CBS Attempts New Project

By Brianna Carlson

"CBS Reports: Where America Stands" is the new series CBS plans to launch. Sampling of the series will take place within the first couple weeks of January.

This series will report topics concerning health care, the military, the economy and crime. It will not only discuss current events, but the show will also give reports as to what happened 10 years ago on the issue and what is predicted in the next 10 years.

One example of the show will be discussing military issues. How has the military changed in the past 10 years, and will it be strong enough in the next 10 years after the war we're currently in.

Diane Sawyer will be taking Charles Gibson's anchor position for ABC's "World News" during the same hour that the new CBS series will show. CBS is hoping the different audiences won't like Sawyer taking over at ABC and possibly look for other options to watch.

Photo Credit: (horizonspeakers)

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Online Media Proved to be a Success through Fort Hood Happenings

By Michelle Zimmerman

I first heard of the tragedies of Fort Hood through a text message from the Des Moines Register stating there had been a shooting killing at least 11 people, none of which were from Iowa. This text message was only one of the thousands of different ways the information of Fort Hood spread Nov. 5.

Internet media streams were filled with updates about the shooting and Twitter was a top Web site notifying the public of occurrences as they were happening. A few users of Twitter were actual soldiers on site of the attack that were tweeting information they knew. Many of the soldiers were unsure of what was happening but knew of some type of shooting.

As Web sites continued coverage over the tragic event, many topics covered the shooter, his affiliation with his Muslim religion, and possible motives. As the information was being spread over the Internet it is unsure where exactly the news became incorrect.

The Internet media was suddenly stating that there had been multiple shooters at the scene, and 1 shooter had been killed during the 7 minute killing spree. Although this is obviously a lie, it took some time for journalists to recover the truth and marks a weakness in the process of Online media. Sometimes it is possible for incorrect news to be stated and it isn't long before those lies are spread as truth.

On the positive side, the Internet medias all showed a strong connection. Many companies and journalists were streaming information as quickly as they received it and this was pleasing for the audiences they were reaching out to. People of the U.S. as I am sure around the world wanted accurate information immediately.

Working together these journalists were recognizing other journalists in the industry that were providing similar information that audience members might find useful as well. Together the Internet media proved why it is considered so efficient. People were given information in a timely matter, most of which was very accurate.

I believe the media on the Internet covered this tragic occurrence very well. As soon as I received the text message I was able to get to a Web site that was posting news feeds momentarily with the newest updates.

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Prescription Drug Prices Are On The Rise

By Keri Waterhouse

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

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

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

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

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Is AOL in trouble?

By: Mallory Tandy

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

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

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

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

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Dell Tests Their Version of the Smartphone

By Meghan Vosberg

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

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

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

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

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Publisher in Portugal Picks a Fine Time to Start a Newspaper

By Laura Reid

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: Alex Barth)

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"Modern Warfare 2" Craze

By:Chris Mars

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

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

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

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

Photo Credit: www.COD6.org

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Facebook Precident

By Tessa Leone

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

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

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

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

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

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

Picture credit: msnbc.com

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Journalism grad school applications on the rise

By Ryan Franker

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credited: flickr.com)

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Simmons' NBA Book Top Seller

By Zach Jevne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: David Shankbone)

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

By Taylor Finch

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: www.noquarterusa.net)

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Library Gets Hit By Media

by: Amy Johnson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: timetrax23 at flickr)

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Anita Dunn Steps Down Her White House Position

By Keri Waterhouse

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



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



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



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



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





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

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NBC deal is under review

By Brianna Carlson

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

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

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

(Photo Credit: wikimedia)

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Keeping readers attention

By: Mallory Tandy

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

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

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The Media's Misleading Healthcare Prices

By Michelle Zimmerman

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

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

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

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

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Social Isolation vs. Social Networking

By Meghan Vosberg

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

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

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

Photo Credit: Ben Stein

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Google not in the 'Content' Business

By: Chris Mars

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

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

Photo Credit: Mediabistro.com

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

By Laura Reid

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

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

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

(photo credit: mroach)

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Pricey Redisign

By Tessa Leone

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

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

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

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

Photo Credit: Photobucket

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