reliable, and that is something that people look for when they read news articles. Some journalists come by this journalism task naturally, while others will never get used to the task of giving an interview.

Many journalists struggle with their first time interviews for many reasons. They may struggle with asking personal questions, or might have a hard time with speaking with strangers. For whatever the reason there is good news for the journalists who struggle with this journalism trait. There is good news though, there are basic techniques that you can practice in order to become more comfortable with giving an interview while becoming better at the task as well.

These are the following keys to a successful interview:

1. Come prepared
Bring the necessary tools such as notepad and a recorder to take notes. Make sure you do research on the the idea of your story, so that you understand the basic terms. Brainstorm the questions that you want to ask the interview before the actual interview.

2. Maintain control
It's important to get great quotes, but if the person you're interviewing starts talking off subject don't be afraid to steer them back in the right direction.

3. Stay natural
Stay loose so that you are easy to talk to. One of the most important things is to make sure that you you make eye contact, because nothing makes a source more nervous then a reporter staring down at their notebook the entire interview.

4. Have a good introduction and a great end to the interview
In the beginning don't jump into asking questions immediately, because if you talk a little before hand it will allow the source to feel like they can open up to you. If those sources feel comfortable like that you will be able to get some quality quotes. When ending an interview make sure that your source has nothing else to say about the subject. Before you part make sure that any questions you have about the interview are answered so when you are writing the story you don't have questions about your notes.

With these tips on how to do the best interview you are sure to do a great interview, and most importantly have no worries of doing any less then a great interview.





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New York Times Paywall

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

As everyone knows, The New York Times paywall went into place for online content March 28th.


Recently, I gave a group presentation on the paywall activation. One thing that really stands out to me is that the cheapest option for The New York Times readers is to get a print subscription. If someone has a print subscription the online access is still free. So why not go with that option?

When talking to fellow classmates about the online costs, it seemed like an overwhelming majority of the students wouldn't pay for online access. And not only to The New York Times, but to any print newspaper or magazine they might read.

Our generation and others expect news to be free, so most people are not willing to pay for it. If publications impose paywalls, that will send the average person elsewhere to where they can still get it free.

Not only were students close-minded about the idea of having to pay for online content, they also said they wouldn't pay for Facebook. This surprised me, but they had good logic behind it. If no one was on Facebook anymore because they were unwilling to pay, then why stay on Facebook if no friends are?

In my opinion paywalls at most publications will not work. Publications like the Wall Street Journal have been able to enforce paywalls since they have material not found elsewhere, and a dedicated following.

Newspapers like USA Today, The New York Times, or other national newspapers may have trouble with paywalls, but I am looking forward to see how this pans out.

Photo Credit: New York Times via Creative Commons

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Voice to Text

A new article on Technology Review discussed the upcoming Google Chrome browser version that will be able to translate voice into text entirely on the Internet.

The article notes that there are still many problems getting the software to work reliably and not turn sentences into random jumbles of letters, but the browser is also in its early beta stage where bugs are ironed out and refinements are made.

The applications for journalists in all of this are endless. Many phones already have considerable support for voice commands and recognition, but an actual web browser capable of doing so means that any access to the Internet means a journalist can dictate entire portions of a story or notes on the fly.

Reporters might not have to glance down when taking notes and can instead focus all of their attention on the events happening in front of them. Computers might be able to transpose speeches for them.

At any rate, technology like this can be a real game changer for everyone involved, and journalists will have to keep an eye open to make sure it doesn't take them by surprise.

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Two British Journalists Suspected of Phone Hacking

Two tabloid journalists suspected of phone hacking were released on bail last night.



Neville Thurlbeck, chief reporter for the tabloid newspaper News of the World, was questioned voluntarily at Kingston police station.



Ian Edmondson, former news editor of the same paper, was questioned separately at Wimbledon police station. Neither man has been charged.



The two men are accused of illegally intercepting voice mail messages left on cell phones. The two men allegedly were involved in a large scheme to tap into cell phones of movie stars, professional athletes and other celebrities, even including the royal family.



Another former reporter for the paper has already served jail time for accessing messages left by Prince William and Prince Harry.



The entire case has been embarrassing to both the British police and the government.



News International, publisher of the News of the World, said, "we will not tolerate wrongdoing and continue to cooperate fully with police."



Celebrities who claim that their cell phones have been hacked include Sienna Miller and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. The News of the World is currently the subject of several breach-of-privacy lawsuits.



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World Press Freedom Day


Considering the recent conflicts in the Middle East and in Northern Africa, and considering all of the journalists who have been restricted, had their rights confiscated or lost their lives, World Press Freedom Day this year is a significant event.


May 3 is the date, and you can expect to see papers across the world commemorating the special day. A special bundle of editorials and other news material will be made available from WAN-IFRA, or the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

According to Editor's Web Blog, the material's function is "to remind readers of the central role a free press plays in democracy and in economic, cultural, social and political development."

The slogan for this year's event is "Silence Kills Democracy but a Free Press Talks." The words ring out with a special importance this year.

The website for the WAN-IFRA is filled with other ideas for newspapers who want to join in the efforts to remind people everywhere of what the press allows democracies to accomplish.

This year, there has been a special challenge issued to newspapers worldwide. The WAN-IFRA has asked newspapers to run the first page of their papers without any text, showing only white space to demonstrate what the world would be missing without free press.

If you unwrap your newspaper on May 3 and are shocked to see no text, remember what it symbolizes. Without news resources and journalists to give the content, the world would be very different- and inarguably worse off.

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Link at Blogspot.com, via CreativeCommons.org.


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Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, including journalists too. Although some mistakes may seem minor, they are all important because you can learn from them in the end.

The worst mistake that a journalist can make is to spell names wrong in some peoples opinions. Irene Epstein asks, "How would you like it if the newspaper misspelled your name?" She follows this rule so close to heart that if one of her students misspells a name they get 0 for that assignment. Another mistake with names is mixing up the names.
The next big mistake is to misquote someone. It is important to get what they say correct, especially since it is worth quoting in the first place.
Another mistake is mixing up the facts. Although, it may seem like a minor detail it could make or break the story.
The last common error I am going to bring up is AP Style Book errors. Typing email instead of e-mail or not capitalizing or capitalizing a word.
The most important part of making a mistake is correcting it as soon as you know it is wrong. This will keep you a crediable and respected journalist.
"Mistakes are part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." -Al Franken "Oh, the Things I Know" 2002

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Come One, Come All!

Have you ever wanted to connect with other journalists? Have you ever wondered why social media has not yet embraced this idea? Worry no more.

According to a report from Mashable, the use of Facebook in the newsroom is no longer obsolete. The page, Facebook for Journalists, allows media-driven people to connect with others in a way which no other site as done before. Although the number of journalists on Facebook isn't monumentally dominant, this page allows those who want to connect with other writers and broadcasters do just that.

The growth of the world's leading social network in the world of journalism was only a matter of time. Everything in media has to adapt nowadays in order to stay successful. The advantages Facebook presents in the news world are great. It can be a landmine of sources, it can help you share your story, fill a reporter's toolbox with new opportunities, and can be distributed in newer ways in which the original forms could not.

Using this new venture can help us all as media students tremendously. The power of networking, to me, is very undersold to college kids like us. If all of us "like" the Journalists on Facebook page, it may open brand new doors that we may never have imagined. I ask that you do go like the page and explore it, because if you love journalism as much as I do, then you'll appreciate what this newbie can do for your vocation as well.

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Some Tips for Future Journalists

So seeing as we are all in BNR together, we are technically all journalism students.

I have been thinking recently about some ways that we could improve our chances of getting a job once out of college, and I ran across this article with a list of tips on how to improve our future success.
The main tip I took from this article is to utilize campus opportunities. This includes everything from on-campus media to internships to talking to professors and upper classmen.
By joining on-campus media, it will give you a chance to get hands-on experience before being tossed out into the professional world, which can give you a boost in the job market over those who did not get involved in on-campus media.
Internships can also help boost your status in the job market, and they can help you create a network, which is another essential part of being a future journalist.
Networking can be enhanced by getting to know your professors and upper classmen as well. By learning from the experience of those who have already been through the media and been involved with it can be very helpful to learning how to do and how not to do things in the future.
The other tip that I found very essential is to have an open mind. Without a willingness to learn new things, especially such things as how to use new media, you are much less likely tobe successful than if you immerse yourself in new media.
For more tips, and more in-depth discussion of the tips that I have mentioned, be sure to visit the article posted above.
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Social Media and Journalism

Nowadays, our society is full of technologies that help people to communicate with each other. The entire world is linked by what we call social media.

Some people and especially journalists consider social media as a source and use them to write stories.

But are social media legitimate sources to journalists?

It is fine for journalists to use social media to spread the information, but journalists should not use social media to find news or at least they have to be really careful during their process.

In journalism, there are six basics sources that can be find through social media

-Newsmakers: people who cause a story to happen
-Spokespeople: people who represents other people
-Experts: specialist in one or several fields that are related to the story
-Official records
-Reference material: online or library sources
-Ordinary people

The last source is the one journalists should be wary.

Indeed, anyone can create a fake story simply to attract attention. That is one power of social media: create a buzz to reach popularity.

It is easily understandable that journalism will become more and more dependent on social media, just as society became dependent of them.

News companies create social websites where people can chat and comment the news.

This is a revolution created by the emergence of the Internet and the tendency people have to use social media everyday for everything.

One day Twitter, Facebook and other social media will be considered as real sources to journalists. They are media after all.


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Edit Efficiently

After working hard on an article, the last thing you want to do is edit your story right away. Editing is viewed as a challenging task at times because not all of us know right from wrong. Therefore, I am going to share with you some tips about how to make editing more efficient.

1.The story arc matters. It is important that you make sure you catch the viewers’ attention instantly. Make the information you are sharing appealing throughout the whole article so you don’t lose your viewers’ interest.

2.Numbers need to be specific. Using the statement “about” never clearly clarifies what you are trying to say. Therefore, be specific with your numbers so your explanation of your statistic is defined clearly.

3.Give attributions. “According to” is not a good statement to use because it is not supportive with your information. Instead, it makes readers hesitant about whether or not you are stating an actual fact. If you do use the words “according to” make sure that the company or person you name after is a known source.

4.Link to sources. When explaining a study that has shown a certain statistic, you should insert a URL address in the article, or at the end. This will then allow people to see the actual statement you are trying to explain to them.

5.Presentation/organization matters. Little random facts that are similar to the topic you are discussing in the article, but not very relevant to it should be mentioned in a sidebar of the article. Do not try to force everything to go together in one piece. Organization allows the reader to follow along easily and not get frustrated with all the clutter.

Photo Credit: CreativeCommons.org

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The Battle for Journalists

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Move over Twitter: Facebook is becoming more journalism friendly. While Twitter has typically been known as the focus social network for journalists, Facebook is slowly making steps to give Twitter a run for its money.

Facebook has been hard at work keeping up with the media and journalism world. Their media page, Facebook and Media, is filled with the success stories of various media organizations who have used Facebook to gain publicity or a greater audience.

One post on the page for example, reads, "Learn how Facebook helped a news station climb to the number one rating spot."

Their most recently added page Journalists on Facebook, was created to help Facebook develop a stronger tie to journalists, much like that of Twitter.

The page serves as a resource for journalists to use to help them find sources, interact with readers, and advance stories. I think this is a good move for Facebook.

Anyone would agree that journalists show more love to Twitter than Facebook, but steps like these by Facebook could definitely give Twitter a run for its money.

No matter which of the two social network journalists prefer, it is no question both have significantly helped and contributed to the world of journalism.

For more information on Facebook's new push toward journalists, visit this link. Photo Credit: Creative Commons

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No More Violence

Monday, April 4, 2011


It seems that everytime I log into my Google Reader I see articles about journalists that have been attacked, are missing, or have been killed. Is journalism really that dangerous of a profession?


What is the reason journalists are at the center of violence?


Do journalists cause trouble and that leads to attacks? I'd say no, yes there was the time of yellow journalism but that isn't what I'm getting at.


In an article on Reporters Without Borders states that in a little over a year 14 journalists have been killed in Pakistan. I then have to wonder if the murders are being commited by rebels or the general public.


To a certain extent going after journalists could be viewed as shooting the messenger. Why shoot the messenger when the messenger is only wanting to get the truth out?


No more violence. It doesn't solve problems or make the world a better place.



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R.I.P Katie Couric

After five years, Katie Couric is going to be leaving her post as CBS' evening news anchor. The reason for her departure is unknown.

CBS is currently in third place when it comes to rating the nightly news stations. Couric helped CBS achieve this position.

Averaging 6.4 million viewers a night, Couric is going to be hard to replace.

CBS believes that their ratings will jump as soon as Couric leaves. They believe a new anchor will entice more consumers to watch, but only from the beginning.

New CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager is going to be the individual responsible for replacing Couric. Many people believe that 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley is going to be the one for the job.

They believe that viewers will fall back into third place shortly after he takes the thrown. First place is currently held by NBC's Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and second place is ABC's World News anchor Diane Sawyer.

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How To Write A Great Blog

Writing a blog can be tricky. Writing a great blog can be even trickier.


The point of writing a blog is to get people to read your posts. If you are writing about boring topics then there is no way anyone will subscribe to your blog.

One important thing to remember is to write about what you know. It doesn't matter if it's a hobby you enjoy or a news story that you have kept up-to-date on. The important thing to remember is to research and report the subject well.

Using a first person voice is always a good plan. It keeps your audience engaged. They will also tend to feel like they are reading something more personal as if the blog is meant for them.

The worst thing you can do as a blogger is lie. Don't act like you know everything about your subject. You don't want to get caught up in a lie and have your readers distrust you.

If you are unsure about something look it up. If you are unable to find the answer admit that you don't know it. Your audience will respect you much more if you admit that you don't know everything then if you lie about it.

Another thing you should try to develop is a voice. Creating your own personal spin on things can make your blogs more unique and distinguishable.

By using these tips in your next blog you are bound to write your way to a large following base.

Photo Credit: Shiva Chettri via Creative Commons

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More Sites Move to Mobile

Our generation is constantly changing the way we get our information. From newspapers, computers, smartphones, iPods and iPads now we are constantly getting news and information on the go. The demand for information and news on the go is making many sites have to move to more mobile-optimized sites to keep up with the competition.


"The businesses know they need it and see the opportunity," says Jason Spero, director of mobile for Google.


The explosive growth of mobile (1.6 billion mobile phones sold in 2010) shows how important mobile optimization is for Web businesses. But most companies have yet to take the plunge. Google says 79 percent of its largest ad customers don't have a mobile-optimized site.


The New York Times has jumped aboard recently when they announced that they are making digital subscriptions to their website and also a mobile app.


The crush of mobile consumers requires either creating a whole new site entirely or adjusting the content so it can be viewed by smartphones and tablets. This may also require them to ditch Adobe Flash software because Apple products unlike Androids can not view them.


I think it will be interesting to see how many more websites or online newspapers add mobile-optimized sites in the upcoming future. I also think it would be a good idea for media journalists and other jobs including visual creativity to learn how to make mobile-friendly sites especially if they work with graphics and photos because photos tend to get distorted and look funny when viewed on a full-site rather than a smaller version.


PhotoCredit: CreativeCommons.

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Hopes For Summer

Sunday, April 3, 2011

With the school year ending quickly, many students at Simpson College are lining plans up for a summer job.

Whether you are interviewing for jobs currently or getting ready to do so in the future, knowing traits employers look for beforehand helps enable your chances of getting a job.

A useful tip for a person before they even walk into an interview is having the proper attire on. Making sure you appear neat, tidy, and appropriate for the job shows you care about the way you present yourself in the work force.

Another great tip is to be assertive. Even though our days at Simpson are filled with activities that consume time, whether it's homework, class, or practice, finding 5-10 minutes out of the day to do a follow up on an application shows interest and responsibility.

Even the little things a person does in an interview can help his/her chances of getting a job.

Making sure you have good eye contact, a projecting voice, keeping your chin up, and sitting up straight during an interview does matter. Employers like seeing confidence in their workers because it shows great traits in a person such as communication and ability to develop interpersonal relationships with others.

Having a summer job also has positive impact because it helps build your resume for future jobs and internships.

When employers are looking over your past jobs, seeing that you may have experience in a field can help increase chances for a job.

Although it would be nice to lounge around this summer under the hot sun rays, having money under your name is a great way to build towards the future.

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