This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD
re: sandy shoves... For people living in the areas that might be affected by weather conditions, the constant coverage is probably welcomed. However, there are always other programming choices that viewers can make due to the number of channels available now on even a basic cable service.
hurricane TV - not only is watching hurricane coverage sometimes like watching a reality TV show, it’s worse because at least with reality TV there is supposed to be some degree of entertainment. Although there is no pleasure at all associated with watching hurricane coverage, there’s something hypnotic about watching the coverage.
Tone of weather channel meteorologists – I believe that meteorologists are become more ominous in their tone because they want to impress upon viewers the seriousness of whatever weather is approaching. The more serious the storm, the worse it gets. Unfortunately, because so many meteorologists have overstressed the significance or impact of so many storms in the past, people are beginning to doubt their reports. This leads to a circular pattern where the meteorologists then have to become more and more ominous to get the public’s attention, and the public ignoring them when the storms aren’t as bad as they have been presented.
re: Newsweek and the relative health…… I was more than surprised to find that print magazines are not doing as poorly as it would seem. Although the story points out that both print and online magazines are dependent on ad revenue, it would seem that magazines are far from becoming obsolete.
Hurricane Sandy Media Coverage: Storm Shoves All Other Stories Off The Agenda:
After the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, we should not only take these storms seriously, but also be sincerely concerned about those who live and work in areas affected by the storms. Unfortunately, for those individuals who are not directly affected by natural disasters, it becomes easy to be cynical. It's simular to war reporting, or for that matter, news of crime. When we are not in the midst of the experience, we will tire of it easily. But, for those who live within that reality, every little bit of information could be considered crucial.
Although the 2012 outlook for magazine advertising revenue might be slightly better than originally projected, this news comes as little comfort to the publishers of Newsweek, which once was a formidable rival to Time. In my opinion, magazines should have been closely watching the newspaper industry, and attempting to learn from those which have remained solvent.
Newsweek was a late adopter of online platforms (which might have created several additional income streams to off-set losses in advertising sales and subscriptions). This late adoption may have been the result of an aging readership who are also not early adopters of new media technologies. Newsweek failed to reach out to younger readers and relied too heavily on long-time subscribers and advertisers. Unfortunately, advertisers are not that loyal. They will goo where they can get the biggest bang for their buck.
There has certainly been a shift for consumers during the digital age to gravitate toward headlines that attract their attention. However, this is not unlike skimming through the New York Times to locate articles of interest. Writing headlines and producing "topical" pieces is not journalism. It simply provides a glimpse (overview) into the real story.
Digital platforms can be used to offer consumers a wide variety of information retrieval options. Implementing the full potential of digital media could create a "marriage" between tweets (headlines and topical information), photojournalism, and in-depth coverage of news. Such a merging of platforms might encourage users to remain on one site, rather than following links to other sites. News feeds provide such capabilities to some extent, but there is the technological potential to offer so much more without compromising journalistic ethics or quality.
It is really no surprise that China continues to censor news and information generated from websites outside of its geographical boundaries. One would only hope that as the rest of the world becomes more of a global community, China would allow its citizens to participate.
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Am I the only one who can only see the title for this post?
ReplyDeletere: sandy shoves... For people living in the areas that might be affected by weather conditions, the constant coverage is probably welcomed. However, there are always other programming choices that viewers can make due to the number of channels available now on even a basic cable service.
ReplyDeletehurricane TV - not only is watching hurricane coverage sometimes like watching a reality TV show, it’s worse because at least with reality TV there is supposed to be some degree of entertainment. Although there is no pleasure at all associated with watching hurricane coverage, there’s something hypnotic about watching the coverage.
ReplyDeleteTone of weather channel meteorologists – I believe that meteorologists are become more ominous in their tone because they want to impress upon viewers the seriousness of whatever weather is approaching. The more serious the storm, the worse it gets. Unfortunately, because so many meteorologists have overstressed the significance or impact of so many storms in the past, people are beginning to doubt their reports. This leads to a circular pattern where the meteorologists then have to become more and more ominous to get the public’s attention, and the public ignoring them when the storms aren’t as bad as they have been presented.
ReplyDeletere: Newsweek and the relative health…… I was more than surprised to find that print magazines are not doing as poorly as it would seem. Although the story points out that both print and online magazines are dependent on ad revenue, it would seem that magazines are far from becoming obsolete.
ReplyDeleteHurricane Sandy Media Coverage: Storm Shoves All Other Stories Off The Agenda:
ReplyDeleteAfter the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, we should not only take these storms seriously, but also be sincerely concerned about those who live and work in areas affected by the storms. Unfortunately, for those individuals who are not directly affected by natural disasters, it becomes easy to be cynical. It's simular to war reporting, or for that matter, news of crime. When we are not in the midst of the experience, we will tire of it easily. But, for those who live within that reality, every little bit of information could be considered crucial.
Newsweek and the (relative) health of print mags
ReplyDeleteAlthough the 2012 outlook for magazine advertising revenue might be slightly better than originally projected, this news comes as little comfort to the publishers of Newsweek, which once was a formidable rival to Time. In my opinion, magazines should have been closely watching the newspaper industry, and attempting to learn from those which have remained solvent.
Newsweek was a late adopter of online platforms (which might have created several additional income streams to off-set losses in advertising sales and subscriptions). This late adoption may have been the result of an aging readership who are also not early adopters of new media technologies. Newsweek failed to reach out to younger readers and relied too heavily on long-time subscribers and advertisers. Unfortunately, advertisers are not that loyal. They will goo where they can get the biggest bang for their buck.
Journalism ethics in a digital age
ReplyDeleteThere has certainly been a shift for consumers during the digital age to gravitate toward headlines that attract their attention. However, this is not unlike skimming through the New York Times to locate articles of interest. Writing headlines and producing "topical" pieces is not journalism. It simply provides a glimpse (overview) into the real story.
Digital platforms can be used to offer consumers a wide variety of information retrieval options. Implementing the full potential of digital media could create a "marriage" between tweets (headlines and topical information), photojournalism, and in-depth coverage of news. Such a merging of platforms might encourage users to remain on one site, rather than following links to other sites. News feeds provide such capabilities to some extent, but there is the technological potential to offer so much more without compromising journalistic ethics or quality.
China Blocks Web Access to Times After Article
ReplyDeleteIt is really no surprise that China continues to censor news and information generated from websites outside of its geographical boundaries. One would only hope that as the rest of the world becomes more of a global community, China would allow its citizens to participate.