CNN hires new president

CNN recently named Jeff Zucker, former president and chief executive of NBC Universal, president. The new organization said it hired Zucker to be a “magnet of talent” and to broaden the definition of “news” for CNN. What I found most interesting about this Washington Post article is where it said that CNN’s ratings have been hurting for some time. I read another article after the election that said Fox news normally got better ratings than any of it’s competitors, which is surprising because of all the criticism it faces. I watch NBC, Fox and CNN, so I’m not partial to any organization. However, looking at the success Zucker seems to have had, this could be what CNN needs.

Flight attendant out of job after Facebook remark

Social media is a great thing, but this article from Yahoo! News reminds us that it can be negative if not used correctly. 

A Cathay Pacific flight attendant was fired for writing on her Facebook wall that she wanted to throw coffee in a passengers face because she didn’t like the ousted Thai Prime Minister, who just happened to be the passengers father. The attendant made other negative comments, including that she will keep on fighting until the girl’s clan can no longer “live like fleas on the Thai soil.” She also posted a photo of the passenger’s seat number. On her Facebook page, the former attendant recently said she resigned to take responsibility.

The things we post on Facebook can get us into trouble if we aren’t careful and this is a perfect example.

Less than 25% of American’s have positive feelings about journalists

This is an interesting story from The Huffington Post. The new Gallup poll shows that journalists are less trusted than bankers, chiropractors and psychiatrists. On the bright side, American’s trust journalists more than lawyers, senators, members of congress and car salespeople. Car salespeople actually ranked the lowest in public opinion. In July, the Gallup poll reported that only 21% of American’s had confidence in television news. Honesty is key in journalism, so why are so many journalists’ failing at this?

The results are consistent with findings of polls past. In August, a Daily Kos pollshowed that a staggering 78 percent of individuals said they possess an unfavorable view of the political press.”

NY Post cover photo sparks outrage

The New York Post is at the center of controversy after it ran a photo of a man moments before he was struck by a train. Ki Suk Han, 58, died after being pushed into the subway tracks by “A deranged man” on Monday. Many readers are asking why the photographer, whom the paper said is freelance, didn’t assist the man instead of saving his photo, and I can’t say I didn’t ask myself the same question. I’m not sure what’s worse – the photo or the front page headline.

What do you think of this photo?

Capital New York reached out to four tabloid photographers for their takes, and they were not as quick to blame Abbasi. “Honestly, I can’t fault this photographer,” one photographer wrote, citing the other observers on the subway platform. “They’re either all guilty of turning their back on [Han], or they’re not. Can’t lay blame on this guy alone.”

 

Obama hosts Romney for Lunch – video

This video on Yahoo! News is about Mitt Romney joining President Barack Obama for lunch. However, I found no positives to this video. It was too short, irrelevant and the woman’s voice was annoying. The viewers learned very little from this video aside from there not being a job offer in the works. More information could’ve helped this video develop.

Prince William and Duchess Kate expecting

I’m not British and I normally don’t care when particular celebrities are expecting. However, I’m a fan of Duchess Kate. She is beautiful, classy and well-respected and I am thrilled over the news that she’s expecting. In the midst of fiscal cliff chaos and countries fighting with each other, this is similar to a breath of fresh air. There is no video with this article, nor does it need one, but it goes into detail about Duchess Kate’s hospitalization with acute morning sickness, which is being reported to normally occur when a woman is pregnant with twins. This article also discusses Prince William and Duchess Kate’s family and that their child, boy or girl, will be third in line for the throne of king or queen. It also informed me of something I didn’t already know – Britain and other countries with queens as monarchs agreed to change the rules of royal succession so that males, regardless of age, would no longer have precedence as heir. This was done also to lift a ban on a future monarch marrying a Catholic. What I liked most about this story is that it wasn’t simply, “Kate’s pregnant…wonder what she will have?!” It went into more detail about her hospitalization, royal family and the future of the child.

Either way, I’m still happy for them.

“We have seen her with children and she is lovely with them, she’s got the natural touch, and her parents run a party business and she has spent a lot of time with children,” Joseph said. “(William) he has always talked about wanting children, so I am sure he is delighted.” – MSN 

If no fiscal cliff agreement is met, middle class families will be hit

This video from NBCNews.com informs viewers about what will happen if a fiscal cliff agreement is not met soon. The segment shows a family of three and the mother, director of a non-profit organization, discusses money issues. The video shows the average figure of how much extra families could have to pay in taxes. I feel the video had a huge impact because I’ve been hearing stuff about this “fiscal cliff” but it didn’t really hit me until I saw this video. It seemed more realistic and hit closer to home. Unfortunately, I had trouble uploading it, so I had to link it. 

The End of the Facebook Like Bubble

In today’s world, social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, are critical for news organizations and brands. A recent article on digiday.com lays out the new reality for brands that hope to increase sales and recognition by creating Facebook pages where one simply has to click “like.” The “like” button on Facebook is no longer free advertisement for brands now that the social media site has changed it’s newsfeed settings. The new settings cut the number of messages the fans see, which has resulted in a 38 percent decline on the brand’s outreach. Basically, if the brand doesn’t pay up, it receives less recognition. This can be an even bigger problem for smaller brands because it’s harder to reach more people in the Facebook world. The newspaper and broadcast industries thrive on advertisement, but companies aren’t used to paying for social media outlets.

This is bad for brands, but for a Facebook user like myself, this can be a good thing. I may like a business or brand on Facebook, just as I may like a movie or an artist, but that doesn’t mean I want them cluttering my newsfeed every day with advertisements and promotions. As a matter of fact, I often “unlike” them when it becomes too much. 

I found this article to be interesting and relevant to social media. I didn’t even realize this happened on Facebook until I read this story. Thank you, digiday.com.

Fasting

I found this video called “Fasting” while exploring YouTube. It appears to be a photo essay, but some of the photos didn’t seem to fit and there was very little text to explain the point of the video. Some photos were actually quite awkward and unflattering, such as the one Dr. Chen mentioned with the pen in someone’s mouth. A few people were difficult to understand and the only text, other than the title and end credits, says, “Research papers on fasting are often criticized for conducting on small sample thus considerably unreliable.” Ok? This video just appears very unclear and, in my opinion, is a bad example of a photo essay.

Man awakens from a coma on Thanksgiving – ABC News

Man awakens from a coma on Thanksgiving – ABC News

Black Friday sales and brawls are cluttering the news right now, so it was nice to find a Thanksgiving story that reminds us of the holiday’s true meaning. 

Benjamin Pessah, 21, was shot in the head leaving a Halloween party a month ago in California. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be fetched for me to post, but I’m sharing the link.