Are social media that important to some NFL players?

By Taylor Finch

Has Twitter and Facebook become a problem for some NFL players? Well, the National Football League officials seem to think it has.

This past Monday, the league made the decision to begin to put limits on Tweeting and the use of other social-networking sites for all players, coaches, officials, the media, and anyone else who may be tied to the game. This does not necessarily mean that these social mediums are off limits. But, using during games or within 90 minutes before and after games is forbidden.

The league's reasoning stems from worry that instead of tuning into the actual game, which would boost ratings for that particular game-coverage provider, that fans will instead check recent Tweets and Facebook statuses for score updates and play-by-plays from the players or coaches.

Though this will be very hard for the NFL to monitor, I think it will finally send a reality check to these social butterflies. Social Networking should not be what drives these NFL players. So guys, you are here to play football. It happens to be your job. Let the reporters report and give the game highlights, because that is their job. You just worry about playing football. Thanks.

Read more...

Ferry sinks in the Philippines

By Brianna Carlson

1000 passengers on the Superferry 9, a Philippine ferry, sank. Alarms went off at 2 AM waking all passengers up from their sleep. It sank about 15 nautical miles from Zamboanga City.

As of now, 926 passengers were rescued. Atleast 9 were killed; 33 were missing.

The cause of the accident is not known yet. Previously, the Superferry has had engine and generator trouble, but the ferry company said the ship was in good shape before it left.

Passengers that were interviewed did not hear any sort of explosion. Weather was not an issue. Most passengers were put onto a navy gunboat and fishing boats.

Read more...

British Court Convicts Three in Plot to Blow Up Airliners

By Laura Reid

Three men were found guilty of planning to blow up seven airliners by concealing hydrogen peroxide in coke cans and using detonation devices powered by AA batteries.

This plan was foiled by the British Intelligence Agencies, along with some US intelligent agencies. The defendants claims were that they were trying to show how security has not improved after 9/11. One of the defendant's also stated that it was a warning for the Americans and British to leave the Muslim lands.

While these men were taken into custody in 2006, it makes me think how unsecure are security really is. Not just in airports, but it seems like the most likely target since so many people travel on a daily basis. As terrorist as this may be, it is an eye-opener to see that terrorists can still blow through our defenses, even with the regulation now in effect about carrying liquids and such.

But I'm also wondering whether the US shouldn't have rushed the British in gaining evidence. Four other people were also convicted of this act of terror which actually would have been second to 9/11 had it gone through, yet they were found not guilty because of the lack of evidence. But then again, if they waited, they would be dealing with the loss of alot of civilian lives. How safe are we? And how far is our government willing to go to protect us?

Read more...

A "New Age" Candidate

By Tessa Leone

Zach Tillion, a recent high school graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines Iowa has just announced his candidacy for the upcoming school board election.

" 100: That’s how many days I’ve been out of the school district. I know the perspective of a student better than many other candidates."-Zach Tillion. He plans to offer a fresh set of ideals and values to Des Moines Public Schools. He has spent countless hours volunteering for political candidates, leading local protests, and organizing school related awareness programs.

"84% 74% and 65%: That’s the percentage of our kids that have been graduating recently. If elected to the board, making that percentage go back up would be my number 1 priority."-Zach Tillion. Zach plans to use his age to promote the importance of a high school diploma. Allowing students to identify with a peer rather than listen to an elder might just be the angle that will allow the school board to reach its students and decrease its drop out rates.

Zach and his growing followers have began promoting his campaign on student targeted pages such as facebook and myspace. He has multiple links and groups allowing people to reach him and join his cause.

The election is on Tuesday September 8th. To find voting information for your district click here.
To register click here.

If Zach succeeds he will be the youngest candidate to be elected to the Des Moines School Board.

(Photo Credit: WHO TV)

Read more...

Multimedia Magazine

By Ryan Franker

An online magazine (FLYP) found a new way of reporting the news, while catching the reader's interest and eye. The magazine is using traditional reporting and writing but then adding animation, audio, video, and interactive graphics to an article.

The company hasn't been putting out articles for a long time, so it is still an experiment. But they believe that the magazine will do well since they are giving the reader the right to choose how they want the news presented to them. You can either turn the page, like it is a real magazine, or listen to an interview from that article. There are numerous ways of getting the news from this web magazine. They are making it easier for people to understand what the writer is trying to say, because they have so many options on how to get the news. The magazine is trying to find new ways of reporting the news. They have to keep up will the readers and how they like their news presented to them.

Read more...

Boy who cried blood

By: Mallory Tandy

Calvino Inman, a 15-year-old boy from Rockwood, Tennessee, stepped out of the shower and realized something was wrong, he was crying blood! Calvino's mother rushed him to the hospital as soon as she saw what was wrong with him. By the time they got to the hospital the tears had stopped and the Doctors could not see what the family was trying to explain to them. A few days later while Inman was on a camping trip, the bloody tears came back.

Inman had an MRI, a CT scan and an ultrasound, but none of the results came back abnormal. Inman's mother recalls the doctors telling her "We don't know how to stop it" and "It just has to run its course." These are words that no parent wants to hear when their child is sick.

A director of the University of Tennessee's Hamilton Eye Institute whose name is Dr. Barrett G. Haik says the possible answer could be the condition called haemolacria. This condition happens when someone has had a serious head injury or extreme trauma of some sort. There was no obvious cause in Inmans case.

Experts think Inman will undergo many tests from specialists such as opthalmologists and hematologists. He may also need to have a psychological evaluation to see if maybe the bloody tears were actually a hoax. Could the boy have been watching the new, HBO series True Blood, and was inspired by the vampires who cry blood? Or is Calvino Inman an actual medical mystery? In Calvino Inman's case, the cause may never be discovered.

Read more...

News Applications for Your Location

By: Chris Mars

With more mobile phone users choosing a smartphone as their weapon of choice we are seeing a huge increase in the capabilities of mobile Web and applications available to users. This developing technology opens the door for news organizations to provide even more accurate information to subscribers.

The development of mobile web-friendly buttons, bookmarks and applications can be created for quick navigation and updates desired by mobile web users. The iPhone offers applications ranging from Pacman to Pet Vet Records, applications useful to all members of the family. On top of these new connection tools the use of GPS and location-based applications makes the information seen by the user even more specific. These location-specific applications can potentially be used to warn of severe weather and news in the area including breaking news.

With a decrease in newspaper readers and news seekers in general, these are new opportunities for news organizations to reconnect with their viewers, readers, and subscribers. Cutting through the clutter and offering shortcuts to news should generate more interest and more availability to users on the go. Hopefully news organizations will catch up with this new media craze and deliver the news people want to the palm of their hand.


Mobilizing for mobile: Are news organizations lagging?

Read more...

Vander Plaats Announces Official Run for Governor

By: Bethany Christenson

Republican Bob Vander Plaats will announce his official run for Iowa governor on Monday. This is Vander Plaats third run for governor. He feels that current Iowa Governor Chet Culver is leading Iowa into the wrong direction and he can lead Iowa back into a more conservative direction.

He previously campaigned in 2002, when he lost in the GOP primary, and in 2006, when Jim Nussle chose him as a running mate. They were defeated by Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge.

Vander Plaats is ready to deliver his message and says we should return to "Iowa values".

What are "Iowa Values" exactly? Vander Plaats says that they include values of marriage and families. He is obviously referring to the 2009 decision to allow same-sex marriages become legal in Iowa.

Vander Plaats is also opposed to the spending done by Chet Culver in his plan to repair roads damaged by flooding or deterioration from years of use.

Vander Plaats used be a CEO of a nonprofit group, but he now heads a planning and development agency in Sioux City. He also head former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's Iowa headquarters in 2008.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990906005

Read more...

Internet Advertising World Sees Major Change

By: Amy Johnson

Not long ago, when one thought of advertising for a company, the first thing that would come to mind are television commercials or ads in the margins of a newspaper. Now that the Internet has taken over, even that is seeing changes. According to a new report, one out of five ads shown on the Internet is viewed on a social networking site – a site such as MySpace and Facebook. Those sites symbolize 21 percent of the ads on the Internet in the United States, MySpace and Facebook being more than 80 percent of ads. Before this, major sites such as Yahoo or AOL were the big market advertisers.

Why such a change? First, it is quite useful for more companies to advertise on something as fast and expanding as the Internet. Millions of people all over the world use the Internet more than once a day. It is cost efficient. Companies get their name and product out to a bigger, more broad group of people for much less than advertising through television and/or big city newspapers.

Also, it makes sense that more brand name companies are expanding their advertising to social networking sites. Facebook and MySpace are used daily by millions of people, especially the younger generation who are more apt to look closer at the ads and buy the items being advertised. It is also much cheaper to advertise on a social networking site than on one such as Yahoo or AOL (according to analyst Jeff Lindsay). Why not start putting advertisements on sites where more people visit daily if it is going to cost the company less money? For brand-name mega-companies, it fits.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE5805QX20090901

Read more...

Forgotten Past Equals Future Problems For Bosnia

By: Meghan Vosberg

In the 1990s the country of Bosnia was plagued with war. Homes were burnt to the ground. Families were separated. And rape was introduced as a fighting tactic. But why should a war from fourteen years ago, in which over 100,000 people killed matter today? Plus does it matter that the majority of those oppressed in this 3 1/2 year war were Muslim?

When you think about it, Bosnia is not near the top of our "Countries we need to worry about list," especially when it's compared with Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea. Ever since the Dayton accord ended the Bosnian war everyone assumed that the issue was resolved and everything is now peachy keen. This is not the fact in today's Bosnia."The economy has stalled, unemployment is over 27 percent, about 25 percent of the population lives in poverty, and Bosnia remains near the bottom of World Bank rankings for business development."http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65352/patrice-c-mcmahon-and-jon-western/the-death-of-dayton"

Bosnia was a "project" of the 90's. The Clinton's did many services to the country. A street in Sarajevo is even named after Hillary. Over $14 billion dollars was used in international aid. But with our own country in recession, and health care being a subject of issue, should we still try to help other countries in need?


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/weekinreview/06kulish.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

Read more...

A Not So Relaxing Holiday

By Keri Waterhouse

Not everyone is going to be able to relax and enjoy a three day weekend during this expected beautiful weathered holiday. Many people are still out of jobs and spending their much needed stress free time job searching.

Our nation's jobless rate has risen to a 26-year high of 9.7 percent. It's expected to get to 10 percent this year and keep increasing into part of next year before it goes back down. It hasn't been this high since the post-World War II when it was 10.8 percent, which was in 1982.

The number of people who are jobless is just ridiculous. It is so sad to think about 10 percent of our nation are without jobs. I know that my dad has been laid off since July and it is a stressful thing since my mother is a stay at home mom. Unemployment is nice, but when it's less than half of what you're used to coming home with, things get tight.

How are we supposed to boost our economy and get money back out there if no one is bringing home any or hardly any money in the first place? Hopefully things clear up soon or there are going to be some pretty sad things happening in this world.

Read more...

A large percent of Iowa's public schools fail to progress in the No Child Left Behind law

By Michelle Zimmerman

Iowa is commonly considered a state whose education is top-notch, but reviewing the number of Iowa schools that failed to meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind law in 2008-2009, might make one think differently.

With testing scores at an all time low, more schools than ever have landed themselves on a list of improvement. Iowa's goal was to develop a system that would track the skills of students as well as the work of faculty. Although it was expected that if teachers focused more on students struggling in math or reading the rate of absences and drop outs would decrease. But instead numbers have significantly fallen once again.

According to Staci Hupp of The Des Moines Register, if the number of schools on the list continues to increase the next course of action is to lay off current teachers and allow a new batch of teachers to try the system. Although this would be a last resort it seemingly is becoming something of reality for the schools.

While there is a large seriousness on how well students perform on a reading and math evaluation it is important to consider that students' improvements are not considered from year to year and the speculations are based solely on one test created by the state given once a year. So it is understandable that there would be slight frustration from both the state and the teachers of Iowa.

Read more...

Some Parents Oppose Obama School Speech

By Laura Reid

How amazing are some citizens of America, where they will risk the education of their children, America's future, to take them out of school because the President of the United States would like to talk to them about staying in school? How Ironic.

Just an exaggeration, I don't think missing one day of school will do alot of harm to the kids, but missing school because someone that "We the People" elected is encouraging them to not miss school and work hard is simply outrageous.

Is this in response to what is going on with the healthcare reform, or are conservatives just being big meanieheads and don't want to listen to the person that is trying to make their lives better? Personally, if I had a child living in a time where I wasn't very fond of out president, I wouldn't punish my child by not letting him or her go to school because someone, and not just anyone, the President of the United States, is going to personally tell them to stay in school. I want my child to join the cult of higher education.

Read more...

Survey: 40% of Sports Reporters Bet on Games

By Zach Jevne

Gambling and sports have always gone hand-in-hand, but according to a recent survey, it also extends to the people reporting on the games.

In a poll conducted by the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State University, 40 percent of sports reporters admitted they gamble on sports, with 5 percent saying they had bet on the games they were covering. The poll asked 285 reporters who cover sports for newspapers and their web sites. The survey is titled "Sports Coverage: Toy Department or Public-Service Journalism" and will appear in the September 2009 issue of the International Journal of Sport Communication.

The most telling aspect of the survey, according to Marie Harden, who conducted the research, was that those who do gamble on sports were more likely to admit that gambling hurts objectivity in coverage of the games. The report mentions that gambling on sports by reporters who cover them is banned by the ethics codes of some news organizations because of the potential conflict of interest.

Remaining objective after winning or losing money on the game would be nearly impossible. That is the reason these news organizations use an ethics code. Once a person has placed a bet on a game, they no longer view the game in the same light as someone who has no money invested in the outcome. I feel that objectivity is very important in sports reporting. I don't want to read an article by a die-hard, biased fan of the team, who would also have a hard time remaining objective, just as I wouldn't want to read someone who has just lost money on the game.

I know that it is wishful thinking to think that there is a way to eliminate gambling among reporters, but I feel that it jeopardizes the integrity of the profession. Placing a bet on a sport that you are not covering is bad, but wagering on a game you are reporting on is something that cannot be tolerated.

Read more...

A sad day for Internet in Italy

By: Christina Woldt

This past week Eurostat, It was found that the percentage of Italian households with internet access actually declined, marking the first downward trend of its kind in any European country. Although only a 1% drop, Francisco Federico at the European Journalism Centre points the finger at the "digital and cultural divides that plague Italy."

According to Federico a divide exists between the Northern and Southern halves of the country, and many large cities in the southern regions are completely without broadband connectivity. He suggests that a much deeper cultural problem revolving around the reluctance to accept change is the catalyst behind it all.

In this vast technological era the internet is everything. It is difficult to imagine that an entire country could be dragging its feet or even moving backward, essentially, from the direction in which the world is moving. I understand that the Italian culture, like any other, is rich with heritage and tradition, but if I were them I would take caution to these latest figures before the rest of Europe leaves them in the www dot dust.

Read more...

Finding a New Sunday Hobby

By:  Christina Woldt

According to a recent report from Pointer Online journalist Al Thompkins, many NASCAR drivers are calling on fans to get in touch with their local Congress members. Why? To urge them to lobby for an auto company bailout now quoted at 34 billion dollars and save their sport.

We can hardly turn on a TV anymore without hearing about the impact of struggling auto companies and talk of a possible bailout, but I for one had not thought about the various long-arm affects that the auto world woes are imposing upon numerous other businesses.

Apparently Honda has already decided to pull out of the Formula One racing world altogether, citing the global economy and a struggling industry as the reason behind it. Should other large NASCAR companies like GM, Ford, or Chrysler begin to follow suit we may be looking at dramatic changes to the sport itself.

NASCAR is often touted as being the most popular "sport" in America. With the millions of dollars counted on annually in sponsorships and parts, many fans (70 million of them Fox says) and owners could be looking for a new way to spend their Sundays.

Read more...

Awful start to the holiday season...

By: Katie Schaefer

This Christmas is not going to be like other Christmases. There is going to be a lot more people staying home and maybe even less presents under the tree.

Much like all of this year, money is quite the issue. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, this has been one of the worst starts to Christmas shopping yet.

With the economy being like it is, shopping is only probably going to get worse. All retail stores are struggling right now excluding Wal-Mart.

Sales in November dropped 7.7 percent, which is the lowest it has been in a lot of Novembers. The ICSC predicts that sales are going to drop 10 percent which could make this Christmas the weakest Christmas shopping on record.

There aren't as many people traveling either. Even though gas prices are starting to drop, it still costs a lot to buy a plane ticket.

Even big name brand department stores like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue are struggling. No one can afford the economy right now.

With it beginning to look a lot like Christmas, people are starting to get more and more nervous about how they are going to be able to afford the expensive holiday.

Read more...

No signature, no publication

By: Hannah Pickett

There are many times that I open up a newspaper, read an article, and don't necessarily agree with the writer's tone or take on the issue at hand. I take it with a grain of salt and go on with my day. But, if I felt compelled enough to write a letter to the editor about my disgust with the article, I most certainly would not want to sign my name. It would be humiliating and in my opinion, unnecessary.

The truth of the matter is that in many newspapers, especially small town papers, letters to the editor will not be printed unless there is a signature on the letter. I know that at the Winterset Madisonian, if there is no signature or someone willing to take the heat for the letter to the editor, it will not be looked at, let alone published.

How important and necessary is it to have a signature on a letter to the editor? Why does it matter who wrote the letter?

Read more...

Jounalism job security?

By: Hannah Pickett

The journalistic world has been hit hard with the current economic crisis. Layoffs are the most obvious result of the crisis.

This week, the Des Moines Register laid off a number of employees. This was not the first time this has happened this year. The typical slogan in layoffs is "last hired, first fired." That's not proving to be the case anymore, in fact, the opposite is proving to be true.

Wednesday, Brian Duffy, an award winning editorial cartoonist, was one of dozens to receive the latest cut. Duffy's cartoons were the highlight on the front page for decades.

The truth of the matter is this. Fresh college graduates are chomping at the bit to land their first journalism job and will bite at just about anything, regardless of the starting salary. Journalists that have served their time in the business have worked their way up the pay scale. This makes it economical to lay off the tenured journalist and replace him with a college graduate who will do the same job for much less.

With this scheme mixed with the unsteady economy, where is the job security in this field?

Read more...

Education vs. talent

By: Hannah Pickett

In today's technologically advanced world where we can publish our works and creations with the click of a mouse, I wonder, why spend money on getting a journalism degree?

For instance, I am 20 years old and am the leading sports writer and sports editor at an accredited weekly newspaper. I have worked here since I was 15 years old. At 15, I had no experience whatsoever in the field of journalism. Right now, I simply have the experience gained on the job and the knowledge of some college courses leading my writing and editing, but still no fancy college diploma on the wall.

Sure, going to college is a great idea. I obviously think so otherwise I wouldn't be at Simpson. But, in the journalist world, the majority of jobs are determined based on skill, not education level.

If I were to apply for a position as an anchor or television reporter, the fact that I have a degree from Simpson College is not going to be as important as my demo tape, likewise in print journalism. If I wanted a job at the Des Moines Register, it would be my work, not my education, that would make or break the deal.

My aunt was one of the most popular writers for the Des Moines Register for about 15 years and has since written a book. Her level of education stopped after high school. No one ever questioned her qualifications for the position when they read her column.

So, my question is this: Having a college education is a wonderful asset to most jobs, and sure it gives a bump in the pay scale, but is it really necessary to become an established journalist?

Read more...