Media Advertising Revenues: It's not Craig's Fault

So was it or was it not Craig Newmark's fault that advertising revenues went down the drain for the entire media industry? In addition to being extreme, this is also simply untrue according to Columbia Journalism Review's Steven S. Ross. In "Craigslist=Straw Man," Ross states that newspapers actually have been keeping up perfectly fine, and it is primarily economic downturns that are causing problems. He also points out that web readers seem to be keeping papers out of the red, despite the drastic fall in print readership. "Craigslist is a straw man. It is the ups and downs of the economy that truly affect advertising, and so far they've been resiliant," he states. So why all the glom and doom predictions if this is the case? One concern lies in the fact that though online publications maintain substantial readership, it is still unclear just how the advertising procedure will function for online publication. Will companies pay significant enough sums for banner ads, etc to keep the entire industry afloat when we subtract out the enormous chunk of the print end of things? Also, online "news packages" require a whole lot more manpower and reporters to put together (think not just writer and photographer, but also video person, audio person, "data guru" and design people for interactive graphs and page layout). Though backpack journalists are giving it the old college try, it seems crazy to think one person can truly put together such a package by oneself, especially at the faster-than-lightning speeds the internet now demands of news output. Only time will tell what becomes of journalism as we know it as the entire advertising structure gets rebuilt from the ground up.

We Don't Wanna War No More

There has been a hidden war going on. Yes, we've been hearing about the "war on terror," in the media, the wars in Iraq and now Afghanistan, and the potential for war with Iran. I would argue that we are in fact in war with the entire middle east as a region, which Wyclef reflects on in his playful yet extremely powerful "War No More." Not only are we at war with the "middle east," but the middle east is at war with its members. Hostile rivalries such as the one between Iran and Saudi Arabia add to the tension, as well as the Palestine issue, and Pakistan's issues with India and neighboring Afghanistan certainly add fuel to the fire.

Wyclef is begging for peace in this region, "The streets packed for heat in the Middle East. . When will the violence cease?" he questions. The song later calls the U.S. to political action when he urges, "let me hear the USA say peace." This is another issue of how now more than ever it is important to take on all sorts of causes, and cross cultures in order to promote what is right. Instead of just tackling racism, for instance, Wyclef takes on Arab issues. All of us should take a lesson from this: those who are not black should fight racism with just as much force, those who are straight should fight against LGBT discrimination with a vengeance, and men should fight for women's rights. Imagine how much further we would get with these issues if we started to stop acting as small fringe grassroots activist-style groups and actually worked to promote the common good, with peace and equal treatment (not just rights) being the common goal.

The Lessons Learned from International Students

I went to orientation for the conversation partners with the OPIE (Ohio Program of Intensive English) Program this evening, and it was quite an experience. The OU program pairs one or two international students with one OU student to meet once a week to talk about their cultures, and help non-native speakers perfect their English. The number of different countries represented was dizzying: anyone who was there met handsome Arab students from Saudi Arabia and Iran, and beautiful Chinese girls dressed up in heels for a night on the town. These students were all so incredibly friendly: all walking around introducing themselves with open faces and hearts, so unlike the comparative reserve of most students in the U.S. To its credit, much of the orientation, besides simply praising its ability to foster cross-cultural friendships (which it certainly did in plenty) but it also emphasized the fact that when dealing with such diverse groups, much misunderstanding and offense can and will take place. It gave strategies for working out these issues as they come up, and encouraged students to keep lines of communication open. At such big multicultural gatherings, the array of languages, clothes and cultures can seem a bit overwhelming. It can at times even feel like a sort of "tower of babble" effect, where everyone seems to be talking across and not to each other. It is interesting to note that this small OPIE group really does reflect larger trends of globalization and cross-national relationships. It is actually an incredible opportunity to meet so many different types of people: what a richer life we will all lead, and what a lot there is to learn from each other. It is just important to remember that with every great opportunity, there will also be challenges that we should soldier through to reap the rewards, and not expect all 'melting pots' to be some sort of euphoric and seamless "blending of cultures."

New Media's effects in Egypt

We've seen it time and time again: blogs are allowing citizens in nation's whose government's traditionally control the press with an iron first to come forward and experience real press freedom, with blogs and other online reporting. In Egypt this movement has been especially widespread. Yet unfortunately, the authorities are getting more sophisticated in their attempts to track down bloggers, including those who use pseudonyms (such as the notable case of Sandmonkey). The young bloggers who are craving real journalistic credibility are being blasted by those looking to preserve the image of Islam. Journalists such as Stephen Franklin are working to thwart the regime's efforts, and all journalists who care about press freedom should support efforts such as his.

Questioning Communism

I have been attempting some very detailed research on Vietnam, along with the rest of my GLC class, and have discovered that Vietnam operates as a Communist nation. This was intriguing to me, as I had ignorantly thought that all traces of communism had disappeared after the Cold War ceased. This all raises the question, how is this Communism different from and or the same as McCarthy's "red scare" version? More research will lead to greater insight, yet it seems clear right off the bat that Vietnam has citizens which prefer a strong leader in the name of sacrificing some freedoms which we would consider essential in the U.S. (the press is all under government control there). To me, communism always sounded like a nice idea on paper, yet history has shown that it is certainly a dangerous weapon in the hands of power-hungry and fallible leaders.