The News About The News

No, our world is not coming to an end

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

By: Shauna Agan

When reading through the newspapers and internet news, it seems as if every headline is depressing. Sometimes I think the world is coming to an end just reading the headlines.

On CNN.com, headlines read, “What if we don’t bail out Big Three?”, “Obama struggles with lobbyist promises” and “Hunger among U.S. children skyrockets”. This is just to name a few.

Similarly, on MSNBC.com, readers view headlines such as, “Strapped for cash, many raid nest egg” and “Experts warn of water shortages by 2080”.

Although there are obviously other headlines that are not negative or depressing, it just seems lately that most headlines are depressing. The headlines seem as if our world is continuously going downhill with no hopes to turn around and run back uphill.

Most headlines deal with the bailout plan, our economy, or families who cannot make ends meet. A headline can say a lot about how our world is doing.

It might be the case that most current events are misfortunate things that are happening, but if all stories do is depress readers, people won’t want to read the news anymore.

Reporters have a duty to go searching for positive stories as well. Even if most of the news happening is depressing, it is refreshing to hear something positive about our world every once in awhile.

No, our world is not really coming to an end, but a reassurance would be nice.

Journalists decide pop culture

Monday, November 17, 2008

By: Sara Crouse

Hype about an upcoming movie or TV show can often lead to increased viewers. In fact, in most cases the advertising and marketing hype prior do generate better ratings.

Journalists flock to the scene locations of the 'biggest' shows, and get inside tips from the cast members. Journalists hope the inside information on the ‘most-watched TV show’ is the news viewers and readers alike want to hear.

Entertainment Weekly magazine recently published a great article on why certain shows get publicity over others, and why critics/journalists chose to pay specific attention to particular TV shows. With his/her own best interest in mind, a journalist will publish the story closest to the hearts of the people.

Whether that story is about the true life of an ordinary person with some sort of gut-wrenching twist, or the extravagant ‘one could only hope for’ life of a privileged young adult, it matters what people watch.

Well what were journalists thinking with their recent trend of interviewing the stars of the TV show Gossip Girl over the stars of One Tree Hill?

Perhaps journalists thought the plot line of upscale New York prep school teenagers would be more appealing to pop culture than the lives of straight-out-of-college young adults just trying to find their way in the real world.

Whatever the reason, recent news articles and marketing campaigns have been highly geared towards generating interest in Gossip Girl. Little has been heard of One Tree Hill since its early years in 2003-2006.

Gossip Girl related items and stories can be found everywhere in department stores, while One Tree Hill is a little harder to find.

Yet 3.6 million viewers tune in on Monday nights for One Tree Hill , while only 2.2 million viewers take the time each week to watch Gossip Girl.

Journalists may have it wrong this time about which story is news even if it is soft news.

Switching careers

By:Quinn Albrecht

Many people have found it difficult to maintian their job in journalism. With so many things changing in the fields of journalism people must change to keep up.

Many newspapers have websites as well as putting out print editions. They do this so that people can get the news whenever they might need it. This is a great way for newspapers to stay busy. But they are having trouble, because they are moving to new media structures.

They are hiring outside of the news writing to get journalists. They are getting people from TV stations to help with production.

TV stations are doing a very similar things, getting journalists from newspapers to help write stories to the web.

This is just another step in the ever changing media structure of the world we live in.

Please feel free to comment

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.

Is it necessary to keep a tally?

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

By: Jessica Hartgers

Many of you may have heard of the most recent suicide at Southeast Polk High School. You probably heard that it was another teenage boy who committed suicide and he is the fourth student to do so in the last seven months.

My problem with the way journalists are reporting this subject is that they all seem to be keeping a tally to the number of students to commit this act. Journalists seem to be focusing on the total number and the timeline that things have occurred, focusing on the first and the latest.

I know the timeline and number of students is just a fact of the case, but is it necessary to keep bringing the previous cases up in each news story. In a way the journalists are making readers relive each death.

Journalists need to leave previous suicides out of the story.

Palin in the news

By: Jessica Hamell

I’m so relieved the election is over but why is there still all this publicity about Sarah Palin? She is getting more news than McCain is and he was the one running for president.

There has been so much news about who her first interview would be with. She was invited on Oprah but she decided that shouldn’t be her first interview. This sort of stuff should not make news.

The New York Times wrote an article today about Palin. The said “She put herself on full display, in interviews with NBC and Fox News before Mr. McCain had a chance to take a no-victory lap on The Tonight Show. And she has many more appearances scheduled throughout the week, including a star turn at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami on Thursday.” She shouldn’t have gotten invited for an interview before McCain. That seems like a slap in the face towards McCain to me.

Now there are rumors about her running in the 2012 election. O please No!!!

Newspapers downturn

By: Jessica Hamell

So now that the election is over will everything get better? Will our economy and newspaper industry be saved. I hardly think so.

The Kansas City Star is letting go of 50 employees. They are in their third round of cost cutting in nearly 5 months and nothing is getting better. The said 2008 is “one of the most challenging years in Star history.” All of them will receive severance pay, benefits continuation and outplacement services. If that is the case then why not keep them and just cut their wages. The newspaper won’t be making much more money by letting go of these employees if they keep giving them money.

These newspapers are trying to do everything they can to save themselves but nothing is working. When will all this stop.

“Many newspapers, including The Star, are attracting record numbers of readers to their news and advertising content. But most new readers are coming through the papers’ online Web sites, while readership and advertising revenue from their core daily printed products continue to soften.” Why don’t more papers make people pay for online subscriptions? That is where they are losing money, I think that would be a very good idea. If people pay to for an online subscription the cost of printing the product is taken out of the equation and money could be made.

It's about time Kenny

By: Gabe Gilson

The funniest sports caster on ESPN finally has a new gig. Unfortunately for him, it is not as big of a deal I was hoping for.

Kenny Mayne now is the star of his own show Mayne Street, which was the idea of ESPN. The thing about this show that makes me rather unexcited for it is the fact that it only appears on espn.com. This truly is a bit of a bummer because a show that is half an hour of Kenny being Kenny that would appear on ESPN one night a week would most likely get tremendous ratings.

So far, there has only been one episode of the show online in which Mayne and Scott Van Pelt did a four minute bit on how Mayne had a hard time saying Rafael Nadal’s name when signing off at the end of the show Sports Center. If one would fully understand Mayne’s dark, sarcastic humor then it would be hard to do anything but laugh.

In this new technological era, this show got me thinking. Is it possible that the new, hip thing is going to be television shows only available to view online? I certainly hope this is not the case because I like to sit down and watch television. Every now and then, when I miss Monday’s How I Met Your Mother on CBS, I like watching the replay online. This is a lot different than only being able to watch the show online. For everybody’s benefit, I hope we can always be able to watch our television shows on television.

Tired of hearing about it

By Kellie Green

The election is over and we know our 44th president but the media keeps printing about the outcome. I understand that it is a huge excitement that we finally know our new president but when does the media stop?

As I was reading the newspapers and some online blogs I kept coming across stories about Barack Obama and his views and how people are against them. In in an article in USA Today it talks about how the Catholic Bishops are going to fight Obama on his views of abortion.

I know that Facebook is not really a newspaper or deals with journalism but it is a media source because so many people use it. When I enter Facebook I always see people putting on their status how our country is going to fall and how we picked a communist for a president.

I just don't understand when it will all end. There are so many people against the idea of Obama but he is now our president and we have to stand behind him.

I just don't understand when the discussion of the new president will end. The New York Times is even running an article on a man named Howard Dean helped the President win the election. It just seems like enough is enough and I think people are tired of hearing about it.

A whole new level

By; Sarah Keller

In class we have been talking about the web and how everything is starting to be published online. You can do so much more things with web sites. We also talked about how you could look at a map and click on states to see how many votes each state had for which presidential candidate, you can even look at previous years votes. I found this to be really cool so I decided to take another look at it.

I am very impressed with the way the map shows the state winners for each candidate. This is taking reporting to a whole new level, which I find very impressive. I only wonder what people will think of next to put up on newspaper web sites. I would just like to congratulate the New York Times for being so clever as to think of something like this to put up on their site, because it really is drawing people in to look at their paper and it is impressive.

Newspapers need to kick it into high gear

By: Erin Floro

Consumers buy newspapers in record numbers when a historical event happens. Such was the case last week when Barack Obama was elected president.

This enthusiasm for the post- election editions proves that newspapers still matter and are valuable keepsakes of a memorable event. People can preserve these souvenirs better than YouTube videos or blogs.

Our nation also turned to newspapers after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and after Hurricane Katrina. It shouldn’t have to be some shocking event to capture a reader’s attention.

Circulation won’t be retained with vague news stories or boring accounts of civic meetings and press conferences. Newspapers need to rejuvenate themselves and ignite their readers on a daily basis. They need to report on stories that will grab people’s attention and pique their interest and then have them talking about it.

If newspapers don't succeed in this they could possibly become extinct.

A day to honor Veterans.

By: Sarah Harl

In honor of Veterans Day, I decided to do a Google search on the day.

The most interesting piece of information that I learned is that according to United States Department of Veteran's Affairs, as well as the AP style book, the veterans in Veterans day is simply plural. It is not a possessive noun.

According to the Veteran's Affairs website, this is because this day does not belong to Veterans. This a day when we honor Veterans.

I found this to be a very profound statement, as well as very fitting of the men and women that this day is meant to honor.

The men and women who are Veterans of our armed forces, put themselves in harm day after day, and it was never for them. It was for something larger than themselves.

Maybe they did it for their family, or their grandchildren, or the next generation.

But they always did it out of love for their country, a patriotism in which they never asked for anything in return.

And so, instead of just giving them a day, and calling it enough, the responsibility for once rests on the American people to give these men and women the honor they deserve, because they day does not do this, it is something that we must, and should do.

Facebook ads are not going to work

By: Lexie Hagerty

An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook is trying to find new ways to get ads out to its users.

The article reported that the website hasn't been able to keep a steady revenue out of any of its advertisers. I can understand that Facebook would want a steady revunue, but I don't think any attempts to display ads more will help the website.

I am a Facebook user. I like the website because it doesn't have a lot of ads and its safe and efficient in providing communication between my friends and I.

I think a lot of users like how simple Facebook is. They like that they aren't bombarded with ads every twenty seconds like some websites are.

The way I see it, Facebook can try to add more room and opportunities for advertisers to get their brands out there, but Facebook users won't like it and begin looking for new ways to avoid the ads. This could be a bad move for Facebook.

Multimedia for a different cause

Monday, November 10, 2008

American journalists use multimedia to provide readers and viewers with

Collaboration

By: Quinn Albrecht

As we talked about Monday in class, collaboration is key in getting anything done in journalism. In doing some research for todays blog, I came across this article from Poynter.org.

This article talks about the need for collaboration in the work place. It tells readers what they can do to become better at working together.

It also shows what to do to increase team work and what obstacles are in the way, keeping people from working together.

This idea is important in any job that you will have co-workers, but is especially important in journalism. Journalists need to work together to hit deadlines and make stories more efficient.

It was just supposed to be funny!

By: Sarah Harl

In its November 9th edition, the Murfreesboro Post allowed an opinion column to be run by humor columnist Stephen Lewis.

Shortly thereafter, Michael Pirtle, publisher and editor of the paper, was issuing a formal apology for the racist and narrow-minded humor that was published in the Lewis column.

The column, entitled "Ode To Obama" includes a song written by Lewis which I was warned I wouldn't "get" because I was under the age of 30.

And he was right. I didn't get it. In more ways than one.

First, apparently you need to be familiar with the television show The Jefferson's to fully understand the reference, which I decidedly am not.

And the second reason that I didn't get it is that there is never under any circumstances warrant to make racist remarks about anyone, but specifically not about the man who has been chosen by a significant majority of this country to be our leader.

It is never appropriate to refer to the White House as a "pimp pad." I don't care if the occupant is black, white, or Hugh Hefner. It is the home of our president, and just as I would expect anyone to treat my home with respect, so we need to treat his with respect.

Also, regardless of anyone's feelings on Sarah Palin, she does not deserve to be referred to as a "cute, cheap thrill."

And apparently Lewis does not restrict his ridiculous comments solely to blacks and women. He also refers to newly elected Tennessee state representative Dr. Rishi Saxena.

Lewis is adamant that Dr. Saxena should learn to talk with a southern accent. Or at least make "y'all" and "fixin to" a part of his vocabulary.

The fact that we don't need our state senators furthering the use of horrible grammar in this country is even beside the point in this situation. The point is that the south has continued to be seen as a safe haven for racists for so long because they have been resistant to change.

And now that there are people in place who can possibly transform the ways of some southern racists, a story like this gets run in the Murfreesboro Post, taking us right back where we started.

You can disagree with someone on policy. This is perfectly acceptable, and even necessary within the framework of the United States government.

But it is inexcusable to disagree with someone because they are not a white male. Most of the country has been able to move beyond that, and its time that Tennessee join us.

As long as columns like this continue to be published, the south will continue to look like a bunch of uneducated hicks, and the Republican Party will continue to be seen as inherently intolerant, since, unfortunately, many of these narrow-minded, ignorant people align themselves with this party.

So shame on Stephen Lewis for writing this article, and shame on the Murfressboro Post for running it. Issuing an apology after the fact reeks of irresponsible decisions in editing. Saying that the article was written in humor doesn't help the cause either, because it wasn't funny.

When you print something, people are going to read it, and when you print something asinine and racist, people are going to talk. And whether or not you believe it should reflect on your newspaper as a whole or not, it does.

I bet it's not so funny anymore.

Too much news

By: Shauna Agan

My grandpa was watching his soap operas today as he does everyday. He must have really been watching them today rather than falling asleep because when I went to visit him tonight he was very ticked off.

My grandpa’s soap opera was interrupted by a newsflash that he didn’t like. This news was a video of President-elect Barack Obama walking up to the White House and shaking hands with current President George W. Bush.

The reason my grandfather got so ticked off about this was because he did not believe it was newsworthy enough for the station to completely interrupt his television program just to show this. We all knew sooner or later Obama and Bush would get together and eventually shake hands. Why is it news just to show it on television?

Since the election has happened, media is trying hard to find something else to focus on. Their answer is to show anything and everything they can about the transition of power.

While I do believe it is newsworthy that Obama and Bush met today, I do not think it was important enough to interrupt a television program to show them shaking hands. Big deal.

I agree that the transition of powers is very significant in our country right now and it does deserve media coverage. However, I think media is going to focus way more on it than needed.

A lot of things that are newsworthy become old news fast because of the rapid media coverage. When a story is covered too often, people get sick of hearing about it.
Often times, media goes too far and over emphasizes the newsworthiness of a story. The media will cover the story too much, and it is no longer news. There is such thing as too much media coverage.

The news their way

By: Adrian Aitken

Here in America we take the privilege of the freedom of press for granted. Its is the only profession protected under law and journalists push their boundaries everyday. Others though aren't as lucky.

Vietnam has a fairly strict grasp on the country's media because of its communist government. Journalists are held accountable for everything they publish, especially if the material makes the government look bad. Vietnam though is a little unusual in how it regulates the media.

The government is communist but when a more conservative party is in charge they give the media a little more room to work. The party found that the unraveling of corruption is popular among the people so they ordered journalists to find such stories. One such man in Vietnam found a story and reported on it illustrating a case of corruption in the country's government. Later he was brought to court and sentenced to two years of detention.

This shows how we have been given such a privilege here in the country and ought to try and show some more respect for the media and the founders who gave us such a gift.

Stating it simple

By: Lexie Hagerty

When people talk about the future of journalim, the talk seems to go on and on.

However, I recently read a blog called "If I had three wishes, I'd ask for more wishes..." and thought it was an awesome, but simple blog about the future of journalism.

The author, Sarah Jappy, implied that the only way to save journalism if to rely on luck. Otherwise, it is a lost cause as far as salary goes.

"There is a pleasing symmetry to this unjustness: I have no laptop, so can’t get the job…I have no job, so can’t get the laptop. Catch 22, journalism stylee!" Jappy said at the end of her blog.

I love this line. She wrote her blog to point out what a large amount of money could do for the journalism industry and how without this large sum, the journalism industry could go downhill. This is due to the low salaries that journalists are paid.

This last line states it plain and simple that an increase of salary is the only way to save the industry. Otherwise, journalists aren't going to be able to afford their own job.

Get the facts right

By: Kayla Miller

Once again, I was reading two different, online newspapers and found two articles that told me different statistics from a bombing in Baghdad.

From reading New York Times, I found the article titled Triple Blasts Kill 28 in Northern Baghdad. Well, that's interesting I suppose, until I reached another article of the same sort from the Wall Street Journal titled Twin Blasts Kill at Least 31 in Baghdad.

Now what the heck? Who is to believe? Twin bombings or triple? Twenty-eight people or 31? I mean, gee, the journalists already got it wrong in the title!

This reminds me of the time in class when we talked about how reporters needed the exact number of people killed in the plane crash. I guess now I understand why journalists need to get the facts straight. Especially when two articles telling the same story are spreading different facts.

One of these two journalists (or maybe even both), need to check into what really happened.

All I got to say is, "Get the facts right, people."

Reliving the past, one day at a time.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

By: Taylor Browning

Everyone looks forward to the daily newspaper, or the updated version online, but some are looking forward to yesterday's newspaper. I never really thought twice about keeping old newspapers, until it had a special value to me.

Pictures and articles of my team's journey to the state tournament, or an article about my brother's football game are important to me. On a larger scale, many kept the newspaper on September 12, reporting the previous day's terror. Recently, many people are saving and selling newspapers over Barack Obama's newly won presidency.

Maybe this is a small key success, even a niche, in the journalism world. Hard paper provides more sentimental value and keepsake than an Internet bookmarked site. Reliving the past can become more of a reality and hold more meaning when one actually has an article of the past on hand.

Journalism versus the law

By Austin Bates

In my weekly search of media related news, I came across an interesting news story about a young man reporting the news becoming part of it himself, through the use of the College Media Matters blog. Apparently he is a photographer with the Daily Collegian on Pennsylvania State College's campus, and after a football game one night, decided to start photographing a riot that began shortly after. Police breaking up the riot saw the photographer and asked him to leave the area. After several times of refusing to do so (by not leaving, that is), he was lead out of the area, had his driver's license confiscated, and later in the week, was charged with several criminal offenses.

This situation vexes me a little. By some accounts in the news story, the photographer displayed his identification signifying him as an official reporter for the college paper, and conceded to most of the officer's demands, even assisting them at one point; it's not like he was directly involved in the riot, like the police are claiming he was. He was peacefully photographing the scene and events like any good reporter should do, and does, without consequence.

The Constitution, specifically, the First Amendment, guarantees the rights of the press to do their duty, and the photographer was apparently doing just that. Therefore, he should be allowed to continue photographing the events of the riot, so long as he does not interfere or block police work (which would be something for which a criminal charge would be justifiable and understandable). People have as much a First Amendment right to say what they want to say as they have a right to hear (and see) what they want to.

As an up-and-coming photojournalist myself, I'm not sure if I would have the courage to ignore police requests to leave an area, like the photographer covering the riot apparently did, but I can only hope I would stand up for my rights as a citizen and member of the press. I agree that there should be cooperation between the press and police services, especially in the area of coming up with a quickly verifiable method of identification of the members of the press. Obviously, there is a need for the police to be able to perform crowd control on a riot, and just because you have a camera or a recorder does not mean you are a member of the press, but there is also a right of the press to cover the news.

Hopefully, future generations will be courageous enough, like the photographer at the riot was, to cover the news regardless of attempts at police intimidation.

The New York Sun is forgotten

By: Kathryn Lisk

The New York Sun, a newspaper in circulation from 1833 to 1950 and again from 2002 until the end of September, didn't get the goodbye it should have.

A blog posted by The New York Times said that while the paper is gone, the remnants of the paper still remain within New York City. Empty newspaper boxes and the yellow and white paper weights used by newspaper vendors are everywhere, but no one seems to care or even notice.

This story makes me sad for those who work for or even read The New York Sun because it was a paper that helped create news history. After so many years of producing a daily paper, saying goodbye surely isn't easy.

The New York Sun stopped printing its news because of the same struggles other papers are having. A rough economy mixed with people who prefer news on the internet or don't get any news at all creates an economic disaster for the newspaper business.

The New York sun does still provide news on the Web, but is finished for good in print.

As more and more papers are forced to close, journalists need to learn how to report on the Web. Links, videos and audio attachments in addition to pictures and text are necessary to appeal to viewers.

Great change

By; Sarah Keller

Ever since Obama was announced to be Americas next president I have been hearing great news. Of course there are still some people out there who are not very happy with the outcome and are more than willing to tell you how disappointed they are, but I must say that the news is doing a great job of showing their support toward Obama and speaking about how happy others are that he won and what good he is already doing for our country.

According to an article from the New York Times, Obama’s win was not a blow out, but it was a clearly cut win, so people can not try to argue the fact that he won the 2008 election. This was an election that many feel will change our country forever. According to an article from ABC.com “African Americans across the country are pinning their hopes on an Obama administration, seeing his victory as the ultimate fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King's ‘dream’ .” Many prominent African American leaders could not be happier about the outcome of our election, the article went on to discuss. I have read many articles that help to show how important the election was to different individuals, showing the emotional side of reporting, drawing me into the articles and making me want to read more.

An article in the Chicago sun times talked about how Oprah Winfrey announced that "It was the best paper of all the papers in the world”; referring to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper the day after Obama was elected. The paper had to make 350,000 extra copies of the paper due to the overwhelming requests for extra papers. Obviously the Sun-Times paper was doing a great job of reporting and covering the big story making it so many wanted a copy of the phenomenal announcement.

Not only is it a big deal in America that Obama was announced the next president of the United States, but other countries are jumping on bored with celebrating the wonderful announcement.
An article from AOL news.com discussed how people in other countries are accepting Americans more, how it is now considered “cool” to be an American because of our new president. The article told a compelling story about a girl who was a stranger in Australia, but once people found out that she was American this last week, they started excepting her and showering her with kisses on the cheek.

All of these articles just go to show that a huge part of history was made last week, and that things are in for a change. The articles I talked about reported really well on the emotions of the readers and showed great support for our next president of the United States.

Get your degree by playing games

By: Katie Anthony

While browsing for a blog topic, (by randomly clicking links), on Poynter Online, I stumbled across a link for a board game entitled "The Be A Reporter Game." I was extremely intrigued, so I clicked on the link to see what I could find.

From that link, I was taken to News University, and given a brief overview of the game. Under the "What Will I Learn" section, this is what the game description is; "Be A Reporter, a game developed for an audience of all ages, helps users understand some of the basics: how journalists probe, clarify, verify and race against a deadline."

Along with this game there's also "Beat Basics and Beyond," "Math for Journalists," "Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Creating Alternative Story Forms," and pretty much any other journalism course you can imagine.

Granted, these are both courses and games, but you're offered the same journalism degree if you get all of your online courses taken.

Cheaper, convenient, but just as effective as college courses?

I doubt it.

Careful of the sources

Saturday, November 8, 2008

By: Kayla Miller

On Wednesday, an 8-year-old boy killed his father and his father's friend with a 22-caliber rifle. Wow. Now, this is an article that caught my attention.

Even though the event happened in Flagstaff, Arizona, I wanted to read til the end, and good thing I did. Because, from class last Wednesday, I remember talking about whether or not some sources are good to talk to considering what position they play in the event. At the end of his article, I noticed that the journalist had put, "Family members declined to speak on the record."

Now, that makes me wonder if the journalist really went to the family and asked them questions, and if he did, what did he ask? Was it against the Code of Ethics? I guess that is something I will never know. But just the fact that the journalist wrote that in the article makes a person wonder what really happened with those sources?

Newsworthiness with demographic

Friday, November 7, 2008

By: Hannah Pickett

This week was the most political of the 52 weeks in a year with the election held Tuesday. Tuesday's election was not just to determine our country's next president, but also local communities' sheriff, and other offices.

With the Madisonian's deadline Tuesday night, the main editor decided to stick around and wait for the ballots to be counted to run a lead story on the results. I thought that went without saying, but also thought that the front page headline would have more to do with community results. I imagined it would read something about not only the presidential results, but about the county's offices.

When I looked at the paper after it was printed Wednesday, the main headline stretched across the front page was "It's an Obama Nation" and the sub-heading read "McCain leads in Madison County." Much to my disappointment, there was one sentence in the story naming the county's newly elected sheriff, but the key point of his story was a lazy version of a CNN report announcing Obama the winner.

I was more disappointed to read the last line of the story saying more results of the local election next week. More? Try all of it.

The main problem here is realizing what news is to your demographic, to your key readers. If I wanted to know who won the presidential election, I am not going to wait for the Madisonian to come out Wednesday afternoon to find out. I will turn on my television, get online, or read a daily more credible newspaper for the inside scoop.

The readers of a small town paper already know who the presidential elect is by the time the Madisonian is available; what they don't know is who won the local election seats. Writing a knock off, lazy report on Obama sweeping the country and mentioning McCain's Madison County victory is not what the average Madisonian reader will be interested in. That stuff is reported everywhere. It's like beating a dead horse after a while. People get sick of it and want to see new angles.

People want to read about what changes their votes have made that will directly affect them; i.e.:sheriff.

Considering newsworthiness of a topic within your publication's demographic is very critical in my opinion, and is something that I think should be taken more seriously.

Economic crisis doesn't phase Facebook

By: Alex Jones

Through these hard economic times there is one company that is not having troubles coming up with enough money.

Facebook has a staff of over 700 and is still hiring. The company is growing in their revenue and has no problem finding the advertisers necessary to fill their Web site.

In a time where more media is moving to the Web, it is no surprise that advertisers themselves are jumping from traditional print advertisements to Web advertisements. Media will inevitably follow the money.

This is just another contributing factor to the slow decline of print media. Low readership and advertisers that are moving to the Web are slowly but surely going to drain print media for good.

Did she say that?

By: Pat Tierney

Recently in class we have been talking about what media can and cannot publish.

This reminded me about a story that appeared in a local paper, the Record Herald. This small town paper has a distribution of roughly 14,000 but is owned by America's largest newspaper publisher, Gannett.

A couple of weeks ago, a story was written by a staff writer, who interviewed a woman who has had a relatively traumatic battle with cancer for over 10 years.

This story of Teresa Jacobsen documents the ups and downs of the last few years and currently she is fighting one of those "downs."

The story opens with a little background, all of which sets her story, but then about half way through she discusses why she hasn't given up.

"I'm too big of a bitch to die." Jacobsen said.

I realize that "bitch" really isn't the worst of curse words that could be pulled out, but I thought that it was interesting that a Gannett owned paper, in little old Indianola, Iowa would choose to run the quote.

Not only did the reporter have to be sensitive in talking to a woman (who is in pretty tough shape) and her family, but he had to use discretion as to put the quote in the story or not, all of which are things that we just got done talking about in class the last week.

This article got a little bit of buzz around town as well.

When talking with some people at work, they thought that putting the comment about her being a bitch was unnecessary, even though Jacobsen did say it.

So was the newspaper right? I believe that if you are old enough to have read all of the article down to that point and understand it - then you are old enough to hear the word bitch.

No, putting that quote in the article wasn't overly flattering to Ms. Jacbosen, but that's what she said, and that my friends, is the job of a journalist.

Did you get yours?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

By Liz Tjaden

If you have been living under a rock for the past three days, you would have probably still heard about the outcome of the election. No matter what party lines you agree with, it can’t be denied that America made history Tuesday night.

However, newspaper stands also made a mark on history the next morning.

In class, we often talk about where people are getting their news and how they are using the media. From our discussions, we have concluded that although people like to use a newspaper to get caught up on current events, it is not always as popular as using an online version. Traditional newspaper can’t vie with the Internet and how convenient it is, the continuous updates that are available and how the stories are linked with video, audio and pictures.

However, the Internet may have just met its competition last Wednesday.

According to MSNBC.com newspapers announcing Barack Obama’s Presidential victory were flying off the shelves and major news companies had a hard time keeping up with the demand for copies. If buyers missed their opportunity to grab their own personal piece of history, eBay was at their rescue.

By Wednesday evening more than 800 sellers were offering copies for sale. Some bids were up to $400 by early Wednesday evening.

Looks like newspapers finally had their day. After taking an involuntary backseat to different forms of multi-media, people returned to the traditional and reliable source of pure paper and ink.

New York Times creates electronic dashboard

By: Allison McNeal

The presidential election created a wave of new milestones, including a new interactive technology for journalists.

The New York Times recently impemented a new API, which "gives users and third-party developers access to presidential campaign finance data from the Federal Election Commission collected by the paper".

This new API would also allow for detailed and interactive mapping.

One concept that Aron Pilhofer, editor of newsroom interactive technologies at the New York Times, expected to work the best during the election was the election dashboard.

"The idea was to create a smallish, sort of standalone page that you could pull up on your PC or on your iPhone and see the entire state of play without having to flip around network-to-network or Web site-to-Web site," he said.

The dashboard showed the most current results and also allowed a state-by-state breakdown.

This technology also allowed individuals to see what other competitng stations, such as CBS, NBC, ABC, the Associated Press, FOX and CNN, were reporting about the status of the election.

According to Pilhofer, this dashboard was a complete success.

The technology that these journalists used encorporated video, multimedia, graphics, and reporting that added an interactive approach.

Even though NYTimes.com used different strategies to showcase the election, this site still has large competition.

"We'll never be able to keep up with television or even larger Web sites like CNN in terms of speed, but we can be the first place people look when they want to know why something happened the way it did," Pilhofer said. "Our entire package was designed with that in mind: you may go somewhere else for the breaking news, but you'll come to us for the analysis. I think it's really our sweet spot."

After all the success with the election database, this newspaper has plans to start up a campaign finance API, with complete congressional roll call votes.

With the increase in technology, other newspapers have moved toward more interactive journalism.

Organizations like CNN had a similar election page where an individual could click on a state and see the results of each city and county.

As technology is increasing, does that mean that journalists can keep the world updated more efficiently and possibly allow for higher voter turnout?

Even though different forms of multimedia like videos and maps are being widely used by journalists, voters and individuals will have to give online newspapers positive or negative feedback about new technologies that can be used.

Historical vs. biased

By: Kathryn Lisk

When reporting on hurricanes or floods, it is easy for journalists to remain objective. They state the facts, cover the story in an inverted pyramid form, and move on. Even when covering sports stories or movie reviews, most journalists are able to provide information to readers without offending and can stay neutral.

However, during the past week, endless stories have been written on the presidential candidates and more specifically on Barack Obama's victory. Have journalists still remained completely neutral?

Various reporters have regarded the Democratic Party's victory as an historical event and

a blog posted on npr.org questioned whether this was a fair statement. The blogger said the claim may imply a liberal bias.

In this specific example, I disagree. Whether or not a journalist supports Obama really shouldn't matter. He is the first minority to be elected president and has made history. This election is without a doubt historically significant within the U.S.

In fact, I disagree with the argument that newspapers have reported unfairly since the election ended in general. It is certainly news that Obama won. After two years of speeches, rallies, debates and so on, the president elect should be front page nationwide.

Papers would have done the same had John McCain won.

Let's stop it before it gets worse

Google executives are now facing trial in Italy for a video that was posted on an Italian website, according to Reuters. The video displayed four youth tormenting another youth with Down sydrome.

The executives are arguing that they shouldn't be punished for a third party's video.

I am not sure which side I agree with more, but I also feel that I shouldn't have an opinion considering I am not an expert on the subject.

However, I do think that Internet users are taking advantage of their independence online. Things are being published that I don't think should be. It is not all that bad right now, but it will get worse. Just look at the things that are now being shown on T.V. and movies.

Something needs to be done to monitor the Internet. Otherwise, violent and inappropriate messages are going to be spread from home to home with the click of a mouse, which may lead to actual violence in our communities.

With the way things are going in our world today, I don't think we should take that risk.

Everything will be alright.

In the aftermath of this years election, John Carlson of the Des Monies Register wrote a compelling opinion piece on moving forward as a country.

An assurance that every citizen of this country, whether they voted for President-elect Obama or Senator McCain, will be able to move forward from this election, and hopefully under Obama toward a better and stronger country.

Perhaps the most important thing that Carlson pointed out is that our country is bigger than any one person. And, importantly, Obama recognizes that this country is bigger than he is. He has called on every American to work a little harder to put this ailing country back together.

Another point that Carlson makes is that the media was "in the tank" for Obama. But more importantly, it didn't matter. That perhaps the media has been given too much credit for their "control" over the American people.

Instead, Carlson gives credit to the citizens of this country. Crediting them with being able to look at what was happening in the world around them and make the decision that was best for them, without consideration of what media moguls were saying.

So it doesn't matter if you celebrated on Tuesday or were disappointed. What matters is that we recognize that this country is bigger than any one person. Be they Democrat or Republican. And this country is also ailing, and we need to take the words of our next president seriously, and we all need to work at putting this country back together.

His Charisma score is at least 20!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

by Peter Merchlewitz

In case you've been hiding under a rock for the past 24 hours, a rather historical event occurred last night, and many people are saying that Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night was one of the best that the American people have heard in a long time. Not to mention that he's one damn fine speaker in his own right.

Perhaps Obama's strongest point within the speech was his referral to a 106-year-old, Ann Nixon Cooper. Using the woman from Atlanta life as a metaphor to show how much America has gone through in at least 100 years brings a glimmer of hope, knowing that we've gone through two World Wars, woman's rights, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, placed a man on the moon, and of course, segregation.

During Obama's acceptance speech last night, I couldn't help but notice that my entire fraternity house was dead silent, save the many TVs tuned into CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. And while I was sitting there, watching Obama use his gift of the gab, I realized that since all the TVs each had their own delay of sound, it gave the emulation of hearing the speech live at Grand Park in Chicago, giving it a feel of Martin Luther's "I Have A Dream" speech, or JFK's "City on a Hill" speeche.

Truly, there was history made last night.

CNN wins

By: Callie McBroom

CNN had the most viewers watching election coverage on cable Tuesday night. In fact, only ABC beat CNN's numbers during prime time last night. ABC had 13,135,000 total prime time viewers compared to 12,292,000 for CNN.

"This was CNN's highest-ever viewership in prime time," according to TVNEWSER. And, the cable channel beat out network channels NBC, CBS and FOX.

Prior to the election, Brian Stelter for The New York Times pointed out CNN's countdown to poll closing time that started days ahead of the election. This was all in an effort to stay ahead of their competition. Mainly refering to FOX and MSNBC.

Stelter is also calling the 2008 election "a cable news election" because the big network broadcasters are slowing dying, and cable tv is changing the way elections are covered.

"TV ratings for Presidential election nights have shown an upward trend over the last 44 years," according to TV by the Numbers. This and the high ratings already during the debates and the national conventions coverage, lay the foundation for record tv ratings for this year's election.

Michelle Obama claimed best-dressed

By: Kayla Miller

Journalists nowadays are focusing more and more on fashion. At first, it was Sarah Palin's rimless, designer glasses. Now, it is focused on what Michelle Obama is wearing.

Obama is claimed to be one of the the best-dressed woman there is. For the second year in a row, she has made the Vanity Fair's International Best-Dressed List. It is claimed that her best dress was the purple one she wore last month, according to Fine Collins in the article found at MSNBC.com.

The question is though, do people really care what kind of dress Obama is wearing? If I was to answer the question, it would be no. The gossip on what celebrities are wearing does not matter to me.

To me, writing about this and showing viewers what celebrities wear is just something journalists are using to fill in gaps. To get more stories they just write about the obvious. Yes, I know Palin wears glasses, and yes Obama may have a nice dress, but it isn't worth publishing.

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