Google Threatens Telecommunication Companies

Google announced February 10, that it would be testing its version of a new higher speed Internet. It will be offering this Internet access in certain communities to show people the abilities that the faster broadband network would have.

The company fully believes that their internet would be able to speedily stream 3-D medical images from hospitals to specialized medical centers and would make downloading full length movie only a matter of minutes.

Google has been frustrated with the low speed broadband that the United States currently has. The broadband networks in the U.S. are considerably slower than that of other well developed countries. But this is not Google's first attempt at changing broadband networks. Google paid $4 billion to buy a portion of a wireless spectrum to loosen the control carriers have over that area.

Google is proving "that we can have super-fast open broadband networks that break the duopoly of cable and telephone companies that we have today." said Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press.

Critics say this is just a public relations effort by Google to get broadband companies to offer higher speed internet to its customers and therefore have to play by Google's rules.

Google maintains that it is just trying to advance business and technology. Richard S. Whitt, Google's Washington telecommunications and media counsel say Google is using the test to get broadband companies to offer higher-speed internet at lower costs.

No matter what the intentions the test will be administered to many communities and could reach up to 500,000 internet consumers.

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The Future of Newspapers and Coupons?

One of the most important reasons that newspapers should still be in print a couple days a week is for the coupons. As crazy as it sounds this might be the reason that newspapers continue to stay in print. The part this is sad is whether people would just be buying the paper for the savings rather than enriching their minds.

Coupon use has now jumped 27 percent compared to that of previous years. This is the first time in 17 years. Now that coupons are becoming the next best thing, there is the fear of them going digital as well. The main bandwagon is the Internet. Online coupons available for print are easy, cheap, and convenient. The actual facts is that coupons being used are very low. It seems that newspaper just might still have a chance of surviving this online enemy.

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Life Without the AP

For nearly two months, Google News went with out using Associated Press articles on its site. Those article will soon be returning to the Google site once negatiations between the AP and Google are finished. The negotiation is over the creation of a new licensing argreement the at will allow Google to continue to publish AP articles.

While Google is jumping back on the AP bandwagon, CNN will be getting off and go a week cold turkey from using the AP wires. CNN wants to prove that it is still a top contender in gathering and breaking news by itself.

Unlike Google, CNN.com does not use AP content or images. CNN only uses AP wires to collect information, but it believes it can rely on its own wires to provide the same great coverage.

However, will this really prove anything? If CNN goes a week without the AP and doesn't end up failing miserably, is one week really enough time to prove that CNN is capable of functioning without help. The only thing that one week can prove is that CNN cannot function on its own, if it ends up failling its own one week test.

I think a better test would be to see if CNN can stay a float for a month by itself. That would be a real test of its news gathering abilities.

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Tweeting in the Media

A new form of interviewing is starting to replace the usual "man-on-the-street" work. Now, instead of putting a microphone in front of you and asking you to comment, many media companies may start asking if they can use your Twitter feed. To make this even easier, developing company Wiredset has created Trenderr to sort marketing information for businesses, and now a new site specifically designed for the media: Curatorr.

According to Frederic Lardinois, Curatorr allows the media to perform advanced Twitter searches and place relevant tweets into folders for future use. These tweets can then be shown on television straight off the site.

Curatorr was used first by MTV during the Hope for Haiti Concert to publish tweets on the air, and other networks like CNN have also began to use Curatorr. It currently is only available to TV networks and other media companies, and the price each company will pay depends on how it is used.

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Twitter Replaces Fireside Chats?

Paul Boutin, a tech columnist for the New York Times wrote an article last May encouraging President Obama to use Twitter more frequently. Boutin felt that a few 140 character notes from the President could serve as abbreviated fireside chats and could give the White House positive PR.

About eight hours later, Epicenter writer Ryan Singel wrote a scathing reply begging Obama to stay off Twitter and focus on more important issues: running the country for instance.

Since this squabble, Obama's Twitter account has logged 548 tweets. The tone of this feed is less formal than that of the official White House Twitter feed which is run unapologetically by his staff. The White House feed has logged 831 tweets. Both of these accounts were created in May 2009.

Obama himself didn't tweet until the recent crisis in Haiti. On January 18, Obama pushed the 'send' button for a tweet written by someone else that was published on another's account.

Our technologically adept nation understands that much of the information we receive is given to us by staff members and personal assistants. We don't expect famous people to take time out of their busy days to fill us in. And, as far as the President is concerned, it is reassuring that he is too concerned with the nation's affairs to worry about projecting his personal image on a social networking site.

It's been a few months shy of a year, but I think both columnists got their wishes granted. The White House and the President have made a greater effort to connect with the people virtually, but the President has not neglected his duties to become more popular.

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Is Google Trying too Hard?

Most of us are very familiar with the concept of a status update. We are accustomed to everyday conversations about someone's Facebook status. Twitter uses a similar concept with its Twitter updates.

The idea behind Facebook statuses and Twitter updates is to notify predetermined friends or followers what a person is doing at a certain time.

That same idea has now piqued the interest of Google. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google will announce the addition of a new feature on Gmail sometime this week. This feature will be similar to a Facebook status update. Gmail users will now be able to inform their e-mail contacts of their whereabouts and recent news.

A problem with this feature, according to Mashable's Adam Ostrow, is the simple fact that a Gmail user's contact list may not be who they would normally choose to receive their status updates and vice versa.

With the addition of Facebook and Twitter in the competitive world of social networking, it is without a doubt becoming difficult for email services to maintain existing users, while appealing to potential ones. The addition of a new Gmail feature is just another way that Google is trying to stay on top of the competition.

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The Lack of Pepsi

Watching the commercials during the Super Bowl has become near a tradition since it became a media blitz to sell products. While watching this year it may have become apparent that there was no Pepsi Commercial. This broke a 23 year streak of Pepsi having a commercial during the Super Bowl and it was snapped due to Pepsi's interest in social media.

The Super Bowl was broadcast by CBS this year and they wanted $3 million dollars for a 30-second commercial. Instead of investing in this as Pepsi traditionally has they have decided to pour their advertising dollars into social media. This movement into social media is what Pepsi is calling the Pepsi Refresh Project.

The point of the Pepsi Refresh Project is for Pepsi to become more involved with its customers. "The project is about creating a movement, not just a moment." said Bonin Bough, Pepsi's global director of digital and social media. Pepsi is donating $1 million dollars in February and is committed to $20 million dollars overall to social causes and community projects.

Pepsi is not the only big company getting into the social media craze. Budweiser let its customers vote on its Facebook site which commercials they wanted to see and Monster.com's Facebook page had videos on it of the fiddling beaver from its Super Bowl commercials.

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Writing is Not Enough For Journalists

These days everybody is practically a journalist. Typically, people wrote only when the teacher told them to, but real journalists wrote and reported stories outside the classroom.

The Internet has made it easier for anybody to become a journalist. Blogs and sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to write what they want, when they want.

Therefore, people who desire to earn a living as a journalist will need to acquire new traits in order to get hired or accepted into journalism school.

According to Robert Niles, a writer for the Online Journalism Review, journalists must be able to discover and analyze new information that would be of interest to their audience.

In order for this to happen, journalists are going to have to develop several characteristics, including strong analytic skills and the ability to uncover a story.

Just as the publishing market is competitive, so too is the market for journalists with numerous different skills.


I think it is very important to have multiple skills. In today's environment, it's not enough to just be able to write.

Social journalism is imperative for journalists. They have to be able to engage their audience and find and share stories that would be of interest to readers.

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Reporters banned from Olympic site

In Vancouver Canada the Olympic officials have banned news reporters from the site where freestyle and snowboarding events are to take place. The site has been plagued by a lack of snow. Therefore the officials closed the site to the media and the public as helicopters and 300 lorries were used to bring snow down to the site from higher altitudes. Vanoc vice-president Tim Gayda assures the community that there is nothing to hide as he is thinking of safety first.

As far as a ban on the public that is understandable but the media should be able to view the ferrying of snow down to the site. If there is nothing to hide then why not let some of the reporters or just camera men in. Of course since it's in Canada the laws may be a little different for this sort of thing. However a complete ban just does not make much sense. This is the Olympics, the news coverage is crazy so to hear that the media has been banned from an area is really hard to fully comprehend, and of course, the reporters who are there are not too happy.

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Stewart Burns Fox on Political Standing

John Stewart, known for bashing media personalities, gives toughest criticism of Fox New than ever before seen on Fox News.

Fox News has always been criticized for being a part of the conservative movement by many on the left. "cyclonic perpetual emotion machine" that has "taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into a full-fledged panic about the next coming of Chairman Mao," said Stewart to Bill O'Reilly.

The interview was shown on Bill O'Reilly's show, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox's most popular show. However, much of the interview was cut out, in particular the parts where Stewart had a lot more to say.

Stewart has been known to stray from his Comedy Central comedy into more serious political media and gained a lot of attention for it. For example, In 2004 on CNN's "Crossfire" Stewart claimed the left right debate format was "hurting America," three months before the program was canceled.

Also Stewart took a jab at Jim Carmer, host of "Mad Money" from CNBC for being Wall Street cheerleaders, and that "the financial news industry is not just guilty of a sin of omission but a sin of commission," said Stewart.

Mr. O'Reilly defended Fox but citing a poll from last month by the Public Policy Polling organization that Fox was more widely trusted than any other television news organization. Also Fox News is the most-watched cable news channel and caused a lot of controversy and high ratings in the first year of the Obama administration by appearing to be the network of the opposition.

Mr. O'Reilly said Thursday: "It was interesting to hear Mr. Stewart put forth that Fox News is in business to help Republicans. I rebutted that, and you can decide who had the stronger argument."

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The Sharks and Fish of The Media Ocean

Big ideas come from little places. It's been said for years under all types of circumstances, and local media stations across the nation are one of the perfect examples of this. But if big media is overtaking the local ones, what happens when these little places, no longer exist?

The media has been controlled by the media giants for years, but too often, these media giants cause local stations to go out of business.

Our media is much like an ocean. This media ocean consists of a few sharks, which are like the big media companies, and many fish, which are like the local stations. As the sharks eat up more and more fish, the once healthy and balanced ocean is now an unwholesome, noxious one.

Ted Turner is the founder of CNN, one of the media sharks. But he is also the first to say that the biggest ideas come from local stations. Without these local stations, healthy capital markets turn into deteriorating ones.

Smaller stations are so important because without them there is a loss of localism and democratic debate. In local stations, the mission and programming is different. When large media sharks dominate, it undercuts the democracy. The big companies don't compete the same and are not antagonistic. It is the little companies who know how to compete, which results in the biggest and best ideas.

"No one should underestimate the danger," Turner said. "Big media companies wan to eliminate all ownership limits."

With the elimination of these ownership limits, the media power will be in the hands of only a few corporations and individuals.

"This is a fight about freedom," Turner said. "The freedom of independent entrepreneurs to start and run a media business, and the freedom of citizens to get news, information, and entertainment from a wide variety of sources, at least some of which are truly independent and not run by people facing the pressure of quarterly earnings reports."

The media sharks dominating the local organizations leads to many questions. What will programming be like when it is produced for nothing but a profit? What will news be like when there are no independent news organizations to go after the important stories that big corporations avoid? Perhaps the most important question is a simple one, as free people, do we want to find out?

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Could Blogging Be Your Ticket to Success?

Sometimes it only takes one minor change to make some major changes in a persons life.

Ryan Sholin began blogging when he was a graduate student at San Jose State University in the field of Mass Communications. With his first amateur blog, entitled "Big Silver Robot," Sholin quickly learned that uses and importance of blogging.

"You don't get to act like someone who has ideas unless there's some evidence of your ideas out there in the world," Sholin said.

Although there may be a lot of truth to that statement, statistics are showing that young people today are not taking advantage of the technology available to get their ideas out into the world. According to cyberjournalist.net, blogging has dropped amount teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults since 2006.

Teenagers today may not realize the impact a simple blog can have on their future, but luckily for Sholin he discovered early on in life how beneficial they can be. In 2007, Sholin worked at a newspaper where he posted a blog that thousands of people read every day, including possible employers.

"This blog has been instrumental in getting every full-time job I've had in the news buisness," Sholin said.

And it's never too soon to start thinking about your future. Teens as young as high school and college ages can take advantage of the perks blogging has to offer by getting their names out into the world earlier rather than later. No matter what you're blogging about, the fact that you are blogging is what's important.

"Pointing out the obvious to an audience that might not have spotted it yet and then repeating myself over and over again has become, shall we say, my thing," Sholin said.

What is the point in all of this you might ask? Well, like Nike says, just do it! Whether it's getting your own personal website or just starting your own blog, a minor decision like that can have a big impact on your future. And even if you feel like you have nothing to say, you do, and you never know who else is going to be interested in it too.

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James O'Keefe's Tactics Questioned

Filmmaker and activist James O'Keefe made headlines again recently following his Jan. 25 arrest in New Orleans. Best known for his controversial 2009 undercover videos concerning the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in which he and a partner posed as a pimp and a prostitute seeking business advice, O'Keefe, along with three other men, now faces a charge of entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony. The charge stems from his attempt to interfere with phone lines at the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana by entering her office disguised as a telephone technician while secretly filming the episode.

In interviews with Sean Hannity and Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, O'Keefe claims to have been investigating constituent complaints that Sen. Landrieu's phones had not been working, giving them no access to her New Orleans office during a period of critical health care debates. When addressing the ethical nature of his behavior, O'Keefe has justified his actions, likening his stories to those of well known undercover journalism stories such as PrimeTimeLive's Food Lion story.

However, as Greg Marx has written in an article today for the Columbia Journalism Review, O'Keefe's argument stands on shaky ground. Pointing to a list created by Bob Steele of Poynter Online, Marx argues that good undercover journalism involving hidden cameras must meet two criteria. First, the information must be of "profound importance," reveal "great system failure," or be able to prevent harm to individuals. Second, the list requires that "all other alternatives for obtaining the same information be exhausted." According to Marx, O'Keefe's current project involving Sen. Landrieu meets neither of these criteria, as it had clear political motivations and the problem did not require such serious measures.

Why must journalists worry about radicals in the vein of O'Keefe? Undercover journalism, if done correctly, can be an excellent tool. However, as Marx again points out, if undercover journalism is done incorrectly or insensitively it can hurt the reputation of all journalists. In addition, information obtained undercover is not as likely to be believed by the public, further diminishing the credibility of journalism. Marx argues that O'Keefe's brand of journalism falls in this category in several ways.

I highly agree with Marx on the issue of James' O'Keefe's "reporting." While I understand that certain situations and stories require the use of disguises or false identities, such situations should be handled with a greater sensitivity than O'Keefe demonstrates. Another point Marx argues that I agree with is that O'Keefe fails to show his evidence in the context of a traditional news report, making his "reports" overly sensationalized and based merely in shock value. While some may herald O'Keefe as a new type of reporter, I hope that media consumers continue to understand and condemn the flaws within his work.

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Not Dumb Blonde, Dumb Newspaper

London's Sunday Times committed two major sins of journalism, on Jan. 17, 2010. The Times didn't get the facts straight and it falsified quotes, in a story on scientists doing research on blondes.

The Times claims that Dr. Aaron Sell, a researcher at the Center for Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California, has done research that proves that blond women are more assertive and want things to go their way more often than brunettes and red heads. Dr. Sell, however, claims his study never mentions anything about women's hair color or hair for that matter.

In addition to these misinterpreted facts, Times also completely made-up a quote by Dr. Sell about California being "the natural habitat of the privileged blonde." Dr. Sell denies ever having saying it in his over the phone interview with John Harlow.

Since the articles printing Dr. Sell has written a letter to the Times asking it to remove all references to himself and his research from the article and that it was just not true. Dr. Sell has also posted a note a on his Web site disowning the article.

This is not the first time the Times has publish an inaccurate article, and it is not the first inaccurate article about blondes. In 2006, the Sunday Times was deceived by a false claim that a WHO study discovered blondes were going the way of the dinosaur. Two other stories about blonds written by the Times were "Recession chic: why blondes are having more fun," and "You silly boys: blondes make men act dumb."

This repeat offence of blatant inaccuracy and fabrication can only hurt the Sunday Times' and the press media's reputations. Readers rely on news to be factual and tell them the truth. When the news is only accurate part the time, it causes readers to question it the rest of the time. London's Sunday Times is the a good example for all young journalist of bad journalism.

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Online Term Papers Copyrighted

In a new spin on the online term paper debate, an Illinois court ordered one company to provide proof of permission from the papers' authors.

Online term papers have always been controversial due to students' ability to simply purchase and submit work that isn't their own. This ethical dilemma was not addressed in the recent ruling.

This ruling was the culmination of a 2006 lawsuit revolving around authors of a research paper who found their work on sale online. The companies selling term papers online must provide proof of permission from the authors of all papers.

Though the companies prosecuted in this case are relatively small, it's possible that this ruling will discourage others from selling online term papers. 

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Vote for the Super Bowl Ads You Want

Millions of people will watch the Super Bowl this year and while most people watch for the football, some of us (including me) watch solely for the advertisements. Many people can remember some of the commercials better than who actually played in the game, and Budweiser ads always entertain.

This year Budweiser has decided to use the social media website Facebook to its advantage by asking its fans to vote for the ads they want to see.

It's a great marketing scheme in itself, as Brenna Ehrlich describes in her post on Mashable. Before you can vote on what ad you'd like to see, you must first become a fan of Budweiser's Facebook page. The company is counting on you staying a fan after voting, and it can send you important product updates. Your friends may also see that you're a fan of the beer, and then become a fan of it themselves.

These advertisements have always received a lot of hype, and now more so with the help social media.

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Facebook at Work: Benefit or Risk?

Social networking sites have been in the news a lot recently and all for positive reasons. Social media can be very beneficial to a company and its employees. However, recent evidence has shown that these sites may be more harmful than helpful.

According to a survey of almost 500 organizations, over half of the surveyed companies believe social networks put their business at risk. Sophos, the security software vendor responsible for the survey, reported that 57 percent of users admit to being spammed through a social networking site.

This is a problem not only because someone's personal information is easily accessible through social networks, but also the number of employees using social media for business is increasing at an alarming rate. The problem occurs when an employee's computer is sent malware, making it possible for someone outside the workplace to infiltrate the system and gain access to important files.

According to Sophos, 60 percent of the companies surveyed pinpoint Facebook as the riskiest social network. Keeping the statistics in mind, are social networking sites really the best way for companies to branch out? While proving to be effective among younger audiences, social media are now also proving that they aren't equipped with privacy settings necessary for the workplace. Until privacy is increased for users, reliance on social networks might have to be put on hold.

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Apple-Amazon Book War Intensifies

Apple is investing in a new market -- e-books. The company plans to release an electronic book to compete with Amazon, a company that has control over the market with its Kindle.

Despite the fact that Apple has not entered the market yet, the company is finding itself competing with Amazon.

The latest sting in this "book war" came when Amazon pulled books from Macmillan, 0ne of the largest publishers in America.

The dispute was over pricing on e-books on the site. Amazon sells its books for $9.99 or less. Apple planned on selling its books for 30 to 50 percent more.

However, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "The prices will be the same."

Jobs believes people will use Apple's e-book store as a way to drive up Amazon's prices.

During the launch of Apple's iPad, Jobs touted other publishers that we need to watch out for. These were Pearson's Penguin Group, News Corp.'s HarperCollins and Hachette Book Group, and CBS's Simon & Schuster.

Currently, each publisher is selling through Amazon, but that is not expected to last long.

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Smaller Organizations Use Social Media To Be Heard

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

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

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

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

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Football Coaches Victims of Libel

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

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

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

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

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