Prescription Drug Prices Are On The Rise

By Keri Waterhouse

Drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by taking off $8 billion a year after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

The industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. This is going to add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug makers are saying that they have valid business reasons for the price increases. While some of the critics are saying that the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in the next coming years.

Having prescription drug prices raised it’s going to make it difficult for people to afford them. Bad things could start happening because of this rise in prices.

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Is AOL in trouble?

By: Mallory Tandy

AOL recently cut 100 jobs and is making a drastic move by deciding to leave Time Warner Inc. Time Warner has said that AOL has had charges for restructuiring for as much as $200 million possibly due to work force.

Tim Armstrong, a former executive of Google Inc, took over AOL in March, has been trying to keep the optimism up for the workers, updating them regularly of what is going on with the company and what the future holds for them.

Time Warner approved the plans for AOL to spin off in May. This will make AOL an entirely separate company, which hopefully should lead to success after the failed merger between the two companies that occured in 2001.

I am not an AOL user, it never interested me. I am no sure if being it's own separated company will help them at all, it may continue to go down hill.

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Dell Tests Their Version of the Smartphone

By Meghan Vosberg

Dell has now officially joined the Smartphone family by launching their new Dell Mini 3.

Powered by Google's Android operating system, this new piece of technology will not be launching into the United States unlike Samsung, HTC, and Motorola. China Mobile, the largest phone company in the world, will be the first stop for Dell with its distributing of its new Android handset. The launch date has not yet been confirmed.

Rumors circulated earlier this year that the smartphone project had been postponed. There is still not much known yet about the Mini 3 as Dell has not released information other than the phones are thin touch screens with no visible keyboard.

Will the phone ever reach the United States? The answer is still unknown but Dell was sure to point out that the company currently sells 3G notebooks through AT&T and Verizon.

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Publisher in Portugal Picks a Fine Time to Start a Newspaper

By Laura Reid

A Portuguese publisher has decided to start up a newspaper during a time when newspapers are beginning to call it quits to print. João Palmeiro, the president of the Portuguese Publishers Association, has started up a newspaper called "i", which stands for "informação", or information in portuguese.

This newspaper is set up like a magazine, with it stapled in the middle. It also places op-ed pieces before business and political news, since many people already receive their main news over the Web. This allows for a fresher take on the news.

The paper has started in a good position, with their sales higher than expected with over 11,000 subscribers. Just like other papers, however, advertising sales are below expectations.

I find this very interesting that a publisher had the courage to start this when the entire industry is failing. There is also a Web version, which would be expected, but the hard copy is fairing well in this economy. Maybe this will prove that print newspapers will survive just a little longer than expected.

(Photo Credit: Alex Barth)

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"Modern Warfare 2" Craze

By:Chris Mars

Nov. 10 was just like any other day for everyone except the gaming world. The release of "Modern Warfare 2" had 4.7 million people happy after the first day of sales. My roommate was one of the dedicated 4.7 million who purchased the $59.99 video game the first day. His had been reserved but he still had to stand in line for two hours.

After seeing and playing the game for a very brief time I was shocked at how realistic the graphics are, its really does look like real life. After leaving the next morning and coming home late at night to find him in the same spot I realized why we are the most uninformed generation. Instead of paying attention to the news or keeping tabs on our political leaders, many youth spend hours or even days playing video games. After these long sessions of battling online or completing missions there is little time left to dedicate to news.

This is on top of the months of searching and researching the game prior to its release. It's amazing the time and energy our generation spends with video games and and what I like to call "zombie media." These mediums require little physical effort and no educational benefit either. Sure, games like "Modern Warfare" have so historical appeal to them but it's nothing significant and goes unnoticed a majority of the time.

I'll stay away from "Zombie Media" as much as possible.

Photo Credit: www.COD6.org

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Facebook Precident

By Tessa Leone

Rodney Bradford, a nineteen year old from New York City has won the first court case by using Facebook, a social networking unit as evidence.

Rodney was accused of robbing two people on October 17th in the Brooklyn housing unit where he lives. He was held for twelve days and was expected to be convicted.

Bradford had eye witnesses claiming his innocence but no hard evidence to prove his wear abouts, except a Facebook message posted on his girlfriends wall asking her where his pancakes were.

At 11:47 on October 17th the phrase "Where my IHOP?" was posted from Bradford's computer using his Facebook account.

This news was presented before the judge and Bradford won his case.

"This is the first case that I am aware of in which a Facebook comment has been used as alibi evidence. We are going to see more of that because of how prevalent social networking has become." said Dallas lawyer John G. Browning.

Picture credit: msnbc.com

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Journalism grad school applications on the rise

By Ryan Franker

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credited: flickr.com)

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Simmons' NBA Book Top Seller

By Zach Jevne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: David Shankbone)

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

By Taylor Finch

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: www.noquarterusa.net)

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Library Gets Hit By Media

by: Amy Johnson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: timetrax23 at flickr)

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Anita Dunn Steps Down Her White House Position

By Keri Waterhouse

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



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



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



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



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





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

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NBC deal is under review

By Brianna Carlson

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: wikimedia)

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Keeping readers attention

By: Mallory Tandy

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

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

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The Media's Misleading Healthcare Prices

By Michelle Zimmerman

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

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

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

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

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Social Isolation vs. Social Networking

By Meghan Vosberg

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

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

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

Photo Credit: Ben Stein

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Google not in the 'Content' Business

By: Chris Mars

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

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

Photo Credit: Mediabistro.com

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

By Laura Reid

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

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

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

(photo credit: mroach)

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Pricey Redisign

By Tessa Leone

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

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

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

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

Photo Credit: Photobucket

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Magazine Offered Online-Only

By Zach Jevne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Apple Pushing It To The New Level

By: Amy Johnson

Apple is taking it to the next level.

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit - Lance Club)

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Media Denied Access to School Flu Clinics

By Taylor Finch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Are e-books the new thing?

By: Mallory Tandy

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Michelle Zimmerman

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

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

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

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

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

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The New Smartphone at Verizon Wireless

by Keri Waterhouse

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

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

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

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

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

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CNN places last among other cable news networks

By Brianna Carlson

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: blogmeister USA)

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Time Inc. cuts 6% of workforce

By:Chris Mars

http://tinyurl.com/yjokugm

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

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

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

Photo Credit: AllThingsBeautiful.com

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Forbes Magazine Plans More Layoffs

By Laura Reid

Forbes Magazine is laying off employees, mainly editorial and business staff members, from the company due to decreased advertising revenue.

Steve Forbes, the chief executive and editor-in-chief of the magazine, announced that because of the recession, more jobs had to be cut from his company. 100 employees lost their jobs last year, and many others had to take five days of unpaid leave and their 401(k) program would not be matched by their company. It is not the magazine readership that is suffering, however, those numbers have stayed the same, but its the number of ad pages that are down 32.5 percent in the third quarter.

This is just another news source that is taking a major hit in its company because of the economy and slowed advertising sales. But I don't think these lack of newspaper and magazine sales should constantly be targeted. While they are big newspaper companies that are losing business, I don't think we hear a lot about advertising agencies, who are the main culprit. Where are ads making their money? They can't make it through newspapers because not many people read them. Magazines are more promising because people do still read them for entertainment, but TiVo-like TV systems are allowing for more people to skip through the commercials. Should we stop worrying about the news and magazines for a minute and start focusing our attentions on ad agencies?

(Photo Credit: Corporateinfoonline.com)

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First Readers, Now Advertisers

By Tessa Leone

Today at 11:25 the Wall Street Journal closed it's Boston Bureau. After an advertising slump that has newspapers reeling, Wall Streets editor Robert Thomson announced to employees that "The economic background for the closure is painfully obvious to us all".

Low numbers regarding advertising are the main contributor for the closure. With less readers, many advertisers are seeking other forms of communication. Although the paper was the only one of the top 25 U.S. newspapers to increase its weekly circulation, those numbers werent enough to counter balance the lack of advertisements.

The Boston coverage will now switch to the papers Money and Investing division in New York. Although there are no plans to close any other Wall Street bureaus at this time the forecast for print media in general does not look good, but this is not new news.

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Women in Sports Journalism

By Zach Jevne

The world of organized athletics and sports journalism is still dominated by men, but there are a number of women that have reached the top of the profession.

In the early 1970s, The Associated Press estimated that only 25 women worked in the sports department of U.S. newspapers and only five worked in sports broadcasting. Today, around 10 percent of the sports media industry is women.

Christine Brennen graduated from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism in 1980. She has been a pioneer for women in the industry, paving a way for women to be accepted in the press box.

After earning her master's, she became the first female sports writer at The Miami Herald, covering the Miami Hurricanes football team during its championship season in 1984.

Brennen has twice been named one of the nation's top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press. She currently has a weekly column in USA Today, an accomplishment that many would consider the pinnacle of the profession.

Brennen said her career in journalism has been the "world's greatest adventure." She stresses that sports journalism is a people business and women have to work twice as hard to get on the good side of those around them.

It's noted that although equal treatment of women in sports is not evolving as rapidly as the rest of the journalism world, change is happening. One thing needed in the future is to remove the label of "female" from sports reporter.

People will still have stereotypes and assumptions about women in sports journalism, but hard work and professional behavior can overcome others misperceptions.

(Photo Credit: Northwestern University)

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Reshaping the Business Model

By Ryan Franker

The San Fransisco Chronicle has figured out a way in making a profit with the newspaper. The Chronicle believes that changing their business model is what helped their change. They had such a horrible decline in daily subscription last year, but with the changes that were made they were able to make up for it.

The changes the Chronicle did, were offering fewer discounts on subscriptions, and stopped delivering the newspapers to homes that made no economic sense in delivering it to that house. Their subscription rate jumped from $4.75 to $7.75 within 18 months. The Chronicle has the largest circulation in the Bay Area.

With the Chronicle's subscription rate up, the newspaper was able to make changes that would benefit them in the long run. The Chronicle is planning on switching the normal newspaper paper to the glossy magazine type paper, it will be the first newspaper to switch to that kind of paper in the country. The paper is also making a new section in the paper called Ovations, it will be for arts and culture.

It is hard to tell which path to take, because each city is different and will take a different approach to it. The Chronicle was lucky that the approach they took, the people liked and were able to give them money back to enhance the readers papers.

(Photo Credited: flickr)

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Free News for Younger Readers

By Taylor Finch

Newspapers today have been on the decline for a while, and are desperate to find an answer to put them back on the map as soon as possible.

France is trying out a new plan by giving away free papers to young readers in attempts to turn them into customers. The government named the project "My Free Newspaper," in which 18-to-24-year-olds would be given a free year's subscription to a newspaper of their choice.

This project is just one of many other projects that the government is doing, including financial subsidies to newspapers, to help cure the problems of the newspaper industry.

These problems, such as advertising slumps and the Internet being the primary hub for news today, are especially bad in France. According to the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in Paris, only half as many papers are sold in comparison to Britain or Germany.

France is particularly lacking young readers, so this project is offering about 60 publications that they can choose from, including the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times.

Costs of the project are being split by the participating newspapers and the state, with the government giving $22.5 million over the course of three years.

Some believe that this is a bad time for newspapers to not be receiving revenue from readers, but maybe this could influence the younger readers who already read and buy newspapers to influence others to do the same.

(Picture by: metajungle.net)

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Protests arise after special on Latinos

By Brianna Carlson

This week CNN showed a four-hour documentary about Latinos. Activist groups are now trying to get Lou Dobbs fired because they think Dobbs has been lying for years about this issue.

Dobbs is a veteran anchor on the 7 p.m. show for the news channel. He has strong views against immigration.

"Latino in America" had it's first show Wednesday night. Protestors were saying Dobbs has been lying about immigration.

Isabel Garcia, a civil rights lawyer, and a randomly picked activist were interviewed for the documentary, but both of their comments about Dobbs were edited out of the show.

Garcia commented that by showing Dobbs show CNN was “promoting lies and hate about our community." This comment did not make the documentary.

A CNN spokeswoman said "Latino in America" was just trying to show both the successes and challanges Latinos are going through. One of the issues did include illegal immigration.

Photo Credit: Nasa Images

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New Strategy for NBC

By: Amy Johnson

NBC's Universal Television Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin recently announced that the network would not be producing programs to profit margins.

The network is trying something different than most networks have done. Their new idea is that a network does not have to spend a hefty profit on a show; by producing a show that is really cheap and easy to make, a big profit can still be made in their time slots.

While NBC is producing cheap shows, competing networks are soaking up the ratings but is paying for expensive sitcoms. Those sitcoms may be getting stellar numbers, but they are also affecting the network's profit margin negatively.

An example of NBC's new idea was when they moved “Jay Leno” to nine o' clock. NBC has yet to see if this plan has worked as Leno hasn't discovered its ratings resting point quite yet; baseball playoff programming on Fox and TBS have taken away some of his viewers.

This move may prove to be very smart on NBC's part; by lowering the costs of producing shows, NBC's budget will not see as big of a blow. The question is how will viewers take to these changes? Most well-liked sitcoms are ones that have been around for a few years and cost more to produce. If more networks go to this idea, many viewer's favorite shows could be canceled.

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Teens continue to fein for Facebook and misinterpret Twitter

By Michelle Zimmerman

Web 2.0 Summit questioned 5 teens last week on their views of the Internet. The teens' ages ranged from 15 to 18. The teens were questioned on what they found important on the Internet and things that would change the efficiency as they used it.

The majority of the teens felt that Facebook was the most exciting thing they did on the Internet. It is an easy way to connect with friends and reduces the use of Skype and iChat because they can now use the messenger feature Facebook offers.

When asked about Twitter they replied they did not see the point in posting what seemed to them as irrelevant information. It is thought that teens do not understand the use of Twitter because instead of using it as a social networking device, people are using it as another way to expedite news as fast as they can.

Though Facebook was a favorite of the teens when asked if there was a small cost to use the website all of the teens replied that they would not use the it anymore because there would be other options on the Internet that would allow them to do it for free.

Another questioned asked was what search engine the teens used. As usual the teens replied with Google aside from one teen who said Yahoo gave them the answers they were always looking for. When using Google multiple websites that match your search appear where as the Yahoo search engine is more technical and allows for users to post websites and answers that may best fit someone's question.

It is not surprising that these 5 teens answered the way they did. As the Internets' popularity continues to grow across the world, we will continue to see a rise in the media shown on websites. Teens are the most current with this trend because it has been occurring throughout their entire generation. Teens will continue to use Facebook as long as it remains free because it is the easiest and cheapest way to stay socially connected with their friends.

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NBC wants change

By: Mallory Tandy

Jeff Gaspin the NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman shocked hollywood on Thursday when he announced that the network wouldn't be showing programs to profit margins. This means shows such as Jay Leno.

NBC wants to become number one again and not be at number four. They plan on doing this by bringing back scripted programs that will top the charts. Some have doubts that NBC will be able to do this when the famous Jay Leno is at number ten on the charts right now. Some say it will take the network years to work their way back up.

I think the network is trying to figure out what will work for them in the end to help them succeed. Is what they are doing a good idea?

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Private Pages, Not So Private?

By Keri Waterhouse

The Net neutrality supporters may celebrate the Federal Communications Commission’s vote on Thursday to start open internet regulations. The regulations aren’t written yet, but already having Congressional opposition and they’re probably going to be challenged in court.

The voters at the FCC for proposing getting the new rules protected to an open internet wasn’t anything when John McCain introduced legislation last Thursday morning. He wanted to block the agency from regulation the internet. He thought it would hurt the job market.

McCain said, "Today I'm pleased to introduce the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 that will keep the Internet free from government control and regulation.” He thought that it would allow for continued innovation that might in turn create more high-paying jobs for Americans who are out of work or looking for new employment. Maybe even keeping businesses free from oppressive regulations, and that it’s the best stimulus for the current economy.

The FCC voted on proposing the start for creating regulations that will keep the internet open. It will forbid any operators from restricting access to lawful internet contents, services, and applications. Networks also wouldn’t be able to discriminate other internet content or applications.

I think that by having open internet would make some people feel like their private lives would be open to the public. Being able to block people, share certain information with people, or even just selecting who can and can’t see things on Facebook makes the network more appealing and safe.

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News media challenging sealed filings in Utah case

By Laura Reid

The News media is fighting to open files sealed by the courts so that the press could not access them. These files deal with the mental competency of Brian David Mitchell, the abductor in the Elizabeth Smart case.

The courts sealed these documents, some of them without telling the press that they would be sealed, so that it would prevent the press from gathering more information on the case.

Michael O'Brien, the attorney in this case, believes that these files are in the public interest, and should not be sealed to the press. The press, he says, is the middle man for court proceedings for the public because not everyone is able to make it inside the court rooms.

This is definitely a violation of the press's right, and the public's right, to access what would be considered public information. If it is on file, it is fair game. The News media has a right to these files, and the public has a right to know more about the case.

(Photo Credit: Penright)

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Fox Ignores the Left Wing Side of the News

By Tessa Leone

The National Equality March, which was held on October 10-11 (last weekend), was a highly televised event. Tens of thousands of protesters stormed the capital waving flags and yielding signs demanding equality and equal rights concerning bisexual couples.

All of the major networks covered the story, all of the networks except Fox News. Fox, a widely speculated 'Right Wing' broadcast spent little time on the story and used ABC's footage of the event.

The main focus of the rally was to appeal for gay marriage and abolish the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. The turnout alone was newsworthy by the very definition of the word.

Comedic newscaster, John Stewart was also offeneded by Fox. He covered the fact that Fox News didn't cover the rally on his program, The Daily Show.

"You didn't even send your own camera crew?" exclaimed Stewart. "You have a Washington bureau! Tell them to go to the window and point the camera down!"

A good reporter must remain biast and tell the news like it is. Omitting a story on the grounds of personal opinion is very unprofessional for a reporter and defienitely a major faux pa for a network news station.

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Malcolm Gladwell Talks With TIME

By Zach Jevne

Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell has written some of the most thought-provoking books in recent years and shared his interesting takes in an interview with TIME.

The author of the best-sellers Blink, The Tipping Point and Outliers, said he likes the notion that two mildly good stories put together can equal one really good story.

"I'm interested in placing things in a larger context and in making lateral connections," Gladwell said.

When it comes to the educational system, Gladwell believes that experimentation with schools could possibly improve things.

"There's precious little experimentation in education," Gladwell said. "I think we need to try 100 different things. I don't know if it will work, but it's certainly worth a shot, and we could learn something really useful.

As someone who enjoys and studies statistics, Gladwell had an interesting take on making predictions for people and their careers based on test scores and other measuring tools.

"If you want to find out if someone can do the job, you have to let them do the job," Gladwell said. "If you want to find the best teachers, you let everybody into the profession, monitor them for two years, and then pick the 10 percent that are the best. That's how you do it, and that's completely the opposite of the way we do it now."

The former staff writer for the New Yorker also shared some advice to young journalists.

"The issue is not writing," Gladwell said. "It's what you write about. Aspiring journalists should stop going to journalism programs and go to some other kind of grad school. If I was studying today, I would go get a master's in statistics....and then write from that perspective. The role of the generalist is diminishing. Journalism has to get smarter."

(Photo Credit: Brooke Williams)

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Magazines Doing Better in 2009

By Ryan Franker

Out of the 249 magazines the Magazine Publishers of America keep tabs on, only 22 magazines actually saw their ad revenue increase. The other 227 lost ad revenue compared to the figures in 2008.

Meredith Corporation is one of the companies that has a magazine will an increase in the ad revenue, Meredith actually has five different magazines that saw an increase in their ad revenue.

It is a small miracle that Meredith was able to get the revenue of five magazines up, since the company had to lay off 7 percent of their workers in 2008.

An employee for Meredith believes the company's success was with Meredith building a brand for the magazines and the internet, said Patrick Taylor. Making the website really user friendly helped give the magazine more exposure, which also helped the ad revenue go up too.

(Photo Credited: flickr)

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With All of the Other Popular News Headlines, Iraq Seems to Be the "Forgotten War"

By Taylor Finch

Now that news is starting to pay attention to the war in Iraq again, many wonder, now that it is fresh in our minds, why there has been barely any coverage on the war for the past couple years.

In early 2007, the Iraq War dominated headlines. Mark Jurkowitz, PEJ's associate director, believes this was merely due to the battle going on between former President George Bush and the Democratic Congress about persecution of the war.

Although the war was perceived to be covered fairly well in 2007, the coverage of the war still only added up to be about one percent of the total news hole.

2008 was about the same, with the Beijing Olympics overshadowing any hope for a headline featuring Afghanistan or the war.

A small turn around from the preceding years happened in 2009 though, with a spike in coverage of the war, ironically beginning the week of the Aug. 20th elections. Coverage reached 10 percent for that week, which was much higher than the last two years.

This spike can mostly be contributed to President Obama's U.S. Domestic Policy Debate, which is the exact reason 2007 was also a better year for coverage on the war.

The Iraq War is obviously seen as being neglected in the news, but many factors, such as the distance from Iraq and the fact that the president must deal with other pressing issues at this time, can be the answers to the lack of coverage.

(Photo Credit: christinaaddie.wordpress.com)

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Cracking Down On Social Networks

by: Amy Johnson

Sometimes, the world of Twitter and Facebook aren't all they're supposed to be. It is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, but what happens when updating status' puts you at risk with your job?

Professional sports leagues such as the NFL to media outlets like the Washington Post are all struggling with how to make sure their employees don't expose the inner workings of their transactions. The goal is to plug the leaks of confidential information about potential productions such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Contracts with clauses about the use of Facebook and Twitter are not out of the ordinary for many newspapers. Some journalists have gone as far to create two different accounts, one for family and friends and one for co-workers.

Seeing a crackdown by many different companies is not out of the ordinary, especially when the employee is in the public eye. It can cause backlash to a story the company is working on and get the word our before all the facts are there.

The problem with social networking sites is that it is hard to tell when people are being serious or when they are being sarcastic when updating a status. In the world of big business and Hollywood, anything someone says is under scrutiny. The idea of two Facebook accounts for business and family isn't a bad idea; nor is it a bad idea for companies to put clauses in their contracts for confidentiality.

(Photo Credit: flickr.com)

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New York Times Cut Jobs

By Brianna Carlson

The New York Times will be cutting 100 jobs within the end of this year. The Times is trying to recover from the loss in advertisement money.

Earlier this year, the Times reduced it's salaries by 5%. This is also the second time in a little over a year that the Times has had to cut it's staff. In 2008, 100 jobs were also cut.

Many other publishers are also in this situation so The New York Times does not stand alone. The Times is cutting the jobs either by buyouts or layoffs. They are trying to do the best they can for their employees.

(Photo Credit: flickr)

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Always Read the Fine Print

By Michelle Zimmerman

If something seems to good to be true, read the fine print. Over the past few years as the popularity of Internet, cell phones, and cable broadcast has grown so have the prices. While companies associated with these products many pretend through advertising that they are the cheapest option, more then likely this is false.

Through advertising in television and radio commercials as well as magazines, companies are able to disguise they're products to be cheap. Using asterisks on prices to refer to the actual prices listed in size 9 point font at the bottom on the television screen isn't being exactly honest. It isn't fair that these companies are allowed to falsely advertise their products for prices when they are actually going to receive more from the consumers.

By using this false advertisement, consumers are signing under false pretenses. Consumers are expecting they will pay what was advertised when in truth they're are many charges not listed on the advertisements. Charges such as a one-time activation fee, price increase after so many months, as well as the price to break a contract.

Not only are companies misleading their consumers with prices but as well as their products. Internet companies are known for advertising their highest speed when in contrast that is only a possibility rather than an average.

As a reaction from the consumers of these acts, cases have been filed in attempt to put an end to the entrapment of these companies. The plaintiffs are in pursuit of a law for advertising that protects consumers from being mislead.

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Is social media harmful for journalists?

By: Mallory Tandy

Are Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook causing stress on journalists? Social Networks such as these, used to be used as a way of getting information, but as time has went on it has become more personal information and not news worthy.

It seems to be causing trouble in some newspapers. At the New York Times, staff members tweeted about information about an internal meeting going on at the paper. They did not mean any harm by doing so but what if critical information could have been leaked out for their competitors to see, it would have been bad for the Times.

Some have solved the issues of mixing business with pleasure by having two Facebook pages, one for personal use and one for busniess and co-workers. But does this solve the issue at hand? Is social media harmful to journalists or helpful?

I can see it from both sides, I can see how it can be harmful but I can also see how it can be helpful. They can find good stories on social media sites, but also can be destructive in how they use their own sites.

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Earn Your Degree By Watching iTunes

By Keri Waterhouse

The knowledge of business professors, was only available to MBAs and business students, it is now available to anybody with an Internet connection.

Many universities and business schools are making recordings of their lectures, seminars and conferences available to everyone through Web sites such as iTunes and YouTube.

Professors making their lectures available through iTunes will make lectures so much easier and more convenient to students with full schedules. It will also help the technology industry grow by students purchasing iTunes, computers, or even phones with internet accessibility.

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Hacking Into Twitter

By Meghan Vosberg

Identity theft,Password trafficking,Counterfeiting of currency,Child Pornography or Exploitation, and computer intrusion (hacking) are all types of cyber crime. We have all heard how to prevent these, and what sites they usually happen on, but now a new site has fallen victim of cyber crime. Are you safe on your Twitter account?

Twitter, the popular social networking site, has recently been hacked. This is troublesome for users, because the majority of people use the same password on different accounts. Some of these accounts hold financial or person information, such as shopping sites like ebay or amazon.com.

High profile celebrities have also had their Twitter accounts hacked. Britney Spears, Bill O'Reilly, and President Barack Obama.

Hacking has been around since the dawn of the internet therefore making it a common and easily found skill. If you are sent a link asking for your log in credential, be aware that it may not be secure.

Photo Credit: Yahoo! Inc.

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