Journalism grad school applications on the rise

By Ryan Franker

Journalism grad schools have seen a rise in the number of people applying. New York University has seen a six percent increase in applications from last year.

NYU's increase is nothing compared to some other journalism schools, but with this increase it gives the schools hope that journalism is going to take off again. Stanford saw a 20 percent increase, while Columbia saw a 38 percent increase.

The students don't all intend on going straight to writing hard-hitting stories, one student said that he is wanting to work on documentary films or advertising. Those are still part of journalism and Associate Director Stephen Solomon tells his students to, "study other subjects that interest them in conjunction with journalism, and gives a competitive edge and a depth of knowledge."

There are a lot of different field that journalist can go into, Solomon also encourages his students to become broader in the journalism field, such as blogging.

The students believe that journalism is not going to die out, but you need to be open in what you want to do. "I think the value in journalism is communication, which is something that will not die," said Margaret Eby, a second-year graduate student.

(Photo Credited: flickr.com)

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Simmons' NBA Book Top Seller

By Zach Jevne

If you just picked up a copy of Bill Simmons' new book, The Big Book of Basketball, it might take you until the end of the NBA season to finish it, or longer.

Simmons, also known as the "Sports Guy," just released his second book, all 697 pages of it. The book is all about the NBA, features 1,032 footnotes and has just topped the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list.

The popular Simmons attractes 1.4 million page views to his column, which is featured on his own ESPN Web site, "Sports Guy's World." His podcasts, "The B.S. Report," are downloaded two million times a month.

I wasn't much of a fan when Simmons first started gaining national fame with his column (c. 2002), which I was introduced through "ESPN The Magazine." His writing featured too much of a Boston-bias for my taste.

I began listening to "The B.S. Report" and reading some more of his columns a couple of years ago and began to enjoy his work a lot more. He is able to crack me up occasionally and his knowledge of the NBA is unrivaled. He is funny, but not hilarious. Sometimes I don't care for his pop culture references, especially the MTV ones.

One of his new platforms for his "well-informed, snarky" takes on sports is Twitter. Simmons has over 980,000 followers. A tweet on Tuesday night served as a reminder to watch ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series tonight, for which he is an executive producer.

His columns are usually too wordy for me to read on a consistant basis, but enjoyable when the time is taken to get through one. For that reason, his Twitter account, "sportsguy33," is my favorite way of keeping up with what he is thinking.

As a passionate fan of the NBA, I'm glad Simmons wrote a book about the league. I respect and admire his passion and the amount of information he has on the subject. I will enjoy his book, even if it takes me three years to get through it.

This is Simmons' second book. Now I Can Die In Peace was released in 2005, a year after his beloved Red Sox won the World Series. He recently appeared on the "Colbert Report" to talk about his book.

(Photo Credit: David Shankbone)

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New York Post Editor Gets Fired Over a Comment About a Cartoon

By Taylor Finch

A now former New York Post editor has decided to sue the newspaper, claiming she was fired unjustly after making a comment about the "racist" cartoon that appeared to compare President Obama to a chimpanzee.

Sandra Guzman, a black, Puerto Rican associate editor for the New York Post, filed the lawsuit Monday after being fired on September 29 for what she believed was retaliation for her complaints.

Though the New York Post Chairman, Rupert Murdoch, explained that the cartoon's image depicting a policeman shooting at a crazed chimpanzee was merely a play on an actual incident that happened in Connecticut, he later apologized for the inappropriate cartoon after Guzman's allegations of the cartoon's inappropriateness.

The newspaper claims that Guzman was fired on the basis that they were planning to cut the monthly insert that she edits, ultimately letting her go along with the insert, although she had worked there for over six years and had received "strong performance reviews."

Guzman plans to seek "compensatory and punitive damages" for the newspaper inflicting racist and sexist conduct, not only with the cartoon, but also for happenings within the office infrastructure, such as a senior editor constantly referring to her as "Cha Cha #1."

This is not looking good for the New York Post, especially during a very fragile time for the newspaper industry.

(Photo Credit: www.noquarterusa.net)

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Library Gets Hit By Media

by: Amy Johnson

The world of media is changing constantly. Radios still play a big role in giving people news, but it has been taken over by television that has video and more commentary to go along with it. Newspapers are seeing a decline in sales as more and more readers are getting their news from the Internet.

A change in the way people use the library is also in the works.

Google Book Search searches the full text of books that Google scans and converts to their database. Google has put a limit on the number of viewable pages in an attempt to prevent copying pages that are under copyright.

The publishing industry and writers' groups view this as infringement to copyrighted work. Many publishers and companies have sued Google over this, saying what they are doing is a massive copyright infringement.

A big step was made recently in the struggle Google has faced. A federal judge in Manhattan granted an extension for a revised settlement to legalize Google's plan to create its own library of digital books.

The original agreement arose from a lawsuit filed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google, also claiming copyright infringement. After a settlement was reached in October 2008, it faced objections from people of every kind: authors were upset, librarians saw problems with the idea, and rivals were upset.

In September, the Justice Department recommended that the court reject the settlement in its current form. The department were hopeful that a new agreement could be reached as it offers many benefits to readers and scholars.

This is a big step in the world of media. People would be able to find the book they are looking for online, pay a small fee for it, and download it right to their computer. It's simple, and readers would not have to leave their home for a bookstore or a library. It would all be at the tips of their fingertips.

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Anita Dunn Steps Down Her White House Position

By Keri Waterhouse

Anita Dunn, the White House Communications Director is stepping down by the end of November. She will be replaced by her deputy Dan Pfeiffer.



Her departure was expected because she took the position on an interim basis early this year. The White House had thought Dunn may leave before the end of 2009.



She is leaving at a critical time for the White House, with the administration trying to get the Senate to follow the House of Representatives' lead to pass the health care reform.
She was a vocal critic of Fox News and last month accused the network of being a "wing of the Republican Party," will remain as an outside consultant to the White House and continue to be involved in strategy.



Pfeiffer has been most likely known to be the candidate to replace her. Pfeiffer worked on Barack Obama's presidential campaign and also for several Democratic senators, including Indiana's Evan Bayh.



Dunn assumed the communications post on an interim basis after Ellen Moran stepped down for a job at the Commerce Department.





Her stepping down at this time of the year will be hard for them. She has played a big role in the White House. They are in a tight spot right now with the health care reform. They could use someone like her to get this through. Hopefully he will be a good replacement for her position.

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NBC deal is under review

By Brianna Carlson

Comcast plans to take control of NBC Universal. Updates will be announced in the next couple of weeks, but this will be the Obama administration's media regulator's first test.

Comcast is the biggest cable system operator in the United States so adding NBC Universal to the picture will just expand Comcast.

The combined entity "would be calling the shots for one out of every five viewing hours in the United States" estimated Bernstein Research.

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Keeping readers attention

By: Mallory Tandy

Journalists can no longer just have a story with text and expect a large number of people to read it. There now has to be videos and pictures that are strategically placed in an article. If there are videos to go along with a story more people will be interested in the story and want to read it and watch the video that goes along with it. Journalists are now having to do more with their articles to draw attention and keep a reader's attention.

I think it is a good idea to have videos and pictures to go with a story, i am more interested in a story if there are pictures or videos.

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The Media's Misleading Healthcare Prices

By Michelle Zimmerman

The media is always expediting the latest information on the health care reform our nation is undergoing but is the information they are providing accurate? Many people in the media industry have yet to establish the costs that the health care reform may require when it is completed and many people are worried this type of information is relevant to the public.

Until a few days ago there hadn't been an article defining the currency that would be involved with this new health care package. That is until Ezra Klein from the Washington Post gave detailed information of what exactly this health care package would include; including the prices.

It can easily be noted that the United States health care prices are out of the roof. Compared to other nation's we rank the highest and many of the blame has been put to insurance companies. That is once again until the information Klein wrote about. Klein states that a large amount of the money in health care is going to the doctors and pharmacist who over the years have increased the prices of medical services.

I feel what Klein wrote is very important to the public because I, as I am sure many others as well, believed that the price of health care was at the fault of the insurance companies. I now feel educated to the idea that maybe the prices of medical services are over exaggerated and that then effects the cost of insurance to increase.

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Social Isolation vs. Social Networking

By Meghan Vosberg

With all of the status updates we notice our Facebook and Twitter friends posting we should feel closer to them, right? Wrong. People who use social network sites like Facebook are 30 percent less likely to know their neighbors and 26 percent less likely to give them companionship.

Compared to 20 years ago, America's social circle is much smaller today. But unlike most assumptions the blame does not go to digital technologies.Actually people who use their cellphones and other digital technologies are more likely to volunteer their time at local organizations.

Mobile phone users tend to have a circle of close friends that include 12 or more people and those who send instant or picture messages have about 9 percent larger social circles than nonusers. Mobile users are also seen to be more diverse, meaning that they keep in touch with many people from different backgrounds. This is opposite of public belief.

Photo Credit: Ben Stein

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Google not in the 'Content' Business

By: Chris Mars

Recent rumors about Google's plans to buy the New York Times are dismissed by the Google CEO, Eric Schmidt. The interview explains Google's decision to stay away from the "content" business and instead "focus on being a supplier of platforms." Schmidt stressed the fact that they need the content but they are "better off powering it, not writing and owning it."

This is positive to see Google turn down this opportunity and realize their abilities. Although, it would make for a pretty interesting and powerful marriage. Even though Google had a solid reason to turn down the opportunity, could this be a nice way for Google to say the New York Times' future isn't worth the risk?

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Better-Than-Expected Profit Is Reported by News Corp.

By Laura Reid

Fox News Corporation has reportedly had a profit this recent quarter, mainly from their television networks and movie studio.

Fox News mogul Rupert Murdoch has said that the cable channels that he owns have grown in profit because cable channels are now taking over most of the ratings as compared to local networks. While the News Corporation was down in revenue a couple million dollars, the net income was up 11 percent from a year ago.

Most of this money I think is coming from the recent events dealing with the White House. No other major network has been able to boast such profits, and that's because they are not butting heads with the Obama Administration. Murdoch's newspapers, The Wall Street Journal and The Dow Jones, are not doing well. It's all about the entertainment for viewers which is why I think Fox was able to succeed this past quarter. I would wait until everything has died down between these two groups before they continue to boast good profits.

(photo credit: mroach)

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Pricey Redisign

By Tessa Leone

The Iowa Sex Offenders website, iowasexoffenders.com, went under a 250,000 construction process to add to the efficiency of the site. Grants funded the pricey redesign.

You can now not only view convicted sex offenders and where they live in regards to your home, but you can also join blogs, receive email notifications and view online prevention plans targeted at parents.

Website users can create a name and password and log into the registry. It's much more interactive and informative and aims at equipping parents with the necessary information to keep their children safe from sexual harassment or molestation.

Interaction seems to be the conman thread of evolving media and technology. In the past this media was strictly a one way spectrum of news, providing readers with warnings and potential dangers withing their communities. Now the readers can respond and share concerns of their own. The readers are becoming the reporters.

Photo Credit: Photobucket

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Magazine Offered Online-Only

By Zach Jevne

Starting in January, a new magazine launched earlier this year will no longer be a magazine.

Purpose Driven Connection, a magazine published in partnership with Rick Warren (left) and the Reader's Digest Association, announced that beginning in January 2010 they will stop publishing in print and move to online-only.

Warren founded the Saddleback Church in 1980 in southern California. It is a popular evangelical Christian church and is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Our biggest discovery was learning that people prefer reading our content online rather than in print, becasue it's more convenient and accessible," Warren said.

The magazine's fourth and final print issue will be released later this month and will be a Christmas issue.

The original plans were for a quarterly magazine and various multimedia offerings aimed at Warren's Christian audience. The Saddleback church averaged nearly 20,000 people each week in 2008, which ranked eighth in the country according to Outreach Magazine.

RDA says they are offering to refund unused print subscriptions to the magazine. However, upon visiting the site, a link to subscribe to the magazine is still available.

Purpose Driven Connection serves as a good example to the differences between Web and print content and where the future of print is going.

"An online magazine allows us to minister to people internationally; provide more content and features than we could fit in a print magazine; create interaction and two-way dialogue; and offer it for free, " Warren said.

All of those examples were featured in discussions this week comparing Web news and print news.

(Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Apple Pushing It To The New Level

By: Amy Johnson

Apple is taking it to the next level.

The company is trying to get television networks to sign up with iTunes for a service that will let those interested download an unlimited amount of television shows for around $30 a month.

Apple has been flirting with cable companies for months about the idea. Sources say that nothing is set in stone as Apple is still in the early phase of talks.

Movies and individual episodes of shows can already be bought by iTune users, but this new monthly subscription-fee would target cable companies. Fans would be able to watch their favorite shows without counting on the cable companies to show their favorite programs all the time.

Networks would be paid more for shows that are more popular by Apple and less for shows that viewers are less likely to tune in to.

This new strategy for Apple would boost their success even more. Apple would be going beyond the music business and into the world of television. Not only would they be boosting their name, they would also be helping fans.

Fans can pay a small fee to be able to watch their favorite shows on the go. If Apple can get this idea off the ground, they could be introducing their iTunes fan base to something elite.

(Photo Credit - Lance Club)

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Media Denied Access to School Flu Clinics

By Taylor Finch

The Rhode Island Department of Health and school district in South Kingston together are not allowing journalists to be present at school-based clinics giving the H1N1 shot, due to the HIPAA, also known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The HIPAA was an act made in 1996 that provides federal protection for personal health information held by covered persons and corporations that gives these patients a variety of rights in respect to their health information.

A particular journalist that is known for covering the school district of Sough Kingston, was turned away by the school's superintendent and told to leave the clinic area, for he was not allowed to even take pictures of people who were even waiting in line for their shots or take statements from them.

The superintendent said the local journalist was not able to do so under the patients' protection under the HIPAA.

The journalist did not give up there. He obtained parental consent from a few mothers in line with their children in order to take pictures of their children getting their shot, but he was still denied access, even with the consent.

He found this odd, due to the fact that he has been able to cover stories dealing with the school district's past flu shot clinics.

The journalist later inquired to the Rhode Island Department of Health, only to find out that he was not allowed access into the clinic because department did not want to stir up fears about H1N1.

Though the journalist did the right thing in gaining consent, apparently the Department of Health did not see it ethical or legal to publish photos or quotes from inside the clinic.

(Photo Credit: www2.med.umich.edu)

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Are e-books the new thing?

By: Mallory Tandy

New York Publishers are hoping that electronic reading devices will increase their sales. Some say this will not happen until the technology improves.

There has been a lot of talk in the publishing world about Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and Barnes & Noble Inc's new Nook, their new electrical gadgets.

These new gadgets are unlike the technologically advanced smartphones, in that they lack a lot of the functions other devices have. Until the technology on these new devices improves, no one will want to carry around another gadget.

They do have their advantages, people can store thousands of downloaded books and have access to multiple websites, magazines, and newspapers. Students who do not have their books in before classes start can easily go online and get them through these resources. According to Forrester Research the 2009 sales will reach up to three million. Bill Stein, who was once with Institute for the Future of the Book, thinks digital publishing is going to face many obstacles.

I think having books online can be beneficial for students especially, but i personally hate reading off of a computer screen and would much rather have a an actual book. I don't really know if digital publishing will take off.

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Media's attempt to discover new plans to save the industry

By Michelle Zimmerman

The Federal Communications Commission has decided to form a wide range of studies that will hopefully lead to innovating ideas for the industry to succeed. The FCC is searching for successful ways the media can survive the turbulent times of the economy as well as searching for a more efficient way of expediting honest news.

The FCC has hired Steven Waldman to conduct this search. Waldman is said to be chosen because of his success as a journalist in the newspaper as well as accommodating the popularity of the Internet. As the media began to change Waldman followed successfully.

Currently the quality of information being exploited over the Internet is lacking something to filter false information. Therefore, the FCC intends to develop a way for the media industry to regain control, set guidelines, and be compensated for the news being posted over the Internet.

FCC's action to find a resolution for the media industry is justifiable but it also worries people. As always the media has been protected by the First Amendment, but many people feel the government is crossing over the boundaries of involvement.

Regardless of the amount of interaction of the FCC I think it is very important for the media industry to start looking for a resolution to the revolution of the Internet before it is unattainable to fix.

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The New Smartphone at Verizon Wireless

by Keri Waterhouse

The anticipated Google Android phone called the Droid is almost out for Verizon Wireless customers. The phone comes out November 6. This smartphone will cost $199 with a two-year contract.

This phone has a voice-activated search that lets users speak a query and the Google-powered search engine will deliver Web results or results from the device such as contacts, music, and photos. The voice search also works with the new turn-by-turn directions for Google Maps.

The new Droid is loaded with lots of cool Android apps and has access to the more than 10,000 applications available in the Android Market but it does not have many of Verizon's branded services. It has Android 2.0, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It has a Webkit HTML 5 browser, and it's powered by a 550MHz processor and a 1,400mAh lithium ion battery offering 6.4 hours of continuous talk time and up to 11 days of standby time.

So many changes are happening in technology. What is going to be the point of a laptop now? I got a Blackberry this summer and I honestly have my life in that phone. I don’t know what I would do if I lost it. There are so many things that you can do with smartphones. Many people

don’t even know what all you can do with them. While they are more expensive, I think they’re worth it.

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CNN places last among other cable news networks

By Brianna Carlson

In October, the viewers of cable news networks placed CNN fourth among the other cable news networks. The networks rely on their viewers and audience for their advertising.

More than two decades ago, CNN was the first to start the cable news network.

For the month, Fox News (689,000 viewers), MSNBC (250,000 viewers), and HLN (221,000 viewers) all placed in front of CNN (202,000 viewers).

This shows that the viewers want more opinionated news channels. CNN has moved opinionated hosts like Nancy Grace to HLN which is CNN's sister network so that CNN can keep their news-orientated style.

(Photo Credit: blogmeister USA)

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Time Inc. cuts 6% of workforce

By:Chris Mars

http://tinyurl.com/yjokugm

The magazine industry seems to continue to fall as Time Inc. announced it will cut 6% of its workforce in a recent New York Times article. Cutting 6% of its workforce calculates to about 600 people. As recent as 2007 the company which produces magazines like Time Sports Illustrated and People was doing as much as $5 million. This year they're down to about $3.7 million and have cut $800 million in costs.

This is obviously bad news for a major company in the business and the future doesn't look much brighter. Recently, they have shut down magazines like Cottage Living and Southern Accents and Life, two very repectable magazines.

Will the magazine undustry bounce back or are we seeing the decline of a major medium?

Photo Credit: AllThingsBeautiful.com

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