Jan. 18, 2012 #STOPSOPA
Below is a list of sites uniting for today’s online blackout in protest of SOPA and the Protect IP Act.
http://www.cdt.org/report/list-organizations-and-individuals-opposing-sopa
Make your voice heard and sign the blackout petition:
Filed under Journalism
Super excited and many thanks to Alan K’necht for giving me the opportunity to host. If you’re a fan of #wjchat, #journchat or social media chats in general, this will be a fun, hopefully thought-provoking live discussion on tweeting for media companies, focusing on the ethics, do’s and don’ts, and proven tactics to run a successful media campaign via Twitter.
Background on me, I have tweeted professionally for LA Magazine (@losangelesmag), the Beverly Hills Courier (@bhcourier), Marketplace Radio (@Mktplaceradio), California Apparel News (@apparelnews) and worked as a consultant for Night Tap (@NightTap) and author Petru Popescu (@petrupopescu).
I tweet at @adampopescu and via @westcoaschops.
For some background on Twitter chats, check out this post I wrote for ReadWriteWeb, How to Get Started With Twitter Chats.
Tune in Monday, Jan. 9 at 6pm PST/ 9pm EST to get involved with #SocialChat.
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Journalism, Social Media
Farewell Eric, We Hardly Knew You
So, it finally happened. The nba capos nodded their heads in approval and the big boss pulled the trigger…the first mega trade of the shortened season, played like the icy talks themselves: controlled, careful and conniving.
Today, Chris Paul was traded, and the Clippers did the unthinkable. They gave up Eric Gordon. That’s right, LA got Chris Paul, which catapults them into postseason talk, and is huge. That’s macro. But micro, they gave up their blue chip and Olympian, Eric Gordon. Arguably one of the best young two-guards in the game, last year Gordon averaged 22 points, 4 boards and 4 assists a game. I know this is probably for the best for the city, and am looking forward to the pick-and-roll game to come with Paul and Blake Griffin, I’m sorry to see Gordon go. Especially given that his career was really set to blossom this year. I wish him luck with the Hornets, and am sorry to report that Gordon found out about the trade aboard a bus, surrounded by fans. What do you say to that? What do you say to fans?
From ESPN: According to NBA.com, Gordon was on a bus with Clippers season ticket holders, making fan stops when he got word of the trade. Gordon told ESPNLosAngeles.com the deal was “disappointing.”
“People in the organization were telling me I was going to probably stay here, stick around,” he said. “But you don’t know who to trust or follow, give you a lead on anything. I’m just going to take it for how it is. It is kind of tough to swallow, but I’m just a basketball player. I’m not going to have any hard feelings about it.”
Good-bye Eric Gordon. Hello Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups. Oh yeah. You know it’s a saturated market when an Olympic gold winner, nba finals winner and nba finals mvp signs with a team and nobody really gives a damn. That’s the power of basketball and the power of immediacy. What’s hot is hot—now. Right now Paul and the Clippers are hot. Let’s hope they keep it. The acquisition of Paul, Billups, and last week Caron Butler at the small forward truly propels the Clippers into the conversation in LA basketball. But as Jalen Rose said on ESPN tonight, the Lakers still have Kobe, Pau and Andrew Bynum. As long as they have that triumvirate of core players, most still give them the nod between the two teams. But with internal strife over the Lamar trade, and further trade clouds very possible, things remain to be seen at Staples Center.
welcome to staples
Starting lineup for the LA Clippers (projected):
PG Chris Paul
SG Randy Foye
SF Caron Butler
PF Blake Griffin
C DeAndre Jordan
Playoffs? Yes, please.
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Basketball, Journalism
Lakers sources are reporting that Lamar Odom was so upset about his trade bait status in the Chris Paul fiasco that he asked to be traded. Whether or not that’s true is hard to say, but secondary to that is the fact that the Lakers pulled the trigger, sending him to one of their biggest rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. So what did the Lakers get in return? Money off the cap and a draft pick. “Seemingly nothing,” Kobe Bryant said Sunday.
From media day via the LA Times:
When the best player on (supposedly) the best basketball team in the world says “he doesn’t like it,” clearly there’s a problem here. For the Lakers, whose season starts in a mere few weeks, there are questions aplenty, and a definite shaky identity going into the shortened season.
Meanwhile, rumor mills have Chris Paul now interested in hooping with Blake Griffin and the Clippers if he can’t get on the Knicks or Lakers…Plus Clippers big man of the future DeAndre Jordan just signed an offer sheet with the Warriors, hich means the Clips have three days to match the offer. “Earlier Sunday, a league source told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher that the team planned to match the Warriors offer.” So Jordan will probably resign on a team that is turning into a dynamic young squad. Could Chris Paul really go to the Clippers? Could it happen? Wait and see…it’s getting weird here…
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Basketball
The league’s decision to nix yesterday’s Chris Paul-Lakers trade shows just how bad the state of basketball really is right now. The danger of having the nba (still in lower case) have a stake in one of it’s teams, the Hornets, means all 29 owners have a piece of the club, and a say on trades. And Grand Capo David Stern commissions over all of them.
“It’s dangerous for a league to actually have ownership in a team to begin with because of these type of circumstances…” —Derek Fisher, Lakers point guard, president of the players union, and teammate to trade-bait Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
With all this swirling around Laker-land, the more psychologically stable ball club going into the season is the purple and gold’s cross-locker room rivals, the Clippers. At 50 to 1 odds, Blake Griffin and company sure have a mountain to climb, but once they get to the top…
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This just in, the Lakers-Hornets-Rockets trade has been resubmitted to the league! Just broke by Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
The new deal: “In the details available to Yahoo! Sports, Paul goes to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and Houston still sends Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and a 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets. The main changes in the deal, originally nixed by the NBA, will come between New Orleans and the Lakers, sources say.”
Back to the waiting game…
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Basketball
Filed under Journalism, Politics
Within the online community, there’s widespread disdain for SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Mainly, that new restrictions would hobble the tech sector, one of America’s few economic bright spots. It seems SOPA’s latest threat, according to CNET is IP-blocking, which means that Internet providers would then monitor and block user access to sites suspected of copyright infringement.
“What a sad display: ignorance of technology ignorance of economics ignorance of the Constitution. #SOPA ” – Journalist Rob Pegoraro tweeted this week.
Below is the Center for Democracy and Technology‘s take. Read it and decide for yourself:
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Journalism
The Occupy Wall Street movement has grown from local to global. From dozens to hundreds to thousands. After initial success, it’s now at a turning point in the movement — the second phase. It can either devolve into its anarchistic tendencies, or unify to create a more powerful voice. The crux right now is local governments joining forces and evicting protesters in New York and other encampments. This will force the movement underground, or in direct confrontation with the powers that be, and this change could force some real direction and movement, sluggish at best with group sentiment leading decision making, rather than centralized leadership. It’s very possible that now this fracturing, or attempt at fracturing the group, will eliminate the fringe members, and galvanize the die-hards.
Occupy Wall Street is calling tomorrow, November 17, or #N17, a day of action, two months to the day that the occupation began in Zuccotti Park.
To stay on point with all of the varied Occupy news, check out Greg Mitchell at The Nation. He just released released an ebook based on his very popular Occupy Blog: 40 Days That Shook the World: from Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Everywhere. Pick it up—which I guess means downloading now.
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One of the biggest stories regarding Occupy you don’t hear enough of is the media blackout going on—whether suspicious social media control, restricted airspace to not allow helicopter camera views, reporters barred from covering events, even reporters getting detained and arrested for doing their job, amid the protest.
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One of the best stories I’ve kept up with Occupy, is the flack Jay-Z and Rocawear have gotten for releasing an Occupy All Streets t-shirt. It was reported in the WSJ that Rocawear removed the pages from their website. 
Yesterday, I visited the site, was able to find the image of the shirt, and purchase. It’s on back order til the middle of December, but if you want, Jigga man gon give it t’ya.
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And from one occupation to another…After failing to work out a deal, arguing over nickel and diming each other, the nba players union disbanded, the season was canceled, and the players are now filing an antitrust suit against the owners. Ech. Disgusting. When people can’t get enough work to feed their families, living check to check, these guys can’t agree on how many millions they get to pocket off basketball.
The nba is now written in lowercase. We have entered into what commissioner david stern calls the “nuclear winter of the nba.” Not only will this be a stunning loss to revenue and the basketball culture, but overall goodwill among men is severly chopblocked on this one—Andrew Bynum- Jose Barea style. Dirty.
Here lies the game. It was once great. Now it is gone. RIP nba.
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Basketball, Journalism, Rant
Klout is taking a lot of shots these days after it changed it’s algorithm. My score dropped by about 15 points and I was devastated. But in a way, it was a positive, because it broke the spell Klout had over me. For months I was obsessed with my score, religiously checking my +Ks, basically a digital acknowledgment of influence on a topic .
For a while I was the #4 most +K’d journalist on Klout, sandwiched between Jeff Jarvis and Anderson Cooper. I would tweet at Anderson Cooper and taunt him in a “na na” style that was harmless, if not playful—he never responded. Anderson Cooper wasn’t on Klout. Guess he’s too busy.
After a few weeks, and a slew of summer an fall New York Times articles, Anderson bumped me in the rankings. Soon I stopped checking my klout score everyday. My score got pretty stagnant—first I was upset, but then it stopped being a big deal. It was just a number. It meant something, but it didn’t. I got to a place where the number was only as important as I made it. And that put me back in the mode of creating content and commenting without concern for how that would affect my Klout score.
For the Plugged In, Too Many Choices
Social media isn’t about numbers, rankings, or page views. Viewed through the wire-rim frames of old media, it is doomed to that limited perspective.
Success with social media at its most basic level is connection—connecting a message or an idea with someone who can use that content to improve their life.
To that effect, one of the most overlooked social media skills needed to make that connection is loyalty. Whether it’s to a product, a service, or any form of digital or print content— raw information or refined media—loyalty to that business or service is what keeps business rolling. It’s what keeps the reader believing that what they read is true, as opposed to what their friend tells them.
The first step to that ideal producer-consumer relationship starts with creating consistently superior product. Breaking news, exclusive content, juicy scoops. This is the stuff of old-time journalism. Today much of the stories we read are synthesized, modified, aggregated and disbursed by today’s whatever works, plug the hole in the dyke joystick journalism. Because of this setting, keeping the message and image of a brand clean is vital in an era where scandal, plagiarism and content theft happen everyday, sometimes unknowingly and unintentionally (as is the case of Jim Romenesko, fired from the Poynter Institute for allegedly not quoting material).
As online professional in news or entertainment media, it is our job to deliver the best, most honest product we can. Keeping it clean in terms of content, curation and brand message is essential to avoid problems before they develop—it’s like keeping your home clean: dusting, washing, throwing out the trash. It’s all about upkeep, consistency, rhythm.
So, what’s next?
Even 12-Year-Olds Can Write iPhone Apps
We’re close to a change here. A view shift. The powers that be in everything from Fortune 500 companies to local mom and pop corner shops are drinking the kool aid that is Twitter and Facebook. And I think in large, that’s good for business and good for the economy. As long as we keep it honest, and real when it comes to producing content.
Last month at the TEDx Manhattan Beach conference I listened to a 12-year-old app developer speak with confidence and knowledge about youth and technology. This month at Blog World Expo LA, I listened to online professionals from all over the world discuss the state of the blogsphere. There’s a lot of talent out there, a lot of producers, a lot of consumers. The trick is not to be all things to all people. Better yet, there is no trick. Be real.
“I think my job will probably not exist in 5 years,” — New York Times’ Social Media Editor Liz Heron
While I doubt that the same platforms and services we currently have will exist in the years to come, I believe the industry is poised for growth; the medium will evolve and keep incorporating social media into e-commerce. Instead of automation, I think humans will continue to sit behind monitors.
“I think what’s really up in the air, and more to what Liz Heron was saying, is that with the flux in newsrooms and technology, that role may be way different in 5 years time,” I wrote Oct. 28th on the Nieman Lab blog post. “I think Heron’s comment (“My job won’t be around in 5 yrs”) may have been slightly tongue-in-cheek and said for effect, but that’s not to say she doesn’t really believe that. 5 years ago social media managers/ entrepreneurs were few and far between. Now there are many. Have we finished evolving? Not by a long shot …..”
Through the magic of Twitter, I spoke with Liz Heron about her comments. She said there “will always be jobs for those who understand new forms of communication. In 5 years, who knows what they will be?”
Good answer, Liz.
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Rant, Journalism, Social Media
A look at the relationship and continuing interaction between social media and journalism.
I examine the industry today with a background on the history of how social media has evolved to become a journalistic tool, the ethics and technology at play, modes of communication between online and print media, and current and future trends industry professionals see developing.
The following are a list of working professionals interviewed for this months-long investigative project:
1. Ryan Sholin, Director of News Innovation at Publish2
2. Michael Foley, journalist at Desert Sun/ content editor for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide/ social media expert
3. Rob Petersen, President/Founder BarnRaisers llc
4. Jay Adams, new media director for the Atlanta Falcons
5. Brenton Garen, former online video director, staff writer, Beverly Hills Courier, current Editor-In-Chief of the Santa Monica Daily Mirror
6. Amanda Peabody, former staff writer, assistant editor, Beverly Hills Courier
7. Abbey Hood, former news editor, Beverly Hills Courier
8. Sydne Summer, Fashion Editor at the Style Network’s mystyle.com & Editor-in-Chief of ThinkThruFashion
9. Erik Pedersen, senior editor at E! Online
10. Israel Lemus, online editor LAmag.com
11. Dorrine Mendoza, online content producer for North County Times
12. Tommy Tung, contributor to Juxtapoz Magazine
13. Josh Gross, Sports Illustrated mixed martial arts reporter
14. Chad Graham, social media and search engine optimization editor, azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic
15. Vicki Higgins, online producer for LA INC. (official tourism bureau for Los Angeles)
16. Pia Christensen, content manager, editor, Association of Health Care Journalists
17. Sumaya Kazi, CEO of @YoProCo. Award-Winning Entrepreneur. Former Sr. Social Media Manager at Sun, social media strategist
18. John Paul Aguiar, Blogger, Internet Entrepreneur, Social Media strategist
19. Lilliam Rivera, executive editor at Mondette.com
20. Justin Germino, Technology Manager, Blogger/Poet @dragonblogger
21. Robert Caruso, Founder & CEO Fondalo Inc.
22. Wendy Sullivan, web copywriter and journalist
23. Robert Hays, software development manager at DIRECTV
24. David Cohn, founder Spot.us
25. Richard Myer, former editor LA magazine, The Los Angeles Times
26. Larry King, former host of CNN’s Larry King Live
27. Dee Stewart, Owner of DeeGospel PR
28. Tanner Stransky, editor entertainment weekly & ew.com
29. David Politis, President of Politis Communications, a full-service PR/IR/Marcom agency focused on clients in the “green,” high-tech and life science/biotech industries
30. Jennifer Sheppherd, online producer for the Orlando Sentinel
31. Nic Wirtz, freelance Latin American journalist
32. Angela Kim, associate producer, Marketplace, American Public Media
33. Craig Newmark, owner, founder of Craigslist.com
34. Kim Bui, social media and community editor at KPCC
35. Ian Hill, community engagement specialist for KQEDnews.org in San Francisco
Filed under Journalism
Craigslist is one of the 10 most visited English language web sites–globally. Craig Newmark, the man behind the hugely successful e-commerce site is a man both revered and reviled for revolutionizing the Internet and media.
Back in 1995, he started work on what would become Craigslist, a site that offered users unprecedented access to the advertising market. A site so revolutionary and controversial that its free market openness has landed it in trouble on more than one occasion. The site was once a veritable tool for criminals and was even implicated in murder. In the last few years, crackdowns have removed a seedier element of a site not intended as a tool for pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers.
Within the media world, the site been criticized for gobbling up the classified ad monopoly newspapers once held, and moving them online. The loss of that revenue stream has been written about in numerous publications and linked to the decline of the industry for several years now (Pew, as usual, has terrific research). Newspapers still haven’t quite figured out how to harness the power of the Internet, but at least they’ve finally come to acknowledge its importance.
As for Craig, he’s been focusing on a new venture: Craigconnects, a pseudo-social network platform that describes itself online as a place to “connect people for the common good.” Here’s heavyweight @craignewmark on some of the biggest issues in the news business: social media, credibility, branding, and freedom of information.
Title:
Craigslist, founder & customer service rep
Craigconnects, founder
What do you do:
At craigslist, customer service and general direction;
At craigconnects, public service and philanthropy support via social media
How do you use social media / typical day:
Continuously, throughout the day, RSS and Twitter feeds, occasional look at HuffPost, TechMeme, etc. almost all the time, public radio in background. I try to focus on trustworthy sources and curation.
Your take on the relationship between social media / journalism:
Potentially, people using social media (both in the industry and outside) can help journalism return to basics. I’m mostly interested in practical ways to get fact checking done, also interested in the separation between reporting and internal financial concerns.
How do you create a brand presence:
Treat people the way you want to be treated.
Do you use social media away from work / if so, for private accounts or on behalf of company:
I do so continuously, via craigconnects, for a whole bunch of public service and philanthropic organizations.
How many hours a week do you work / How big is your staff:
When I’m not doing craigslist customer service stuff, I work on craigconnects with my consulting staff of about six people.
What trends do you see developing?
Increasing insistence on trustworthy reporting and curation.Increasing looking for that from peers and organizations like public radio, NPR, CPI, etc.
Is there a disconnect between online / print media:
Don’t know.
Does online media skew / appeal to a younger audience or are older people starting to get it:
Both.
Are bloggers journalists / Is it mutually exclusive:
The terms get in the way, and I’d draw a distinction based on adherence to professional ethics, for example, the SPJ code of ethics.
How did you hear about the Osama assassination:
I think it was public radio, WAMU.
Are you a fan of a paywall system (pay for content):
No opinion.
WikiLeaks: Good or Bad / Why:
Mixed. I think transparency should be the default position in government, but it’s hard to compromise when private discussions are exposed.
In the future, what innovations would you like to see:
Smart ways to help journalism return to basics, like ways to help news staff quickly access existing fact checks, and to get new fact checking via both professional and citizens via crowdsourcing.
In The Economist, you recently said bloggers are like John Locke, Thomas Pain and Benjamin Franklin. Can you elaborate on which bloggers/blogs you were referring to and your take on blogging:
I said that the historical figures were bloggers, much like the bloggers today, for example, Andrew Sullivan, Arianna Huffington, and Robert Scoble.
Craigslist’s role, if any, on the newspaper industry’s advertising troubles?
That’s a craigslist question; it would be better if you talk to CL management on that. I’m focused on craigconnects.
Brief career path:
* IBM: software developer, then technical customer service
* Charles Schwab: systems architect, and Internet evangelist
* informal contracting: various, including helping build HomeBanking at Bank of America
Filed under Journalism
At PubCamp West earlier this month, Amy Baroch interviewed me about the importance of social media to news and journalism.
Filed under Journalism, Video
Eighty-year-old Rupert Murdoch finally named a successor. This week, he said News Corp Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey would replace him if he was “run under a bus.” Nice outlook.
Murdoch had been grooming his son James–before the scandal. Before that it was Rebeka Brooks. Now Brooks is in jail and son James is due to testify once more for British Parliament. It’s going to get ugly before it gets pretty for him.
News Corporation Chief Rupert Murdoch, his son James, the current Chairman of News International, and former News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks
Still, for the News Corp company, the move has calmed investors, lifting shares as of Thursday. Profits are up, but News Corp is still down about 10 percent from the time before the News Of The World scandal.
So, without further chatter, here is your next leader of arguably the largest media conglomerate in the history of man:
News Corporation Deputy Chairman Chase Carey
I know nothing about this man, but I can say he has an amazing mustache. Perusing through Getty Images, this thing is no fluke. It’s been around for a long, long time. If Chase Carey spends half as much time working as he does styling his facial hair, he might turn out to be a pretty good leader.
Filed under Jerks, Journalism
Filed under Basketball
Rupert Murdoch and son James–at times visibly shaken by Parliament questioning, at others, stoic, lamenting, and hard to believe. Body language told the story, and a slouching, slumped elder Murdoch repeatedly banged his hand against the wood table for emphasis.
The Murdochs claimed (many, many times) to be unaware of multiple serious allegations against the News of the World and NewsCorp / News International company. Labour MP Tom Watson did a great job hitting the Murdochs with solid questions the men could in large part not answer. Murdoch Sr. often paused for long periods before commenting. Like a high-stakes card player unaccustomed to losing, he held his hand close.
“If I knew then what we know now…I have no knowledge of that…” from both Murdochs.
“Your father is responsible for corporate governance and serious wrongdoing has been brought about in the company,” Watson countered when son James tried to intervene on behalf of his father.
And then this happened…the proverbial spark that erupted this tense room into a mini-combustion.
That this living legend of the media business has been reduced from untouchable giant to a visibly, old and potentially weak man speaks volumes of how deep this scandal cuts, and how much we the public did not know about the men holding the reigns. This is journalism’s Enron moment.
In his testimony today, the elder Murdoch repeated time after time how much he DID NOT know. The way he told it made one wonder if this was true, which it didn’t seem like it could (or should be), what exactly did old man Murdoch do with his time?
If he really doesn’t know what’s going on at his own company, then Rupert Murdoch has no business at the helm of the NewsCorp ship. If he did know, he’s lying and digging his own grave should other-evidence arise (email, or employee testimony). And in this day and age, with the troves of data abound online, much more information could come to light.
Today’s faux-pie faux-pas reminded me of an enraged Iraqi journalist, who a few years ago threw a shoe at President George W. Bush at the end of a speech. The man was arrested, like today, but the moment was remembered as a tangible moment of dissidence against a Teflon titan.
Even though Jonnie Marbles didn’t quite connect this morning, it’s a black day for journalism.
–Adam Popescu
Filed under Journalism
After a long think and an online chat with my friend @nickcicero I changed my name…to my name..in the avatar, augmented reality that is Twitter.
In this age of digital branding, my only social media account that didn’t have my real name at this point was Twitter. I wouldn’t sign any of my other work with anything other than my full name–why should Twitter’s online version of me be any different?
Damn the API ramifications and the confused tweeters–it had to be done. After a few days of rattling it around upstairs, I pulled the trigger on July 5, the day Googles Twitter contract expired and they suspended the very useful real-time function.
@mcaption is no more. Long live @adampopescu.
Filed under Journalism
Sounds Sci-Fi, doesn’t it? Maybe not.
Tobii’s eye-tracking technology allows users hands-free laptop control: with the ability to scroll through emails and documents, hands free. Not sure if typing is plausible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some sort of functionality was developed to put it on the menu.
The Wall Street Journal’s All Things D blog reported widespread adoption could be a few years out, according to Tobii general manager Barbara Barclay’s comments at the D9 conference earlier this month.
The New York Times reported on Tobii Technologies back in March. Tobbi was founded in 2001 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. It now has offices in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Japan and China. Products include eye-assistance machines that without-a-doubt help the disable improve day-to-day life.
From DigitalTrends.com: “Before we began the demo, Barbara explained the technology. Tobii’s eye control works a bit like the Xbox Kinect (or a reverse Wii), but on a much closer scale. As you sit in front of the laptop, a row of two synced infrared sensors located under the screen scan your eyes. They do this about 30 to 40 times per second, examining the size and angle of your pupil, the glint in each of your eyes, and the distance between you and the laptop. Together, the two sensors create a stereoscopic 3D image of your eye for the computer to examine. Based on the angle and glint of your eye, Tobii’s technology calculates precisely which part of the screen you are looking at. It can even tell when you look away or close your eyes. To save power, the demo unit on hand darkened its screen when we looked away.”
After years of consuming negative, future-imperfect man vs. machine media in the form of the Terminator, Mad Max, and the Matrix, here’s to the growth of human-machine integration, in a sci-fiesque, positive way.
–Adam Popescu
Filed under Sci-Fi
Japan has given us another innovation: this one for our stomachs.
Madames et Monsieurs, I give you the Poop Burger. Bon Appetit.
!!!するピックアップ企業コーナーで紹介している新潟県長岡!!!!
Filed under Sci-Fi
Meet the SWITL, the new Japanese product taking the ketchup and mustard industry by storm.
No word yet if it can suck up stains and spills. It does work remarkably well on goop like peanut butter and jelly, but what about liquid? Will this mystery ever be solved?
SWITL!!!
長岡市Ｕターン支援事業『でーＪｏｂら、ねっと』の長岡の優れた企業を紹介するピックアップ企業コーナーで紹介している新潟県長岡市の古川機工㈱の製品『SWITL !!!
What a guy…here’s the Colonel, playing chess with noted-eccentric and President of the World Chess Federation…all while NATO bombs reign down…guess Muammar’s employing the Sicilian Defense…
Filed under Journalism, Video
In early May, I got the chance to interview Andrew Malcolm, one of the hardest working men in journalism. At 70 hours a week, hands on keys, this Pulitzer finalist’s got West Coast Chops for days.
Here’s @latimestot on some of the biggest issues in the news business: social media, journalistic credibility and branding, and freedom of information.
Title: National online politics columnist LATimes.com.
What do you do: write about US politics.
How do you use social media / typical day: I work noon til 4-5 am writing numerous political items for the column, communicating with almost 64,000 Twitter peeps, handling comments and doing research.
Your take on the relationship between social media / journalism: To the world they are very similar. To the aging generation within journalism they are totally different, which is why they qre dying out.
Why is it important: It’s the next evolutionary step in modern media.
How do you create a brand presence: Let your readers see inside your mind and how you processed whatever you are writing.
Do you use social media away from work / if so, for private accounts or on behalf of company: almost exclusively as part of my work.
How many hours a week do you work / How big is your staff: I have no staff. I have a part time partner occasionally. I work about 70 hrs/week.
How did you get involved in journalism: I heard a foreign correspondent speak to my prep school in the 10th grade and decided that night I wanted to be one.
How did you get involved with social media: An LAT editor asked me to study existing politics blogs and design one that I would like to write for latimes.com.
Is there a disconnect between online / print media: Yes definitely. But it is fading as print people either leave or recognize the inevitability of change.
Does online media skew / appeal to a younger audience or are older people starting to get it: Older people have gotten it for a long time. i.e. me
Are bloggers journalists / Is it mutually exclusive: Yes in a different way. They both tell stories.
Do you trust social media sites (Twitter, Facebook) as sources: As sources of tips only.
Is something credible because the online world say it’s so, before mainstream media reports it: it’s like a parallel universe with its own rules, protocol and standards. It’s wonderful if you don’t take it too seriously.
How did you hear about the Osama assassination: Email news alert.
Are you a fan of a paywall system (pay for content): I don’t care one way or the other.
WikiLeaks: good or bad / Why: Helpful for online readers to get rapid research sometimes verified.
In the future, what innovations would you like to see: I have no great needs. I can work with what I have—cellphone, Bberry, laptop, car and satellite radio.
What do you not like about social media (any limitations): There are wandering political cadres on all sides that have no interest in learning but only in propagandizing. Not unlike print journalism only more pervasive.
Brief career path: Northwestern Univ BSJ, MSJ. NY Times 1967-93.
Communications Dir Gov of Montana 1993-99. Dep Comms Mgr Bush-Cheney campaign and Laura Bush press secy 1999-2001. LATimes Editorial Board 2001-06. Pulitzer Finalist 2004. Online politics columnist 2007 til present
—Adam Popescu
Filed under Journalism
1. Obscene tile background of yourself doing something bureaucratic: like giving a speech, mouth dangling open, pray you don’t have a poppy seed from your bagel breakfast stuck in your teeth. Smile for the cameras.
2. You follow 30 people on Twitter. Twenty of them are 20 years younger than you. Further investigation reveals these young women lead sometimes questionable professional lives. Real American values are based on Puritanical. We’re not the French.In this country, it’s wrong for a man over 50 to even think of a young woman sexually, and by young, anything more than 10-20 years younger than you. (Immediately unfollow @gingerlee, @ _kimpham, @RachCamp, @andreadevinney et al). IMPORTANT: You should not be following more XXX Stars than U.S. Gov’t Stars. Keep it one Adult actress for every two real Adults you follow. In fact, don’t Tweet with a Porn Star. Ever. Even jokingly. @Repweiner You’re a Government employee for God’s sakes!!!! Stop it!
3. You send “revealing” photos of yourself in compromising positions and situations. On your public time-line. (Remember, Twitpic is the new Getty Images). You will later deny sending said pics, or claim no knowledge whatsoever of the events. Deny, deny, deny. See #2.
4. You go on a major news outlet like CNN or Fox, and in a panic, pee all over yourself and place your foot deep into your own mouth by calling a professional journalist a “Jackass.” Nice.
5. Finally, after retiring from public view and press for a few weeks and living in mad bunker-behavior denial, you stage a press conference, and in front of your loving family and the American people, you admit to everything. At this point you resign your post, no matter how big or small, and ask for the forgiveness of both your family and America. Depending where you are, you might throw in a couple blessings to the Lord or Jesus right about now. It’s all about spending time with your family now.
6. You wait for the smoke to clear and then do one of three things: serve time (think Kwame K.), keep fighting for your good name (Rod B.), get a job as a political pundit for a network (Elliot S.) or go on the lecture circuit and make some bank (Bill C.) Not that you need it. But you have a tell-all book now. Time to tweet it and get back on Twitter.
Filed under Journalism, Politics
Don’t cry for me Wasilla…
The Cannes film festival may be over, but a new movie is sure to make waves next month…in Iowa…Confused? Well, you should be.
In a few short weeks, Sarah Palin, yes, that Sarah Palin, will debut her new film, The Undefeated in the Hawkeye state, intended to remind voters that she is an option for the presidential nomination.
Produced secretly, the momma grizzly and newly minted auteur teamed with conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon on the $1 million tell-all about the former governor and GOP hopeful, explaining why she decided to leave her post as governor of Russia’s neighbor—err—Alaska.
Two versions of the film are set for release, according to Gawker. One, an unrated edition containing obscene anti-Palin language and imagery, the other without.
My only questions is, how long til it hits Netflix? Yeah, it’ll be in theaters for a few weeks, but this one was made for DVD: Special Features for a Special Lady.
–Adam Popescu
President Obama says he does not want to release the Osama death pic because he’s worried it will incite militant Islamists. Why, then, are the death photos of Osama’s people flooding the net? Why is that OK—those photos are graphic and chilling. Are there lives any less important, or any less potent in fanning the flames of hate?
The Administration’s pussyfooting and indecision (remember last week FBI Director Leon Panetta said they’ll be released eventually, while Obama vehemently said no) is not stemming ill will from those who hate us. If anything, it’s creating more controversy, and curiosity (check out how the radicals are reacting here). (Actually, now you can’t. The International Business Times sites is down as of May 8—Now back up as of May 10).
Would it not be better to release the photo, so we can collectively take it in and get over it? Holding onto to the photo keeps the debate raging (there are those who say it’s all a hoax) and keeps attention on an event that should be dealt with fully. Let’s not forget there’s also supposedly Navy video footage of the sea burial. What about that video? Is the clock ticking on that one, too?
The New York Times called the decision Situation Ambiguous. Well put.
Osama is dead. That’s it. But until we see the photos, we still have a long way to go, and we’re sitting on a powder keg.
Filed under Journalism
