13 Crashes and 5 Deaths Force Toyota to Recall

By Meghan Vosberg

Toyota announced yesterday that they will be having their largest floor-mat recall. Toyota and Lexus owners have been advised to remove their driver's side floor mat to prevent the accelerator from sticking.

3.8 million vehicles have been affected, which details show to be Toyota's largest recall ever. Until given further notice, Toyota and Lexus owners should take out their driver's side floor mat to keep the unwanted and unsafe accelerating from continuing.

The majority of the models that are affected have start-stop buttons. This sounds like a safe solution, but the problem is the button does not turn off the engine unless pushed down for three seconds. This is a serious problem with issues like a stuck accelerator.

The recall was brought about by a reported crash in San Diego. An off-duty highway patrolman and his family was killed. Since this particular incident, the floor-mat and the sticking accelerator issue has been one of high importance.

According to the government, these events have been reported 102 times, in which there were 13 crashes, 3, deaths and 17 injuries. Toyota states that these reports have been announced since 2004.

(Photo Credited: David Neubert)

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Price on iPhone Application

By Ryan Franker

CNN just came out with a new application for the iPhone. This new application is going to cost the user to pay $1.99, to get all the news that you want.

Other companies have tired to put a price tag on their applications, and have failed doing so. If one company wants you to pay for the application, there is always another one out there that is free. The Associated Press tried to charge $2.99 for their application for a BlackBerry, and saw horrible numbers on people purchasing it. Once the charge was dropped, the application downloads sky-rocketed.

Chairman of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, announced the company is going to start charging a subscription for The Wall Street Journal on mobile devices. The price will be $2.00 a week starting Oct. 24, or $1.00 if you purchase a subscription either online or paper. Everyone who has a subscription already, does have the capability to have The Wall Street Journal on their mobile device.

CNN is trying something different for the new application. You can actually be part of the reporting team, by submiting your photos and video clips to iReport. The app also has the ability to get live video feeds of breaking news. The app is also very customizable, by providing alerts sent to you, and you can also pick a local news company to follow as well.

Not all apps out there have the capability that this CNN app has, that is why CNN believes it is going to be able to get business from this application, where others haven't gotten business from.

(Photo Credited: flickr)

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Newspapers Worry About ESPN

By Zach Jevne

With the launch of numerous new ESPN Web sites, the newspaper industry is once again worrying about potential loss of revenue.

ESPN, which is glossed "the worldwide leader in sports", has recently started making Web sites for specific markets. They released ESPNChicago.com in April and is already the top sports site in Chicago, according to comScore. On Sept. 14, they launched ESPNBoston.com and in the first 10 days enjoyed three million visits, according to Omniture traffic data.

The new Web site is ESPNDallas.com and the company plans to start a Web site for Los Angeles and New York City. Eventually, they would like to have their own beat writers for each team in the region.

Some feel that ESPN is infringing on the newspapers turf and using their recognition to leverage advertising money for their new sites. The Chicago Tribune has created a new blog network called ChicagoNow in an effort to compete with the new ESPN Web site.

Bill Adee is a editor of digital media with the Tribune and said that he sees ESPNChicago as a direct competitor, but hasn't been made aware of a loss in advertising.

"We still have more local sports reporters on the street in Chicago than ESPN does," Adee said. "ESPN has great promotional venues, but we have 900,000 newspapers delivered on the weekends to people's homes in Chicago."

The newspapers in the mentioned cities had best be prepared for the competition. These Web sites are promoted constantly on SportsCenter and other ESPN shows. They also feature well-known analysts who have regional ties.

"In principle, it's a great idea, but it depends on delivery," Pablo Boczkowski, a professor and author, said. "Great companies in the past like Microsoft and AOL have tried to localize content and failed."

I hope that the newspapers and other regional Web sites are able to continue to evolve and gain a significant following. Even though ESPN is a channel I watch frequently, I generally don't go to their Web sites for my sports news. I like to get opinions and insight from other outlets, too. Maybe other readers will do the same.

(Photo Credit: ESPN.com)

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Taking Old Media Into The Future

By: Amy Johnson

The Walt Disney Company plans to take an old form of media and transform it into a media of the future. Beginning Tuesday, Disney Publishing plans to make their children's storybooks available online for a fee of $79.95 a year. Families will have access to hundreds of Disney's classical stories and brand new books.

DisneyDigitalBooks.com is organized by reading levels for children ages three to 12. For children just beginning to read, the books will read aloud to them. For children who can already read on their own, a guide can be found when the reader comes across an unfamiliar word; the guide says the word aloud for the child. For teenagers, chapter books and trivia games are available.

Disney's idea for a subscription online model for their storybooks could start a popular trend among publishers everywhere. The synergy of Disney works wonders. Disney on average sells 250 million children's books a year; the company is taking a big step by updating their storybooks, a media source of the old, and posting them on the Internet, a media source of the new.

This type of update is being seen often as of late. How long will it be until books and newspapers are never printed out? In today's age, major newspapers are becoming popular online sources, and books are easily found on the Internet to read. Publishers everywhere will be keeping an eye on Disney's new project; if it takes off, we may see more and more books being published online and less books being put on the shelves of book stores.

( Photo Credit Shareware Connection)

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Twitter Also Causes Problems for the Washington Post

By Taylor Finch

Last Friday, a memo was sent out to the Washington Post staff, by its senior editor Milton Coleman, warning them of a new policy dealing with their use of "individual accounts on online social networks, when used for reporting and for personal use," with emphasis on Twitter.

The reason for this stems from reporters and other staff members wanting to gain superiority due to reporting news first and in real time. Social networks are seemingly becoming a journalists only hope for job stability, and these new regulations are what could become the end for many of these hopes.

These specific regulations stated that employees of the Washington Post should "keep their opinions to themselves at all times." They are not allowed to post anything that would "tarnish [their] journalistic credibility."

The reaction to these new policies were very negative across the Web, including a comment from Stephen Bakerat, of Business Week, that stated that "he needs social media, because if his publications's ship goes down, he doesn't want to go with it."

It may be difficult for all news outlets to keep tabs on all of the news that goes out publicly on the Web, but using social media, such as Twitter, is something that journalists and reporters alike believe will help to build their affiliate's authority within the news world, as well as help them to keep their jobs.

(Photo by: Franc Podgoršek)

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Two Broadcasters Shut Down in Honduras

By Brianna Carlson

Two broadcasters, Channel 36 and Radio Globo, were shut down indefinitely today in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

To show support towards Manuel Zelaya, the two stations had provoked an open revolt against the government. The president of Honduras, Zelaya, was forced to leave office which caused this revolt.

Police agents and soilders made a barricade around the headquarters of the television and radio stations trying to prevent the start of any political march or protest. Both sides of the street were also blocked off.

Government officals said unauthorized public meetings in order of supporting Zelaya were prohibited, and the police were allowed to arrest anyone the seemed to be a threat.

Zelaya was removed from the country three months ago. He was living at the Brazilian Embassy with about 65 family members, supporters and journalists. Last Monday, he secretly came back to Honduras.

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

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Blind Man Running For Govenor 2010

By Keri Waterhouse

The New York Governor David Paterson vowed Sunday that he won't give in to the pressure of dropping out of the election in 2010. "I am not failing to stand up for my party." Paterson stated.

Our nation's first legally blind governor is facing approval ratings dropping below 20 percent. He is also one of two African-American governors. He doesn't believe that him having people disapprove of him are because of his race. He has had discussions with the White House and President Obama. He is keeping what they discussed confidential. He however said that they haven't told him not to run, but that they have some concerns about it.

I think that anyone with the knowledge, and crudentials for a position should be able to fulfull the duty that they wish. I am sure that he would have someone to help him in things that he absolutely needed help in. Nothing is impossible.

I am also surprised that he doesn't feel that his race has anything to do with it. I feel that a majority of Obama's opposers were because of race. I think that Paterson really wants to be a part of this and that if he is voted in he would probably do a good job in his position.

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

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Is There Still Hope for the Newspaper Industry?

By Michelle Zimmerman

With the rising attraction in free news over the internet the newspaper industry has plummeted significantly over the past few years. Internet has created a new kind of way to receive news and can be thought of more convenient. There are many positive aspects to to publishing news over the internet such as expediting information is much faster, and most importantly it is cheaper for the producer and consumers.

The newspaper industry has been in crisis mode as the internet industry has grown immensely. Trying to think futuristically the newspaper industry has thought of applying fees to online news similar to a membership for the newspaper. With one large fee the membership would last six months to a year, but in consideration with the price of a newspaper it would seem rediculous to pay that much money for an online subscription. This is what they industry is hoping many people will realize.

Although creating fees to access online news sources may seem like a good idea there are still other online websites that may not charge the fee and continue to grow as an online news source. There will still be a struggle for the newspapers and other online news sources but they won't be the only industries hurting.

The advertising industry has also taking slack due to the increase of online news sources. The newspaper is always filled with multiple advertisements ranging from cars to clothing to food. With the news being sourced on the internet it has become more difficult for the advertisers to adapt to the change with the idea of costs and amount a buyer is willing to provide.

It seems that over time the newspaper industry let themselves down in competition with the internet. Instead of fighting to remain a number one news provider they slowly fell off track. Instead of worrying about what the online news industry is doing it is important for the newspaper industry to focus on what they do successfully. Providing accurate stories that are interesting and compelling. If the newspaper industry has any hope of staying alive they need to start somewhere, and somewhere soon!

(Photo Credit: eHow)

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The New Multimedia

By Mallory Tandy

Multimedia has went from text on newspaper that might include a picture, to multimedia that includes text, pictures, tweets, and video clips. It wasn't long ago that we didn't have cell phones, now we are able to acess internet on cell phones, along with taking pictures, videos, voice clips etc. New technologies are changing the way we consume media. The job of a journalist is to keep up these new technological advances and capture the readers attention. This task becomes more difficult with each new technology. Less and less newspapers are being sold into today's society, a big portion of people would rather look up the news online where they can see pictures and videos tha go along with the text. Journalists now need to learn the skill of making an interactive multimedia story with contiguity. Not only do journalists have to learn this new skill but also be prepared for the new technologies that are to come in the future.

I feel like this story is so interesting. It's strange that we have went from having no cell phones or computers to now all the different types of cell phones and laptops we now have and we will only have more in the future. I will admit I never pick up a newspaper, I would rather get on the internet and go to CNN.com any day. I also own a blackberry but there are things on it that I still have no idea the purpose of it. Technology is becoming a way of living it seems, people have a hard time now going a few hours without a phone or internet. The fact that journalists have to now make their stories capture the attention of my generation is a lot more difficult then it used to be, it's a lot more work now.

(Photo Credit: Tom Swift)

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Marijuana Coverage Increases in the Media

By Zach Jevne

With medical marijuana being discussed across the country, many major media outlets have begun featuring more articles related to the "hippie lettuce".

This month's Fortune features a cover story titled "Is Pot Already Legal?" It features a man who gets his marijuana straight from the government and smokes 10-12 joints a day, legally. It discusses how more states are tolerating the use of pot for medicinal purposes.

Thirteen states have legalized medical marijuana, with 15 more considering it, pending legislation and/or voter initiative in 2009-2010.

The mainstream media picking up the more weed-related stories and discussing legalization more openly have re-opened the long debated topic. With more states accepting the medical benefits of the plant, many are looking at the possibilities of what benefits legalization could have on our struggling economy.

"I think the recession is making people take a second look at our current prohibition - marijuana," Bobby Black, a senior editor at High Times, said. "Weed is recession proof."

California would be considered the most "pot-friendly", based the hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients and 700-plus dispensaries. In Los Angeles alone, there are 186 legal marijuana dispensaries.

It's not just the Wall Street Journal, Harpers and Fortune that are featuring stories about pot. Television is now using weed as the subject of shows. Showtime's "Weeds" is a popular show about a mother of two who sells marijuana. KDOC-TV in LA airs a 30-minute show called "Cannabis Planet" weekly. The show "explores the merits of cannabis as a medicine, industrial resource, agricultural crop and more".

Personally, I have seen much more coverage of marijuana, through magazines, documentaries, and news Web sites. If legalization isn't the next step, decriminalization might be. I think we will also continue to see more states considering medical marijuana.

I feel that the more people know about it, the more likely it is to separate from other drugs, like heroin and cocaine. It is completely different from those chemical substances, yet is still classified with them as "Schedule I controlled substances" by the federal government, which describes those drugs as having "no currently accepted medical use".

The article in Fortune is very informative and can shed more light (a lot more, it's fairly long, but in-depth) on the subject than I can. I recommend reading it. The debate over medical use, decriminalization and legalization will not be going away any time soon, it will rage on for years. But based on my own experiences and "research", I don't need any more convincing on the subject.

(Photo Credit: Fortune Magazine)

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Exploring News by the Amish Online

By Laura Reid

The Amish have their own newspaper, called The Budget, which is located in Ohio. Because of the move of newspapers moving online, The Budget feels like this is a good move for them as well. Except they have been years ahead for about 100 years.

Their newspaper consists of scribes, or people who write stories to the paper about events taking place in their local community. Their method is like our modern day blogging.

Currently, The Budget is only in print, but the staff of The Budget, who are not Amish, want to get the newspaper on the internet, but are having a rough transition to get it there. Scribers, who are mainly Amish, are skeptical about having their work published on the internet for the whole world to be able to see.

For a small paper, which has about 9,000 subscribers,I think they are doing pretty well for themselves. Their rules are more lax than the bigger news corporations that have to print every day. While we talk about how important it is for newspapers to make the transition from print to internet, should these more traditional newspapers really have to worry about their readership going down if they don't make the switch? Especially since the majority if not all their readers are Amish and probably would not have internet, much less computers to look up the newspaper online. In fact for The Budget, they might actually lose readership that way, and for the skeptical scribes, gain readers who have become pros at attacking every issue that comes their way- the descendants of the scribes, the bloggers.

(Photo credit: Klingerman Information Services)

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Ex-NFL player Burress enters prison

By Ryan Fuerstenau

Plaxico Burress is supposed to serve two years in prison on charges of attempted criminal possesion of a weapon after he shot himself in the leg. Burress was not licensed to carry the weapon which was a 40. caliber pistol he had in his waistband. Burress is famous for his game winning catch in the 2008 superbowl but has recently fallen out of favor. First he missed practice and was fined, then he threw a ball into the stands and yelled at a referee.

For a person like plaxico Burress who is constanlty in the spotlight and scrutinized by the media he should have had the common sense to know he was taking a chance carrying the unlicensed firearm. The media looks for high profile individuals doing things that will sell them papers or bring them ratings. Since Burress is such a high profile target, especially after the superbowl the media could be considered a kid in the candy store.

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Newspaper Advertisments Making a Comeback

By Ryan Franker

"We have to see the bottom if these companies are going to survive." Alexia Quadrani, analyst at J.P. Morgan

Ever since the recession, the advertisers for newspaper have taken a large hit. They are the main source of income for newspapers, when the advertisements sales are bad then the newspapers does not have a lot of money to work with.

People are saying that others are slowing starting to buy stocks back on newspapers because they have heard the rumor that the advertisements are doing better. Gannett, McClatchy, and The New York Times Company have had their stock jump more than 10 percent or more. With the jump those companies have reached the highest prices they have had this year. The fourth quarter is suppose to look the best for the newspapers ad industry. Some major names in the media are saying that the ad industry will start making a rebound. But newspapers will be the last media that will get the comeback of advertising.

Even though the ad revenue will have a good fourth quarter, next year could possibly be worse. But it will only be modestly worse. 2008 was a horrible year for the advertising, they fell dramatically and hard. Holiday advertising is going to be very crucial for the media. The publishers need to see the advertisement numbers leveling off. People are seeing the loss of jobs in the media.

With the advertisements leveling off, that means the newspapers will have more money and will not have to cut that many people and everything else that they are cutting to keep the newspaper afloat.

(Photo Credit: ActiveRain)

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Katie Couric Moves to Social Media

By Taylor Finch

A new web show launched intself into social media tonight titled "@katiecouric." The web-based show features CBS Evening News anchor Katie couric, as she conducts one-on-one interviews with high profile guests. These guests range from politicians, business tycoons to celebrities, and even others involved in top news stories. These interviews include "integrated facebook chat" and is broadcasted live on CBSnews.com.

Tonight was the first night @katiecouric aired on the web, featuring special guest Glenn Beck, who discussed politics and his new book, "Arguing with Idiots, How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government."

Though tonight was the first night of this particular online show, Couric and those at CBS are definitely not new to web-news. Last year CBS covered the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on their website, with Couric in the lead. They also used facebook to allow followers of the conventions to submit video clips and feedback about what was going on in politics.

With CBS moving to the web and social media sites, it just makes sense that this will soon become popular and other T.V. news channels will follow suit.

(Photo Credit: Image Editor)

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Obama Overexposed?

By: Chris Mars

Last week we heard President Obama's opinion on the Kanye West and Taylor Swift incident at the 2009 VMA awards, this week Drew Westen of CNNPolitics.com reports that Obama may be overexposed. Westen focuses on Obama's healthcare plan and process for introducing it to the public, but the headline makes you wonder about the broad scope.

The two topics I noted above are very different in importance but receive about the same press time in the media. In my opinion, I feel like there is more interest in what Obama will have to say about Serena Williams' outburst at the U.S. Open rather than what he plans to do with our nations future.

(Photo credit: NY Daily News)

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The Future of Newspapers

By: Amy Johnson

Newspapers throughout the United States are battling with the Internet to keep its readers and advertising earnings. Several newspapers are being forced to shut down, and plenty of journalists have lost their jobs. The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times owner Tribune Co. has filed for bankruptcy.

Congress has expressed interest in helping out the newspaper industry; several bills have been introduced that would approve newspaper companies to be considered as nonprofits with tax breaks.

President Obama recently talked about the financial crisis many newspapers are in. "Journalistic integrity, you know, fact-based reporting, serious investigative reporting, how to retain those ethics in all these different new media and how to make sure that it's paid for, is really a challenge," Mr. Obama said. "But it's something that I think is absolutely critical to the health of our democracy."

If this is the case, President Obama better take a good, fast look at the bills trying to be passed through Congress. At the interview, Mr. Obama stated that he had not even seen these bills yet, but he would not mind taking a look at them. The issue of newspapers filing for bankruptcy and journalists losing their jobs is nothing to fool around with. It did not take long for newspapers to lose their readers and money; if this is overlooked for much longer, the newspaper industry will be in a hole too deep to get out.

(Photo Credit Rebecca Coleman)

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False Filed Report In Ames

By Keri Waterhouse

Last night the Ames police charged 35-year-old Olga Margarita Macias Mero for reporting a false police report.

The woman said that she was abducted and held at gunpoint and then forced to drive her vehicle into a lake. She said she was abducted near Northern Lights and the lake was Ada Hayden Lake. The investigation for this was done today by the Ames Police. The woman is being charged with filing a false report to the law. After her investigation today.

When I first heard about this story today while I was eating dinner with my family I laughed and thought my little brother was just making it up. I really don't understand how people can just make up things like this to get attention. Obviously if you make your story dramatic it is going to be investigated and it will be figured out. I though it was interesting that it didn't last that long, and the Ames Police had it figured out.

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Twitter for Soprts Fans!

By Michelle Zimmerman

Following the rising Twitter fetish, SportsFanLive.com is made for the serious fans of baseball, basketball, and football. The website has created a new way of following college and professional sports teams. it is successful for those that cannot make a game or keep up with Sports Center.

The site works by someone creating a membership, then choosing a team or teams they wish to follow, possibly even the contendors, and stay updated with sports "tweets" daily, even hourly.

It has become more common that media soucres from television networks are being found on the internet. Sports are a great example. With a website such as SportsFanLive.come, there is a less demand for shows such as Sports Center. The "tweets" can be accessed easier as well as more convenient for anyone's lifestyle.

The new website must create tensions with Twitter being that Twitter.com also features sporting events. Rather than creating team tweets, professional athletes create their own twitter and allow fans to follow them personally.

Whichever you prefer, both ideas are changing the way information is received. No longer is the television, news, or newspaper such a priority. With the internet industry expanding, there is no need for these other sources when everything can be found with a simple internet connection.

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ISU shutting down market news service

By Brianna Carlson

The Iowa State University's Extension Service is shutting down WOI-AM's market news service. This service reports the agricultural market reports to the public radio station.

These reports have been a tradition since 1942. They are broadcasted 13 times every weekday. The reports are also online. The site allows you to hear the most recent broadcasting. Agricultural news and analysis was also being provided for half an hour each week on Iowa Public Radio.

Doug Cooper has been running this program since 1990. He was just told that his job would be eliminated so he just decided to take early retirement.

You can find these reports in other places such as on the Internet and in newspapers. The ISU Extension Service just feels it's unnecessary to keep someone hired in this position.

(Photo Credit: Iowa State University Extension Service)

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Unpaid journalists excluded from shield law

By: Mallory Tandy

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to exclude all unpaid journalists from having protection under a pending media shield bill. This includes legal protection for journalists who want to protect their confidential sources. What is a journalist? According to Senator Chuck Schumer, a journailist is a salaried employee who works for media organizations such as, magazines, newspapers, wire services and broadcast networks. The article goes on to discuss that bloggers, citizen journalists and student reporters are not the definition of a journalist, therefore, would not be under the protection of the shield law. Some would say this decision is ridiculous, in that most of our news sources are not the definition of journalists. Should news sources, such as bloggers, be excluded from this bill?

Bloggers are a great source for news information, but I wouldn't think of a blogger to be an actual journalist. I am blogging right now but am not a journalist. Student reporters are still students, they can become a journalist after getting a job in the journalism work field. The definition of a journalist is fitting and I feel is fair for the requirements of the media shield bill.

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