How Am I Doing?

Here’s a link to the website I work for blog posts.  I’ve been asked to write a few and you can read them.  They’ll have my name on the bottom of the post.  Check them out and give me feedback, I’d really appreciate it!

 

http://www.we-care.com/blog/

The worst tweet yet…

Fox News

Authorities say suspect carrying suspicious package near Pentagon is Marine Corps reservist; FBI says substance inside backpack was ‘inert.’

 

_____

They meant to say that the suspect is in the custody of the Marine Corps reservist.  However, in the 140 character shuffle they batched it up and made it sound like the suspect is actually IN the Marine Corp…OOF!

 

Developing News: Pentagon

Breaking News on Twitter.

It’s a little difficult to see, but as I logged on to Twitter I noticed “Pentagon” was a “Trending Topic.”

So my natural curiosity and underlying fear of something catastrophic drove me to click on it.

My J2 professor told me that news never breaks, because it is continual.  So for the sake of being correct, here’s the developing Tweets of what is going on.

Look in the discrepancy in the major news.  What is going on exactly in this situation.  Two seconds later after I grabbed this screenshot Breaking News posted:

• BreakingNewsBreaking News
• Al-Qaida-related statements, backpack with ammonium nitrate and spent 9mm shells found in Pentagon suspicious vehicle http://nyp.st/kO5oUF

First off, I hope to goodness that nothing else like this will happen today, or for as long as I live.

Second of all, I know better than to trust the first news I hear because I’ve been trained to.  Not many other people do.  This also applies to selective exposure and selective perception.  People chose where they want to get their information and what they want to have their information say.  So one news story can be interpreted many ways, and often people don’t try to find new developments.

I urge people to expand their horizons a little bit.  I read articles from news establishments I hate, but I feel it helps keep me more objective and when I do write an opinion piece, at least I can really see things from both sides.

Let’s hope today we can end smiling.

Bad Blogger! Uh-oh!

I do not enjoy these long gaps between my postings, but there’s nothing I can really do.

There’s really no updates I have, I haven’t been following the news closely because I’m always working or studying.

I’m getting the Blackberry Tour this weekend so hopefully it will simplify my workload.

Maybe this weekend I’ll have time to post a few good lengthy pieces. Otherwise you can totally check out the blogs I’ve been posting for the website I work for.  Nice to see my name under them!

I love my job.

Yes, I’m going to shamelessly plug my new job.

But it truly is a wonderful website.

I work for www.we-care.com

And if you like online shopping, you will love this site.  It is a blend of the perfect marriage of shopping (which is always fun) and donating to your favorite charities (which I also love to do).

It is commission based, which means a percentage of a purchase at a partnering merchant site through our site (we have over a thousand merchants!) goes to a charity of your choice.  Best part of it all, you’re not even paying extra!  And we supply special coupons so you save even more on your favorite items.

Please check it out, it is a great organization, and I love being a part of the team.

Press Challenge

Read this article by the Associated Press on a journalist who investigated Pakistani navy ties to Al-Qaeda found dead.

Click here.

How does this make you feel?  What do you think about this?  Why is the freedom of the press so important?

What comes around, goes around.

Amidst helping to plan a bridal shower, completing online course work for a summer course, and now officially 2 jobs (Patch and the interview I went on last week called yesterday and asked me to join their team, starting today) I’ll be having a busy, busy rest of the week.

I’m going to try to get some quality posts in, but will probably only pop in with an article that I find interesting.

Wish me luck!

Good media, good media, now SIT!

Image by Beverly & Pack via Flickr

Logging on to the WWW this morning, I expected to see the usual Memorial Day headlines that contain the keywords ‘BBQ,’ ‘beach,’ and ‘sun.’

Of course I saw those, but I was happy to see a lot of headlines calling for people to actually remember what Memorial Day is.

The article I wrote on Memorial Day focuses more on the meaning than the actual pageantry the holiday has become over the last few years.  We see commercials for ‘Memorial Day Sales!’ and American flags line the streets up and down, but rarely do we ever stop to think about what our great servicemen and women have sacrificed.

So while you’re chowing down on your all-American hamburger and fries and enjoying the weather (if it’s nice where you are) take a moment to discuss with your loved ones what it would be like if we did not have the freedom we do.  While it is certainly not a perfect freedom, it is one that our country has fought hard for.

Enjoy your day!

Good advice for photojournalists

Image via Wikipedia

New York City cops detained this photographer for filming a soldier in Penn Station.  They thought there was a law prohibiting it.  Nope there isn’t.  And for any aspiring photojournalist you never have to hand over your camera or your memory card/film.

Check out the Huffington Post run-down of the event: click here!

Why I believe journalism is more important then ever…

Image via Wikipedia

In a brief kerfuffle with my dad earlier today, we discussed different methods of interviewing.

I am covering a local story tomorrow and was telling my father how I planned to interview, politely introducing myself and then asking permission.  My father suggested I print out a so-called ‘press pass‘ and go by that.

Aside from that, I think in today’s world journalism is needed now more than ever.  The industry may now be heavily segmented, with so may places for a person to get information, and in so many ways as well.  Social media is changing the game every day.

When most people read an article, whether the conventional newspaper way, or the 21st century method of online or by mobile device, they are reading for the information.  Somehow, in some way, that information is aiding them.  Based on the beliefs of the reader this article could be a strong or weak dissonant about a hot topic.  People pick and choose their news sources based on cognitive dissonance, only reading what they want to hear.  Google allows us to search for answers.

But how can we trust every article we read?  Advertisements have become so invasive today that some people cannot figure out an advertorial from an article.  And look at every blog or self-named website that claims to be a reputable online paper.  Do you really know who is going out and getting the story?  Or is the internet too full of clutter that we believe whatever sounds the best to us?

The New York Times recently implemented on Twitter a more interactive model between their journalists and their readers.  I believe this is a great way to restore the faith in journalism.  It is important to read a story that has the professional research behind it.  With more trust between the writer and the audience, a new trust can be formed.

So the next time you read an article, local, national, international, trade, or business take a moment to think about the time and research the writer did to complete it.  Impostors on the internet impede on the professionalism and may give false information.  You can’t believe everything you hear, but your best bet is to trust the information supplied.