JRN 301 Final Project: Part 2

Journalism 2014: The Fall of the Conglomerate and the Dawn of BIG SISTER

Apple and Microsoft may never merge into a project called Apricoft and launch tiny computers called Pits, but the point is that computers will still be popular. People are on the go, so the more portable their computers, which could become as small as phones, the better. These tiny computers could have names like Avocado (pit) and Prune (pit) or Apple (seed)…maybe.

            The Federal Communications Commission will pass net neutrality laws, which will force media conglomerates to let go of their online assets, at least in the sense of controlling their bandwidth. The online assets of the conglomerate will become nonprofit sectors of the company. They can try to make money off print journalism, but eventually they will tumble. There will be no internet conglomerates. The internet will remain a free, user friendly network portal.

            This, of course, has its risks, because anyone…anyone, can go online. So here is the alternative.

One organization, working along with the FCC, will emerge. Its name is the Bureau of Internet and Graphic Security that Insists on Scanning and Tracking Everybody’s Routers. For short, we will call it B.I.G.S.I.S.T.E.R. 

This Bureau will be in charge of scanning everyone’s fingerprints. These prints will replace usernames and allow for tracking on the internet. The internet is still free; the price for access is not. People will be tracked. The internet will be free; society will not be. That is how it is going to work. BIG SISTER will be watching us.

If people refuse to be scanned, they will have no access to the web, no matter how much bandwidth their domain has available. These “rebels” may be the people who will try and continue print journalism. I advocate the Internet, but if people decide to fight for print journalism, I wish them well. 

Because I advocate online journalism, I would hope that objective, accurate and fair journalism will survive. The purpose of moving it all online is for people to have access to it. That is why it is free and portable and user friendly.

I want people to go online and look at what is going on in the world. The purpose of journalism is to help the public make sense of the information presented to them so that they can understand how to live and improve their quality of living. It does not matter if the market presents the coolest, flashiest gadget ever made: If it does not give the public what they want, they will not buy it.

JRN 301 Final Project: Part 1

Journalism 2014: The Fall of the Conglomerate and the Dawn of BIG SISTER

            The news media will remain no matter what changes occur because journalism is all about change, and new media will evolve and accordingly adapt to changes in society.

Online media will become a dominant, nonprofit domain for corporations. The internet will never be monetized; no one will “own” the internet. People can submit information on the internet, but it is the equivalent to a publication, ads and all. And, most importantly, journalists will be there to present this information to the public in a concise manner. That said; it is not how much space a company takes up on the bandwidth, but the content it provides that matters, because quality also makes a profit.

All forms of print journalism will either become nonprofit organizations (if they can make a move to online, even better) or they will die. Cutting costs (an arm and a leg) off the quality of the company’s product to maintain a 25 percent profit margin through advertising is absolutely ridiculous and counterproductive; it has to stop.  The Copenhagen climate talks are coming up in a few weeks, and I bet one way to reduce emissions will involve planting more trees. Printing may be on its way out, but print journalism is not. Print can still be read on a computer screen or on a phone.

Many companies that own several content providers like television channels and news/niche publications will continue to lose value if they keep relying on advertising and cutting costs for a high profit margin instead of focusing more on quality reporting. Because many news organizations are following this pattern, many companies like Condé Nast, for example, had to sever many of its publications (magazines) from its assets.

            Niche journalism will continue to thrive because of the internet, which has connected an enormous diverse global population. Print outlets like magazines could have a chance in niche journalism, but the whole concept is more popular and practical on the internet because it is cheap, fast, and virtually paperless. It is very easy to connect with people from around the world that share common interests via the internet.

Computers will be a big part of news media in the future, but maybe not so for television. Most television channels are not news channels. But television is popular just because of that. There are many channels that cater to specific audiences (niche channels) like children, teens, men, women, nature fans, food fans, sports fans, porn fans, etc. But many shows are also infotainment, and as much as I hate to admit it, online is the way to go because people do not have a decent attention span anymore. The news channels, like CNN, will still be popular, even if there are only a few. They can also make the leap online if they want a larger audience they can monitor.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter may contribute to journalism in the next five years. Big print publications like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and many other could have their own Facebook and Twitter pages, which they could update with breaking news;  links that people could follow to their main website for more information. In this sense, networking sites could become aggregators for newspapers online, much like Google and Bing have become aggregators for everything.

Google’s days are up in China

Google.cn launched in 2006 as an information access tool for people living in a country where the government controls what the public can see and hear on the internet.

Now, Google is threatening to shut down its Chinese branch unless the government allows the search engine to display only uncensored results.

For the AvertisingAge article, click http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=141461

New Jersey legalized marijuana

The bill passed on Monday, the final day of the legislative session.

Governor Corzine said he would sign it into law this week.

In this state, one of 14 that have made the use of marijuana legal for medicinal purposes, the drug will be strictly prescribed and monitored for people suffering from chronic illnesses like cancer, AIDS, muscular dystrophy and few other diseases.

People in Congress who opposed the bill worried that making cannabis legal would increase the use of the drug for recreational purposes; especially among young teens, and made reference to the laws for marijuana use in California, which they described as so loosely regulated the drug has been decriminalized.

The bill passed with support from both Democrats and Republicans. One Republican stated the bill would help relieve people’s pain.

For the New York Times article, click New Jersey Lawmakers Pass Medical Marijuana Bill

Make-up makes humans “witty”

On Saturday, the BBC released an article online regarding the report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which describes the discovery of “make-up containers” in southern Spain, supposedly dating back to the period when the human species was called neanderthal.

So, back in the day, humans used body paint.

According to the article, this ends the stereotype that neanderthals were “dim-witted.”

Back in the Pleistocene epoch, humans were short, robust, and much stronger than average humans today. Supposedly they were pale and had red hair too. Because their cranial development was different from the modern species homo sapiens, it was thought that the development of their brain may have been different too.

To be honest, there are plenty of people in the world today who wear make-up and do not have an ounce of wit in their skulls.

So hooray to the neanderthal for wanting to look pretty!

BBC article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8448660.stm 

"Ready for my close-up!"

Devil cancer could cause extinction

The world’s largest carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil, is at risk of becoming extinct due to a cancer identified by scientists as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), which comes from cells that protect facial nerves.

The cancer is spread through physical contact (i.e. biting) and can kill the animal in as little as nine weeks.

Because of the cancer, the devil population has decreased by 60 percent in the past ten years.

The BBC News article can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8433645.stm 

Taking a leaf from Oprah’s book?

On Monday, Tyra Banks announced the end of The Tyra Show by 2010.

She is focusing now on launching a film production industry called Bankable Studios to continue to help inspire women in a postive way on the big screen.

(Next season of America’s Next Top Model is still on for February!!)

In November, Oprah Winfrey announced she was ending her show in 2010 to create her own television channel, The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Article at http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/12/28/tyra-banks-says-goodbye-to-talk-show/

Primera boda gay en Argentina

Realizan primera boda gay en Latinoamérica

Two men in Argentina married in a city hall  in the capital of the province Tierra del Fuego on Monday because the common law in Buenos Aires does not allow same-sex couples to wed.

According to this article, this is the first legal gay marriage in Latin America.     

"Here come the grooms!"

3D glasses is show biz…also

According to The New York Times, the film “Avatar” broke the record as the leading film in USA box offices this weekend at $278 million.  (See Hollywood Grosses Shatter Record )

The Times also wrote a piece about which 3D glasses are “the best.” (See A High-Tech Movie Battle: Which 3-D Glasses Are Best?)

P.S. I enjoyed “Nine,” personally.  (To each her own!)

Global Warming now hotter topic on Twitter and other outlets.

Tiger Woods, Obama’s acceptance speech, Global Warming.

These topics ranked in order as the hottest tweets during the week of Dec 7-11 of 2009.

Not surprising, because during the same week, the Copenhagen summit turned out to be a bit of a joke thanks to many skeptics still out there.

Article has some pretty cool graph bars. Check it out at Global Warming Debate Rages on in Social Media

"Excuse me? Hello?!?!"