Relationship Between Science, Journalism, and Blogging?

It is very hard to believe that scientists would have anything to contribute to the world of journalism, but they do. Since 2006, starting with "The Science Blogging Anthology", science blogs have become very popular. This shift from the scientific journals to science blogs mirrors journalism's shift from print media like newspapers and magazines to the online blog. The science community has had great success with blogs and blogging. This success can be translated over to the journalism.

Many of the principles of the science blog relate to the "8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow's Journalist", starting with experimenting. Scientists experiment with ways of sharing information and helping other scientists in different fields and areas do the same. A journalist to should also learn to be familiar with all the different medias and be able to use them accordingly to the different stories they want to tell. Journalist should also become social journalists connecting with their audiences and reaching out to individuals. Science bloggers believe a key to success is diversity, which also means reaching out to the individual. Science blogs, also, rely heavily on networking, and journalist should also be community builders, if they want to see any success. Finally, both scientist and journalist should listen to the feedback of their readers.

The success the scientific community has seen following these principles should be incentive for future journalist to put them into their memory banks. Even though, scientists and journalists are trying to deliver different types of information to audiences, the these tips are universal for almost any blogger online.

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New York Times to charge for online subscriptions

Recently, the newspaper industry has been struggling to generate revenue, and it has been forced to come up with new ways to promote readership. Consumers have started getting news from websites offering the information for free, leaving less newspapers delivered. Newspaper companies are now publishing online editions of its traditional print counterparts. However, newspapers are still failing to turn profits. Many papers are discussing charging for online subscriptions, including the New York Times. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. is getting close to announcing plans for setting a subscription fee, according to New York Magazine. After a year of debate, the Times has settled on adopting a metered system similar to the one the Financial Times has put in place. This system will allow subscribers to view a certain number of articles for free before being prompted to subscribe for a fee. They have not announced the cost to subscribe.

The Times is concerned about losing readers , but they feel this is the only viable option to make money.

Several people will end up subscribing to the online edition of the paper. Obtaining the paper online is no different than receiving a hard copy, it just comes in a different format. People will subscribe to the online edition because of its accessibility and availability, given the increased use of smartphones and wireless internet connection. However, the question remains, will this help the Times make money?

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Can Apple's Tablet Help Print Media?

With all the hype about one of Apple's latest gadgets, the Tablet, many people involved with print media are wondering how it will affect them. A lot of rumors have been flying about this new product, and according to a story in Business Week all that Apple has said officially is that it plans to release a "tablet-based device in early 2010." It would also have an advanced touch screen and be close to the size of a MacBook.

In a recent article posted by Vadim Lavrusik, he discusses his opinion on the Tablet. His hopes are that it will make mobile news more user friendly, force news publishers to become more innovative in their site design, and create a potential for users to be willing to pay for this new content. He fears though that many news businesses will not be quick enough to adapt to this technology and that publishers will try to use it to boost their print sales. We also must not forget that many users are not willing to pay much (or at all) for a lot of this content, so profits from these new mobile sites will not be very large.

Print media's history of accepting changes in technology has not been a good one. With the advent of the internet many of these companies did not see the importance of posting news articles online, and lost many younger readers because of it. We simply do not have the time or patience any longer to sit and read a newspaper. Slowly the news media has caught up, and newspapers like USA Today and even The Des Moines Register have Twitter feeds. If print media throws everything it has into creating more user-friendly and interactive sites for the technology in products like the Tablet I have no doubt that they will succeed in getting more tech-savvy readers, and maybe even profit from it.

As part of a new generation of media consumers that rarely picks up a newspaper, I am excited for this new technology. We want to not only read the news, but to be able to have pictures, video, and audio to go along with it. We want to be able to ask questions and have them be answered by the reporter or blogger quickly. We want to leave our own opinions about an article and comment on the opinions of others. If print media accepts this early enough they will be able to reconnect with a seemingly lost generation of news readers.

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News Reader Responsibility

Have you ever wondered how the news media chooses stories. Or what happens as they create the order of stories for the evening. Well, here is a little tip. It is all about the money. They want stories which will give them the best ratings. It just so happens that those kinds of stories almost always are disaster pieces. For instance, in Haiti which has recently been the site of a massive major disaster has been receiving assistance from all over the world to aid in the relief effort. The media has a responsibility to report these to the rest of the world. However, there are cases where the media should take a second look at what they are reporting because it is something the world does not need to hear. For instance people had a desire and a want to listen to news about Tiger Woods. This is perfectly ok to report on but when the story is major news a month after it happened we should ask ourselves, there has to be something more important going on in the world than Tiger Woods cheating on his wife.

I guess what I want to get across with this message is we as active news listeners need to filter through the news stories and look for ones that have actual meaning in the world. By doing this I think the United States would gain more knowledge of the rest of the world and its problems.

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Journalism: A Changing Field

It is no secret that in today's world of journalism there are suddenly many major changes being made. What many people don't realize, though, is that these changes are actually not so sudden. These changes to journalism have been referred to as "The Big Thaw," meaning that we have been able to see these changes coming for a long time, like watching a glacier, but some have chosen not to make the necessary adjustments.

The journalism industry as we know it is changing rapidly. Some companies have been pro-active and started converting to news medias, while others have chose to stand back and watch "The Big Thaw," and are quickly getting left behind. Currently, journalists are starting to use new forms of media, such as Facebook and Twitter, as major news sources. These new tools help to speed up the process of getting news out to the public and will soon bring the world of journalism up to speed of "real-time reporting."

With everything in the world of journalism changing, from cell phones with wireless capabilities to other new technologies, journalists themselves will have to change the way they operate in the future in order to keep up with this chaotic industry.

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Finding a Business Model for Newspapers

Daily newspapers are facing decreased readership, especially among young audiences. According to a recent article by CNET writer Lance Whitney, a new Harris Poll shows that only 23% of those surveyed ages 18-34 read the newspaper daily. Even scarier, 17% claimed to not read newspapers at all. Where are readers obtaining their news? Online, where for the most part, content remains free. This fact scares journalists and media giants, who are scrambling to find a business model better suited for today's audiences.

One solution, posed by many, involves charging readers for online content. However, the same Harris Poll also revealed another shocking fact: 77% of all surveyed (all ages) answered that they would never pay for online content. Of those who answered they would be willing to pay, 19% said they would only be willing to pay between one and five dollars per month, and only 5% said they would be willing to pay more than ten.

What does this information mean for daily newspapers and their online content? According to a 2009 Time article entitled "How to Save Your Newspaper", newspapers traditionally received their income from three sources: news stand sales, subscriptions, and advertising. However, by applying this model to online content, a newspaper relies solely on advertising revenue, which can be a risky proposition.

The solution? An idea proposed to me in a conversation with an employee at the Ottumwa Courier seemed to solve a number of problems associated with paying for online content. His idea involved each reader creating an account with a newspaper's website and selecting only the sections of the paper which the reader wants. Under this system, each subscriber would pay for only the news that he/she deemed fit, and newspapers would thwart complaints over customers having to pay for an entire paper, much of which they may or may not read. I agree that this system would have many benefits. Not only would it would allow newspapers to save money by cutting out unwanted sections, it would lead to overall greater customer satisfaction.

While the future of newspapers may be in question, it is certain that the coming years will bring many creative and innovative changes to the industry.

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Which Comes First — Newspaper or Blog?

At Penn State, a group of students have beaten the school paper at informing the student body on their blog, Onward State. This blog, which was created just a mere 14 months before, is run by only 20 students compared to the school paper which is ran by 200 students. It does seem impressive that this group of students is able to report stories much faster than that of an average paper. They reported a story 4 days before the paper was able to. Chase Tralka has even admitted that the paper has stolen items from the blog to use for publication. This is easily setting an example for the possibility of the future of journalism.

People are wanting the news as soon as it happens and blogging seems to the way to make that possible. At NYU they also have a blog set up and this seems to be similar to Onward State. It is called NYU Local, and deals with issues involve the students. Another idea is that the closer the news, the more important it will be to those that it will affect.

The true question that this brings up is how this will affect the future of newspapers. Many have begun using online sources to access the articles that are online. This not only is convenient but helps reduce the amount of paper that needs to be produce. While almost all newspapers have gone to the web, there is still the transition from news articles to blog entries that could possibly replace the idea of journalism completely. The only negative thing that was said was the fact the blogger can post anything, which would mean that the traditional idea of named sources, unbiased opinions, and printing information that is inaccurate or false would not be necessary for the blogger to post. This would make the article riskier to believe, and ultimately make it harder to trust the media.

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Journalism’s Short-Term Rescue

Books and articles detailing the collapse of American journalism are many. Books coming up with original and concrete proposals for fixing it are few.

University of Illinois professor Robert McChesney and journalist John Nichols have just such a new book that details plans they believe could revitalize American journalism and free it from the censorship — yes, censorship — of free-market economics.

The Death and Life of American Journalism is just out from Nation Books and includes what many will deem a radical proposal for saving journalism: The federal, state and local governments should pay for quality journalism.

It’s the kind of proposal that makes the hair rise on the backs of many, including most journalists. But McChesney and Nichols insist that the same public interest that requires that governments fund educational systems and highways should also compel the use of tax dolalrs to support quality journalism — which is, after all, the life blood of democracy.

It’s a compelling argument that should and most likely will spur considerable debate in the years to come. Plenty of folks will find plenty with which to quibble in the book.

For their part, McChesney and Nichols argue that funding systems could be created that would assure the editorial independence that journalists need to do their work. And, they add, such a system would be much more robust than the current market system that “censors” unmarketable information.

But here’s some short-term proposals for pulling journalism out of its funk. In an age when it’s clear that market-based approaches to journalism are failing to provide the financial support necessary to main the kind of quality system that democracy needs, McChesney and Nichols suggest:

• Slashing postal costs to as little as 5 cents per copy for small-circulation journals at an estimated cost of $200 million annually.
• Creating a “News AmeriCorps” that would initially hire up to 2,500 new journalism graduates to staff weeklies and small dailies in struggling American communities. It would cost $90 million annually and be similar to the Federal Writers Project of the 1930s that employed such literary greats as Zora Neale Hurston, John Steinbeck and Saul Bellow.
• “Dramatic” expansion of high-school journalism and media programs that would give millions of young people a taste of what journalistic work is like. Most great journalists got their first experiences when they were in high school and had the chance to tell the stories of their schools (five of the students on my high school paper eventually went into professional journalism), but these programs have been slashed in recent years and teachers are often inexperienced in journalism or too timid to advise newspapers that seriously report school news.

These are simply short-term fixes that don’t address the longer-range challenges facing the industry. But they serve as an example of the specificity of McChesney’s and Nichols’ work here.

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TMZ Punk’d Over JFK Photo

Celebrity site TMZ, fresh off its coup with its holiday-season grilling of Tiger Woods, flamed out like Icarus when it published what it called The JFK Photo That Could Have Changed History. Kennedy giving secrets to Khrushchev? Proof that Joe Kennedy bought his son’s contested election? A previously unknown photo of mobsters pulling the trigger on the Grassy Knoll?

Not quite. The photo, published on Monday, was of John F. Kennedy allegedly cavorting with nude women on a boat in the Mediterranean in the mid 1950s. Publication of such a photo, TMZ argues, might have derailed JFK’s 1960 presidential bid and changed, well, pretty much everything that's happened over the past 50 years.

Which, as Brian Stelter reports in the New York Times, would have been a great story. If only it had been true.

The trouble is that it wasn’t. The Smoking Gun debunked the photo later in the day, demonstrating that the photo was doctored from a spread that ran in the pages of Playboy magazine in 1967.

TMZ published a mea culpa later in the day, admitting that it had been taken in. What’s interesting is that TMZ claims to have vetted the photo through forensics experts and through two unnamed Kennedy biographers, who said they believed that Kennedy was on holiday in the Mediterranean around the time the photo was allegedly snapped (and about the same time that future first lady Jackie Kennedy was miscarrying their first child — but that’s another story). So why did it take The Smoking Gun only a matter of hours to expose the photo as a fake?

The incident shows the dangers of using unnamed sources, dubious photos and (perhaps) wanting so badly for a story to be true that it opened itself to attack from other media. When a story’s too good to be true, many times it probably is.

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Positive Light for Tiger

By: Chris Mars

Believe it or not, all is not terrible for Tiger Woods. Despite his recent string of bad press, Woods was awarded with the AP Athlete of Decade. Woods received 56 of 142 votes, beating out Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer and Michael Phelps.

The voting focused on the last ten years where Tiger's performance outweighed events of the last three weeks. Interestingly enough almost all top four nominees have had some bad press in recent years which goes to show there is hope for Tiger. Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps had their run-ins with the media and scandal, giving hope to Tiger that he be able to rebound from recent events.

This is a great starting point for Tiger's PR team to build upon. Setting the stage for a triumphant return to glory in the years ahead. Although a tough time, Tiger will not be the first to come back from scandal. Other iconic sport figures like Kobe Bryant have made it back on top in recent years. It may be a long road ahead but if anyone has the ability to turn it around, it's Tiger.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

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Magazines Sell With Colbert

By Zach Jevne

Stephen Colbert dons speed-skating tights and a tie on the upcoming Sports Illustrated cover. Why is Colbert on the cover? A couple of reasons. His show, The Colbert Report, and its fans are sponsoring the U.S. Olympic speed-skating and his face on the cover has proven to boost sales.

Colbert has appeared on Newsweek, Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, New York and Wired in the past few years. According to research, he boosted newsstand sales for four of those magazines, including a 38 percent increase for Wired.

In October, the primary sponsor of U.S. Speedskating declared bankruptcy. Facing a $300,000 funding shortfall, "Colbert Nation" picked up the team by taking contributions from fans. So far, more than $250,000 has been raised.

Many Americans believe that the Colbert Report is replacing "traditional" news outlets and is helping America stay informed on current events.

(Photo Credit: Newsweek)

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Tiger Saga Continues

By: Chris Mars

Tiger Woods has now been connected to a Canadian doctor who is under investigation for providing performance enhancing drugs. Anthony Galea was arrested in Toronto on Oct.15 and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation will look into the case.

For Tiger, this is another crack at his personal image since his car crash outside his Florida mansion. This makes one wonder how his personal image could have been preserved until now. I assumed Tiger would love to hit rewind and change the last few weeks but now it looks like he might go back a few years.

This incident now take Tiger's problems from personal to professional as he may have cheated. Was the epic win on a torn up knee really just Tiger cheating? Should his work ethic be questioned now since we're hearing this new connection?

Tiger needs to have another emergency meeting with his PR folks and figure out a new action plan. For Tiger, I hope this is the last swing in a string of blows to his image and career.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

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The difference between journalism and reporting (if there is any)

By Michelle Zimmerman

Journalism and reporting consideribly have the same criteria but what makes them different is the question being determined.

George Snell, an American media commentator claims that these two categories hold a significance difference from one another. According to Snell reporting lies along the lines of getting right to the point, stating facts, and moving on. Journalism on the other hand focuses more on the situation itself and multiple facts and descriptions that support a journalist's work.

Where do we find reporting? The Internet. Where do we find journalism? The printed press. This is yet another of the multiple difference between reporting and journalism. Any one in the media business knows that since the rise of reporting news via Internet has hurt the revenue of newspapers around the world.

It can be assumed that people search for the easiest and most sufficient ways of finding news. The generations are no longer seeking the full page story but rather the few paragraphs that give the most important details in a matter of seconds.

People will continue to gather their news whichever way is easier, therefore the newspapers have every reason to be worried.

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Gillette Drops Tiger Wood's

By Keri Waterhouse

Gillette is one of Tiger Wood's sponsors, they have decided not to feature him in their marketing while he takes time off to figure out his life.

They announced this Saturday. Gillette is one of Wood's major sponsors. This is going to be a huge upse to him and his publicity.

Other sponsors are discussing and thinking about what they are going to do with Wood's and his problem that is going on right now.

He has decided to take break from golfing for a while and focus on rebuilding his marriage.

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Shield Law passed

By: Mallory Tandy

The Shield Law has finally been passed. Even though it has been passed it still does not give journalists the authority to protect all the sources they want to. The full Senate still has to approve.

There is more work to be done, but atleast it is passed.

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Time Warner Sheds Weight

By: Chris Mars

Time Warner is finally saying goodbye to AOL after what was considered as one of the worst deals in corporate history. The 2001 deal allows Time Warner to become a more content-focused company and "reach new heights" according to Chief Executive Jeff Bewekes.

Even though the company has shed the extra weight of AOL they still have more cutting ahead. Bewekes says "These measures are often difficult, especially when they involve jobs and benefits, but they're sometimes necessary to keep the business strong."

Time Warner also looks to revamp their publishing division which consists of magazines like People, Time, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment weekly. This just goes to show that minor changes will not suffice and a complete makeover is needed to stay on top.

Photo Credit: Prisionplanet.com

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Tweaking Facebook

By Tessa Leone

After many user complaints, Facebook has changed it's privacy policy. People were complaining that their friend lists were public and could not be hidden from people that weren't on the friend list themselves.

Facebook listened to these complaints and evolved to accommodate its users needs.

"We have heard user concerns and we will soon enable people to hide their friend lists. Those who choose to hide their friend lists will not have their lists discoverable through search engines or viewable by other users," the company said in a prepared statement.

It's interesting to see how the public can make changes and 'tweak' the world around them if they speak out and band together. It makes me feel like the public has more control of the media than they realize.

Photo Credited to Facebook

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Facebook Introduces New Privacy Settings

By: Meghan Vosberg

Before you can start harvesting your crops on Farmville, Facebook first asks you and its other 350 million users to review their privacy settings.

Though this new move is gives users more power and control over their own settings, Facebook has another motive. To stay ahead of competitors Google and Twitter in the social networking competition Facebook is using this new move to fix problems that have been accuring with it's continuous growth.

Photocredit: creative commons

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SPJ Holds Personal Branding Event

By Zach Jevne

On Dec. 5, the Iowa chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) held an event at the Des Moines Social Club that focused on personal branding for journalists, marketers and public relation professionals.

The crowd of roughly 30 people, mostly students and people in career transistions, listened as four speakers talked about branding yourself in the industry. The speakers included Drew McLellan, Claire Celsi, Nathan Wright and David Bulla.

McLellan is the owner of McLellan Marketing Group and writes a blog called "The Marketing Minute." He recently updated his blog about his presentation and provided helpful tips to create a personal brand.

McLellan was very informative and helpful. He says that you must figure out your personal brand, but it must be organic, not fake. Your brand has to be something that's already inside of you. And you must figure out why it matters. Have people you can count on for honesty answer this question about you: "What three words describe me?"

Nathan Wright is the founder of Lava Row, which is a social media strategy and consulting firm in Des Moines. He stressed the importance of having a "robust" presence online. He reiterated some of McLellan's points, such as creating a LinkedIn profile and a Google profile. He said the advantages go to people who use those tools.

Claire Celsi is a public relations professional and operates the Public Relations Princess Web site. She made the point that it is impossible to distinguish between your personal and professional brand and should be discouraged in general. The professional and personal brand should be one in the same and authentic.

David Bulla was the final speaker and is a professor of journalism at Iowa State. He used Mitch Albom as an example of a journalist using multiple platforms to become incredibly successful. He mentioned that journalists need to have two skill sets today: 1) the analog skill - writing, photography, editing, etc. and 2) the digital skill - making use of the current media tools available and combining both.

The last hour of the event all four speakers took questions and discussed topics as a group panel. Some other highlights of the event: A personal brand is not what you do, but how and why you do it. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are just tools and you must continue to meet people and build relationships. Be fresh and opinionated and be yourself. In essence, have a take. When you have reached the point where half the people love you and half hate you, that's the sign of a strong personal brand.

Participation and understanding media are important on blogs and Twitter. In regards to your Twitter volume, make sure there is frequent, quality content. Transparency is key to marketing your brand. Dan Schawbel is a personal branding expert with information on his Web site.

Figuring out your message and who you are is the key to beginning to brand yourself. You also need to find a way to stand out. Social media is a great way to help, but it is just tools to help "plant the seeds" of your brand.

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Too Much Coverage

By Tessa Leone

Tiger Wood's recent misfortune has caused a waterfall effect in the media industry. Everywhere you go it seems as though you can't escape his all to public scandal. If there is a scandal at all.

The press are having a hay day with Tiger Wood's accident and love life. He is being put on trial and exploited for matters that many feel should be private. Wood's is famous for golfing, not for his driving skills and morality.

If you go to googlenews.com headline coverage of his accident is still circulating on the current news, even though it happened over a weed ago. There are three headlines to be exact.

It makes you wonder what actual newsworthy events are being bumped from the page to allow the space for these invasive and obsolete articles.

Photo Credit to USA Today

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Rudolph helps CBS out

By Brianna Carlson

Last Wednesday night, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was shown on CBS. The movie was shown to the largest amount of viewers in prime time.

Amount 10.7 million people watched the Christmas movie.

CBS was at the top of the ratings while NBC fell behind with only 6.2 million viewers that night. Fox was right there with NBS at 6.3 million viewers.

Photo Credit: (flickr.com)

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Bing – Trying To Keep Up With News

By: Amy Johnson

Another search engine is up and running. Microsoft has started up the site Bing in hopes of adding to their big list of achievements. How will they keep up with Google?

Microsoft's top search technology executive said that they will not pay users to leave Google. These comments were released a week after news came out that Microsoft had been in talks over a News Corp-led initiative that would have paid publishers to break away from Google in hopes of boosting Bing.

Bing's senior vice-president stated that out doing Google was not the point, nor was keeping information off of Google a major benefit to them in the long run.

Since relaunching its search engine under the name of Bing in May, Microsoft said that in the United States its number of visitors had risen by 16 per cent. Microsoft claimed that those relatively modest gains had marked a successful first five months for Bing. Since Google launched, no one else has grown five months in a row.

It's evident that Bing is trying to compete with Google. The new search engine is comparing many of their moves and accomplishments to that of Google. The press conference with Bing's vice-president acted as a cover up for their eagerness to discuss the anti-Google plan with News Corp. This highlights Bing's sense of urgency to gain a stronger foothold in search.

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Iowa's Debt Will Climb

By Keri Waterhoues

Iowa's government debt has grown by almost $3 billion in the past few years and it is expected to take another hike in the current fiscal year, it is said to be partly because of Gov. Chet Culver's $830 million I-JOBS program.

According to an annual report that was just released last week by State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald. Iowa's total state and local government debt is $11.6 billion. Cities had the greatest amount of debt, with $4.3 billion, followed by schools, with $2.3 billion. State government authorities and agencies have a combined debt of $2.56 billion.

This amount of debt is going to affect everyone. This is a large amount of debt and it's sad that it's just going to get worse.

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Washington Times staff cuts

By: Mallory Tandy

On Wednesday, the Washington Times claimed they will cut a huge amount of their staff, possibly by 40 percent and they only have a 370-person staff.

They are hoping to make the paper different, and have more readers. They plan on focusing national political coverage that they will go in-depth when reporting. They will focus on the papers core strengths.

I fell bad that the paper is having to make such huge staff cuts, but hopefully it will help the paper in the future in their sales.

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This Just In: Radio to Improve in 2010

By: Meghan Vosberg

2009 is officially the worst year for radio. Predictions show the total industry revenues at $13.3 billion at the end of the year- a 19 percent decrease from 2008. But the radio industry will improve in 2010 or at least halfway into the year.

2010 will slightly improve. Revenues will climb from 1.5 percent to $13.5billion. This is due to the large growth in revenues from online and mobile distribution. In order to reach the predicted 20 percent increase in 2010, radio groups must use new online and mobile platforms to sell advertisers on more than one level of channel campaigns.

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Future of Online Newspaper Doesn't Look Promising

By Michelle Zimmerman

I blogged last month about newspaper companies straggling to find new ideas and ways to market themselves over the Internet, but a recent blog shows that there isn't much hope for those ideas.

Newspapers were expecting to make print motions towards the Internet in hope that there would be a turn around in the circulation of their news but people are still not willing to pay for the news they're offering.

Unless you are a highly respected newspaper there isn't much success on the Internet. Many people will find similar stories that are free of charge that will have a greater appeal then paying for the outlets newspapers will or could offer.

With the news of this it is still difficult to know what is to come of those passionate about the newspaper as well as though who support the newspaper. It seems that with the Internet trend people of new generations do not feel the need to pay for news that is provided freely over the Internet promptly rather than daily.

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Newsworthy Tweets

By Tessa Leone

CNN.com is a well respected, reliable source to receive the latest breaking news from. They have live video clips and striking photographs, sections for world news, health news, politics, and now they even have a section for 'Tweets of the Week'.

They showcase the top 10 twitter updates of the week that the CNN editors find most powerful or newsworthy from public figure heads, politicians, and just plain influential people.

There's quotes from ambassadors, senators, even Michael Moore...

"Did President Obama promise 2 have more troops in Afghanistan than the Soviets did durring their occupation? Well, he's topped them now. Sad".

Its good that the news industry is keeping current with the latest forms of media.

Photo Credited to Twitter

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Nielsen Ratings Soon to Include Online Views

By Laura Reid

With more viewers tuning into shows online, media companies are now asking that the Nielsen Company start monitoring who is watching on the Web. The Nielsen Company is responsible for national TV ratings.

Nielsen's measurements are very important to TV ratings because they are used to sell around $70 billion dollars in advertisements a year.

This is a very important move to Nielsen. If they are able to track the number of viewers online, those who watch on phones, and other methods that are not just television, this would greatly help the advertising industry. They are constanty trying to find where to place their advertising, and if they can easily track where viewers are going, they could follow them and perhaps help the industry out of its slump.

(photo credit: search-engine-land)

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Sports Illustrated Unveils Tablet

By Zach Jevne

Sports Illustrated unveiled a prototype of the magazine on a tablet computer. While tablet computers are not yet available, the magazine hopes this will be an important move for the industry.

SI demonstrated what the magazine would look like on a tablet and showed the features and capabilities. Live scores, video and more pictures are all features that the tablet version would offer.

There have been recent discussions about tablet computers and when they might be released by certain companies. Many believe that Apple will release its anticipated tablet sometime in 2010.

The Apple tablet would be like a large iPod Touch or iPhone, with interactive touch-screens. There have been two sizes discussed, a 9.7 inch screen and a 10.6 inch screen.

Sports Illustrated seems ready and willing to make the transition to these progressive devices that will certainly play a factor in the future the magazine and newspaper industry. GQ has already created a version of its magazine for the iPhone which sells for $2.99.

(Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated)

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The Decency of Television Broadcasting

by: Amy Johnson

Everyone remembers the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl a few years back. CBS was heavily fined for airing the incident. This led to a major debate as to the decency, or lack thereof, in television broadcasting.

Another recent incident makes Walt Disney, co-owner of ABC, rethink the idea of live shows. During the 2009 American Music Awards, singer Adam Lambert gave a controversial performance that leaves ABC in the same place as CBS. His performance included giving the middle finger to the audience, kissed a man, and simulated oral sex.

Disney/ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney told said that in response to Lambert's risque performance, Disney was reviewing the steps it takes when dealing with live performances by getting assurances from artists that their actual aired show will not include anything too different than their rehearsals and will use contractual obligations to hold them to their word.

ABC went as far to cancel Lambert's scheduled performance during “Good Morning America,” saying that many children watch the show and that they did not want to risk another mishap. The people in public relations for these singers have to be rethinking their jobs.

How can television stations be held responsible for the decisions singers make? It is not that television broadcasting is indecent, it is the lack of morals that artists decide to show. If the contracts that Disney is making its artists sign does not work, perhaps television will have to go to say goodbye to live performances and will have to go to a performance with a short delay.

(Photo Credit: flickr.com - kindofadraag)

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Newspapers Up the Cost on Day of Thanks

By Taylor Finch

Everyone is familiar with black Friday, but the newspaper industry created what is now known as "Black Thursday" this past Thanksgiving Day.

What many of the nation's newspaper publishers were thankful for on Thanksgiving was the "bountiful harvest of holiday advertising," for which they all hoped to make more than a few extra bucks off of by increasing the price of the overall newspaper.

The Californian was one of many newspapers that went with the price increase trend on Thanksgiving, raising its price from the usual 75 cents to $1.50. But, as the paper's vice president of content, Olivia Garcia, said: "We feel that the bargain you'll get from the specials inside is definitely worth the extra charge. Happy Thanksgiving."

Many readers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Kansas City Star more than likely also felt some shock when learning that their newspapers were priced at $2 on Thanksgiving, and even more so in Dallas where newspapers were peaking at $3.

Some may have felt that newspapers were being over zealous in their efforts to make extra money on their advertising, especially on Thanksgiving, but over charging for advertising is more than likely not the answer to the recent downfall of the newspaper industry.

(Photo Credit: farm3.static.flickr.com)

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Yahoo vs. Google Round One Ding Ding...

By: Meghan Vosberg

What? Google has fallen into second place to Yahoo? Is there a new factor in what people look for in a search engine in today's society?

Actually Yahoo has taken a step up due to it's international affairs. Yahoo Japan dominates the websearch market with 56.5 percent of use compared to Google's 33.7 percent.

Since Google can't take this lying down, it wasted no time in updating its splashpage for Japan giving it links to gmail, youtube, and other services found on the internet in attempt to win back their patrons.

Google has also stepped into trying for the first time adding publicity stunts to attempt to win over customers. One stunt in particular allowed passersby to sail and float around Mountainview, Calif. with the help of 2,500 balloons.

Photo Credit: National Chiao Tung University College of Management

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By: Chris Mars

I've been reading a book titled "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Its a guide to building quality relationships in the corporate world and focuses on setting and achieving goals.

In one portion of the book it talks about the "networking jerk", we all know the guy who talks to everyone and pretends he/she is your best friend. This person never really makes any connections or offer any valuable information to help others. Ferrazzi gives a few tips to ensure your not the networking jerk, one of which is "don't come to the party empty-handed."

In this section he refers to bloggers as "stars of the internet world." He talks of how the world of a blogger is a loop, offering and receiving information. This has really changed my outlook on how blogging works and how to handle yourself in social network settings.

It's all about connecting to others because your only as good as what you give away. My advice for the day is to go buy Ferrazzi's book and see how building real connections will put you ahead in the future. You won't be disappointed.

Photo credit: amazon.com

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Magazines following the Internet trend?

By Michelle Zimmerman

Magazines have been one of the last to find interest in publishing material over the Internet but it seems as though the time might have come.

It is not official that magazines will go online but it is rumored that soon the magazine industry will makes its mark on the Internet. The plan seems similar to the newspaper industry only all magazines would be available for purchase from a website. It has been compared to an "Itunes for magazines".

Magazine publishers will group together and create Web sites available for consumers to purchase different magazines.

People will be able to purchase the magazines on the Web site and get them in different forms. The prints would be viewable on the Internet or cell phones.

Magazines are not the only group from media interested in this type of partnership. Many television shows partner with online television shows as well as music labels and online music Web sites.

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Free

By: Mallory Tandy



Two western journalists who were kidnapped in August 2008 were set free in Somalia, Sudan on Wednesday after fifteen months of being held captive.



The captives were Nigel Brennan, who is an Australian photographer, and Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian freelance reporter. Lindhout talked about her memories of being beaten and tortured, setting a horrific and terrifying scene.



Usually captives do not get held for so long, but they think greed was behind it, the kidnappers asked for $1 million since the kidnapping. It is still a mystery who the kidnappers are, they have not been able to find them.



The kidnappers would let Lindhout call her family and ask for ransom but her family did not hav that kind of money, but the kidnappers thought everyone from Canada were rich. Lindhout was beaten on a regular basis.



Mr. Brennan said they were kept in chains and pistol-whipped for ten months after they had tried to escape.



The two journalists were handed over to government soldiers on the outskirts of Mogadishu.



This is crazy, I feel so horrible that this happens all the time around the world and sometimes not much light is shed on these kinds of stories, people would rather know what Britney Spears is doing, and it's sad.

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Wal-Mart Was Black Friday's Hot Spot

By Keri Waterhouse

Many shoppers went to Wal-Mart, which is the nation's greatest retailer, on Black Friday in hopes of securing some of the early deals of the holiday shopping season. Items such as the large plasma and HDTV's, $3 slow cookers, and the laptops that were under $200 were the highly wanted items this year.

Unlike past years when shoppers got ready the night before in order to be the first ones in the store, Wal-Mart said it would offer extended hours at their non-24 hour locations to accommodate the post-Thanksgiving shoppers.

The move was also viewed as a response to the tragedy that happened last year at the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream New York. When an employee was trampled to death by thousands of eager shoppers that went rushing in the doors when they opened.

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Obama's Job Summit-Google & Disney

By Keri Waterhouse

The executives from Google and Walt Disney are going to join other company chiefs, academics, labor leaders and mayors at President Obama's jobs summit this week.

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt and Disney chief Bob Iger are going to be among about 130 people that will be attending the meeting that is this Thursday.

The 130 experts from unions, government, academia and other companies will be seeking ways to jumpstart job creation.

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By Tessa Leone

The media was ruled by adds publicizing the Black Friday sales this weed. You couldn't escape them. The radio started playing the Christmas melodies and the Christmas commercials, the network channels were bombarded by Christmas deals and door buster sale notifications, mailboxes were stuffed full of coupons and sale adds.

Merchants were ecstatic when they saw more shoppers than previous years combined push through their doors at 12:01 on Friday morning, but their relief was short lived.

Shoppers were in for deals, and thats all. Reports showed an increase in headcount and a disturbing drop in spending per person.

Many stores lost money with all of the advertisments they created compared to how much merchandise was actuall purchased.

This appears to be one side effect of the recession; a bargain hunter. Is America becoming smarter or just poorer? And what will this mean for the advertising industry and their relations with print and televised media?

Photo Credited to www.behindthecounter.org

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LA Times transsexual sportswriter found dead

By Zach Jevne

Los Angeles Times sportswriter Mike Penner, also known as Christine Daniels, was found dead last week. While cause of death remains unknown, suicide is suspected.

In an essay published in the Times sports section in April 2007, Penner announced that he was a transsexual sportswriter. The long-time columnist made headlines when he shocked colleagues and readers that he would be transitioning to become Christine Daniels.

He wrote in the essay how difficult his decision was to reveal this to the public. In a very personal account, he explained what being a transsexual is and how it affects one's life. Also, about the perception in society and how difficult a transition it would be.

His essay was one of the most-viewed stories of the year and featured over 1,000 responses online the day it was published. The LA Times ran a story about Penner recently after his essay about the beginning of his transition.

After the essay, Penner began writing for the Times Web site as Christine Daniels. He also wrote about his transformation in a blog entitled "Woman in Transition." In October 2008, LAT announced that Mike Penner would be returning to the paper and return to using Mike Penner in the byline.

Penner began working at the Times Orange County edition in 1983, covering high school sports. Over 25 years he's covered the Olympics, tennis, soccer, the Angels and sports media. He also spent time writing an NFL column.

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Criticizes Towards CBS

By Brianna Carlson

Adam Lambert kissed another man at the American Music Awards last Sunday. This has caused an outburst of opinions.

Lambert was on "The Early Show" this past Wednesday. CBS decided to rebroadcast a clip from the previous incident.

CBS blurred the scene in which Lambert kissed the man, but on a previous show they did not blur a scene of Madonna and Brittany Spears kissing at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003.

Some people don't think this is fair because gay and lesbians are not being treated the same as other people.

(Photo Credit: Picasa Web Albums)

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Shows Online, Brought to You by ...

By Laura Reid

Advertising companies are starting to find their way around the Web, and so are shows that are now seen online. Webisodes, what these shows are called as part of branded entertainment, are becoming more and more popular with media corporations as they find new places to capture viewers' eyes as they focus more on the internet. Companies like Clorox are financing webisodes for sites like nascar.com and disney.com.

Even smaller companies can compete in this market. American Family sponsors "In Gayle We Trust," a ten-episode Web series that is apparently getting great viewership, although prime-time Webisodes are far in the future.

I think for advertisers this is a great way to start earning money. Advertisers need to be aware that it will probably be impossible to reach some of their greatest heights of profit margins that they hit many years ago, but a method like this can surely lay out a way to recover from losing money. Advertisers are beginning to understand that they need to follow the viewers.

(Photo Credit: Fernando Johann)

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Magazine Rivals Lay Down Their Arms and Join Forces

By: Chris Mars

Rival publishers have been planning to open an on-line store similar to the itunes store to generate new digital media. This new store would make up one of the biggest alliances among rival publishers ever and would include magazines like The New Yourker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Sports Illustrated.

John Squires, an executive vice president at Time Inc., has been heading up the new project and would leave his current position to get the new store up and running. Each different publisher would be responsible for creating a digital version of their content but would hopefully benefit from producing larger revenue.

This is a step towards saving the magazine industry and adapting to new media. Squires says its very important to remind readers that the magazine experience is worth the cost.

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Dangers of Facebook

by: Amy Johnson

Social networking sites – a source for good or evil?

Sites like Facebook and Twitter have quickly become the new way of keeping up with family members and friends all over the world. Especially with Facebook, people can keep up in many different ways; writing on walls, composing a private message, and being able to create events to let people know what's occurring are a few of the options.

A current event called “Kick A Ginger” day, referring to redheads, was held on Nov. 30 of this year. Many jokes have been told about gingers thanks to an episode of “South Park,” and the event was more than likely meant to be the same – a joke.

A few kids from a California middle school took it literal. A 12-year-old boy was beaten up by a group of classmates in two separate incidents; the Facebook event is linked to the case. The annual “Kick A Ginger” day caused the same kind of results last year.

People need to be able to distinguish between the difference between a joke or a real event. Perhaps Facebook should take a precautionary measure for events that have more than 500 guests; if Facebook sees an event such as “Kick A Ginger” day, they would be able to delete it before more and more people get involved.

(Photo Credit: Flickr.com)

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