The News About The News

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Sunday, November 16, 2008

By Austin Bates

I was interested recently by a blog post at Lost Remote dealing with comment sections on website articles, especially concerning television and newspaper related websites. For the most part, I agree with the what the author, Don Day, says about comments. Ironically, though, the bulk of the conversation and discussion about comments on websites occurs in the comment section of the blog post.

I have to say that my experience with what I've seen and done in comment related sections is very similiar to what was talked about in Day's blog. Comments for an article or topic tend to vary between being intelligently written and with well made points, to being pointless, mindlessly agressive attacks on other people. The worst situation is when such debates begin well-intentioned enough, and then just devolve into flame wars.

It seems that the content of such comments sections largely depend on the demographic likely to consume the article that goes with the comments section. Obviously, if the article concerns something to do with the younger generations, you can expect it to be filled mostly with uneducated hate speech and flame attacks. With articles that are more geared to older generations, they tend to be considerably more controlled and intelligent. Typically, as well, it seems, the larger the audience to which a particular website appeals to, the more likely they are to receive a lot of negative, pointless comments.

But what about the usefulness of such sections, as Day and the commentators below his post ask? I have to say I agree with some of the commentators on this: while comment sections can become wildly off-topic and inappropriate, they ultimately serve as important public forums. Those with the paper might pick up leads and inside information into other stories or future stories through comments posted about an online article. But if nothing else, comment sections can serve as they were intended to serve: as a means of feedback for how well the story was received, and thus, as a means of improvement for the article.

In the end, I believe that online articles would be fine with or without comment sections, though such sections add a level of interactivity and contribution that readers of hard copies might not otherwise have. Ultimately, it might be better for any online article to have comment sections, whether they are used or not, in order to ensure that that option is open to readers.

Sacrifice from change

By: Katie Anthony

Almost directly following my last blog (in which I so nicely told people to suck it up and deal with the changes), I got a call from home.

My dad, who is an electrical engineer, has been in Germany since Monday for work. This isn't unusual however because he's normally out of the country once every three or four months (if not more).

On top of his travels, he also has daily conferences with France and Germany to keep in touch with the prototypes and adaptations going on overseas.

Well, the phone call entailed my dad telling me that he won't be traveling nearly as much anymore. Why? Because the Germans decided they didn't "need or want to see him."

Rude? Kind of. But I was intrigued, so I asked him to explain it to me. All of the companies he's working with (there are too many to list) have come to the conclusion that they can get all of the "attention and motivation" they need/want through their daily video conferences.

While I realize that it's communication in general, I saw this change as a sort of representation for the changing media.

People are going to conclude (most likely), that they don't "need or what to read newspapers anymore," because they can get all of their information from the internet or from the television.

I also took time to just sit down and reflect over these changes. I think that sometimes, we get so focused on the media changes (granted, that's what we're blogging over), that we forget that everything is changing-not just the media.

The blame game

By: Katie Anthony

It seems that every day we're reminded of the constant dwindling numbers of newspaper circulation.

So, needless to say, when I read the title, "The Latest Death-of-Journalism Spat, Condensed for Easy Reading!" it caught my attention.

Craig Stoltz, summarized the futile blame game that took place between Jeff Jarvis and Ron Rosenbaum.

What were they fighting about?

The fought about who they can point the finger at as to why print journalism (newspapers specifically) is dwindling down to (eventually) nothing.

Yes, we all know that the media industry is changing. And yes, we all see newspaper numbers slimming down.

However, what is blaming someone or something going to do to make anything better? The answer? It won't do anything.

C'mon guys, there's no use crying over spilled milk. I'm sure you could find more productive things to argue about.

Not to even mention the things they could be doing with their time (writing new stories, brainstorming new ideas) instead of bickering about something that they can't do anything about.

So, suck it up and deal with the changes, or find a new job. Sadly enough, that is the reality.

Deer in the headlights

By: Kayla Miller

It's that time again. The deer are out and causing accidents.

I was reading an article today on how deer are a growing hazard on the roads. Many citizens of the state of Iowa must deal with this dangerous event every day when they travel to work. Over the past years car accidents that involve deer have risen 12 percent in Iowa.

I can most definitely believe this statistic is true. I traveled from Des Moines and back today and saw a total of three deer on the side of the road, more than I have ever seen before.

Something needs to be done about it. Hunting can reduce deer accidents. Deer crossing signs can be set up. Another precaution that can be implimented is to teach young drivers about the danger that deer cause, and how to avoid deer when driving. It seems that this delima can be cured if we take the proper steps.

This article hits home, considering what I had already seen today around the area, and it also helps drivers be cautious that it is that time of the year again. The time of deer in the headlights.

Comments anyone?

By: Sarah Harl

A recent blog by Don Day wonders if some components of new age journalism fail to serve the intended purpose.

Day's blog asserts that the comments section, where readers can post comments on the reported stories, at the least serve no purpose, and as the worst, bring out the worst in readers.

Many comments sections do fuel name calling and bitter back and forths between individuals with too much time on their hands.

But what the comment section does do is prompt people to talk about what is happening in their world. And for every person that abuses the comment section, there are those one or two people who can add meaningful insight to discussion.

It's through these discussions, ignorant and insightful that new ideas are formed and narrow-minded attitudes change.

Will everyone benefit from the comments section of stories? Absolutely not. Is it more often than not a forum for petty bickering? Certainly.

But for the people that will benefit from this interactive component of journalism, it is well worth it.

McCain's debut

By; Sarah Keller

Have you been wondering how the republican presidential candidate has been doing since we last heard from him Tuesday Nov. 4, the night that he gave his speech telling America that they should come together to support Obama? If you have been wondering, John McCain made an appearance on the “Tonight show” with Jay Leno last Tuesday night, to talk about his feelings and how he does not believe Sarah Palin hurt his bid.

For a big part of last week, the papers talked a lot about the interview McCain had with Leno, talking about everything McCain said. McCain told Leno that despite popular belief he did not believe that Sarah Palin ruined his chances of becoming the next president; “I'm so proud of her and I'm very grateful she agreed to run with me,” McCain said. “I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin.” He also joked around and told Leno; “I've been sleeping like a baby," about the aftermath of the Election. "Sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry." I found that statement pretty funny, listening to McCain say that statement showed his sense of humor, and I enjoyed it.

I think that it was important that the interview was reported. It helps America to know that McCain is ok, that he is able to move past his loss, and support Obama. He is even able to joke around about his loss, which shows a lot of character.

Interviewing skills

By: Sarah Keller

If you are anything like me, there is probably a good chance that you are scared of having an interview for a job. As a college student thinking toward my future I am sure that I will have to go through a lot a job interviews in my lifetime. I am a little worried about blowing a big interview, about not knowing what the employers are really trying to ask me, or how to answer their questions correctly.

When I came across an article on AOL news about 10 interview questions decoded, I was very happy. I read the article by Selena Dehne, and I was very pleased with what she had to say. She broke her article down to make sense. She told the readers what they needed to do on interviews, giving very helpful tips on how to answer questions the correct way that a potential employer would be looking for.

I am very glad I took the time to read the article. It was useful information that will come in handy in my future. It is something I would suggest other college students, or job seekers in general to take a look at. People really might find something of key importance from Dehne’s helpful tips to help them out.

The economy changes the game

Saturday, November 15, 2008

By: Sarah Harl

At the recent Atlantic Coast region meeting of AP sports writers, the economy was the main topic of discussion.

Many papers would like to see the AP move toward an a-la-cart pricing concerning sports stories. Their argument is that larger papers are getting charged more to run AP stories, even though smaller newspapers use more AP coverage.

The pay-for-what-you-use plan would help out larger newspapers who are just as affected by the declining economy as smaller papers.

The sports gurus talked about everything from not only the declining number of talented sports journalists, but the fact that they now must hire less talented journalists due to budget.

They are now having to create online packages, or special sections to attract readership. Instead of writing the news, they are now worried, more than ever, about selling the news.

There was no word on the outcome of the discussion, but one thing is certain: the economy, should it not rebound, has shifted the game. It's the fourth quarter. How these writers respond will determine the outcome of the game.

Journalism as a balancing act

Friday, November 14, 2008

By: Hannah Pickett

Last week while working at a small town newspaper, readers were outraged by my editor's choice of a leading headline following the results of the 2008 Presidential election. The title read: "It's an Obama Nation!"

Think about it. An "Obama Nation" sounds and looks a lot like the word, abomination. The play on words infers that Obama is abominable meaning loathing, disgusting, and hatred.

My editor is a very educated individual. He is also very conservative and very much backed the McCain/Palin campaign. Regardless of his personal belief, his job as a journalist was to report the news of the presidential election results-unbiased.

The article went on to point conservative politics' strengths in America and the repercussions the country will and is going to face with Obama in the White House. In a very negative fashion, the editor also knocked on the Democratic presidents in the past, saying that Republicans are the best thing to happen to this country.

This week there were quite a few letters to the editor in reponse to this article as you can imagine. All but one were shredded and "forgotten about." The one letter published just said something about the headline being rude, but the facts backing it up. The rest of the letters were protesting the article in general.

It would have been one thing if this article ran on the opinion page where opinions are welcome and getting on a soapbox is actually invited. But this was the front page, above the fold and therefore completely inappropriate.

In life we have to wear many different hats concerning our roles. In this case, the editor wore the hat of an angry Republican and misplaced the hat of being an impartial journalist. Ethics matter. I am a Republican and was deeply offended at this article.

Our president ...

By: Katie Schaefer

A bunch of leaflets were slipped in to hundreds of copies of The Brown and White student newspaper at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania last week.

Editors don't know how this could have happened because they checked them all before all of the copies went out for the night. They even checked with distributers and they don't know how it could have happened either.

They haven't caught who did this, but it makes me wonder how we can still have such racism in the world.

This is the 21st century and we still have problems with racism. Racism will probably always be an issue but it's something that people should get over because our president is black.

He is the person that we trust to help change the world and people are still saying things about the color of his skin.

How exactly does it make a person feel to have a president that is black? Honestly it doesn't bother me, but it must really bother whoever put this leaflet out because they did it in a paper that would reach a lot of people.

Maybe they were trying to get students to think differently about their president but it's too late now. He's already elected and there's nothing they can change about it.

YouTube bids on search terms

Thursday, November 13, 2008

By: Allison McNeal

As the media grows increasing more dominant, companies are starting to open up online bidding.

YouTube recently stated that they will be releasing a new program called Sponsored Videos, which will lets users promote their videos by bidding on keywords.

The program will work by allowing users to decide which of the videos that have been uploaded they want to promote through site search.

The individuals then decide which keywords they want to target.

Google has also created automated tools that help users place bids for the keywords in an automated online auction and also set spending budgets.

When people use keywords in search terms for videos, YouTube will display relevant videos alongside the search results.

Cnet.com gives an example of if a film studio is on YouTube, they may bid on the words "movie trailer" to obtain those rights.

This new bidding seems to be a huge step in allowing online companies to make money off of their users.

YouTube currently has around 80 million users, but Google's cheif executive officer Eric Schmidt said that YouTube was not generating the kind of revenue the company hoped for.

Matthew Lui, a YouTube product manager, also agreed with Schmidt and said that the companies plans to implement this product was challenging.

"We've been working on this for months," Lui said. "The key was [that] we wanted to make sure we got it right."

"YouTube is a video discovery platform," he said. "We've been integrating with Google AdWords for some time, and now we're at a place where it can be win and win."

Will Google profit from the keyword bids?

The Sponsored Videos are priced on a cost-per-click basis, and only U.S. users can bid on video keywords.

The producers of Sponsored Videos are not certain on whether the program will generate revenues or boost YouTube's ratings.

YouTube has recently surpassed Yahoo to become the second Web search provider, behind Google.

According to cnet.com, "Google has launched other ad formats, such as posting links near videos, enabling visitors to purchase goods found in the clip."

This company also has signed deals that will bring full-length TV and film content to the site.

Even though Google is expanding their target audience, YouTube will have to wait and see if consumers are embracing this new technique.

Paying for stories

By: Callie McBroom

Crowdfunding is the practice of receiving mini donations through the internet to help fund a venture. It has worked for bands, film makers, and political figures, and now MediaShift is asking if it could work for newspapers.

This site references two local newspapers, Spot.us and Representative Journalism, that are giving the process a try.

Spot.us or anyone else comes up with a story idea, and people pledge money toward the story. Once a freelance Journalists is covering the story, people can donate up to 20% of the total cost of the story to help fund it. After the journalist has written the story, news organizations can pay the full cost to receive exclusive rights, or the story will be posted online for all to see.

Representative Journalism hires a journalist to cover a specific community or issue. The community then supports that journalist to write stories.

There are some bloggers who are using crowdfunding to raise money as well.

Representative Journalism believes that this process can provide high quality journalism, familarize a community with a journalist, and help members of the community value the news in the area.

This could be a good idea if it's used correctly. If not, crowdfunding could lead to conflicts of interest, biased stories, and narrow story selection.

If people are paying for the news, they will demand only that in which they are interested. This could be a big problem potentially for truth and ethics in reporting.

Associated Press still thriving

By: Erin Floro

The Associated Press is a huge nonprofit news organization owned by 1500 newspapers and employs 3,000 journalists in 97 countries. The AP sells to over 15,000 news outlets worldwide, including 5,000 radio and TV stations and 4,000 Web sites.

Last year revenues were $710.3 million and showed a 6 percent increase due to this year’s election. Tom Curley, CEO of the 162-year-old AP, reports $30 million in the bank for the organization. The AP has avoided layoffs and has diversified its business.

The biggest source of revenue 27 percent comes from U.S newspapers, which are facing their own revenue problems. Many have announced plans to cancel their AP subscriptions. Curley believes they are just blowing smoke and using these threats to negotiate.

Jim Willse, editor of the Star Ledger of Newark, N.J. reasoned that canceling is due to shrinking revenue and layoffs, not that the AP is invaluable. His paper did print an entire issue without any AP stories in September to prove it was possible to live without the service.

Other news organizations are sprouting up around the country. CNN is launching their wire service in December and GlobalPost is starting an international network of correspondents in 2009.

Under Curley, the AP has a vision for the news organization to set up ways to share premium breaking news yet it can’t start up a portal that would compete with those they sell their stories to, somewhat of a catch-22.

Economy hurts even the big boys of media

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

By Peter Merchlewitz

The recent economic stutter is on everyone's minds these days. Can I afford to go back to school? Can our family make the annual holiday vacations to distant relatives? The list goes on and on.

One would be surprised to find that this crisis doesn't affect just us mere mortals, trying to get by, day to day. According to The Editors Weblog, it appears that even media giants such as The New York times are quickly trying to figure out what cuts they can make to meet their ends meet before the Repo Man comes knocking at their door.

The bottom line for the short-term financial picture for the Times is that it owes $453 million more than it has.

Blodget reports, based on recent NYTCo. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

What NYT has:
• $46 million of cash
• $366 million owed to it by advertisers
Total: $412 million

What NYT owes:
• $398 million of short-term debt (due in May)
• $161 million of accounts payable (newsprint, travel, etc.)
• $100 million of payroll (salaries)
• $159 million of other expenses
• $50 million owed on long-term debt and rent
Total: $865 million

So the question is, what can the NYT do to cut costs and remain afloat? Will cutting jobs be enough? Will they need to end print editions?

Whatever they decide to do, they'll need to find a solution that both allows them to maintain their status and have the resources to provide quality news coverage before it's too late.

The Glitz, The Glamour, and The Glory

By: Kelsey Knutson

The media has a solid reputation for sticking its nose into business that does not belong to them. However, isn't the media supposed to seek out the truth and report it?

But we must ask, what truths do we as a society need to care about? Does my well-being depend and hang in balance on whether Jennifer Aniston is pregnant or not? Or can I not sleep peacefully if I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is dating... or what her sexual orientation is for that case? (You can tell that I do actually pay attention this stuff.)

Television shows like E! and Access Hollywood are dedicated to giving us updates on the lives of movie starts and music idols. Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Paula Abdul, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. But, who cares?

The answer is everyone cares. The real question is, why?

It's human nature for us to want to know what is going on with other people's lives. So why not inquire about the lives of the rich and famous and... somewhat... talented?

This interest goes beyond Hollywood. We now see special features and articles in gossip magazines about our political figures and sports heros.

The media feeds into our interest of other people's lives.

The media gives us information and opportunity. And above all, it gives us access.

Newspapers consider merger to stay afloat

By: Erin Floro

All across the country newspapers are facing an economic crisis, with more than 24,000 jobs being cut this past year. The Internet is taking over not only their readers but also television, radio, and magazine audiences.

With this decline and dropping revenues, some newspapers are trying to restructure to stay alive. This is the case for the Star-Telegram, a Fort Worth Texas paper. Staffed with 400 journalists its newsroom was once considered huge for a paper its size. This paper has been a moneymaker for decades.

On Friday, November 7, the Star-Telegram announced it may collaborate with the Dallas Morning News, it’s oldest rival. Advertising, its major source of revenue dropped 17.5 percent in September. Annual revenue is $40 million lower than 2006. Stock price of its parent company, the McClatchy Co., fell 87 percent last year. Analysts have speculated bankruptcy.

The Star-Telegram has eliminated 250 positions three times this year, accounting for one-fifth of the work force. Its historic headquarters building in downtown Fort Worth has been put up for sale, shocking to many who want the presence of the paper to remain in the business district.

Employees of the newspaper are also very concerned about job security with the approaching merger.

Falling circulation has affected both papers. In the past year, the Star-Telegram circulation fell to 3.9 percent while the Morning News reported a 9 percent drop in only six months. They are looking at combining their daily print runs as printing is a major expense.

With only 220 journalists, including those who work online, declining revenue, and their overwhelming debt, the Star-Telegram believes that the consolidation with the Morning News makes sense.

Mind blowing tools

By: Sarah Keller

The web is constantly finding bigger and better ways to demonstrate reporting. In an article from the New York Times today, it discussed how google has now made up a search engine that people can go onto to see if they have flu like symptoms. This search engine even has the ability to say in advance what location is going to get hit with the flu next.

This just blows my mind that something like this can be reported about. In my last blog I talked about the how people can view a map and click on a state to see how many people voted for which presidential candidate, I then said who knows what they will think of next. Well this is definitely another step in altering our world with online reporting, I really cannot wait to see what people will think of next to report about online.

Perfect Match

By: Alex Jones

Recently the Des Moines Register published a story about Shannon Michelle Rew, an Indianola resident who had an affair with a 15 year old boy.

Rew being 37 herself was attracted to the boy after her daughter had dated him for 6 months. There seems to be an epidemic of older adults targeting young children. My thought is where is the balance?

It seems that the media only portrays naughty priests or attractive cougars on the prowl. I want average Joe's to create a better balance of who is portrayed in the media for corrupting the youth with their sex.

Where are the men in these stories? The middle school basketball coach that seduced his young female player. I want to know where the heterosexual males fall along this story? They're out there so why are they not getting the media coverage that bubbly soccer moms or priests are getting?

Who is to say one is worse than the other?

Associated Press plays god

By: Kathryn Lisk

Romenesko posted a blog informing editors that after Thursday, Nov. 14 at 3 a.m. EST, an Associated Press change will go into effect.

"The AP will use the title and first and family names on the first reference," said Romenesko's blogger. Essentially, instead of writing "President Bush" in first reference, AP style will ask for "President George Bush". This also applies for "President-elect Barack Obama" and other commonly known leaders.

I understand why the change is being made, but can't help from wondering what it's like to work for the Associated Press style team. This group of individuals dictates how thousands of reporters around the globe write.

Obviously this change will only cause minor shifts in the stories that are reported. However, the AP Stylebook demands specific rules on hundreds of words, phrases, numbers, etc. They play an extremely important and powerful role in today's journalism world.

It starts here and sometimes ends here

By: Shauna Agan

It has happened so recently lately that one does not know if they are watching the entertainment or politics. While politics appearing on the late night television shows is not a new trend, it has sure become a trend in recent years.

In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for office in the California gubernatorial race. This was not just any announcement though. He made his announcement to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.

His announcement proved to be successful when he was elected as the governor of California. Maybe that is why Senator John McCain also chose to use this form of medium to announce his bid for presidency in March of 2007.

Although there was already much speculation that McCain would run for president, he made it official on The Late Show with David Letterman. His announcement proved to be successful for a while as he claimed the GOP seat in the bid for presidency.

Following McCain, another GOP candidate, Fred Thompson also entered the race using the late shows as his media option. In Sept. 2007, Thompson announced during "The Tonight Show" that he would run for President of the United States.

A week after the elections, Leno was the first person to receive an interview with McCain, who had been defeated.

So many politicians are resorting to the late night entertainment media to announce their candidacy and give interviews to, but why? Does it have anything to do with the ‘serious’ media options such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. is not good enough?

I believe it has to do with the relaxed atmosphere these hosts provide to the politicians. When giving interviews to other journalists in media, the politicians feel as if they are being stuck between a rock and a hard place when some of the questions are asked. Hosts such as Leno and Letterman put a humorous light on the situation.

I also believe it has a lot to do with the American public. More individuals watch the late shows than watch actual news channels, so it is a smart move for these candidates to announce their bids for presidency via entertainment programs. It grabs the attention of the public.

I believe using the late night entertainment media is a very smart decision on the politician’s half.

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