Five Ways To Read The Paper And Keep Your Sanity Intact

Today's newspapers are filled with negative articles. Huffington Post lays out five ways to read the paper and crack a smile while reading some depressing articles.

First method is to read the headline and add naked at the end of it. This allows readers just to smile.

Second method the foreign press, which is reading the newspaper backwards. In doing this readers stay away from the more depressing articles up front in the newspapers.

The escapist method is basically taking the newspaper and turning it into modern art.

The Jon Stewart Method is pretending to write for the Daily Show. This method is to joke around with the news to lighten the mood of the article.

The last method is the hamster, which is using the newspapers as a way to catch the droppings in its cage.

These methods show that the newspaper is dieing and becoming boring. The newspaper is boring and these methods are trying to lighten the mood of the depressing news.

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The Power of the Picture

If a picture can speak 1,000 words, what affect could 52 photographs of Osama bin Laden's death play on the war, and even on the world?

Judicial Watch has recently filed a Freedom of Information act lawsuit to try to grant the public access to the photographs taken after the assassination of bin Laden. Government officials fear that the release of these photographs will instigate a vicious counterattack by anti-American groups and terrorists, such as the Taliban. When looking at this situation, one cannot help but compare this situation to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006 and the video leaked capturing his hanging. This unauthorized video shot from a mobile phone created a huge stir across the world surrounding the conduct of execution. Yet, no extreme violent outbursts have been linked back to his hanging.

Is it possible that the pictures of Osama would have a much different effect on its viewers than the video of Saddam? With this in mind, the public must wonder what the American government is hiding in these pictures. It is claimed they wish to protect the identities of the soldiers who accomplished this mission and to protect American military strategies from leaking to enemies. If these pictures are released to the public, newspapers will need to decide whether or not they want to publish them, and possibly put lives in danger.

When dealing with powerful images, such as these, each media outlet needs to make a decision on where it stands. Is it okay to publish picture of the death of a notorious criminal or are photographs capturing any death pushing the ethical boundaries for any publication? Powerful images may make an event more believable, helps sell stories and thus, more papers. Photographic or video proof help the credibility of any story and help readers understand that an event actually happened. Yet, when unveiling powerful images about death, violence, starvation, or any number of disturbing events that take place every day across the world, will journalists choose to show images simply because the public demands them and because they want to boost sales this month? Or will they choose to shield the eyes of the public and hope the truth conveys itself well enough through their writing?

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AOL Change: Good or Bad?

AOL plans to build an online news format similar to that of Toronto-based start-up, Thoora, in attempts to return to it's former glory. Using Web-analytic software, AOL plans to create what Marty Moe, AOL senior vice-president, calls the "newsroom of the future." This software will help AOL to determine what news readers think is important and that it should write about.

Another component of the "newsroom of the future" includes hiring 500 full-time journalists and procuring stories form more than 3,000 freelance contributors. This allows AOL to produce original, prime content, and the better the content the more advertisers will pay for ad space.

However, content being based on what readers are doing, searching, and clicking on the Internet. Some journalists are afraid that readers influence on what they write will turn journalism's focus away from important, hard-hitting news to fluff. Fluff being celebrity gossip and what is trending in Hollywood.

Which is an excellent point. News isn't news until someone writes, blogs, or broadcasts it. How will people know what is going on in the world, if all that is being written about is someone's latest search on Google?

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