Bacon Anyone???

The cascade effect was in full effect as the web embraced bacon. Apparently, this is a reflection piece as bacon has gone the way of Spam for now. I wonder what is the ignition on the new media for weird fads like bacon. Explore the idea about how our 24 hour media and create, build, and destroy ideas and topics at the speed of light. Why bacon? Why not ham? Did a couple of guys sitting in a room decide bacon and then flood the media? Make sure to watch the video for the juicy details.

 http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid988327350/bclid4865158001/bctid13772687001

Saving Trees and Worldwide Access

I know that we talked a bit about having access to world news from a number of different angles. This seems to be a great site for various electronic newspapers. Poke around on this site and comment about what benefits that you see from this type of site as it relates to our class big ideas.

http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

The attached video link is the founder of the above website talking about its advantages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smtp8P267Zs&feature=related

Newspaper Struggles Continue

Maybe the founder of Netscape had it right....Since we talked at least two more newspapers have called for Chapter 11. What do you see as that future of print journalism?

San Francisco Chronicle joins list of troubled newspapers

The San Francisco Chronicle is one the United States' best known and oldest newspapers

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 2:16p.m.

The San Francisco Chronicle joined the lengthening list of imperilled newspapers Tuesday as its owner set out to purge the payroll and slash other expenses in a last-ditch effort to reverse years of heavy losses.

If it can't reduce expenses dramatically within the next few weeks, the Hearst Corp said it will close or sell the Chronicle, northern California's largest newspaper with a paid weekday circulation of 339,430.

Hearst didn't specify a savings target nor a deadline for wringing out the expenses. A Hearst spokesman didn't immediately respond to messages Tuesday.

But management made it clear that the cost-cutting will require a significant number of layoffs.

"Our current situation dictates that we accomplish these cost savings quickly," ChroniclePublisher Frank Vega wrote in a memo to the staff. "Business as usual is no longer an option."

The Chronicle has given Hearst financial headaches since the New York-based company bought the newspaper in a complex deal valued at US$660 million. The late 2000 acquisition proved to be ill-timed. Shortly after Hearst took control, the San Francisco Chronicle was hard hit by a high-tech bust that caused its advertising revenue to shrivel.

Also Tuesday, the chief executive of Philadelphia's largest two daily newspapers pledged Tuesday to roll back a US$232,000 raise while his company tries to reorganise in bankruptcy court.

Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, which publishes The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, two-and-a-half years after a group of local investors bought the company for more than US$500 million.

Chief Executive Brian Tierney and other executives have insisted the company, while strangled by debt payments, remains profitable despite falling circulation and revenues. But some lenders balked at that analysis at Tuesday's initial hearing on the bankruptcy petition and questioned decisions being made by Tierney, a former public relations executive.

Meanwhile in New York, Journal Register, publisher of the New Haven Register and other newspapers, won approval to continue paying basic operating costs, including employee salaries and benefits and newspaper delivery contracts. Lawyers representing lenders made no objections.

The Yardley, Pennsylvania-based company sought bankruptcy protection a day before the Philadelphia newspapers' filing and said then that JP Morgan Chase & Co and 26 of the company's 37 lenders had agreed to a reorganisation plan to cancel its stock and become a closely held company controlled by its lenders.

Lawyers for the lenders said they were unaware of any objections from any debt holders to that plan, although they did not say why the remaining lenders had yet to sign on.

Besides Journal Register and the Philadelphia newspapers, Los Angeles Times publisher Tribune Co and owners of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis have made separate Chapter 11 filings for bankruptcy protection amid steep declines in advertising revenue.

33 Years Later

I stumbled across this diatribe from the movie, Network from 1976. I thought that it was entertaining and thought provoking. What do you think about the speech? What truths do you think emerge from these four minutes. I guess that some people were thinking about these topics in the 70s too. I wonder how this speech would be different if it was remade for 2009. Thoughts??

No Love for Bono and U2

Ok, I have been guilty of downloading some music over the years, and I happen to fall into that demographic of people that had free music before iTunes decided to sell it for $1.99. I do know that paying $16.99 or more for CDs was total extortion, but I sort of feel bad for U2. They haven't released a full set of new music in years, and they can't even control the launch into the market. It gets to the question about whether we are destroying a new generation of quality music because artist can't survive without being a touring or live music production. Is this a good thing? How should the market deal with file sharing? Should this just remain the wild west? Should you have any access to free music?

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5776098.ece

Podcasting Awards

As we begin to venture into our conversations about podcasts, I thought that I would provide you a list of 2008 award winners. I thought that it was an interesting list. Look at the list and see if you can find something of interest. Listen to a new podcast, and then leave your comments in the form of a review of the new podcast below.

http://www.podcastawards.com/

Learning in Long Form

The last two weeks we have talked about whether people have lost the ability or will to learn in long form, so this is a test of your ability and will to do so. I recently listened to this incredible interview with columnist EJ Dionne and David Brooks about the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr on the Obama presidency. The video is 80 plus minutes, but I challenge you to do some learning in long form. Post your thoughts about learning in long form and the content of the video interview.  (This is the make up of the 30 minutes that we are missing this week.)

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/obamas-theologian/video-brooksdionne.shtml#slideshow

Group Deliberation Breeds Polarization

I know that we touched on this topic in our conversations, but I think that this link begins to bring to light the power and problem with poor group deliberations. We can certainly imagine being in the room when one of these groups meet. I doubt that there are naysayers or people speaking up to temper the emotion in the room. These groups certainly aren't making the best decisions. I wasn't completely surprised by the number of hate groups in Missouri, but I found the map quite interesting. Your thoughts on how groups can feed bad information. 

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp

Lost in Phoenix

When I watch situations like this, I am always disappointed by producers of shows to even let these folks on stage. This isn't on Letterman, well I guess that he could have ended the interview early, but the producer of the show should have cut this from the beginning. Now this video is the bride of You Tube for the next week. Another example of 24 hour news. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXpYk7WGN5Y

Freedom of the Press

Here is a bit of history. President John F. Kennedy made this five minute speech to discuss how his administration would handle secrecy in the White House. It talks in detail about the value of freedom of speech and removing secrecy from our society. I thought that the video that runs with the audio of the speech is pretty interesting also. Discuss your thoughts on freedom of speech, and how the 24 hour news cycle aids or negative impacts the ideals of which JFK speaks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlghYpDx0f4

Will Doping in Sports Ever End?

As a professional cycling fan, I have been dealing with doping issues for many years now. It has caused the sports tremendous damage throughout the world as television, sponsors, and race executive have made the "bold" statement that they don't want people that cheat to be a part of the sport. Most professional sports in the United States haven't done this. Baseball has been rocked by its "stars" being involved with steroids, but clearly they let those that cheat continue playing. The NBA is horrible on this front as they can't even deal with the huge problem with pot and their athletes. The NFL track record is better, but the use of pain killers is still wide spread. Aren't pain killers performance enhancements. Should our media in the United States be out front on this topic? How would you address the issues of cheating in professional sports? The story below is the original story from Sports Illustrated about Alex Rodriguez that broke this weekend. Rodriguez is a highest paid player in baseball, and he plays for the Yankees.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/07/alex-rodriguez-steroids/index.html

Best 24 Hour News

I think that I need to spend some time finding the answer to this question also. Last year, Al Jazeera won a top award for being the best 24 hour program. Comment on what you see on Al Jazeera that makes you think that they won the award. Be specific. See video link of news story below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Z2bzM4I00

Do Athletes Have a Moral Responsibility?

Ok, so I absolutely think that the Michael Phelps situation is overblown, but it is worthy thinking through. A few years back, Charles Barkley claimed, "I'm not a role model," but do athletes, celebrities, or middle school principals get to choose whether or not they want that role. Parents will have a lot different conversation about Phelps with their kids now. Any moment of any day, in context or out, we are all potential victims of the 24 hour news cycle. Do you want our society to be in hypersensative mode all the time? Would you want to catch some slack for a poor choice every once in a while. How quickly are we now held accountable for each decision that we make. Thoughts???

When will this ad be OK?

It is clear that standards for television in regards to sex, language, etc. has slipped over the last ten years, and it is certainly only a matter of time until the PETA ad is OK for the Super Bowl. How long do you think it will be until no one blinks at this ad? Justify your timeline. Do you think that my four year old should have seen this ad? Should I be forced to not let her watch the Super Bowl?

http://www.peta.org/content/standalone/VeggieLove/Default.aspx