News and World

A News Release Is Not An Ad

2010-02-15T03:31:00.000-08:00

By Angela Booth

You sent out a news release. Then a newspaper or a magazine (or both, oh happy day) published an article about you based on the release. Whoopee! Break out the Dom Perignon!

It's true, an article about your business does wonders for your business. Not only do you get an increase in business, but you can leverage the article in many ways. You can create reprints of the article to send to current clients and prospects, and you can use the article in your advertising. The article gives you instant credibility.

So how do you get all this free advertising? You're well on the way to that newspaper or magazine article if you realize that a news release is NOT AN AD. It's NEWS about your business. If your news release has a whiff of advertising about it, it will it hit journalists' round files faster than it took you to lick the stamp and paste it on the envelope.

Unfortunately many small business owners, and even many copywriters, are unclear about the difference between advertising and a news release.

So what’s the difference between a news release and an ad?

A news release gives the FACTS. Just the plain, unvarnished, unembellished facts. It doesn't try to sell the business. It doesn’t say how wonderful the business, service or product is, it gives verifiable facts.

For example, let's say that you're a copywriter. You've gone solo, and have just started a new copywriting services business. So you've decided to send out a news release announcing your new business.

The fact that you've started a copywriting services business is a fact. The name of your business and its address is a fact. The hours you're open for business: fact.

A biographical note about yourself gives facts.

A statement that you make, in quotes, as part of the news release is also a fact. The release could include this paragraph:

'Felicity Jones said: "I'm looking forward to becoming a part of the Ocean Park business community. I've been introducing myself to local business owners, who have expressed strong interest in my services." '

Remember, a news release contains: FACTS.

A news release, because it's NEWS, is also written in newspaper style, that is, in Inverted Pyramid style.

=> Inverted Pyramid style

A news release is written in "inverted pyramid" style. Imagine a pyramid. Stand it on its apex. You now have the broad base uppermost. This signifies that the base of the story, or the root of the story, comes first.

Therefore, news releases have this structure: a headline, and the first paragraph giving the most important information. The first paragraph tells the entire story.

Then each succeeding paragraph gives more information in order of descending importance. You can chop off any of the later paragraphs and still have the story make sense.

I like using a headline in a news release, but it's optional. Unlike the headline in an ad, your headline shouldn’t be cute or gimmicky, it should summarize the story in five or six words. For example: 'Nursery Gives Away Free Trees'; 'New Store Opens'; 'Delaney Sponsors Local Swimmers'.

The first paragraph is your story in a nutshell: who, what, how, when, where and why. It's easy to write. Just state your case. Tell who you are, what you're doing, how you're doing it, where you're doing it, and why.

Here's an example of a headline, and the first paragraph of a news release:

LOCAL WRITER OPENS NEW COPYWRITING BUSINESSS

Last Thursday, local writer Samantha Jones opened Pine Ridge's first copywriting business, "Just Add Words", at 4784 Boundary Road. Ms Jones said: "I decided to start my new business when I realized that Pine Ridge has two businesses offering secretarial services, and three printers, but no one's helping local businesses to write their marketing communications."

As you can see, it tells the complete story in the first paragraph, and it's all facts. Let's hope that some enterprising journalist decides to give Samantha a call, and writes a story about Samantha's new business.

If you're new to writing news releases, go to the library and take out a couple of books on public relations. The books will give you lots of information on how to find material for news releases, and also sample releases.

Beware some of the so-called news releases you find online. Most of these are simply advertising, dressed up to look like a release. They're not news releases, because news releases contain facts.

Good luck with your news releases and remember: just give the facts.

Two Super Secrets of News Releases

2010-02-12T03:29:00.000-08:00

By Angela Booth

Up to 90 per cent of stories in newspapers and on the TV news appear because someone sent out a press release. Can you imagine what that means?

What would happen to your business if you appeared on Oprah? Or if a major magazine did a feature story on you? Or a major newspaper? Your business would never be the same again. No amount of paid advertising can match free publicity.

And yet, very few small businesses ever bother sending out a press release. (The terms "press release" and "news release" are interchangeable, but I prefer "news release" because it reminds me that the release must contain news of some kind.)

=> Super Secret #1: Send out news releases regularly, to your local media, national media, and post them online too.

This means educating yourself as to what constitutes a news release. And that education is VITAL. Nothing ticks off a reporter more than receiving a blatant ad masquerading as a news release. I'm a computer journalist, and I receive news
release every day that are nothing more than blatant advertising. My editors' attitude is: "If you want to advertise, buy an ad. If you want free publicity, give us a story in return."

Here's a brilliant resource which tells you everything need to know about crafting news releases that not only get read, but also get used:

http://sprite.netnation.com/~greenbri/ABCPublicityFAQ.html

=> Super Secret #2: A lack of response doesn't mean NO response

A point to keep in mind ---- most releases you send out seem to go nowhere.
"Seem" is the operative word.

Let's say you've spend four hours sweating over a news release. You send it out. To coin a cliché, the silence is deafening.

However, all is not as it seems. The more often your name crosses a reporter's desk, the more familiar you become. When I'm wearing my journalist's hat, I appreciate marketers who send me releases: after the third or fourth release, their names are
familiar. I might not use their story, but if they keep sending me releases, they WILL get some response.

In my copywriting practice, I send out news releases for clients regularly, on a set schedule, because news releases which aren't picked up do have an effect. Send your releases out, and sooner or later, if you persist, you will get the publicity.

A big benefit of sending Web news releases is that the releases are indexed by search engines. This sends traffic to your site painlessly.

5 Steps to Profiting from News Feeds

2010-02-09T03:27:00.000-08:00

By Lisa Sparks

Looking at News Feeds, you might think they’re some of the most complex things to set up. Nothing could be further from the truth. They’re actually super-easy to create once you have the system set up properly.

You can break down the news feed system into a fast, low-cost system that you can do once, or several times over.

First I’ll answer a few of your questions about news feeds. Then I’ll reveal the “secret” steps to setting up and profiting from a news feed.

Common Question #1: What is a news feed?
A news feed is an automatically updating list of the latest news on a particular subject. For instance, the news feed on my Web site is on the subject of small business marketing.

Common Question #2: Why do I need one?
Other than being a really cool thing to have on your Web site, News feeds are also really great traffic boosters. Not only do they make your Web site more attractive to the all-important Web crawlers that view what's on your site, but News feeds also inspire visitors to come back to your site for fresh news.

So the benefits are three-fold:

• new visitors,

• return visitors, and

• passive profits.

Please keep in mind there are a few things you need to do to see benefits from news feeds.

1. Choose a subject of interest to your audience. I chose small business marketing news. For you, it could be the latest news on a tough problem gripping your industry. The great part about it is that you don’t have to provide answers, just create a forum where your target market can access information about an issue.

2. Find your news feed. There are several services providing news feeds of various pieces of information. In my experience it’s best to locate news aggregators based only on your industry.

3. Place the feed on your Web site. This is where I initially ran into problems, but a programmer friend passed on a rather affordable solution that I was able to easily place the news feed on your Web site. The great thing about it is, once you set up the feed, you never really have to touch it again.

4. Make your site profitable. Consider placing advertisements on the same page as your news feed. No doubt the regularly updating news will be a hit with your audience and as more people come to the site you’ll be producing passive profits. (Say that five times fast!)

5. Drive traffic to your site. Over the years I’ve found the best way to drive traffic to a site is through article writing and distribution. It’s like an instant shot in the arm for quality traffic.

And that’s the “secret” formula to profiting from news feeds. Really, it’s no secret. It’s all about know which resources to use to make the news feed work for both you and your target audience.

Google News - Just Another Article Announcer?

2010-02-06T03:25:00.000-08:00

By Martin Lemieux

In Google's recent battle towards becoming an international news center, I've come to notice that the results delivered from Google News seems like nothing more than the articles we publish everyday. So I ask, doesn't it seem like Google News resembles an article directory of some sorts?

Google News World: news.google.com

Google News Canada: news.google.ca

Google News UK: news.google.co.uk

I only mention this because when submitting my internet marketing articles, I often wonder if they show up within Google News? 9 times out of 10, they do! In fact, they usually show up within 48 hours of being indexed from other top related websites.

How does Google News select it's content?

Right now, it seems that "news centers" & "press release companies" related to your field online are profiting from these search results. When you think about it, wouldn't a press release be a form of news anyways? Possibly...

If you take a good look at the websites who deliver the content within Google news, you will notice that only a select few are providing all of the results. Again, it's possible that Google's news algorithm is still in its infant stages and probably has a lot of uphill battles to conquer.

It may be in Google's best interest to assemble a team of experts in different fields to accept articles/news submissions in order to keep the news source within the Google kingdom.

There is Only A Fraction of Results Showing:

While searching through the GN section, you will also notice a relatively small portion of actual search results coming up. Only a fraction of a percentage of results get listed within the GN search results compared to the same results within the regular search results found on Google's main page.

Only the sections on the left deliver actual real-time news. These are: Top Stories | World | Business | Sci/Tech | Sports | Entertainment | Health. These links provide real-time results delivered from credible news sources online.

Google News Alerts - Ezine anyone?

When you think about it, you are giving Google your email address to get related articles to the search term delivered to your inbox, how does this differ from any other regular newsletter? Are we going to start seeing Google Adwords within the news alerts? Will they consider giving large corporations the opportunity to advertise within their email alerts as a one time mailing! I hope not.

More and more we are seeing less of the Google we once knew and have come to love (A search bar with some great results). Since Google's IPO, the development team at GG are starting to launch applications online that are starting to resemble what we now know as the great Yahoo Portal.

Will there be any difference? Probably not.

One Great Point About Google News:

They have given you the ability to customize your page to show whatever news topics you want. Simply look at the right side for a button that says "Customize this page New!". Once you click on this link a drop down box shows you all the main topics you have listed within your page. Simply click on the topic you wish to customize or remove. The best part of it all is that you can click on "Add a custom section" and simply search for the topic you wish to have listed on your page.

Getting Your Blog Into Google and Yahoo News

2010-02-03T03:22:00.000-08:00

By Jeff Klein

Maximizing the amount of traffic to your website is the ultimate goal of any expert blogger. Two of the best organizations online that will help you accomplish that are Google News and Yahoo News; millions of readers across the globe come to these sites every single day. The exposure and credibility these sites give your blog will put you in the big leagues. And, if you sign up on one of these sites, you will be able to receive mass exposure. Before you can submit your blog's URL to Google and Yahoo News however, you have to register on their websites. There's no cost to register but you need to know how both sites work.

Google News

Google searches many news websites and compiles them to create one singular, convenient news source. Certain factors dictate how often which news stories appear. Google uses only online news publishers to figure out which articles from the 4,500 news sources are most relevant. No humans are involved in the editorial process. Google News breaks down its subject into top news stories and eight categories: word news, national news, business, science and technology, sports, entertainment news, health news, and most popular news stories.

There are some points that should be kept in mind.

* RSS/Atom Feeds and Single News Stories are not accepted by Google News at this time.

* When submitting your URL there are questions you are made to answer first. Then, Google News will look at your blog and decide whether it is suitable for their website. Upon acceptance, they will let you know if they need any further information from you; however, there is no assurance that your blog will be included on their website.

* If you want to get more hints and tips straight from the source, go to Google News-Help Topics.

Yahoo News

* Yahoo also gets just as much traffic as Google News; they are both very similar in terms of how they produce content. They too use automation instead of humans to receive news articles. However, the hot news stories are found on the main web page, while the rest is searchable through Yahoo's news index.

* As far as getting a blog accepted, the first thing a blogger has to do is answer some questions, followed by telling Yahoo why your blog should be listed on their news site.

* If Yahoo likes what they see in your blog, and decides to list it on their news website, you will be contacted.

Guidelines to Getting a Blog Approved

When trying to get your content listed on Google and Yahoo news, remember that the competition is tough and the rejection rate is high. But, keeping these tips is mind will give you a slight edge to building a great reputation.

* Your content must be positively one of a kind, and it is imperative to keep your blog seo-friendly with related keywords.

* Realize that you must have at least one additional blogger working with you, or your blog will not be listed. You can either find guest bloggers or collaborate with a colleague and work together on a long-term basis.

* A quick server response time is key. Web crawlers are partial to blogs that can be indexed and loaded quickly.

Upon acceptance of your blog, Google News strongly recommends adding a sitemap. This can easily be handled by registering on Google Webmaster Tools, then going to the sitemap section located in Tools. Sitemaps are extremely effective in promoting traffic and helping spiders crawl your blog.

Credible News Sources

2010-01-31T03:11:00.000-08:00

By Uday Gunjikar

Recently, Keith Olbermann, on his MSNBC news show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, cited Fox News as the "worst persons in the world." He claimed that the Fox News Channel is blatant right-wing propaganda. He also noted that President Obama, in a recent TV interview (the same interview, incidentally, as the now-notorious fly-swatting incident, in which, according to news reports on MSNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN and elsewhere, the President demonstrates his "remarkable fly-swatting skills") claimed that there was at least one news channel dedicated to undermining his administration at all costs. Olbermann suggests that the President was referring to Fox News.

Back in the day when the Republicans controlled both houses as well as the Presidency, a period that might well go down in history as a modern-day Dark Ages or Reign of Terror, the Fox News channel was considered to be the bastion of credible news. So much so that all other news agencies were too afraid even to question their authority.

Fox News, owned by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., had started on the premise that conventional news sources like CNN and network news operated on a principle of a subtle left-wing cultural bias resulting from the educational and social milieu of their journalists. The solution that Fox News apparently proposed was to dedicate a news channel to supposedly "fair and balanced" news coverage. "Fair and balanced" became their watchword, but it soon proved to be ironic. Over time, their supposedly objective news coverage has been exposed as right-wing propaganda that was pretty blatantly pandering to the Bush administration while they were in power.

This brings us to MSNBC's news lineup. MSNBC is a news channel that is produced as a joint venture, as the name suggests, between Microsoft (the monolithic software giant founded by Bill Gates) and NBC. Their lineup of news shows supposedly offers us the alternative to Fox News, but, as implied by Keith Olbermann, what they are really offering us is left-wing propaganda that panders to the Obama administration.

The tragic consequence of all this government pandering and institutional propaganda is that the number-one casualty in mainstream news coverage is credibility. Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins of today, with their stunning exposés of corruption in high places? Definitely not at either Fox News or MSNBC.

Perhaps the answer to where we can find credible news sources lies with CNN--still bland and presenting the façade of objectivity while concealing a subtle left-wing bias--who now, apparently, resorts to blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook posts to supplement their on-site correspondent reports. CNN even encourages you to submit amateur videos via the "iReport" section on their website, which allows them to feature the videos on their news shows after a process of vetting and verification. In fact, in the ongoing Iranian uprisings, where mainstream journalists are being banned and extradited by the authoritarian Iranian regime, western news sources are having to rely on Twitter feeds, blogs and amateur video from Iranian citizens as their news sources.

This brings us to the argument that mainstream news organizations have recently been making against the Blogsphere, especially in the wake of such recent films as State of Play, directed by Kevin Macdonald, namely that the Blogsphere is composed primarily of amateurs who are out of their depth, whereas if you are looking for cutting-edge Woodward-and-Bernstein style in-depth reporting, you will find it only at the major news organizations who have the skills and resources at their disposal to support that kind of news coverage.

The reality--at least two of the so-called major news organizations are dedicated to producing partisan propaganda that pretty shamelessly panders to politicians while the third is increasingly resorting to the Blogsphere to provide its news sources. As for Woodward and Bernstein, they are both retired and writing books for a living.

The moral of the story appears to be, therefore, that if you are looking for cutting-edge journalism, skip the news networks and, instead, check out the Blogsphere!

News Profiteer Review - Is This Forex News Trading System a Scam?

2010-01-28T03:10:00.000-08:00

By William Barnes

Did the News Profiteer Forex news trading system by Henry Liu really make a 126% return on capital in just 3 short months? Apparently, this is what Henry claims that his news trading system has done, but it seemed really hard to believe at first. As every Forex trader would know, Forex brokers typically widen their spreads during news release times, making it hard for news traders to profit from any price movements. This made me even more curious to find out about the News Profiteer System.

1. How Do You Trade The Forex News Releases Profitably?

As Henry puts it, if a trader can anticipate the fundamentals of the market, he or she will own the market. After testing his system for over a month and trading with the methods and currency pairs listed in his guide, I have found this theory to be quite true. The timing of the trade must be right though in order to avoid getting caught during the widening of spreads.

2. Why Do Forex Brokers Hate News Traders So Much?

When news are being released, there will be much fewer bids in the market. To execute your order, your broker may need to take all the risk by accepting your position. Thus, any gain that you make from any price movement will be your broker's loss. Thus brokers typically widen their spreads to protect themselves.

3. Is News Profiteer Worth The Money?

This system will give you the knowledge and a proven system to make money again and again whenever news reports are released. The value of this knowledge has been very well worth the cost for me, and I highly recommend it to any Forex trader who is interested to learn how to make money with FX fundamentals.

Forex Trading on News and Economic Releases

2010-01-25T03:07:00.000-08:00

By Danielle Franklin

The movement of the prices in forex trading depends on news and economic releases. Trading according to the news is one of the widely used trading techniques. The question many ask is how to trade the news and is it easy.

First of all, I have to make it loud and clear that trading on news isn't as easy as it may sound. You see major changes in price movements after some of the news releases and you start vigorously shake in anticipation of easy money. Well, I have to disappoint you - trading news releases requires a lot of skills.

Forex market is open 24 hours a day, and that is a huge plus for forex traders. Since world economic updates influence the price movements, forex traders are able to use this information to make decisions about their next trading order.

The basic idea behind trading news releases is to catch strong price movements (so called breakouts). The volatility happens a lot in forex market and every time it occurs there is a great chance of earning lots of pips. Your agenda is to catch the volatility momentum at the right time and use it as long as it lasts (the range is very fuzzy, actually. The volatility can last from minutes to days!)

The major currencies that you should keep an eye on are USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD and NZD. If you are raising your eye brows, let me quickly answer your question. Yes, there are more currencies available, however these are the strongest currencies known today.
Now, the currency pairs which are important in news trading are:
EUR/USD

USD/JPY

AUD/USD

GBP/JPY

EUR/CHF

CHF/JPY
You can follow news releases via economic calendar. If you aren't a big fan of technical analysis and chart indicators, you can consider going solo news trading. Actually a lot of forex traders choose this path. Their decisions are based only on daily news reports and updates and chart indicators are not used at all.

If you decide to become a news trader you will have to follow the economic releases very closely. The main topics that should be followed are the interest rate and FOMC rate decisions, retail sales figures, inflation indicators, unemployment data, industrial production, business, manufacturing surveys the country's trade balance (US Treasuries). Not all news releases are important and even the important ones have different impact on forex market.

I suggest using both news trading and technical analysis. That way you can use the breakout indicators as well as the news releases and have a higher probability to profit.

Social Media News Releases Explained

2010-01-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

By Deltina Hay

You've surely heard the term "social media news release" in all the buzz about the new, social Web, but what does it mean? A social media news release is just like a traditional news release, except that it is also social media and Web 2.0 optimized. In short, this kind of news release encourages interactivity, is easily shared in the social Web, and contains a number of other Web 2.0 elements.

Generally, these additional elements include:

* Multimedia items, such as downloadable images, PDF/DOC files, or audio/video files.
* A way for readers to comment directly on the news release content.
* An obvious and easy way for readers to bookmark the news release in social bookmarking sites, or to share it via email.
* Technorati tags and links to purpose-built del.icio.us pages.

If you or your business produce online or email press releases regularly, you should be utilizing social media news releases. Like everything else on the Internet today, there is an expectation that content will be interactive, easily shared, and will offer sources to similar information. If your news releases do not live up to these expectations, your chances for major media coverage may be hurt. It's fairly simple to create your own social media releases, or you can use a service like PRWeb. And, since a social media news release is just a traditional release with added elements, you do not need to change your present format, just include some additional sections. These added elements include:

Multimedia section: Here you will offer a number of downloadable items, including PDF or Word documents, such as book excerpts, advanced reviews, white papers, brochures, etc., and images, like author photos, company executive photos, book cover art, company logos. Also provide any relevant podcasts and video clips in this section.

Technorati tag section: Use this section to list links to Technorati pages that are tagged with a list of good key terms relevant to your news release.

Social bookmarking section: In this section, provide links to any of your relevant purpose-built del.icio.us pages. You could also provide links to relevant pages on Digg or any other social bookmarking and crowd-sourced news sites.

Sharing and commenting: In addition to the sections listed above, you should also make it as easy as possible for your readers to share or bookmark your release in any number of ways. Allowing visitors to comment on your news release makes it truly interactive.

Social media section: If you don't have a social media newsroom to refer your readers to, you should consider adding a section to your news release that lists where you have a presence in the social Web. Link to your profiles in places like MySpace, Facebook, Squidoo, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, etc.

Creating your news releases using a blogging platform like WordPress makes it easy to incorporate the additional social media optimizing features. Commenting is already built in, and there are a number of good plugins for adding Technorati tags to WordPress posts and for social bookmarking, among other features.

Reality TV News Online - Part 3

2010-01-19T03:03:00.000-08:00

By A. Militant

At present, certain reality news TV online does not just strive to be the most comprehensive but to become the most newsworthy provider of news to the online public. These types of sites are the ones frequently updated with the most intriguing news reports of any reality TV show from all around the world.

To best suit to the news consumer's demands for quality news, they even hire a huge team of editors to sort out and guide the direction of effective and responsible news writing online. There are many original reports on various trends, gossips and creative analyzes of everyday reality news that are posted regularly. Thus, all people will know who got in and who was eliminated from certain reality TV shows, in as much as knowing what is hot and what is not.

Like these types of reality TV news online, they thrust completeness in reality news and not necessarily covering all the news. Having a complete content with the news on hand is a lot better than getting the most number of news. They only cover the news that is interesting to the news readers. Useless and insignificant news are out of the discussion boards. As an avenue for responsible journalism, they even allow the readers to make comments or corrections to the news they are posting especially when it involves non-factual and highly opinionated content. Their primary concern is to target the reality shows that meet the standard for quality wherein the best shows can even have a separate archive for arranging news specific to it.

Deliver Us From Evil, Let Freedom Ring - Sean Hannity & Bill O'Reilly Fox News Battle for Supremacy

2010-01-16T03:01:00.000-08:00

By Paul Davis

God deliver us in America from the evil of shock jocks on the TV airwaves fighting for originality and supremacy.

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yes, seven are an abomination unto Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Bill O'Reilly claims he broke Senator Obama's Pastor Problems Story about Rev. Wright.

3-19-08 -- In his 3-18-08 column at the conservative website newsmax.com O'Reilly states:

O'REILLY: "Likewise, the nightly network news programs have downplayed the situation. On Friday, ABC News ignored it and NBC News gave it 20 seconds."

"Had the 'O'Reilly Factor' not broken the story last Thursday night, it would have likely died which is exactly what the leftist media wants."

What Bill fails to tell the American people is that ABC News reported the Rev. Wright story on Thursday morning on Good Morning America.

MSNBC had been reporting Obama's Pastor Problems almost as much as FOX had been. As for O'Reilly, he implied that ABC News had totally ignored the story, when in actuality it was ABC who released the story on Thursday morning.

O'Reilly inaccurately claims NBC only gave the Rev. Wright story 20 seconds, which in actuality their cable news network MSNBC covered it nearly 24/7 for several days after its release on Thursday.

O'Reilly erroneously and inaccurately claimed he broke the story Thursday night.

The pertinence to this is when shock jocks like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity call their news network "fair and balanced" (while their talk show programs ask guests a question and than proceed to bulldoze over them to look like the intellectual hero and "culture warrior" on a mission to save a misguided America), don't believe them for a minute.

They who lie about the originality of a news story and fight for supremacy among themselves on the very same network are swallowed up by their very own egos, thereby making them tainted and incapable of delivering "fair and balanced" news.

The true assessment and credit should go to the NY Times, who actually broke the Rev. Wright story when they reported it on April 30, 2007. The NY Times broke the story before ABC News did, a story which they had almost a year ago.

Sean Hannity also claims he broke the story. The night before the Obama speech in Pennsylvania, Hannity said this to Karl Rove on Hannity & Colmes.

HANNITY: "We broke this story. I know everyone's taking credit for it now. Won't this put him in the category of being seen by the American people as your average politician, spinning like a top, and that this is done to save and salvage his campaign, and it's being done for political expediency."

Ironically the big boys competing to be number one on the shock jock circuit with Fox News are the very same talk show hosts who are jeopardizing the Fox News claim to being "fair and balanced."

I guess it's kind of like Jon Stewart reported on "The Daily Show" when CNN claimed to have the "best political team in news" and Fox shortly thereafter upped the self-exalting assertion saying Fox had "the best political team in news ever."

Thankfully the American people are a bit more clever and are catching on to the trickery of sly as a fox fixed news and all its noise.

Where Do You Get Your News?

2010-01-13T02:58:00.000-08:00

By Lance Winslow

The other day, someone at the Online Think Tank had asked me how come I am up on all the latest news - he asked; "where do you get your news anyway?" What he was really asking is if I got most of my news online, from the newspaper, radio or TV? Interestingly enough, I get my news from all those sources. Online, I take several RSS feeds, ezines and surf the online news. You see, as a huge "news intake junky" myself, I can say that both online and offline news are important.

Where do you get your news? Where do we tend to get most of our news? Yes, this is a very good question, and some say news is like politics and all news is local, meaning that you need to read the local newspaper, watch the local TV, listen to the local radio and go to localized online portal venues. Great news for local media at a time when much of the advertising dollar is moving towards online venues.

But how people get their news is really hard to say. For many like me it is a combination of sources. Maybe, but without proper research, it is just all talk. In fact, I read an interesting blog the other day that addressed this issue and cited a couple of surveys that contradicted each other, done of course by the media of each different venue, convenient indeed. It seems to me that this gentleman's blog makes a great point in that he shows these "news polls" for what they are. What is that famous saying; liars figure and figures lie, often enough is the real truth.

In B2B Magazine which is a print magazine touting the greatness of Online Marketing, which is funny in itself, it showed a study that radio, TV and newspapers were making a slight come back in advertising, of course that is only because those media outlets work best for elections and there are big bucks being spent. Thus, they must keep up the image that people are viewing, thus more studies, "done by them" to promote themselves. Still, I found it ironic that B2B Magazine agreed with the stats.

Of course, when it comes down to it, most politicians are getting a greater percentage of their contributions online so there is lots of push for valuable content, locally, regionally and even nationally and global. I found your comments spot on, and this is a deep question, that I too would like answered with empirical data, real research, unbiased. Indeed, I enjoyed this gentleman's blog about the media and how people get their news, it certainly got me thinking, and I hope I passed this on to you.

There's A Place For You In The News Industry

2010-01-10T02:54:00.000-08:00

By Roger Jeakings

Let me share some thoughts very near to my own heart, the capture and delivery of news images. If I asked you to bring to mind a classic news image; the collapsing towers in New York; the little girl running for her life from a napalm strike in South Vietnam; the baby falling through the air from a high rise building in flames; or the images of a baby whale and its mother killed and winched aboard a Japanese whaling mother ship in the southern waters of Antarctica what would you say?

Each and every day brave men and women risk their lives and reputation to bring you news images. But it doesn't stop there. You too have the opportunity to contribute to the news media. News happens everywhere and gives you a fighting chance to shoot classic images that not only hit the headlines but puts nice neat dollars in your pocket. You don't need highly fancy cameras either. I would wager if you captured Bin Laden in his lair with a cheap disposal camera, fitted with a glass milk bottle lens, you would have the major TV networks and news agencies around the world offering you a fortune for your images. That is an extreme example I admit, but it does serves to remind you of the window of opportunity news photography offers.

Oh yes, there is catch. You need to understand how the news media operates and their image expectations. You have to do your homework. That was one of the reasons I wrote my new eBook, "The Camera on the Frontline," as a practical guide to would-be news photographers in a part time or career role imbued with the urge to shoot news photos.

News photojournalists live and work in a condition of intense competition, danger and discord, risk life and limb and face the wrath of their illustration editors and you the viewing public. By the way, I'm not talking about the paparazzi here, the leeches of the image industry; that is another story. News photographers are much more than picture takers. They are photojournalists, visual reporters, who record our social fabric, history and relate visually to the moment; any given moment I might add, of the day. If you take a small leaf out of their book you are well on the way to becoming something to be reckoned with when you get behind your camera.

Memorable news images are powered by a range of visual elements, but far ahead of the rest is the element of emotion. Emotion plays a huge part in the acceptance and rejection of a news image in the media. Without emotion in some shape of form, humorous, sad, anger or anguish whatever, a news image will likely fall into the news room's rubbish bin like a spent autumn leaf.

Let's have a look at some of the visual power triggers that make news images (and your own personal pictures) resonate and unique.

1. A news image must tell a story... need I say more!

2. A news image must have visual impact. It has to grab you by the nose and pull you along.

3. A news image must stir something inside you; trigger a response a feeling, a reaction, recognition.

4. A news image must 'live' even though it might be a passive subject. Something in the image must 'click' with viewer

5. A news image must capture imagination and hold it long enough for a response, favourable or otherwise.

6. A news image must be candid, not a contrived wish washy, line-them-up-against-a-wall and 'shoot them' image. No news editor wants a group shot with a power pole sticking out of someone's head, as the news paper's 'front page' visual.

7. A news image must be adventurous, 'man biting a dog' approach, something different to the norm, something that gives the image 'sparkle.'

8. A news image must be unique in its own way. The subject may be old and presented a hundred times over, but dished up in a visually appetizing way that is refreshingly different.

9. A news image must appeal to more people that you and your mother, (with respect to mothers).

Remember you have access to news images 24 hours a day. There is no excuse for not viewing them constantly. What you have to do is find some time, take a deep breath and sit down observe and thoroughly analyse them, a great learning resource for you to study and learn from.

Here is a little irony for you. You have a news gathering course at your fingertips. Follow the leads offered on your newspapers' pages and moving images on your TV screens. Devour the experience. News gathering is a tough uncompromising business but it has plentiful rewards and hectic challenges.

It's an occupation like no other, throwing down difficulties, problems and intense disappointment.
You have be like a well oiled-duck and let the trials and tribulations slip over you as you labor away. If you want to taste the ultimate news gathering experience, try combat photojournalism. But that is another story I will keep for later.

Forex News - Why Most Traders Use It In The Wrong Way and Lose!

2010-01-07T02:52:00.000-08:00

By Kelly Price

It's a fact that today is forex news sources are better than ever and its delivered quicker yet the ratio of losers to winners in forex trading remains the same as it did 50 years ago 95% lose and only 5% lose. The news can be useful but you need to know how to use it.

First let's look at a simple equation:

Forex Fundamentals (supply and demand news) + Investor Psychology = Price

The facts are there for all of us to see but assessing the impact of the news is hard because humans (millions of them) all motivated differently see the facts but they all draw their own personal conclusions from them and that's the price.

If it were easy to trade by following the news then there would be a lot more winners than there actually are. Will Rogers once said:

"I only believe what I see in the papers"

Of course he was making a joke but I am amazed by how many traders think that because a story appears on Reuters or another newswire, they can trade it - you can't.

The fact is that humans always push prices top far up or down, as their emotions come into play and most major tops are formed when the news is most bullish and vice versa in a bear market.

It's a fact that prices generally move in line with the long term fundamentals but prices spike to far from fair value up or down along the way and history shows us these spikes don't last.

You can spot them easily on a forex chart and trade them for profit.

There is a well know saying:

"If you can hold onto your head when everyone around you is losing theirs, you probably haven't heard the news"

In forex trading this means you sit back in a detached fashion and look at your forex charts and when you see a price spike you start to question the news.

For example - the euro spiked to 1.50 recently and everyone said that the dollar was finished - yet its rallied and will probably rally further.

Why?

Because all the news stories have been discounted: Interest rate cuts, the sub prime mortgage crisis, the US will slip into recession etc and things can only get better and people also didn't pay attention to GDP which is robust.

The dollar was simply oversold and rallied, when the news was at its most bearish.

This doesn't just happen in forex, it happens in any market.

I read a great story about oil going to $160.00 dollars a barrel and that $100.00 a barrel was sustainable.

Well - there is no shortage of oil.

Global demand is actually falling and the true value of oil is in the $70 - 80 region. When people said $100 a barrel was a forgone conclusion - it was time to sell.

The fact is we are not creatures of logic, we are creatures of emotion.

Humans are also pack animals, we like to be with the crowd and the news reflects this.

The facts are the crowd never wins.

If you look at a forex chart and you see a piece of bullish news that fails to rally a market or a bearish piece of news that doesn't cause a market to fall - that is telling you to look at your charts and look for a contrary trade.

Forex news can be useful - but not in the way that many traders think.

The above are just a couple of examples, of how you can use forex news (or any market news) to generate contrary trades, enjoy currency trading success and join the elite winning minority.

List Of Sites To Submit Indian News And Stories Online

2010-01-04T02:50:00.000-08:00

By Pradeep Chauhan

It is really amazing to hear that in India the internet usage has grown more than 11 times over the last seven years. This internet boom is being driven not by metros, but by smaller and non-metro towns, where the number of users has risen by a whopping 69 times and 33 times respectively since 2000. More and more Indian sites are coming every day with new and hot news and information. To make this news available to the targeted audience, these sites must be well surfed and easily viewable by the Indian visitors.

With the growing popularity of wordpress and blogspot blogs, news blogs with variety of topics from bollywood, sports to politics have been seen everyday. Such type of blogs requires a new approach for site promotion as these news survive for just a day or maximum a week. The easiest and quickest way to drive traffic to your news is to submit your news url to some popular news bookmarking sites that are especially made to target Indian surfers. In this article, I have tried to mention all the popular Indian news submitting sites.

Here goes my list...

1. Bookmarks.nazariya.com - It is a site where you can submit news and stories related to India and its subcontinent. Its users are growing continuously and have succeeded to provide quality news and hot stories. It covers a huge categories list from lifestyle to computer and technology.

2. Indianpad - In my view this is the best digg clone site specific to India. I myself is an active user of this website. It has a very clean interface and best part no intrusive ads. Here a user can also earn by showing ads on the stories submitted by him/her.

3. GyanIn - Another site with similar concept of digg. It still looks at initial stages. But it is worth to check out. Site loads quicker and has clean interface that may tempt you to digg here. Here I find some interesting stories there, you may also find some.

4. Rambhai - Although having a strange name, it is also growing popular and is worth to submit your stories and news here. It has covered all the common categories and glossy interface. So submit and vote your favorite stories here.

5. Putvote - Having a nice name and nice effort put in there. I think this site can improve its design and can put some glossy banners and heading for attraction.

6. NewsCola - It looks bit like reddit.com and you can submit your news here. It looks simple and worth to submit here.

Few other sites for quick view are indianbytes, bestofindya, humsurfer
charchaa, ekjut, mirchh and chalo.net

Currency News - Why Most Traders Can't Make Profits with It

2010-01-01T02:47:00.000-08:00

By Monica Hendrix

It's a fact that most traders who try and trade using online currency news end up losing because they don't understand how the market works and fail to understand how news is discounted. If you don't want to join the 95% of losing traders, then you need to understand how to use currency news correctly.

Let's start with a rather interesting fact:

Today the currency news we get is of a higher quality than 50 years ago, it is delivered faster with the click of a mouse yet, the ratio of winners to losers is still the same as it was 50 years ago which means:

These advances in quality of news and speed of delivery, have not helped improve the success rate.

The reason for this of course is - the news is discounted in a split second and you simply can't act quickly enough. Furthermore, currency news reflects what the majority think and on most occasions, the majority lose.

It's a fact that - markets collapse when their most bullish and rally when their most bearish.

Will Rodgers once said:

"I only believe what I read in the papers"

He was joking, but it amazes me how many traders see a story in the financial times or Wall Street Journal and try and trade it and then wonder why they lose.

Currency news is a story and it reflects in most instances what the vast majority believe and is out of date as soon as you see it. Try and trade it and you will have your emotions involved which can lead to a breakdown in discipline.

If you consider the fundamentals are discounted immediately by the market the most effective way to trade is to use forex technical analysis and study forex charts.

Technical analysis simply assumes that all known fundamentals will show up in price action so you don't need to worry about the news. Furthermore, forex charts give you something more - they tell you how investors perceive the fundamentals and take into account human psychology.

After all it is not the currency news itself that is important, its how each and every investor reads and acts on the news. We all have the same news to read but we will all draw different conclusions. It is this mass of millions of traders, who ultimately determine the price.

By using forex charts you are simply studying the reality - price as it is and acting on it, with no need to guess or assume what the impact of currency news will be.

Forex chartists don't care how or why markets move, they simply follow price action and try and make money when they do.

There's a saying:

If you can hold your head when everyone around you is losing theirs you probably haven't heard the news"

In forex trading, it's the disciplined trader who wins and he generally stays cool, calm and collected, while other traders lose their discipline and fall prey to the emotions of greed and fear.

If you want to make money at forex trading forget currency news, keep your discipline and react to the reality of price change and you can make big profits over the longer term.

Writing News Articles For Publication

2009-12-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

By Pavel Klein

Typically writing good news articles used to involve spending many years as a junior reporter and slowly gaining experience through trial and error, with articles being thrown back by the editor until they achieved the standard that was required. However there are certain tips that can be used if you are planning to write news articles, be it for a website or for a more traditional paper based publication. Unfortunately many journalists nowadays are becoming experts at searching Google to copy and paste articles together which have little or no original content, however with a bit of planning and a small amount of time it is possible to create something that is informative and new i.e. a news report.

Do some research.

So you have found out something has happened. Do some research on it. Has the event happened before? What was the outcome? Who are the people involved? Is there any information on what they have done in the past? Who are the experts in the subject? Who might be concerned or have an opinion? What is the context in which the event has happened? After this stage you will have the skeleton of your news report and possibly a lot of the article itself.

Think of angles.

There isn’t really a news story that can’t be viewed from different viewpoints. Someone’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. Was it an invasion or liberation? Be aware of this at the outset and try to be as factual as possible when gathering the facts for the article. A neutral viewpoint at this stage will help gather information. When you are writing the article think of the wording you are using and the target audience and what they would like to read.

Think of questions to ask.

The stock questions of who, what, where, when and why should become second nature. However think of some questions to get further information for your news story. How long did it take for the emergency services to arrive? Why do you think it happened? Also think of questions where the person will have to give an answer other than yes or no. These never make good quotes for a story, which leads us onto the next section.

Get Quotes.

Quotes give credibility to the news article and also the publication in which it appears. ‘X told our reporter that: ...’ is really an essential part of any news story. It’s content that the reader will realise they can’t be read elsewhere. Also try to get quotes from people with differing viewpoints. If you can engage the reader and get them thinking about who might be right you have written a good article.

Document.

Make sure you document everything. In today’s litigious society writing something that is defamatory can lead to horrendous legal battles. Make sure that you have used credible sources and can prove where facts came from. If you are unsure on using something for your news article then seek specialist legal advice.

Be Flexible.

As you ask questions on the news story then you may find other avenues opening up. Be prepared for the news article to change, or perhaps to start noting down information and contacts for another news story.

Develop Contacts

Be friendly and leave a good impression. Perhaps even get back to them with information you have found before it is published (be careful on this one). Contacts are good for further news stories or even to bounce ideas off. There is a phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. However this can easily be expanded to “it’s not who you know; it’s who, who you knows”.

Be time sensitive.

You have deadlines to keep to. If your article is published after everyone else’s then it is going to lose its impact even though it might have more original content. You need to find the balance between the amount of detail you can research and put in and the time it takes.

Have clear structure

Your article when you right it should have a clear structure and lead the reader through effortlessly, no jumping around in the article. Start with a one or two sentence summary of the news article. Next you should place the events in context before going on to what actually happened. Then give peoples observations and comments. Towards the end detail what happens next or the state things were left in.

Following these guidelines will help you on your way to creating informative and interesting news reports. However one of the best ways is to practice!

Presenting - Sheila Blinoff and Carole Stimmell From the Beach Metro News - A Centre of Information

2009-12-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

By Susannne Pacher

One of the central organizations in the Beach is Beach Metro Community News, a non-profit, non-partisan community newspaper founded in 1972 that is distributed throughout major portions of East Toronto. The newspaper is available throughout the entire delivery area at various merchants and public access points, and more than 23,000 families receive the newspaper delivered to their front door for free.

My request for an interview was graciously answered by Sheila Blinoff, the General Manager, and Carole Stimmell, the Editor for the Beach Metro News. We sat down around a big table in their premises near the intersection of Gerrard and Main Streets. Sheila explained that the Beach Metro Community News originally started in 1972 when a group of volunteers got together to fight the Scarborough Expressway that was supposed to cut a swath through all of East Toronto. This issue galvanized the entire neighbourhood, and a group of volunteers started publishing a free newspaper from the offices of the East City YMCA at 907 Kingston Road.

The community had come together to rally against the construction of the Scarborough Expressway, and their collective efforts were successful. The dreaded construction of a major highway that would have destroyed over 750 homes between Coxwell and Victoria Park was averted. Today the Beach Metro Community News is a non-partisan paper that does not feature editorials. A copy of the paper goes to almost every business and residence in an area that extends from Lake Ontario to a few streets north of Danforth Avenue, and from Coxwell Avenue in the west to Midland Avenue in the East.

Of the 30,000 papers delivered, 7000 are delivered to libraries, churches and other public institutions while the rest goes out to private homes. An extensive network of about 400 volunteers looks after free delivery, with each volunteer donating their time and effort. Every second Tuesday just after publication a team of about 30 volunteer captains receives dozens of bundles of newspaper which they then distribute among their individual neighbourhood volunteers who in turn take the paper and deliver it street to street, house to house.

The volunteer stories are amazing. Sheila and Carole recounted so many fascinating tales of individuals who dedicate their spare time towards delivering the community news. The oldest of these volunteers is 96 years old and enjoys the opportunity to interact with neighbours and make a connection. Another delivery volunteer had a baby in the morning, and the same afternoon she delivered the Beach Metro Community News, just as she would any other second Tuesday. Another female delivery volunteer requested to get her papers early on Tuesday since she was going to have a Cesarean delivery the very next day on Wednesday. An elderly man once called in and said he would not be able to deliver the paper this time since his wife had just died, but he promised to be there to deliver the next edition of the Beach Metro Community News.

Sheila added that her co-workers and the volunteer carriers not only help with the production and distribution of the paper, they are also her eyes and ears in the community, resulting in a network of hundreds of volunteer news gatherers. Carole summed it up by saying that “not a leaf falls in the Beach without us knowing about it”.

I needed to find out more about these two women who are the driving force behind the Beach Metro Community News and asked them to tell me more about their own personal history and connection to the Beach. Carole admitted that she is a relative newcomer to the Beach as well as to the Beach Metro Community News: she has lived and worked here for “only” eleven years. Originally from Wisconsin, Carole Stimmell moved to Toronto in order to complete a Ph.D. in archeology at the University of Toronto. She and her husband had met at the Washington Post where Carole was completing an internship, and they decided to jointly move to Toronto to complete their postgraduate studies. Carole's husband studied communications with Marshall McLuhan, the famous Canadian educator, philosopher and scholar who coined the expressions “the medium is the message” and the “global village”.

Carole’s first impressions of Canada were that it is vastly different from the United States: Canadians are more accepting, more reticent to judge as compared to the more dogmatic and aggressive stance of people in the United States. She added that Canada’s liberal outlook suits her personally very well, and it would be hard for her to move back to her birth country.

After completing her doctorate Carole worked on archeology projects for 20 years; these assignments took her to Japan, the Arctic and the United States. Her archeology projects in Toronto included digs at Trinity Bellwoods Park, in Leslieville and at the Ashbridges House, the original homestead of the Ashbridges family who had come from Pennsylvania and become the first settlers in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood. For several years Carole was also the editor of the Canadian Journal of Archeology.

Her connection with the Beach Metro Community News came about because she was originally a volunteer carrier for the paper. When the long-term editor of the paper retired, a new editor came in and started taking the paper into a tabloid-like direction with a strong focus on crime and negative news. Carole and many others did not like this new slant and felt that the Beach Metro Community News was about positive news stories and an emphasis on the good things that were going on in the community. This editor did not last long, and Carole threw her hat in the ring for this position. In the process she beat out 50 other candidates and succeeded in getting the job because she understood what the paper was all about.

Today Carole still has an interest in history; she was vice chair of the Toronto Historic Board, and she now sits on the board of the Ontario Archeology Society. She also has an extensive collection of historic post cards of the Beach; these photos are sometimes featured under the heading of “Deja Views” in the Beach Metro Community News, juxtaposing historic streetscapes with a current photo of the same location.

Sheila Blinoff came to Toronto from Great Britain in the 1960s and married into a German-Canadian family. She and her husband moved to Balsam Avenue in 1969, making her a bona fide Beach resident for almost 40 years. In 1971 Sheila had her first child, and when the Beach Metro Community News started in 1972 Sheila connected with the paper since they were in need of a volunteer typist. Sheila offered her services and also started helping with the volunteer delivery of the paper. Several months into her assignment, the paper received three local program grants that enabled them to hire three people for six month. Sheila figured she could do the job and beat out 30 people who had applied.

Around that time Sheila had her second child; the grant meanwhile had run out of money. Sheila continued working on the paper for six months from home without pay. Finally a fundraiser generated $7000 which enabled the paper to pay two staff members - Sheila, and Joan Latimer who was the editor for 22 years. Advertisers came on board, and the Beach Metro Community News finally had a viable economic base. Several more employees were hired over the years.

In the early years the entire production of the paper was a community affair. Several interested neigbours would come together and jointly handle the manual cut and paste layout of the paper. They would also decide which stories should go into the paper, and opinions would often diverge widely. Sheila concedes that trying to reconcile these viewpoints was often tough going.

Several years into the publication the name was changed from the original name ”Ward 9 News” to “Beach Metro Community News”. The official administrative name of the Beach neighbourhood had changed from Ward 9 to Ward 32, so the original name of the newspaper was no longer applicable. For Sheila and many other "oldtimers", however, this publication will always be the “Ward 9 News”.

With years passing by the paper became more professional, and specialized employees were hired to take over advertising sales, accounting, photography, and news and entertainment reporting. Since the 1980s the organization has been doing its own typesetting. Sheila’s eyes light up when she says that she has met so many wonderful people through her work with the Beach Metro Community News; she adds that she has truly seen “the good side of human nature”.

One of her favourite experiences has been her opportunity to participate in the selection committee of a contest to name five streets in a new housing development that went in on the former Woodbine Race Track premises, just west of Woodbine Avenue and Queen Street. The new street names were to have a local or historical connection with the area. As the secretary of the contest committee, Sheila had the best job of all, inputting all 660 suggestions into the computer and then verifying the accuracy of the historical background of the submitted names. Sheila chose the name “Sarah Ashbridge” in honour of the Quaker widow and United Empire Loyalist from Philadelphia who settled in the Beach in 1793 and obtained a Crown land grant in 1799 for a farm. “Northern Dancer” honoured all the horses that ever raced at the Woodbine Race Track. “Boardwalk Avenue” was chosen for the area’s proximity to the famous East Toronto waterfront promenade.

Both Carole and Sheila love their neighbourhood, and they proudly told me that Queen Street East in the Beach was chosen the Best Main Street in Ontario by TV Ontario. One of the judges summarized it like this: “The Beach is an all-round winner. A fantastic inner-city neighbourhood with a great retail market, a great place to visit and a fabulous festival”, referring to the Toronto International Beaches Jazz Festival, one of Toronto’s largest music and entertainment events.

The importance and influence of the Beach Metro Community News cannot be understated. After all, the individuals running the paper had a major hand in stopping the Scarborough Expressway. Extensive coverage of dredging in Lake Ontario at the foot of Beech Avenue also resulted in an outcry in the community, and the government cancelled the project. Coverage of the Ashbridges Bay Incinerator also mobilized many concerned citizens in the neighbourhood, and their collective action resulted in the closure of the unwanted incineration facility. Stories of important local issues are kept in the public eye, and the community starts rallying around these issues.

What makes this neighbourhood really special are the people and organizations that donate so much of their time to the community. Sheila and Carole recounted a multitude of community initiatives that illustrate that the spirit of charity and neighbourly assistance is strong in the Beach. One example includes a major fire a few years ago at the eastern end of Queen Street where two people died and several others were rendered homeless. Several fundraisers were held for the affected families, and money was raised to help them pay for their first month’s rent and furniture in their new apartments.

When the big Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in 2005, Centre 55 immediately set up a fund to collect money for the victims and thousands of dollars were sent to the affected areas. The local Balmy Beach Club raised money for school computer labs when the government cut back its educational budget. Together with strong parent volunteers at each school in the area, initiatives like these make a huge difference in the community.

In the Beach community spirit manifests itself in many different ways. The annual “Carolling in the Park Event’”, held at the local Glen Stewart Ravine, attracts more than 2000 people for a holiday sing-along. Flashlights and candles in the ravine create a magical atmosphere and an event that the community loves.

Carole adds that there are so many interesting people in the Beach; a collection of media people, artists, actors, entrepreneurs and other eclectic people provide a lot of fodder for interesting and inspiring stories. Sheila mentions the example of a local man who owns the world’s largest typewriter collection. Another young man from the community, a gifted musician, had attended the Julliard Music School in New York City and recently debuted in a big concert at Carnegie Hall. The Beach Guild of Fine Arts is a large group of artists who hold shows twice a year. Musicians, actors, painters and artists of all kinds are well represented throughout the Beach community and provide many story opportunities throughout the year.

The philosophy of the Beach Metro Community News is to provide news of interest to local residents and businesses. All revenue comes from advertising, which is kept affordable so that local merchants and tradespeople remain able to advertise their products and services. Sheila and Carole are selective as to which advertisements they accept, and sometimes advertisers have to wait to get into the paper.

One of the key community initiatives of the Beach Metro Community News is the “Citizen of the Year” award which is a joint initiative with Community Centre 55 and the Beaches Lions Club to honour volunteers who have made a significant difference in the community over a number of years. The Citizen of the Year is honoured with a plaque on the Beach Walk of Fame in the Community Garden in Woodbine Park. They also get a special space in the Beaches Lions’ Easter Parade. People such as Gene Domagala, Glenn Cochrane, Arie Nerman and Marie Perrotta have all been honoured with this exclusive distinction.

But not only does the Beach Metro Community News bestow awards upon others; its contribution to the community has also been noticed and gotten recognition. In 2002 Sheila and Carole were themselves honoured with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal as part of Queen Elizabeth’s 50 year anniversary as the Queen. At this occasion every Canadian riding awarded medals to its top volunteers and community builders, and Sheila and Carole were honoured together with other prominent Beachers.

As a non-profit organization, the Beach Metro Community News donates some of its excess revenues right back into the community. In 2006 the organization donated more than $14,000 to a wide range of organizations, including the Arthritis Society, the Beaches Easter Parade, the Churches by the Bluffs Food Bank, the Share-A-Christmas Program run by Community Centre 55, the Glen Rhodes Food Bank, Malvern High School Scholarships, the Pegasus Community Project, Senior Link, the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation, the Woodgreen Red Door Shelter for Women and many more.

The Beach Metro Community News not only covers the local news, it also makes news: as a volunteer organization that acts as the virtual glue of the community, as a champion of important neighbourhood causes, as an organization who identifies and honours volunteers who make the community work, and as a significant donor that contributes much-needed funding to important neighbourhood organizations.

Build a Community Driven Local Online News Website

2009-12-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

By Laurie McArthur

With the introduction of the blog, creation of a community driven, local, online, news website is made so much easier than it was using a conventional website.

Blog Platform

Install WordPress in your new domain or a subdomain of your existing domain. A new domain for your community driven, local, online, news website is preferable for indexing, ranking and ease of search purposes.

Choose and install a WordPress theme, suitable for your community driven, local, online, news website, from the thousands freely available on the internet.

Design your header and customize the appearance of your community driven, local, online, news website.

At the most basic level, your new community driven, local, online, news website is now ready to roll.

Getting Indexed

Of course, there's much search engine optimization (SEO) work that can be done to improve your indexing and ranking. At the very least, you'll need to get a link from a page somewhere on the net that gets regularly spidered, so that the search engines can find your new community driven, local, online, news website.

A link from your own home page will do the trick.

Alternatively you can join one or several of the blogging, social networks and submit your online, news website. Submitting your community driven, local, online, news website URL to several directories would also be helpful. These submissions of your community driven, news website will not only get you indexed but the backlinks will increase your SEO score and thus help with your ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

So, with this much development work done, your local, online, news website is ready to be spidered, indexed and ranked in the the SEs when you you begin publishing community driven, news items from your local area.

Getting Started

WordPress comes with one post titled Hello World and one comment on this post. Delete both of these and start afresh.

News Sources

Apart from writing your own news stories, there are two main sources of community news:

* Press releases.
* Community group submissions.

Press Releases

In Australia there are three levels of government: local, state and federal. Each will issue frequent press releases. State and federal government press releases will come, not only from the respective government websites, but also from the different party's websites and the particular politician's websites.

Pay attention to the press releases of your local member, both state and federal, whether in the government, opposition, a minor party or an independent. Also regularly check out the press releases of government ministers with responsibility for portfolios of interest to your readers or fitting in with your editorial slant.

There will probably be various business and industrial concerns in your local area as well as special interest groups such as environmental lobby groups, that issue press releases.

Community Group Submissions

Obtaining community group submissions for your local, online, news website is much more work. But these will have the most interest for your readers and the contact established with local people will build your readership. And, of course, community group news submissions are at the heart of your stated objective of providing a community driven, on line news service.

Locate a directory of local sport and community groups. E-mail the groups if e-mail addresses are provided. They probably won't be.

Write to them by snail mail if need be. Your e-mail address for news submissions will be in front of them, cutting down the chances of errors.

Speak personally to community group secretaries, giving them a business card or flyer with your e-mail address.

Phoning community groups is the least valuable option because of the difficulties for them in finding your community driven, local, online, news website on the net or getting your e-mail address right.

Edition Frequency

Decide whether you'll publish at set time intervals, say once or twice a week, or if you'll publish news stories as they come to hand. One advantage of an online news service over a print newspaper is the ability to update the current news as it comes to hand. The older news stories will slip off the bottom of the home page, and the news at the top of your community driven, local, online, news website will always be the latest available.

Publishing your Opening Edition

At first it may be necessary to publish only press releases, in order to build up some level of credibility as an online news source. When your community driven, local, online, news website has sufficient content to be seen by the community as viable, it's time to start your community group submission campaign.

It will be disappointing at first to be publishing an online news service that nobody reads. So get some posters up around town and don't procrastinate too long before you get going with your community group submission campaign.

Online FOREX Trading - To Be Successful Don't Listen To The News

2009-12-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

By Sacha Tarkovsky

The online forex trader today has a vast amount of news at his fingertips due to growth of the web and many investors think the more news they study and act on the more likely they are to win, however the exact opposite is true:

Pay to much attention to the news and you will lose.

The reason for this may not be obvious, so let’s look at this question in more detail and see why.

Will Rogers once said:

“I only believe what I Read in the papers”

He was joking but the majority of new online forex traders think they can use the news to their advantage, but they can’t here’s why:

Markets discount

Let’s face it, we see stories all the time from news wires that are full of convincing reasons why a currency will rise and fall, but in most cases there simply good stories and the currency often moves in the opposite direction.

The markets however don’t move on supply and demand fundamentals and opinions nor do they move logically.

Currency prices move to the following equation:

Supply and demand fundamentals + Investor psychology = Market movement.

Investors are in the equation and it is how they view the news that is so important, not the news itself.

Investors are driven by emotions greed fear and hope and it is they that determine the price.

Markets discount news instantly in today’s world of lightening fast communications, so it is almost impossible for most traders to trade off news stories.

Throw in the unpredictably of human nature and trading news for most investors means losses.

Discipline

If you pay to much attention to the news, your emotions can well come into play.

You will hold positions you should not, simply because the “experts” are saying they are right in the press.

Don’t forget these experts are selling stories and are not traders.

If you pay to much attention to the news you will simply let your emotions get in the way and discipline will go out the window.

It’s a fact, that:

Major market tops are formed on bullish news and major market bottoms are formed on bearish news.

A compelling conclusion

For small traders the best way to trade fore markets is with a disciplined technical system.

Why? Because it takes the news into account anyway.

All it assumes is that fundamentals are instantly discounted and will show up in price action.

Not only does technical analysis take into account the fundamentals and news, it also takes into account investor psychology.

Taking into account investor psychology is critical, as investors determine the price of anything.

Human nature never changes.

Repetitive price patterns can be seen in charts that reflect human psychology and can be traded for profit.

That is the opportunity, if you trade with a technical system and ignore the news.

News Writing Basics - 2 Ways To Write Hard-Hitting Articles

2009-12-17T21:50:00.000-08:00

By Nazvi Careem

News stories are articles that are time sensitive and tell readers what has happened in the world around them that might be of importance to them.

While there are numerous categories of news stories, the two main forms that you find in news outlets are – event-based news on something that has happened or a quote story based on something that was said and who said it.

When learning how to write like a journalist, a news writer would be trained to treat each of these categories differently while adhering to the foundations of news writing principles.

Events

These types of articles can be further divided into the “diary” articles or unexpected “flash” news. Diary stories are those that are expected. The journalist would have a schedule of events that could be a press conference, a launch of a product, a sporting event or other functions that were known about beforehand.

Flash news is something that is unscheduled. This could be a traffic accident, sudden resignation of a leading politician, tragedies and other events that a news desk would not have accounted for.

While it is fair say flash news is unscheduled, it is not exactly unexpected. Any newspaper, television station or online news portal would always have their staff on standby to deal with sudden events. If the flash news is a really big story, it could throw scheduled events off the front page.

Quotes

Quote stories are based solely on what a newsmaker says. The more important the person, the greater the impact of the story and the more play it would get. The articles would dwell less on what has happened than on what the person says.

It is an opportunity to get human emotion into the story by bringing out feelings and opinions rather than descriptions of what happened.

Quite often, a quote story is closely linked to an event. If a reporter is assigned to cover a fire that has broken out downtown, the editor might tell him to find a quote story.

In this case, the writer would produce two articles. One would be a straightforward news article on the fire; how it happened, the casualty count, how long it took to put it out, a handful of quotes from fire officials.

The other article could possibly be an interview with one of the survivors and would comprise mostly of quotes that evoke feelings of desperation, sadness, joy and other emotions. The writer would try to avoid too much detail about the fire in this article because it would have been adequately covered in the main news article.

The news writing principles that the journalist would employ for all kinds of articles are based on tried and test foundations that anyone can learn. It is not only journalists who can write news.

Christians Need News Too!

2009-12-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

By Donny Prater

Ok, I admit it, I'm a news freak. I camp out on the Drudge Report and love to watch the various of news channels. I will even go so far as to say that Glenn Beck should run for President with Tucker Carlson as his VP. Maybe that's a bit goofy to say... but I like those guys, AND, to me, Katie Couric is America's Sweetheart. Anyway, there are a lot of news outlets in the world but what about the news that applies to the Christian lifestyle? I've been doing some research lately (and not posting), so here's what I found.

There are 10 or so news sites that are themed as Christian in nature. The problem I found was that most of them were simply a list of links updated by automated RSS feeds. This non-personal form of news headline updating causes these sites to be comprised of a voluminous amount of information/headlines/stories that a site visitor must sift through. Now if you're like me, you don't have a lot of time to research through the different categories on a website to find just what story you may be interested in reading. Actually, the majority of us just have time to jump on a site, have a quick peek at the headlines, maybe read a couple, and then jump off in time to make the nine o'clock meeting.

I was at a loss, that is until The Christian News Source (http://www.christiannewssource.com) came into my life. The Christian News Source is patterned after, actually it's a pretty good clone of, the Drudge Report. I am very familiar with Drudge, and love the way it's set up, so the CNS is right up my alley. Also, this site is updated throughout the day and is updated with the headlines that me, the average Christian man just trying to walk with Jesus, wants to read and learn more about.

So, what are you waiting for? Go check it out and bookmark it in your browser. It's time that all Christians became more informed about the news relevant to our faith. The Christian News Source sure looks like the best place to find the latest breaking Christian news. And, even better news is that it's not tied to any particular Church/Denomination. Looks like I've found a new campsite!

Cricket News Delivers Important Information

2009-12-11T21:45:00.000-08:00

By Ella Wilson

Cricket is one of those special games or it should be said that sport that has given rise to a player in every home. Some or the other fans have developed cricketing skills to such an extent that they have been taking it as a profession. Since cricket became an international game, more and more people are getting drawn towards it. By cricket, we do not just mean bat or ball or pitch, it is the flow of emotions and extended support of the fans for their favorite player or team. And for such fans, it becomes highly important to know the ins and outs of cricket field, which can be known with the help of cricket news. Cricket news will help the fans to know more about the teams and players they idolize.

Knowing about what is happening in rest of the world has become all the more necessary in the present scenario. And if it is about cricket field, then it becomes a priority for the cricket enthusiasts to know about issues cropping up in this area. There are can be any issue which may be heard in cricket and that becomes news. Well, it depends on what is happening. If a certain player performs up to the expectations, then the news might be about an analysis of his performance. Likewise, is some controversy arises between two players; fans would be interested in knowing who said what to whom.

It is sure that if you are an ardent cricket fan, then you must be having a keen interest in cricket news. After all, you get to have a deep insight into what event is taking place in cricket field. When cricket awards are organized, fans will surely be paying attention towards cricket news. It is because cricket news will tell them that which player got what category of award. News has always been helpful in enhancing the knowledge and creating awareness about something. So, it makes a special for cricket news. Since the world cup 2007 is approaching in March, cricket news is informing about different aspects of this event only.

The game of cricket has got so much admiration that people have started living and talking about that action. The actual enjoyment is seen with the starting of a match. It is the actual time that entire world is packed with enthusiasm and ecstasy. This time period increases the importance of knowing latest and updated cricket news. News experts know that fans would be eager to know about details of the happenings. With the increasing fervor of fans, cricket news has become quite demandable. It is the best thing with which fans can keep in touch with on-field and off-field moments.

As the fans have special interest in cricket news, they are always on a search for mediums that can let them have access to it. Some of the mediums are news papers, cricket websites, news channels and radio stations. Now, it depends upon the cricket fans that what medium they select according to their choice. Internet is the best medium for those fans that have tight working schedules and do not get time to catch the action live. Professionals working with cricket sites or any other medium, needs to update the cricket news regularly, so that fans are provided with latest happenings.

How To Submit Network News Video Clip Footage In 3 Steps

2009-12-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

By Aaron Benbaruch

Has this ever happened to you? You're standing on a busy street corner, minding your own business, when all of a sudden a masked gunman comes running out of a nearby bank with the cops in hot pursuit. Luckily, you have your video cell phone and capture the whole scene on video. But how would you submit network news video clip footage like this to ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox?

Being in the right place at the right time armed with a video cellphone when something newsworthy occurs means you could potentially reap some financial rewards. Did you know that news organizations pay handsomely for exclusive video like this?

So what do you do now that you've captured some great video or picture with your cell phone? There are basically three steps to take if you want to get paid for the video footage you have shot. Edit, upload, and announce it to the media.

Most video cellphones come with movie editing software built-in (or packaged with the phone). Even if the bundled software is sub-par (which it usually is) there are many off-the-shelf software solutions that can enhance the quality and reduce the file size of the video you have captured.

Remember, you do not want to manipulate the video extensively, since this will jeopardize the 'man on the street' quality that the news networks are looking for. Besides, the news stations have much more sophisticated software than you could probably afford to massage your video into the desired format, length and content.

You probably don't need to do much to your raw video footage except reduce the length of the clip to the smallest size. This is important because you don't want to pay to upload your video and the free video hosting services only give you so much storage space that can quickly run out if you are uploading large files.

Next, you need to upload your video to an online video sharing service. There are bunch of these available, some offering a meager amount of free storage and charging extra for larger portions of space. Other services limit the amount of bandwidth your video can consume. This means the number of people that can watch your video at one time is limited.

After choosing a suitable place to host your newsworthy video, you need to tell the news broadcasters about it. In whatever city you live in, there are local news affiliates that are part of larger news organizations like Fox News or ABC. You can easily determine which news stations are in your area by turning on a TV and seeing what the call-letters are for your local broadcast news stations.

Once you have the call-letters (for example, WABC) then simply go online and do a search for those call-letters in your favorite search engine. Once you find the web site for that broadcaster, navigate to the page on the site that has a link for submitting breaking news and supply the basic information that applies to your video, such as a description and the URL of the video where you uploaded it.

Search Engine Optimization and the News

2009-12-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

By Bill Hartzer

Believe it or not, the news can be a search engine optimizer's best friend. By keeping up with the latest news, trends, or "buzz" in your industry, you can bring more visitors to your website which ultimately will lead to repeat visitors or increased sales.

No matter what industry you're in, at some time or another there's going to be news that will impact your business or industry. When someone hears about a topic in the news they frequently turn to a search engine to learn more about it. If your website is ranked well for terms related to that news item, you'll get valuable traffic to your website, which frequently will mean more sales.

Recently, while browsing some telecom news sites for the latest news and industry trends, I noticed that the FCC here in the USA was going to announce a key decision and new policy that could potentially affect all of the telecommunications companies in the United States. The FCC was, in fact, going to announce that decision on a particular date, and they frequently published their decision online. Since one of the websites that I was working on sold products that would be of interest to telecommunications companies in the USA, I quickly created new content on that website that mentioned the FCC decision. I also speculated on some of the keywords that people would search for if they wanted information about that FCC decision.

Luckily, after searching at Google, Yahoo! and MSN, I was able to determine that there were currently under a dozen web pages that mentioned the upcoming FCC decision-which meant that as an SEO there wasn't going to be much 'competition' for search engine rankings related to those keyword phrases. To make a long story short, I created the content, targeted certain keyword phrases relating to that FCC decision, and got some links to my new web pages. When that FCC decision was announced, everyone in the telecommunications industry turned to the search engines for more information-and they easily found the website I was working on, which helped to brand the company's telecommunications products. Within a matter of weeks, the company's sales soared to new levels.

By creating content related to news and events that a company's potential customers would search for, you can get more visitors to the website. And you can frequently get great search engine rankings because not many other websites will feature information about that topic. The best way to take advantage of this is to speculate about news or events that might happen, or be very quick-as soon as news breaks put up a web page about the subject-you can always remove the page or update it as necessary later.

Press releases can bring a website or business media attention. When a website or company is mentioned in the news, people turn to search engines. The only drawback is that in order to issue a press release or get mentioned you really have to have some news to report. In any case, if you issue a press release make sure that you include links to your website as well as links to the most important pages on your site-many online media outlets will include those links in articles as long as they know about them. Qualified visitors are also a bonus, especially when someone reads an article about a product and the company's website is mentioned. So, whenever you issue a press release, make sure that you're ready for the extra surge in traffic your website will receive.

You don't have to be a reporter or journalist. And you don't necessarily need to update your website with all of your industry's news-leave that up to the media or to industry trade journals. However, you should be aware of major events going on in your industry-and don't be afraid to update your website with news or information about these industry events.

Having a blog is sometimes a good option for a website, although it's not good to have a stale blog (one that's not updated on a regular basis). So, if you're not into blogging or don't have someone who can update it at least a few times a week then blogging is probably not for you. But just because you don't have a blog doesn't mean that you can follow the industry trends-and create website content that's timely, newsworthy, and "fresh".

I'm sure we're all aware of the catastrophic events related to Hurricane Katrina. If your business wasn't directly impacted by the hurricane, you still would be able to take advantage of the news event. If your website sells computers or hard drives, your potential customers might be interested in knowing about how they can protect their computer or hard drive in the event that a hurricane or flood is going to affect the area where they live. This is a drastic example, but nonetheless it would be an opportunity to create additional timely content on your website.

As a website owner or someone who optimizes a website, the news can be a great inspiration for adding valuable content. And adding valuable content that's timely will certainly lead to being found for more keyword phrases related to your website's topic. Oftentimes, adding timely content quickly will allow your website to get those new web pages in the search engine's index before the competition does. Less competition means that it's easier to get top search engine rankings. In many cases, if you're one of the first to feature that new timely information, other websites looking to create web pages about that subject will naturally link to the information on your site-which means more links and better search engine rankings in the future.

How to Develop a Killer News Hook

2009-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

By Bryan Thompson

When you are going to write a press release probably the most important thing you can do is create a killer news hook. A press release without a news hook is just blatant advertising, plain and simple. There is nothing that turns off journalists more than a press release that’s just advertising, and when you turn them off, they’re often off for good.

So, with this in mind, creating a news hook for your press release and media plan in general is probably the most important thing that you can do. But, how do you do it?

A news hook can be defined as the property in your press release that really makes a person read it and say, “I’m glad that I read this. This is really news.” A news hook does not directly try to sell something, but to put some real news in front of the reader and encourage them to learn more about you.

If you are a major company, almost anything you do could be considered news. Take Google, for example. Everything they announce tends to be front-page news, no matter how small it is. However, your probably not so lucky, so you have to look pretty had.

If you are selling cars in a local dealership, a news hook could be if a local celebrity if performing a function at your dealership or even if they are long time and outspoken customers. If you are selling hair dryers, upgrading your model form XD1000 to XD1001 is not news outside of the hair dryer community. However, there are plenty of ways to generate news out of something that normally cannot be considered news.

To do this, you must ask yourself the 6 questions that every journalist is always asking

-Who

-What

-Where

-When

-Why

-How

If you are able to answer all of these, then you have something that can go onto the next stage. If you are not able to adequately answer these questions, then you have to try again and find something that can legitimately be considered news.

When you have this, then what you must do is think about

-What a member of the general public would think about this news

-What journalists would think

-What a member of your target demographic would think

When you get this, decide how you will address each group. If you want PR, then you will typically have to go through the journalist. The journalist should have a good idea of what the general public wants and what the target demographic wants, so if you have news, they will pass it on.

With this in mind, if you are selling something specialized, and then you should target publications and media that focus on that specific industry. If you have something more general, then you should focus on the more general media.

Why News Releases Fail

2009-11-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

By Paul Krupin

Sorry about my otaku with this issue (otaku = more than a hobby, a little less than an obsession).

Many of you may know me, since I run Imediafax, the Internet to Media Fax Service. I send out over a million news releases a year for people via fax and email. You probably think that I’ve got news releases failing on me day in and day out.

Actually, I don’t. The news releases I write and send out for people do quite well. My clients are quite happy with me because they are successful with their outreach efforts.

It’s the draft news releases that people send to me that are my problem.

Fixing the problems I see in the news releases people send me takes forever. It is also very painful.

I’ve seen a lot of news release failure over the years, and I now know what the key problems look like and how to fix them.

My plight as a publicist is that I spend a lot of time educating my clients trying to get them to understand the psychology of dealing with the media.

The rubber meets the road in the news release because this single sheet of paper is the key nexus for all communications with the media. The importance of the copy on a news release cannot be overstated. It has to be free of negative issues or factors that will reduce or eliminate media interest and response. One fatal error and it’s all over.

So identifying the problems and revising the news releases is crucial. I spend a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to avoid sending out news releases with problems still in them.

The issue is that when people send me news releases, it often takes a long, long time to identify and communicate the problems, and then more time again to explain and negotiate all the word changes with the clients, and more time still to finalize the news release and have it ready and approved for transmittal.

Honestly – it can be very painful for all involved. I’m quite brutal on my clients, since their success is all that matters. I don’t pull any punches. My comment process can bruise a lot of highly inflated egos of some otherwise very accomplished people, on the way to a problem free news release that maximizes the chances of success when finally sent. Lots of people think they can write a news release. Very few of them can do it very well.

They simply haven’t followed the media response to enough news releases to learn the errors that are made when they write news releases. They haven’t yet learned what the mistakes are, so there is no learning from continuous improvement.

This is where the blood, sweat and tears of the copywriting business is truly found. It gets even tougher when another professional publicist wrote the news release for the client. Now the client is getting opposing advice from two professionals. One says “Make it Hot” and the other says “Cool it”. What’s a publicist to do?

So my motivations for doing this article are really quite selfish. I want to spend less time doing this. My life will be significantly improved if my clients send me news releases that take less time and energy to fix. Very simply, for each and every news release that comes in and doesn’t have these problems, I’ll free myself to spend more time doing things that are more profitable for my clients and me.

The issues listed here have all been identified as reasons for the failure of a news release. This is based on over 20 years of experience in dealing with the aftermath – the actual number and quality of responses generated from the transmittal of a news release.

So here are the most common reasons why news releases fail:

1. You wrote an advertisement. It’s not a news release at all. It sells product. It fails to offer solid news of real tangible interest, value-added information, education or entertainment.

2. You wrote for a minority, not for a majority of people in the audience. You simply won’t compete with other news releases that clearly are written for a larger demographic of the media audience.

3. You are the center of attention, not the media audience. You focus on your business and your marketing, instead of things the editor and his or her audience will be interested in.

4. You forgot to put the five W’s up front. (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED). You didn’t clearly and succinctly tell the media why the audience would be interested in this.

5. You are too wordy and text dense. You focused on details and minutia, instead of the most important ideas, issues, factors, facts, and news angles. You fail to address the real significant impacts your story has on people.

6. You place too much information on one page – the one page news release has a font size so small an editor needs a magnifying glass to read it.

7. You included corporate logos and other non-persuasive low value added graphics that distract the editor from your key message. You may have also used an unusual fancy font or a file format that turns to gobbledygook when it goes through a fax machine.

8. You wrote a personally biased article for the media to publish, instead of pitching the idea to the media and the objective reasons why the media audience will be interested.

9. You wrote about features and facts, and forgot to explain what it means to real people. Tell a story about real people. Add in real life human interest.

10. You wrote about how your news ties in to someone else’s fame and glory. Forget it. Never stand in the shadow of someone else. Make your own light. Tell your own story.

11. Your news release responds to something that just happened. You’re too late. You’re behind the eight ball. Forget it. Get out in front of the news.

12. You included too much hype, self-laudatory praise, pithy quotes, useless testimonials, jargon or gobbledygook. Get rid of it.

13. You may have also identified prior media coverage, which indicates it’s no longer a new issue. Get rid of it. Let each news release stand on it’s own two feet.

14. You tried to impress and be clever or innovative but you come off naïve, less than expert, biased, flippant, arrogant, or crazy. Tone it down. Get straight.

15. You made vague and unsubstantiated claims, or wild and outrageous claims, or you included a statement that simply rubs the media the wrong way. Get rid of them.

16. You are trying to be different, just for the sake of it, but you come off eccentric. Forget it. Don’t create a false or inflated image. Be yourself.

17. You wrote a rant and rave, worthy of a letter to the editor, instead of a problem solving tips article, worthy of a feature story. Decide what you want, put your best effort into it.

18. You are simply not credible. It could be your ideas are simply not well thought out, or that you’ve offered old well-worn material, or that you are too extreme or controversial, or not qualified. You may not be expert enough, or sufficiently qualified, to make the statements, compared to others in your field. You need to present information that qualifies you properly and adequately.

19. You provided poor contact information. You need to identify the best single point of contact and the correct phone number so interested media can reach you and get the best possible attention and response from you to meet their needs. One key person, one phone, no fax, one email address, and one URL (with no long string addresses).

20. You did not include a clear media call for action. You didn’t tell the media what you want them to do with your news release. You need to tell them what you are asking for or suggesting or offering. Then you need to offer the media incentives value-added reasons to do so, like free review copies, free test samples, interview questions and answers, media kits with story angles and stats and data, relevant photographs, etc.

21. You did not incorporate and integrate a primary response mechanism. You need to include a value-added reason, which motivates the editor to publish or mention your contact information, which will generate calls, traffic, interviews, or requests for more information. This usually means something unique and of special value to the audience, that the editor feels good about mentioning. Use an offer for a free problem solving report.

22. You sent the release to the wrong media. Target the media that your clients read, watch and listen to when they are in the right mood, that is, receptive to hearing about your news, and willing to take action when they get your message. Work with your publicist to target the right media.

23. You rely on a single fax or an email to produce an avalanche of media calls. You conduct no follow up. Get real. Follow up properly and you can triple or quadruple your media response rate. Better still, you can ask the editors “what can I give you to support a feature story and meet your needs”.

Finally, the biggest reason for news release failure is one of attitude. How do you define success or failure? It’s called unrealistic expectations.

Get real. You won’t get rich off one news release. You’re chances of getting famous are just about as slim.

You might be able to break even.

Look at your investment and compare it to what you need to break even on your investment. If you need to sell 100 books to cover the costs of a $500 outreach effort, you need ten articles because each article only produces ten sales. So that’s your breakeven goal. More books per article, means less articles will satisfy your needs.

You may simply have to be realistic and understand that while you are wildly interested in the topic, it may not have the broad general public interest that you have for the subject. If you wrote an article that has local interest and you expect national media to pay attention, think again.

If you want to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show, then you’d better pray because chances of doing it off one news release are very slim, near zero in fact. Get real. If she calls, then congratulations are in order. But don’t count on it.

If you wrote an advertisement and wanted a feature story and interviews, don’t be surprised if the only media to call is the advertising manager offering you a package deal. You get what you ask for. What you offer is often times what you will get.

Even if you do get publicity, it may not come out exactly the way you want it. More often than not, the bigger the media, the less likely they are to run contact information.

Often times, the quality may be there while the numbers are not.

One or two quality media responses may be what you want or need. If you get that, it’s a success.

One article in USA Today may out perform ten articles in small dailies and weeklies in the mid-west.

On the other hand, it may not. The small high quality articles may outperform the small mention in the big media.

Similarly, one quality 30-minute interview on a well-liked talk show on a radio station in the middle of nowhere out in the mid-west, will likely outsell a five-minute interview on an Arbitron rated radio station in the middle of the morning talk show in a major metropolitan area. You can’t tell the listening quality of the audience.

So when you write a news release please review it against these criteria to see if you’ve made any of these errors. Then fix each and every one of them yourself, and when you are done, feel free to send me your final draft. I’ll be happy to take a look at it.

So listen to your publicist. Heed these warnings and reduce the risks of failure. Fail to pay attention to these issues, proceed at your own risk.

7 Effective Ways to Read and Understand African Political News

2009-11-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

By Regis Zoula

Whether you are an African expatriate hoping to stay in touch with what is going on in your home country, a potential tourist hoping to do research on the best place to visit, a political student striving to understand the development in Africa, or simply well-wisher dedicated to unload of few bucks to chip in the aid for Africa, translating the information you read into valuable knowledge is an important task

Like any other continent, Africa offers a set of complex realities that can offer conflicting outcome for the party interested; moreover, accessing the information you need is not always evident between the information you look for, and the information you find.

Below is a short description of criteria to consider when reading or researching news on Africa. While the list is not exclusive, and can certainly be extended, I believe this initial guidepost may help. Feel free to add or consider additional helpful points.

1. Consider the source of the information

Africa is a very complex place, that combines many world and realities, the gap between the rich and the poor creates in many places two different societies whose world rarely collide. For that reason, news sources are often tailored to one group or the other.

Understanding the source of the information will help you assess the legitimacy of the information you have. For example, is it a local or foreign news source? Foreign sources often have greater access to political circles because the government is more concerned about the way it is portrayed to the outside world; however, foreign sources rarely give you the real pulse of the nation. If the source is local, consider the accreditation that is reflected by interviews or first hand accounts. In Africa, Official news is often given unofficially, while official news is a front. That means that those sources that have close access to the government are more likely to give credible news, compare to unaccredited sources to whom is given generic news. (More on it further down)

2. Try to capture the perspective of the information

In Africa, the freedom of the press is not a sacred duty, and as mentioned above, free and transparent news are not evident. As a result, news often reflects the perspective of the source. The information you will get is based on the perception of the source. In the West, Africa is widely primarily viewed as a continent ravaged by war and diseases, where impoverished people and government are struggling very hard to survive, and thus their lives and activities are geared toward Help and how the global community can help them. As a result, most African news coming from the West will treat topics such as aid, sanction, peace and war, and oil discovery. Human rights, rigged election and corruption are other subjects often treated; in other words, Western media tend to chronicle Africa's efforts to "join" or emulate them.

When it comes to local media and news sources, the dilemma is different. Elite and well positioned news sources depicts the political life of the country, meaning that their news are mostly geared toward accounts of big political activities, such as Presidential travels and visits, opposition complaints, foreign investment, dignitaries visits, Diaspora news and international events in which the government participate. In short, those news sources attempts to present information from the perception of Africa to the rest of the world.

Finally, local media perception is often directed at the local population, therefore offers information on issue that matters to locals; energy and gas issues, employment, government promises kept or not, education, political freedom, cultural and social safeguard, etc...

3. Acknowledge the Biases

In the U.S, it is often assumed that CNN is Pro-democrats, and Fox News is a Republican arm, regardless if true or not, that perception is very present in Africa as well; not in form of Republican or democrats of course, but they still play a short role.

From the day of colonization, Western Nations had strategic interests in Africa, and Political propaganda has insured that many Westerners view some African countries internal policies as beneficial or threatening to their way of life.

If your African news information is from a Western source, always consider the position of your country with the African country you are researching. Popular opinion is critical and very few Western media will say nice things about the Zimbabwe government for example. Western media will offer news based on the national interest of their home country. You will rarely read negative report about the Egyptian Government that has good relations with Washington, although it is not a beacon of Democracy, yet Zimbabwe, which has been a torn in their side, is demonized. This is not an attempt to justify the evil of some people, but it is worth considering that Western media will report information according to the way they wish a certain country to be viewed.

If you wish to avoid the biases of Western news outlet, you are better off searching for African news by African news outlets. There again, there is an often bias between Pro and anti government. Some news sources are government sponsored, while other are dedicated to discredit the government regardless of good deeds or not. In Africa the contrast is usually very strong, as you can read full articles of "official" news feed that praises the government unashamedly, while others are almost littered with insults. Very rarely will you find news source that are impartial, and it is usually very evident to distinguish the sources political leanings.

Given the polarity of African societies, and the actuality of International Relations, one must not look at news Biases with pure disgust, but as a component and vital actor of global politics; filling between diverse biases can actually help uncover valuable information. But in case it doesn't help, always consider independent news and...

4. Identify the agendas

If for some reasons you are unable to filter official and supposedly professional news sources, do make use of independent news sources such as NGO's and Think Tank. Because they are usually unaffiliated with any government, and their work is mainly based on empirical data and research, NGO and Think Tank do paint an educated and comprehensive picture of what is going on in Africa. Most of their works are expanded toward a wide range of subjects that reflects a non-partial view of government activities, social realities and international implications.

If you obtain your news via NGOs or Think Tanks, you are most likely to have access to strong data, depending on the Think Tank, and hard core evidence of what is going on in the country you research.

The only problem presented by NGOs and Think Tanks is that they do have an agenda. The nature of their strong work is usually motivated by the mission to influence or advice a government to act toward an issue they view as important. Because of that agenda, those organizations often accentuate an issue to the point where it overshadows others, making it look like an exaggeration.

For example if an NGO has for agenda to reduce arm trafficking in Africa, their information may offer solid leads on the pulse of a country, with credible evidence; however, their extensive research on the impact of arm trafficking may minimize other positive information, to the point of giving the impression that you can buy Ak47 at a candy store. This of course is not with the intent to deceive or dramatize, but with the objective of using the data to convince world powers to act on arms trafficking.

If you know how to extract your information from those sources, they are an excellent balance to local and international news.

5. Check the blogs

Africa sends millions of its bright Sons and Daughters abroad to study in higher education, and loses other millions professionals in search of a better living. While the damages of this brain drain are considerable, the attachment all those Africans retain for their homeland represents a glimpse of hope.

Since they cannot directly be involve in official affairs in their home countries because of the distance or political threats, many member of the African Diaspora voice their opinions in blogs or personal websites.

The advantage of reading those opinionated blogs is that it offers a personal touch and reaction to all the other news you may have read.

Many are very knowledgeable in what they are writing, and approach it in a very professional way. They are not constrained by editorial control, so are free to give their honest, educated opinion on what they read, heard or experienced in and out of Africa.

If they are not that knowledgeable on African affairs anymore, many still have families abroad who can give them first account to report on what is happening.

Because they are so many blogs related to Africa, you can not only compare information and news, but also engage the writers and have a better feel on how and where they get to say what they are saying.

For most people, this is a valuable source, because on top of general political views, they can offer a personal one, as well as giving an insight on how and where people live their everyday, not to mention, where the hotspots are.

The disadvantage of Blogs is that it is after all just personal opinions, and personal opinions can be motivated or inspired by perception, Bias, and /or agenda. It is not uncommon for exile politicians to mount an opposition from abroad, something blogs tend to make easier, so caution is advised for that reason.

6. Search for supportive news

Every news agency is in search of a scoop, and none wants to be left out of considerable information.

Whenever you stumble on interesting information for your research, after identifying the source, always make sure to search if that information is reprised by other news outlets.

When it comes to Africa, it is very common for news to be generalizing, but if you feel you came across useful information, always double check if you can locate it in other Western sources (if those where your primary sources), and then in local African sources. Check in Blogs and social sites if it is being discussed, or better create a new discussion.

The fact of the matter is that if you are looking for information on Africa, the complexity of its state does not favor taking any information at face value, but insuring that it is shared, discussed and not hostage to any perception and bias will help you have good grip on what is going on.

7. Use common sense

In Politics like in everything, things happen for a reason, from a coup d'Etat, to a social uprising, and political instability to international sanction.

Africa is not another planet we know nothing about, and it did not appear without a past or history.

In everything you read or learn about Africa, consider the context and remember history. Famine and poverty did not come suddenly; wars all have a spark plug, poor countries should not be able to buy weapons they do not manufacture.

The context and the historical reality that today links nearly all countries on Earth presents the fertile ground on how you will receive the news you receive, they way you receive it.

Knowledge is a light to which is drawn a bug called interest, and common sense should help you navigate the waves of misinformation toward the land of comprehension of the subject you research.

As mentioned, this is a list that can be extended and perfected, but for all who have at one point or another, read African news or wanted to understand what is going in Africa, I hope that little list will be helpful the next time it happens.

Over-reliance on popular media is like over relying in anything, it cripples one's ability, and dilutes the quality of the need sought.

Stay thirsty for knowledge; you might very well quench your thirst yourself.

Forex Trading News - Using the Best Forex News Sources to Make Bigger Forex Profits

2009-11-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

By Samuel Leslie Berkovits

We have more and better Forex news, delivered quicker than ever before and many traders like to study the news and trade on it, to make bigger profits - but how actually do you trade the news? The best way to trade it, is NOT the way most traders do and that's why they lose!

Let's make one point clear the news itself is NOT important, it's the traders reaction to it that is; we all the same facts to look at but we all make up our minds individually, about what we see and this mass of opinions makes a price. Furthermore, the opinions of traders are colored by the emotions of greed and fear.

So what does this mean in terms of trading the news?

It means don't pay attention to the news itself, pay attention to traders reaction to it, think about it:

Every big bull market, collapses when the fundamentals are most bullish and rallies when it's most bearish, so trading the news itself is of little use. The news simply reflects the opinions of the crowd and always remember - 95% of traders lose!

So what's the best way to trade news stories?

The best way is to look at how discounted the news already is for example, if a bullish news story fails to push the market higher or a bearish one fails to push it lower, if this occurs a turning point could be coming.

If you could make money trading the news, Forex trading would be easy and while the news sounds clever and hard to argue with, it very often turns out that markets move the other way! Will Rodgers once said " I only believe what I read in the papers" he was joking but most traders take the news as something that is likely to be right but its just an opinion - nothing more.

So forget trading the news and focus on studying market sentiment, it's trading psychology that moves prices, not supply and demand facts. So use charts and trade the reality of price change and look at how prices move, in relation to news stories for clues to where there going next.

Getting Free Traffic From Google News

2009-11-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

By Trish Mullen

Google news

You don't have to be a CNN or BBC news reporter to get considerable traffic from Google News. Google, as far as I am aware, only keeps news articles for the last 30 days.

How to use

Using the search bar at the top of the page start off by typing in site: - you would then enter keywords to search for a site's content. You will then see how many sites Google has approved in the timeframe that relates to your keywords. The lower the response, the less popular that keyword material is. For example, if you wanted to look at the search engine industry over the last 30 days, you would type in site: seroundtable.com and you will see that not a huge number of pages come up.

The owners of these pages have suggested to Google that their site is one with good news and if you think your site also has good news and is not included under your keyword search, you can submit it to Google for their approval. If your site gets approved by Google as being newsworthy, you can get a lot of traffic from this by people visiting Google News.

If you want to submit a page for approval, go to the home page and scroll down to the bottom, click on the link 'about Google News'. What will come up is quite a lengthy page so scroll down to the FAQs and go to Q 26 - What if I don't see my favourite news source in the search results? You can get in touch with them and recommend a news source by choosing the first option. If your site does have news and it is up to date (it helps if your site is industry specific rather than just a general news site), then just submit it for approval. It is possible that Google may not approve a site that is brand new but that shouldn't deter you from applying. A site that has been around longer generally has more authority.

Using press releases to get in Google News

If you are a regular submitter of articles through PRWeb, you may already have had some of these featured in Google News. If not, then this maybe something you should consider doing. A press release doesn't have to be written by a professional; they are reviewed by a team of editors, and can be written up in 10-15 minutes. A few paragraphs are sufficient and then submit it to PRWeb. You may get some publicity this way and also have visitors going over to look at your site.

If you go back to the home page and using the search command again, type in site: prweb.com and you will see a large number of pages on Google News are from this source. You may submit a press release and not actually realise you can also get a lot more traffic for this one release if it features on Google News. Another site that features highly on Google News is prleap.com so this site too should be considered when submitting your articles.

Watch out for my next article on using Google Images to also get some free traffic.

Is Google Killing the News?

2009-11-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

By Nigel Dunn

I am a massive Google fan. I think they have done more to open up the web and unlock the information on it than any other company. It's all very well having browsers and content but finding what you need in the morass is what has made the web exciting, to my mind.

But all this comes at a price - despite the recession, Google clocked up $5.7bn in revenue last quarter and while profits dropped to $382m, they have made as much as $1.29bn of profit in Q3 of 2008. It is, by any measure, an extraordinarily profitable business.

One of its main functions is to aggregate content so that we can all easily digest information, like that from newspapers. While having amazing deals with newspaper firms which nets it enormous advertising revenues, papers are finding it hard. In a recent conference organised by the newspaper industry, Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, was both critical of papers and criticised by them.

On the one hand, news companies saw the incredible revenues Google was making effectively off the back of their content, for which they have to pay handsomely to produce. On the other, Google believes that newspapers should revolutionise and get with the fact that they are useless at distributing their content. Schmidt criticised the newspaper industry for 'pissing off' its consumers and that Google were the heroes for distributing the content more effectively.

The Big Machine

Producing news is an expensive business, much more expensive than aggregating and distributing it. If someone delivered a paper to your doorstep which was just the information you liked as a synopsis of cuttings that would interest you from all papers in just one copy, small enough to digest the headlines but expandable if you want to read the detailed article, then that's what Google does. With it comes all that context sensitive advertising, carefully targeted to get us to click through and earn fortunes for Google.

It is, undoubtedly, a terrific service.

But it is just that. The content is what drives the interest and it's easy to forget that. I write this blog but the wider world beyond a clique of readers never get to see it as Google does not rate it and I do not pay them for anything. The result is that even if I have some practical advice for SMEs, beyond a few dedicated readers, the wider world never knows about it. If I wanted to expand my readership, I would have to pay Google to take interest. That does not stop them hosting the blog or popping adverts on the side. My content still earns them some money.

Google was described by one source from within the newspaper industry as a 'tapeworm', parasitically dependent on the content produced at great expense by the news industry. The consumers, though, want it all ways. I read the Telegraph from time to time because I like to do the crossword but if I want to find out about something quickly I 'Google' the subject and choose a prominent news story - it may not be the best written, the best informed or indeed written by a factual journalist in this country even, but it will be from the company with the highest Google rating which is ultimately driven by money.

The Future

Rupert Murdoch, that bastion of honest content and fighter on behalf of the consumer, has asked if aggregators like Google should in future pay for the content. It's a relevant question from the wily proprietor. There is a long term risk that if news is only ever presented on the web then Google and others will have all the power in terms of distribution whereas in the old days the news companies controlled the chain right down to the vendors in the street. It was easy to see how money could be made from news. Now it's not so clear.

Google always comes back to the 'fair use' argument - if this is what consumers want, why fight it? While newspapers would argue that the intellectual property rights to their content is being constantly eroded by having such ease of availability. The problem really boils down to, if content aggregation becomes the dominant way in which newspapers are distributed and read, then how will newspapers make money on their content? There is a small kickback of advertising revenue to newspapers, but you can rest assured that Google has the lion's share for itself.

Much of what is reported in papers is rehashed and blogged on - some bloggers making some pretty profits on the back of the original content. News opinion like mine, derives its subject matter from content on the web - I make no excuses for that. While I make no money from it, it would be quite an easy thing to do - so for once, I have some sympathy for the man who took away the Ryder Cup and stuck it on Sky.

News has always been big business and while ticker feeds like Twitter claim that it is the new way to spread word faster when terrible events occur, feeds such as Reuters have specialised in this for years. The power is that Twitter could create a new army of 'amateur journalists' across the globe who provide short, sharp news from source rather than rehashing news on line.

Or so we would like to think. It comes as no surprise that Google is rumoured to be targeting Twitter as a takeover. It is a short hop to believe that Google is then going to become not just the content aggregator but also content provider of millions of 'news' feeds.

The News Revolution

The problem for people like me is that in a busy day with other things to do, getting news needs to be in short bursts and I turn to quality sites like the BBC, Sky, Bloomberg and others to get my feeds. I have tried Twitter but it really is like sitting in a large room with thousands of people talking and maybe one person in the room, at just one point in the day says something of real consequence. The rest is just a blur of irritating noise. To get anything from it, you have to use the aggregation devices, many of which are available like Tweetdeck and these can even be fed to your mobile.

You can then 'follow' your Tweeters into the toilet, through the supermarket and down the golf course and see what they are doing, reading and knowing. The problem is that the VAST majority of the 'Tweets' are just nonsense and trivial to the point of pathetic. Like watching Big Brother, unless you are interested in the armpits of yawning contestants lounging on a settee talking garbage, Twitter provides you nonsense.

The world of news still is all about sifting through the mass of data and source bites and putting together something of interest - reporting both facts and content. Reading Michael Parkinson's superb analysis of Jade Goody's life in the Radio Times was brought to me by Google but the content was all Parky. Without his insight, and the thousands of writers who provide news content and make it interesting and informative, Google would be nothing.

We have this dichotomy all the time. My wife's Uncle, Terry Tyler, is a watercress grower and his cress is grown in the clean riverbeds between Sarrat and Chenies in Hertfordshire. He is not a big producer and he cannot afford the fees and chemicals to go 'organic' (perhaps another story of a sham industry awaits) but he uses no fertilisers at all to produce the most peppery and delicious watercress you will ever taste. You will never, ever buy it at any supermarket in the UK or even on market stalls in 'market towns' which advertise fresh, local produce. You will find it used by some of the top restaurants around Britain, however. The reason being is that he cannot afford to sell his product at supermarket prices as he hand grows and picks the lot. Despite knowing this, I still buy most of my watercress in supermarkets as it is more convenient, even though I am know I am buying inferior product and supporting large faceless suppliers who would put Terry Tyler out of business if they could.

We are a consumer society, and we want our product here and now, conveniently and cheaply. I think what will happen to news will be the same as has happened in Terry Tyler's industry - the value of the content will diminish and the value in distribution will grow. We will see a fall in quality but a gain in availability. No longer will stories arrive at us based on the quality of the journalism and the facts but on the who has paid to be at the top of the search.

How to Get Your Daily Football News Fix

2009-11-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

By Damien Cronley

Football is a sport that is taken very seriously by many supporters. A famous manager once said it was more important than life or death. Some fans care so passionately about the game it is more like a religion to them than a sport. When supporters are not watching their favourite team they are desperate to hear interviews, previews and transfer news.

If you want to know all the latest news regarding, your club then you need to know how to get your daily football news fix. Because of its popularity fans always, want to know the latest football news. The internet saw the emergence of numerous kinds of websites that cater for football news and supporters.

The official club websites are usually the first port of call for many fans. These are the most reliable sources of information as the news is coming directly from the club itself. The only downside with these types of websites is the lack of constructive criticism even when it is warranted.

Independent football news websites are another great source of information. These are not connected to any particular club. This is reflected in the unbiased way the news stories are written. These websites can offer a slightly different slant on football news.

Forums are hugely popular with football supporters and there are usually a number of them dedicated to each club. An established forum with lots of members is like an online community. These websites can sometimes be an excellent source for transfer rumour that has yet to be confirmed to other news sources. Online message boards are similar to forums although they do not have as many features.

Football blogs are still relatively new compared to other news websites. They offer football related news that is usually written by the fans for the fans. This makes it a unique kind of football news content. Blogs also allow visitors to comment on news stories which can produce some interesting debate.

A football RSS news feed allows you to receive the latest football news from your favourite websites. When a fresh story or article is published it is delivered to you via email. This is a convenient way to stay informed even when you are not online.

These are the most popular ways to get your daily football news fix via the internet and in most cases these sources are free. Bookmark your favourite football related news sites and enjoy a wealth of football news at your fingertips.

Know More About Online News Reading

2009-11-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

By Allen Ryan

The unique facility of the online news sites is becoming highly popular among the masses. The main reason behind this great popularity is its feasibility.

Any person can easily access the online news just by clicking few buttons on the computer. He need not have to buy the newspaper or run the radio or the television.

Another reason for its popularity is the variety of news that it provides. The news ranges from breaking news, local news, world news, current events, economic news etc. they even have the classifieds like the student classified etc.

Thus it can be seen that any Internet user can have his daily dose of news just by browsing the net. Moreover, every primary news association has their online editions for the viewers.

Several newspapers like The Washington Post, The New York Times etc have their articles on the Internet. Even ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), which is a radio broadcasting facility, has its radio reports circulated in the Internet.

Another news organization of Australia by the name of Channel Nine has even team up with the MSN for getting its articles on the net. The primary media organization of Arab by the name of Al Jazeera has a number of English news sites for the viewers to read. Though it is a controversial site but it is highly popular with the masses.

The above given examples are of those who have originated much before the Internet revolution and have a strong market base. They usually circulate the news in a cyclical manner for their different viewers. Some of these media houses also earn money through this Internet media business.

In case of The Washington Post, while the viewers look at its site for news, it is gaining some profits out of it, while to get the news of The New York Times; the readers have to monetarily register before using it.

Current Reports Live is an exceptional news site that offers almost every kind of news from all over the globe. They also had special segments relating to the financial matters and monetary help. They do their best to get the exact news just in time for their readers.

Daily Forex Market News - Do You Really Need Daily News?

2009-11-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

By Harold Hsu

The currency market is particularly sensitive to market news, such as the non-farm payroll data announcement. Volatility during these periods of news announcements is notoriously high, and fortunes are literally made and lost in a short time span of a few minutes.

With these characteristics, it's no wonder that many retail Forex traders pay extra attention to the latest daily news updates... their trading account depends on it!

Who Are News Traders?

News traders are people who trade exclusively on economic news announcements. Their aim is to make the most profit in the shortest time possible. It's not unusual to have a market movement of a hundred pips of more, just 5 minutes after the news is announced.

News trading is a highly risky style of Forex trading, and is generally not recommended for novice traders. Amateurs who think news trading is a way to make easy money are often taught an expensive lesson by the market.

What If I Don't Want To Trade The News?

For those who do not wish to trade the news, they often wonder if they should pay attention to the daily market news at all. In my humble opinion, the answer is generally 'no'. The fundamental daily news is usually slowly incorporated into the market price, so a competent technical trader will already be able to take into account any unusual changes in price action.

However, there are of course exceptions to this rule of thumb.

While you probably don't need to pay a lot of attention to the every-day news announcements, there are some economic news data release dates that you should avoid trading in.

These are the same economic news announcements that the news traders trade on. Some examples include the non-farm payroll, ISM manufacturing and FOMC meeting announcements. The high price volatility experienced during these periods are best avoided by most traders... it's better to keep your capital protected than to risk it on highly risky trades.

Newsletters or Email or News Feeds - Which is Better?

2009-11-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

By Ken Gorman

Many businesses periodically send newsletters by postal mail to keep subscribers current on their affairs or industry-related news, for the purpose of maintaining a loyal customer base to whom they can market additional products or services. With pervasive use of the internet for information dissemination, and with RSS News Feeds gaining momentum as a powerful online communication tool, one needs to ask whether businesses are now better served by publishing news feeds in lieu of newsletters.

There are obvious convenience factors that favor publishing news feeds over newsletters: No newsletter design delays or expenses, no printing delays, no printing costs, no postage costs, no mailing lists. But are news feeds more effective than newsletters in delivering the message? And if so, can anyone with essentially no knowledge of news feeds and with computer skills limited to sending email and browsing the internet actually publish a news feed on their own?

Putting aside the obvious advantages of news feeds listed above, an important question to ask when evaluating effectiveness of the newsletter versus the news feed is whether the information is time-sensitive. If the business is publishing information pertaining to such topics as the stock market, real estate, investments, weather, new products or services, competitive analyses, product catalogs and prices (and you can probably add more to this list), the effectiveness of the newsletter dramatically diminishes as the delay between the "event" and the delivery of the information about the event increases. If a newsletter is published every three months, on average the information is six weeks old! And it's not just that the information arrives too late to be important to the recipient, but also because recipients will come to know the newsletter is irrelevant to their affairs and tune out. Unfortunately, that means it will be seen as junk mail and tossed into the trash without opening. Why would I care about an investment opportunity if, by the time I receive that advice, it's too late to act on it? (At my post office, a recycle bin is provided in the lobby so that you can conveniently toss away your junk mail without even taking it home.)

Recognizing this time-sensitivity problem, businesses have been depending more and more on email broadcasting to a subscription list. You've seen the come-on -- "Sign up for our email list". To many, this is viewed as volunteering to receive spam. Even when one does reluctantly submit their email address to those hopefully-private lists, spam filters will often trash that email, and for the email that does get through (and we all know how effective spammers have become), the email from the legitimate businesses usually gets lost amidst all that spam. So what does it matter if the business has avoided the development, distribution, and delay problems associated with newsletters by using email, if in the end the message never gets to welcoming ears.

News feeds effectively overcome the shortfalls of newsletters and email broadcasts. With news feeds, nothing is ever printed or emailed, and the news feed is instantly available online. Recipients can volunteer to receive the information without having it "pushed" at them, so there is no sense of spamming associated with news feeds. The audience for the information can receive that information at their convenience and can receive alerts or "signals" whenever new information is published. For example, if you were interested in listening in on investment advice from an advisor who publishes a news feed, you could subscribe to that news feed - without giving your email address away - and whenever new information is published, you could receive a signal and operate on that information in real time. Imagine ... literally within seconds after the advice is published, you could read and act upon that new information.

If your intention is to spam - in other words, to send unsolicited information to others with the intent of gaining some advantage - than news feeds are not for you. Your targets will simply not tune in to news feeds that don't interest them! Spammers are stuck with email and mass mailings with the hope that recipients will accidentally open the spam and get teased into the proposition by the seduction of the message.

But what about the question of publishing news feeds? Is it easy, or does it require some special computer skills? Do you need to hire or pay someone to do your news feed for you?

The good news is that RSS News Feeds can be incredibly simple to publish if you select the right publishing tool. Numerous tools are "out there" (some much simpler than others!) for publishing news feeds; some are online services such as Enfeedia, some are programs you download. Some are free, some are not. For maximum ease, choose a news feed publishing tool you use by filling in a simple form so that you need not learn any technical skills to take advantage of the power of news feeds; it can be as simple as writing email.

How do you tell others about your news feed? In any communication you do (your business cards, your website, articles you write, etc.), include your news feed address. It's the equivalent to a website address except it presents the news feed using contemporary browsers. (Older version browsers don't support news feeds.) It is common practice to install an industry-standard RSS "button" on your website that, when clicked, displays your news feed and provides the news feed address for subscription purposes (see more about subscribing to news feeds below).

For powerful promotion of your news feed, select a feed publishing service that offers the ability to actually display your news items directly on your website, blending in with the design of your site, and including the means to subscribe to that news feed. On-site display of new items coupled with frequent posting of news is an extremely easy way to add fresh content to your website that can actually improve the position of your site in search engine results placement (SERP).

If you choose Enfeedia to host your news feed, you can simply tell others your "account name", and they will be able to access and read all your news feeds there. So it can be as simple as saying, "See my news feeds at Enfeedia, my account name is _____".

What does it mean to subscribe to a news feed? It depends on the service you use for subscribing, but typically it means that you specify the address for news feeds of interest to you, and the service keeps a list for you so that you can easily read your feeds whenever you want ... with all the current news shown. With a MyYahoo personal page, you can sign up for alerts when items are posted onto news feeds to which you subscribe, even by mobile phone if you wish.

With contemporary browsers, you can bookmark news feeds - just like you can bookmark a website - and get signals when new items being available in news feeds that you bookmark. And in its "Leopard" operating system, Apple integrates news feeds with its Mail program, bringing news feeds to mainstream online communication. Such moves by Apple, and by others which are sure to come, will popularize news feeds akin to the growth in pervasiveness of websites during the 1990s.

So set aside your complicated desktop publisher software, just say no to spamming, and become an effective professional communicator, gaining the respect as an authority, using RSS News Feeds.

A Review of the Daily Soccer News

2009-11-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

By Matt Belmont

Looking across the Internet, there simply is too much news and information about basically anything. If you are a football fanatic, it is no wonder that there are also too many Websites that are out there. If you are searching for a good source of news and information, just go to your trusted and reliable search engine and find the football news site that would fit your requirements and preferences.

Daily Soccer News is one of those football news Websites that truly would be of great help to you. You would be brought to a portal that is very rich in content about football. The online site claims that everything you need about football can be found within the Webpage.

If you are looking for the latest football transfer news or the latest developments about football superstars and tournaments, you are at the right place. Daily Soccer News is a good source of information and football entertainment in the form of text content. You would find that there are so much in store in every football news article retrievable from the site.

More than just news

What is more interesting about Daily Soccer News is that it covers more than just plain football news. The organizers and operators of the Website make sure the online entity is existing more than as just a mere Internet site for football. Daily Soccer News also offers juicy information, and yes, even gossips about football teams and players. The online site knows that football fans would be most interested in eavesdropping and peeking at closed doors and windows, and that is where some informers and contributors are focusing at.

Because the Website is also functioning as a football bookmarking exchange, expect that there is lot of opportunities for interaction. The site has a soccer hat feature that facilitates online and real-time interaction among online readers. Thus, if you want to get in touch with all other football fanatics in the country and even offshore, Daily Soccer News would be an ideal venue.

There are other creative forms of interaction facilitated by the site. All you have to do is to log online and check out the Webpage. In a matter of minutes, you would be able to get the information and juicy gossips you would like to have.

Opportunities for contributors

If you are a frustrated and budding sports fan and writer, Daily Soccer News would provide you the opportunity to contribute to the general football knowledge. By getting to the 'submit story' section, you would be able to post your written output contributions. Everyday, the Website received hundreds of different unique football news stories from just about every type of football fanatics all around the world.

To comply with requirements in standards and accuracy of information, be informed that every submission is subject to full elimination and editing. The information you would share would be double checked and verified to make sure every submission from contributors would be helpful and informative, not to mention accurate, when posted online. Now is the time for you to show other football fans about your talents in writing and sports reporting. Submit your own football story now and see your by-line posted at the Website.

Overall assessment

Reviewing the Website is never a tedious task. If you would get to log in to the site, you would find that there is simply so much information Daily Soccer News offers. Now, football fans from all around the world would have a common and regular Website to visit for any information and data regarding the sport.

In terms of content, the Website is very reliable and is highly informative. Contributions from contributing writers are very helpful and informative. You would also see that because of those articles, the scope and coverage of the Website is expanded. The layout and design of the site is simple, yet effective. Daily Soccer News is really a good football Website.

Cricket News Keeps The Fans Going

2009-10-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

By Ella Wilson

With various tournaments taking place around the world, all cricket fans are going crazy due to different time zones in which the matches are taking place. Cricket news is something that keeps them well informed about which team is batting or bowling or has won the toss. Cricket news is also related to the lives of their favorite player or team. In fact, the fans keep on waiting for news on cricketing world throughout the year as it gives them immense happiness.

Cricket news is a way of being updated on the happenings of ongoing matches, whether on the field or off the field. Fans are always looking to get connected to the game on some pretext or other. Cricket news is also for those who are unable to watch cricket match live due to the tied up schedules. Cricket news provides them with latest updates on the cricketing world. It also offers immense pleasure to them about the team they are supporting and if the team playing in a tournament is a home team then what say, it is an icing on the cake! In fact, cricket news also offers an insight on the personal as well as professional lives of the cricketers.

What happens, when the newspaper comes, well all the cricket fans jump on to the page where cricket news is printed? We all are well aware of the fact that cricket has its own share of fans and they try to keep in touch with the cricket world through various ways from all over the world. With the development of information technology and availability of Internet has made the process of getting cricket news much easier. In fact, internet has become the most sought after medium to catch the action of cricket. Cricket news is a blessing for all the working professionals as it keeps them hooked and updated on cricketing world. Well, cricket news is just not related or restricted to the happenings on the field, but also provides news on activities outside the field. For instance, which player is doing what, if not playing any tournament and which series is going to take place in the near future?

It also happens that fans also go after the information on cricket coaches and trainers, especially when the person in question belongs to a foreign country. Various kinds of articles are published in leading newspapers, journals and sports magazines. In fact, the entire front page is dedicated on the topic of selecting a new coach for a national team. Besides this, cricket news also provides information on umpires and the decisions taken by them. In addition, if the decision is incorrect, then the news channels as well as the newspapers highlight it and it sells like hot cakes. Cricket news offers its fans to talk on cricket non-stop they are never tired of cricket news. In fact, the cricket news sometimes becomes a topic to debate on. Hence, cricket news is one such news that keeps cricket followers interested in the game.

News Writing And Feature Articles - 5 Ways They Differ

2009-10-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

By Nazvi Careem

News writing and features are different styles of writing that you find in any publication around the world, whether they are newspapers, magazines or websites.

There are many distinctions between the two sets of writing genres because they perform different functions.

The factors that determined whether an article is fit for news or features include: time, writing style, the writer, location and length. There are other differences but these are the main ones.

When you learn how to write like a journalist, you would come across both types of writing styles. All journalists are expected to be competent at news writing and crafting features, though some do specialize, as we shall see later.

1. Time: news articles are time-dependent and must therefore be released as soon as possible after an event, speech, occurrence, interview or incident that has news value. Features, however, are more refined articles and are written to be

timeless. For instance, if a runner breaks the 100 meters world record, the news should be sent out within minutes, if not seconds, after his achievement. One or two days later, it would no longer be news. However, a profile of the runner

with his background, interests and life story would still provide interesting reading weeks or months after his record performance.

2. Writing style: a news story is written fast and therefore uses simple, effective words, focusing on nouns and verbs to tell the story. There is no flowery content. All you find is straightforward sentences with words at a premium.

Features offer you a bit more license to expand your writing with color, adjectives and vignettes.

3. The writer: Some writers are more comfortable bashing out news stories in a matter of minutes and struggle to sit down for more than half an hour writing long prose. Conversely, feature writers are more at ease processing their words

before spending up to three or four hours writing their article. Sometimes, it is possible to tell when a news story has been written by a feature specialist, or vice-versa, just by looking at the first paragraph. Of course, you do have writers

who are experts at both forms of writing.

4. Location: by location, we mean where in the publication do you find the article. In a newspaper, you would have a section dedicated to feature stories while news articles can be found sprinkled throughout the publication. Magazines

are made up mostly of feature-type articles while websites also have a section for features.

5. Length: A news story can be anywhere from one sentence to 600 words, though that is stretching it. News writing involves punchy articles that tell the story as soon as

possible. Features are generally long articles that can exceed 2,000 words in a magazine. Features require more words because they go into more depth and personal detail than news stories.

Remember, for news writing, you must have a suitably strong angle for the article to qualify as a news story. Features, however, are not necessarily

instruments of news, although they could be. In fact, they are there to supplement the news and take the reader deeper into the story.

Ebay News

2009-10-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

By Michael Gosford

The secret to success in eBay is to have maximum profit generated through sales and purchases of products found on the internet. It is by making the right decisions on various topics like when to place bids, the rates to place for products to be sold and which products are most likely to be sold on eBay that helps in making a profit through eBay. The best place you will get all this information in eBay is from eBay news.

In business, having the right information at the right time helps the person profit handsomely in the business. So it can be said that taking the right action helps with access to the right information at the right time. EBay sellers can make use of the potential of generating money from eBay by staying on top of all developments, trends and news on the eBay site. And this information is possible on eBay news.

On reading about eBay news, the eBay seller can profit by selling products that are currently in demand in the site. This way, the eBay seller can start such products that eBay news claims is highest in demands in the eBay world and thus make a profit in sales in the process. There are a few places an eBay seller should look up for the latest eBay news.

Auction Bytes is an eBay news site that offers online newsletter that deals with eBay and other business trends on the internet. Auction Bytes is relied on by many successful eBay sellers to find out the latest in eBay news and other developments in online business. There are also some article directories on the internet that offers the latest eBay news.

One such article directory is Ezine Articles. On visiting this site, you find that there are numerous writers here who write articles on various topics, including eBay and the latest eBay news and developments here. The writers here usually write articles for the site with their own experiences and knowledge about the respective topics.

If you are skeptic of following the eBay news provided by these authors, you can always determine the pedigree of the author by reading on the bio that is supplied with the article, and also by making visits to his sites. Another reliable and competent source for eBay news is the many books and e-books available for ardent readers.

You can choose books from Amazon, Books a Million or any of the many online and offline booksellers for eBay news. There are many professional authors who write constantly on eBay, and eBay news. Some books worth reading for eBay news are Secrets of eBay and the Truth about eBay. You can get an idea of the beauty of the books by reading the book reviews that accompany the book.

Then of course, as an eBay member, you need to just visit some places on eBay providing you with the latest in eBay news. The general announcement board provides latest eBay news while the community calendar provides eBay news on happening eBay events.

The Chatter Newsletter is eBay's monthly publication providing eBay news through interviews with staff and members and offers comments on eBay news. Then of course, the home page of eBay itself provides eBay news on many exciting features and programs on eBay.

How To Create High Traffic News Articles

2009-10-21T20:42:00.000-07:00

By Christopher Kyalo

There is no denying the power of news articles when it comes to boosting traffic to any blog or site. It really doesn't matter what subject or topic your blog deals in, there is no reason why you should be left out and not benefit from the amazing power of news articles in generating traffic.

The first thing you will need to do to cash in on news article traffic is to stay very much informed on the latest breaking news. Then you simply need to think in terms of how that particular bit of news affects you and your audience. Always remember that hidden in every bit of bad news is lots of business opportunity. However it is not always easy to see these opportunities despite the fact that it is simply a matter of identifying the problems that have been created or are bound to be created and inventing a solution that you can sell. However by constantly reporting on the news as it affects your blog, it will be much easier for you to identify the numerous and constantly emerging opportunities that are always being created by breaking news.

The kind of news that you choose to cover in articles at your blog also matters and will have an impact on the sort of traffic that you receive. The more controversial the news, the better. Actually you will have to start thinking like an old fashioned newspaper editor keen on selling their newspapers.

Which brings us to the next important thing about your traffic generating news articles. All the newspapers covering a certain area usually cover the same news. So what makes one newspaper more popular that the others is not what is not the news covered, but how that news is covered. In your blog news articles, you will not attract high traffic not because of what you say, but how you say it.

Every news story has numerous different angles from which it can be looked at. As a blogger looking to create high traffic from your news article, you should choose the most interesting and controversial angle of the story as far as your readers are concerned.

News Until You Puke

2009-10-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

By Dennis Diehl

I listen to way too much news. I feel if I don't, I'll miss the Second Coming, spreading Tsunami, in coming meteor, rising melt water from glaciers, a solar flare that might fry me, alien invasion or next terror attack that has been promised for the past four years. Since I don't want to miss these things, I listen to way too much news.

Beause I listen to way too much news, I know way too much about beheadinigs and bullet riddled bodies. I know way too much about car bombs and body parts lying around. A few days ago they found a few dozen heads in boxes in Iraq. This is no way to get ahead in war. I wish I didn't know about that, but I do. It makes me wonder where the rest of them went. I only know this stuff because I watch and listen to way too much news.

I know too many darn opinions about way too much stuff. I used to listen to Limbaugh, but I don't think he believes himself sometimes and O'Reilly is just way too angry, smart assed and repressed for my taste, but I know about these guys, because I listen to way too much news. I did hear a few things...in the news about their personal lives, and that was pretty cool to know they aren't as righteous as they would have me believe. I learned that on the the news. I listen to way too much you know. I listen to Air America. Now that's a pretty newsy bunch if ever there was one. I like them. They scare the hell out of me, but I like them. They say everything about government and this administration that all the other news I read about them makes me think. They make me feel that the thoughts I have about about all the other news I read about is at least normal. At least I don't feel so alone in my reaction to all the news I read way too much of.

I know way too much about Politicians, especially Republican ones that love Jesus so much, some of them seem to love making war more and more so he can return or something it seems. They make love too, but seem to often get caught doing it with the wrong people and even the wrong sex. Yikes, but honest, I read it in the news. I read Mrs. Bush moved out of the Whitehouse recently because Mr. President was goofin around with...well, others. Wow, that's pretty darn big news. Didn't see it on Fox or AOL though, so maybe it's not news, or maybe it is but not news for the masses, who knows? Some news tells me I won't see this news on the news because they won't make it news, so I guess we lose. Gosh, the news even tells me that this President might not even be the real President and that so many people had their vote thrown out, ok Democratic voters did. Now that would be depressing, but seems true to me. I hear it is true, from the news, twice!

Because of the news, I know way too much about CEO's who take way too much from everyone else to enrich themselves. I mean a LOT of them do. The news fills me in on how much Congressmen and Reps take from the public till, but CEO's are getting pretty darn good at it too. I see it in the news. Million dollar birthday parties, retirements that make God jealous since now he doesn't own all the cattle on a thousand hills after all. That former CEO does! Or at least he can. Smirking chimps all, because they always seem so sorry AFTER they get caught, and so shocked because they are soooooo innocent, but I just bet if no one noticed, they'd not be sorry a bit and take some more. But then at least later, we'd have more news. I read in the news where Enron just didn't hand out the power they said they didn't have, but did and got big bucks from old people in California trying to keep warm or cool...I forget which. Made me kinda mad. Those guys went to jail, but I hope we don't read in the news that their best friend, Mr. President, pardons them or something on his way out the door. I read in the news he can do that. It concerns me because I also read that when the President left Texas as Governor and was asked who would clean up after all the damage he did, he said it was not his problem. I hope I don't read he said that again when he leave office this time. I bet he does. I read in the news once that people don't change much in their lives and what they were they still are for the most part.

Why do I do this to myself...you know, reading and listening to all the news and opinions about the news and the people in the news who make the news and wish the news never found them? How many heads in boxes do I really want to know about or squashed humans in earthquakes? I have to say, I am worried that if I don't keep up with the news, I'll miss the really big one, whatever that might be. I tried once to not watch or listen to the news or the opinions the big boys have about it, but it didn't work. I got nervous not knowing what I was missing. I read in the news once where they want us to be nervous about the news because fear makes a good factor in controling us and changing all the rules so we don't have the same freedoms we had before they made us afraid. Gosh, I can't win with this news thing! Now I even read news about why the news is the way it is!
I read once where what I thought was news was really not. It was more like a government advertisement that was made to look like news. But they got caught. I saw that on the news.

Well, I guess it's news, news, news, until we puke or at least until Jesus comes back and shuts down the presses and makes us all go to the church of someone else's choice so we can be happy. I read where then we'd have to go by Bible rules and stone our rebellious kids and women who were naughty and tithe to the chosen leaders of God. It would be like Jesus Land but for our own good and gay people and whoremongers, but not WARmongers, (what's a monger?) would get slain and we could only watch stuff like Oklahoma and Nemo finds Noah...and and and..oh never mind, I read about the rapture in the news and I am hoping that at least that will get these people out of here so we can fix the stuff they broke. I'm scaring myself again with stuff I read in the news. I'm breathing hard again..I gotta take a walk. Gosh, I hope if I am blown up or gassed by some terrorist while out walking, they at least get my name right. I read on the news where they mixed up two accident victims...doh...see what I mean!

Delivering Bad News

2009-10-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

By Alex Lickerman

My heart began pounding as I listened to the sound of the dial tone in my ear. After three rings a woman answered groggily and uncertainly, "H-hello?"

"Mrs. Peterson?" I asked. My voice trembled slightly. It was 2 a.m. and I'd awakened her from what I imagined had been a troubled sleep.

"Yes?"

"This is Dr. Lickerman. I'm calling from the hospital." I paused. "I'm calling about your husband."

There was silence. Then a breathless, "Yes?"

"Mrs. Peterson, I'm the resident on call taking care of your husband. Your husband--your husband's suffered a complication. You know the heart attack he came in for was very serious. A large part of his heart had stopped working. Well, Mrs. Peterson, I just don't know how to say this to you but...your husband passed away tonight. We tried everything we could to save him but there was just too much damage to his heart. It just couldn't keep pumping blood. I'm...really sorry. I don't know how--I'm just really sorry. I wish I weren't telling you this over the phone..."

A few more minutes of silence passed, and I realized she was crying. "I understand," she said finally. "Thank you." Then she asked, "What do I do now?"

Relief coursed through me. "There's a hospital administrator on the line--"

"Hello," the hospital administrator said gently.

"--he's going to explain everything you need to do." I paused. "Mrs. Peterson, I am just so sorry..."

"Thank you," she said quietly. When I hung up I found my hands were literally shaking.

I was a first year resident, and this was the first time I'd ever had to tell a family member a loved one had died. It had happened in the middle of the night so I'd had no choice but to deliver the news over the phone. Not only that, but because I was covering for another resident and had only met Mr. Peterson that night after his heart had stopped and I'd been called to try to resuscitate him, his wife ended up hearing the news of his death from a total stranger. It was an experience I will never forget.

DOING IT BETTER

In the years since then, I've had to deliver that kind of news to families a score of times and bad news of a slightly lesser magnitude hundreds of times. In all honesty--and contrary to the popular saying--it has in fact become easier, partly because I've learned to do it better, I think, and partly because the more you do anything the less it stirs up the initial emotion that accompanied it. What follows is the approach I've developed over the years to deliver bad news in the most compassionate manner possible.

Prepare yourself to feel badly. Doctors enter medicine with the hope of making patients feel better. However, when delivering bad news, that's not what happens. No matter how people feel before I give them bad news, afterward they always feel worse. If I don't recognize this as normal, that working hard to make people feel good about bad news is not only counterproductive to the grieving process but potentially deleterious for our doctor-patient relationship, in the long run I'll add to my patients' pain rather than diminish it.

Set the context. When delivering bad news of any kind, providing the recipient time to prepare themselves can be helpful. My attempt to do this with Mrs. Peterson was clumsy ("You know the heart attack he came in for was very serious"), but my intent was honest: I wanted her to realize I was about to tell her something awful. The phrase "brace yourself" carries more than a metaphorical meaning in this context. Psychologically, even a single moment of preparation can mute the pain of hearing bad news, if only a little.

Deliver the bad news clearly and unequivocally. I don't say, "There's a shadow on your chest x-ray" or "You have a lesion in your lung" or even "You have a tumor." I say, "You have cancer." The temptation to soften the blow by using jargon is surprisingly powerful but extremely detrimental. At best, it delays the patient's understanding of the truth; at worst, it promotes their denial of it.

Stop. When a person receives bad news, they always have some kind of reaction. Some cry. Some get angry. Some sit quietly in numbed shock. Some refuse to believe what they've been told. My job at that point, however, isn't to clarify, mollify, restate, or defend the diagnosis or myself. My job is to respond to their reaction and help them through it. I vividly remember the first time I had to tell a patient and his family he had lung cancer, some time after my late night call to Mrs. Peterson. I came into the room to find ten or so family members gathered around my patient's bed. I set the context, I delivered the news clearly, and then I launched into thirty minutes of clarifying explanation. When I finally paused to take a breath and to allow my patient to react to what I'd told him, he only looked at me with a sad expression and mumbled in a subdued voice, "I thought I had more time." He hadn't, of course, heard a word I'd said after I'd said the word "cancer." The only person I'd been attempting to treat with my soliloquy had been myself.

Ask for questions. Once a person's reaction has run its course, or at least paused, I always ask if they have any questions. Often they don't, at least at first. But often they do. I answer them all as honestly and directly as I can. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, people rarely ask the questions doctors dread most: Is this terminal? How long do I have? How likely is the treatment to cure me?

But sometimes they do. When patients ask if their illness is terminal, I tell them the truth: the percentage of people who survive any illness breaks down into two groups, those who survive and those who don't. The percentage may be dramatically and tragically skewed toward those who don't, but I emphasize that no one can predict into which group any particular patient will fall. One thing I've learned in my years of practice, both as a doctor and a Buddhist, is that nothing is certain...

...except for one thing: if you destroy a person's hope for a good outcome, they'll suffer far more on the way to whatever bad outcome may be in store for them than if they'd had the opportunity to approach it full of hope. Especially when the quantity of life left may be short, the quality of life becomes even more important, and I'm convinced that nothing lessens the quality of life more than living it without hope. How do you prevent hope from failing when the outcome is so likely grim? I have no ready answer. I often make statements about the frenzied pace with which new knowledge and treatments are discovered and once or twice have even seen a new discovery make a difference in a person's prognosis. But often it's what I don't say that allows people to continue to hope. It's every person's natural tendency to continue to hope even in the face of terrible odds, and whenever I believe I need to say something that risks interfering with their belief that things may somehow work out all right, I think very carefully before I speak. I never lie, but neither do I automatically verbalize everything I'm thinking. In general, I try not to enable false hope, but I always wonder if that does more harm than good. I honestly don't know.

Express your commitment of support. I always make a point to say to every person to whom I deliver bad news, "I will not abandon you." I am continually amazed at the level of relief this provides. Just knowing there is someone in a position of confidence and authority who genuinely cares about what happens to them, who can explain the things that occur during the course of their illness and simply be available to them, is enormously relieving to most people. I also add, if it applies, "I will not let you suffer." Adequate training in pain relief is woefully sparse in most medical schools and residency programs, but the technology exists to mitigate, if not completely control, the pain of most (though not all) illnesses.

Make a plan. I always give patients a series of instructions at the end of a visit in which I've delivered bad news. I tell them:

1. Write your questions down. Once the shock of hearing the bad news wears off--usually after they've returned home--many questions typically arise. I promise to answer them all, either on the phone or at our next visit, which I always schedule before they leave my office.

2. Tell your family. People frequently struggle with this, often thinking first of the impact their illness will have on their loved ones rather than themselves, and seek to insulate their family--or specific members of it--from the news. I am convinced this does more harm than good in most situations: it prevents damaged relationships from having a chance to heal and often creates more angst than it resolves, not to mention cuts off critical avenues of support. People who choose to die with secrets often leave wounds in survivors that never heal.

3. Prepare yourself for what comes next. It may be more testing. It may be treatment. It may be both. It may be neither. The last is the hardest to bear, I think. At least while you're engaged in treatment you're doing something active, fighting the diagnosis in a concrete way. Many people become inconsolably anxious once their treatment stops because at that point all they have left to do is wait for a relapse.

Follow up. Whether by phone or in person, I always talk with the person again within a week. Often, the person will have made surprising progress in coming to terms with the news that's been delivered. The human mind has a remarkable capacity to adjust to tragedy, and in fact I believe begins to cope with bad news the moment it's delivered. Many people agree that the wait for bad news is almost worse than actually receiving it. At least once you receive it--even if it's the worst you feared--you can begin to take action to deal with it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARING

All of us will receive bad news--devastating news--in the course of our lives, if we haven't already. Studies have shown patients and their families remember the way bad news is delivered--the exact words doctors use, how they looked, and whether they seemed to sincerely care--for the rest of their lives.

Which is why every time I'm about to enter a patient's exam room to deliver bad news myself I pause and remember Mrs. Peterson, a woman I've never seen or heard from since, but whose life I irrevocably changed in the middle of the night while she lay at home in bed without her husband next to her--as she would from that point forward--all those years ago.

The Changing Dynamics of News in India & Its Challenges

2009-10-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

By Kuldeep Salal

An economy that's growing at 8.5% and a very bright outlook for the future...that's the India story at it's best. But, the unmentioned success story, which in a way completes the picture, is the free press that our 60 year old democracy has managed to sustain.

Going back to 1870 when India's first newspaper - The Bengal Gazette - to today's plethora of newspapers and news channels; the media industry has come a long way. However, a little bit of analysis on the growth of media in India, who mostly serve India news reveals that the actual growth and the steep growth curve actually happened only later with the advent of the vernacular press.

This shift from the major languages, Hindi & English, towards regional languages made sense considering the diversity in the country. Here in India dialects change every few hundred kilometers and languages change from state to state. To effectively make people understand what all that's important to them, news in one word, it was vital that they be addressed in their language.

That's why, the vernacular press has done exceedingly well in India. The same idea was carried forward first by the radio and then by the visual media. No matter how important the national level news channels in Hindi and English may be, people across India do keep a tab on the news channels that offers them news in their own language. The common man simply loves to understand news in the language he is most comfortable in.

This way latest news India slowly became latest news from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore etc.

Moreover, this localization of content also ensured that breaking news, the mainstay of a news channel, also got a local flavor. So, one has breaking news from Delhi or Mumbai etc. News was essentially local in nature but due to the localization of the channels content policy, such news also got prominence.

But the addition of more local content in a way is leading to the dilution of the media's core competencies. That perfect balance between what's important on a local level and what's important when it came to the bigger picture was still wanting.

Welcome, to the world of Internet news. An arena where news is served piping hot, latest news and breaking news concepts work and at the same time a judicial mix between international, national, vernacular and local content could be achieved with finesse.

The Internet news model holds great promise for a country as diversified as India. News, anywhere, anytime is something this model can indeed deliver. However, on the flip side, the low penetration of Internet in India is slowing down the advent of the Internet arena in India. As of 2008, there are 60,000,000 Internet users-comprising 6.0% of the country's population-in India.

But for Internet to perform at its best level there has to be a broadband connection. All that is considered as USPs of Internet; namely the seamless integration of content with video and a lot of interactivity thrown in, would perform at their optimum only on a super fast broadband connection.

There is a sense of inevitability to the world we live, what has to happen will eventually happen. If these prophetic words hold true for one change, certainly, then it is the advent of the era of Internet news in India. Wait & watch...the coming times are going to be exciting for news genre!

Sports Fishing News Leaves the Morning Paper Flat

2009-10-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

By Hal Lewis

When it comes to news there is news for everything on the planet and for sport fishing there is sports fishing news with all the latest on fishing tournaments, new gear and team events. That leaves the morning paper in dead last, this kind of news can be found on the Internet and fishing news magazines.

This kind of news also includes things weather events that disrupt the fishing, the latest tournament winners and up coming tournaments. There are fishing reports and boating information that is found in sports fishing news. When sports fishing news is on the Internet the latest information can be found on websites devoted to fishing news and blogs that are updated daily or even several times a day. If there is a weather event or a tournament in progress it is not unusual to see the information updated as it is learned.

The news can also include interviews with sport fishers and with teams; it can also include interviews with companies that have developed some type of new rod, reel or other fishing gear. Information about new books and magazines, events where equipment will be shown and information on different types of fishing from deep sea fishing to fly fishing in the stream.

Sport fishing news is every bit of information that the person whose hobby is fishing wants and in the manner they want it, in print and in website after website filled with the latest news on sports fishing of every type. This kind of news also includes saltwater and fresh water fishing and tournaments that might be cancelled anglers that have won awards. There are hints and tips from the professional sports fishing teams and there is also news for male and female anglers.

It is this kind of news that keeps the angler up on all the news in the fishing community and is exciting to most sport fishermen when they can't be out fishing themselves and when they can get out they know all the latest on everything to do with their hobby. Knowing there is sport fishing news helps new anglers learn about the different events and tournaments and at the same time read the interviews with the professionals. This often helps the new angler pick up some of their tips to use on the water and help them to understand all about the hobby they have chosen.

The best part of sports fishing news is that today there is no need to wait for a news magazine to arrive, because all the latest sports fishing news can be found on websites and on blogs. Even the sport fishing pros have websites with their latest news and the websites of fishing gear manufacturers. Unlike the past it is easier than ever to stay caught up on the latest news no matter how busy you are when you are not out on the water and that is perfect for the sport fisherman.

News Writing Tips – 4 Ways To Get News

2009-10-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

By Nazvi Careem

News writing for professional news outlets is unlike conventional article writing in which you can latch on to a topic and write to your hearts desire.

When writing news, you are generally, but not always, restricted because you are writing about something that is largely beyond your control. You may write about a crime, a sporting event, what someone says or other events in which you are but an observer.

You could argue that interviewing someone allows you the control the news depending on the craftiness of your questioning. This is true. However, your interviewee could be equally crafty and deftly skip around your hoped-for answers.

Whatever the case, news writing depends on external factors and journalists more often than not have to find the news. Regular article writing, such as “how to” pieces, allows you to insert your own thoughts, give opinions and make you, the writer, a central theme.

This is not possible with writing news, although, it is entirely feasible to adapt news writing style for all kinds of articles to make them punchier.

For news outlets, finding news is the number one priority from the start of the day to deadline time. This function normally lies with reporters, who are given a helping hand from news editors.

In normal news outlet scenarios, news is generated four ways – events, press releases, interviews and initiative.

Events – this covers a massive spectrum but suffice to say that anything that has happened, whether pre-organized or haphazard, could be described as an event. A crime, traffic accident, court case, sports, speech, press conferences … all these are events that can be reported and published depending on its newsworthiness.

Press releases – news editors receive a constant stream of press releases every day, of which only a fraction are read all the way through. Press releases, or news releases, contain information of an event or a newsworthy issue, written in standard news style, with the intention of being published. Any company or individual is free to send in a press release to a news organization hoping for publicity. Naturally, a person such as Bill Gates has more chance of being published than Joe Bloggs.

Interviews – these are common journalistic practices that often turn into news. Interviews can be conducted face to face, over the telephone or by email, but what matters is who is being interviewed and what does this person say. If you have Bill Gates on the phone, you have the potential for a great news story. But if all he says is that he expects the weather to be sunny, it is hardly worth writing about. However, if he talks about the next generation of Windows applications, then you have an earth-shattering story.

Initiative – this is probably the most important aspect of news writing, and it depends on the creativity of the journalist. There may be no events, press releases or interviews lined up for the day but as a reporter, it is your duty to make the news. This is where you can have a hand in controlling the news but when the article is published, you appear to be only a distant observer. There are many ways to do this and it involves getting on the phone, going out of the office and pursuing news angles that others may have thought are long dead. This is what separates brilliant journalists form average ones.

News writing and the art of getting news is a challenge for any rookie when they learn how to write like a journalist. But the reward of seeing your byline in the newspaper, magazine or online makes it worth the effort.

News Writing With a Soft Touch – The Way Ahead for Newspapers

2009-10-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

By Nazvi Careem

News writing habits have been changing since the dawn of the Internet age. Journalists have no choice but to adapt, especially those who have spent their lives in newspapers.

While the essence of news writing and its principles will not change, how it is presented to the public is – not so much an evolution but rather redeploying old concepts in fresh roles.

We are talking here about news features. This type of writing bridges the gap between hard-hitting news and softer feature stories.

News-feature writing has been around for ages but now is the time it really must come to the fore. Only 10 years ago, people would look to newspapers as one of their primary sources of news, along with television.

Whatever happened the day before, whether it was a political rally, a tragedy or a sporting event, most people would only know about it after reading the following morning’s newspapers.

The Internet has now taken over the newspaper’s role. There are thousands of news outlets online that give you up to the minute information about anything. Events can be watched live online and forum participants could be talking about news minutes after it happens.

Its effect on newspapers has been staggering. What was once still newsworthy up to 24 hours later is now old hat because everyone has already read about it on the Internet.

Computers and other electronic platforms have stolen the hard news writing style that was once the domain of broadsheets. The answer for newspapers is to use more news-features. This type of article can still be considered an instrument of news but without the straightforward, hard-edged writing of a bulletin.

The benefits of news features are many.

News – journalists feel inadequate if they are not delivering news and news features fulfill that purpose. It is not a flowery profile or weepy feature, it is a genuine and powerful tool to tell the world what is happening.

Writing – news features employ the same structural principles used in news writing that rookies are taught when they learn how to write like a journalist. The difference is you are allowed a tad more dramatic license when putting together a news feature than you can with a news article.

Depth – writers of news features can delve deep into the story, knowing that the main news points are already out of the way. They can focus on going behind the news and giving readers a much fuller picture of the story.

Journalism is a rewarding profession and gives its exponents a wealth of news writing genres by which to test their creativity and vocabulary. However, because of the Internet, almost anyone can be a journalist because they have easy access to mass media platforms. Still, to be regarded as a true journalist, one must know the writing and ethical principles that go with the job. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do.

Finding News on the Internet with News Blogs

2009-09-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

By Jeffrey Wendland

With printed newspapers losing subscribers every day, people are finding other options to stay up to date with their news. Newspaper sales reached their peak in 1970 when approximately 62 million newspapers were sold in the country every day. However, with the population in the U.S. on the rise, newspapers sales are not keeping up. It is estimated that approximately 55 million newspapers are sold every day.

In the 1920's the average newspaper purchased per household peaked at 1.3. In the 1970's that figure started to dip to below 1 paper per house. By the year 2000, the number dropped to .53 newspapers per household.

One reason is that people just don’t read as much as they used to. People seem to be busier then ever and just don't take the time to read any more.

Many are switching their news habits by watching the big three network news and cable news programs in place of the newspaper. With so many options on TV news, it seems that there is a news station for every taste.

While many "older" adults still prefer newspapers, "young" adults have seemed to prefer to get their news from the internet. TV news still is the most accessed news source, but the internet is quickly becoming the favorite source of news, especially in the form of news blogs, news portals and online newspapers.

Online news is gaining popularity every day. Virtually every major newspaper has a version of an online newspaper. Pioneers like Mike Drudge have been leading the way in independent news providers. And there are countless news blogs across the web.

Part of what makes news blogs so popular is that they can be used as an RSS feed. This allows the news feed to be used on other blogs across the web and also allows the news feed to be read by many more viewers. People also love news blogs because you can leave comments and this creates a dialogue on the story which is a great way to feel like you are a part of the story.

Although newspapers may be on the decline, it does not mean that people have stopped reading the news, only where they read their news from. So it seems that if you are not getting your news online, you may soon be in the minority.

The Awful Truth About Television: Fake News and Other Reasons Not to Watch TV News

2009-09-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

By Katherine Westphal

DO touch that dial to avoid fake news

Government agencies, corporations, industry groups, and other large organizations contaminate the airwaves with fake news. These organizations produce pre-packaged news segments called VNRs, or Video News Releases. These segments look like real news. In fact, VNRs are little more that propaganda pieces for their producers. Stations have routinely used these fake news segments since at least the 1980s, usually without disclosing their source.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the government and other social actors creating interesting audio or video pieces to communicate with the public. The problem is that these propaganda pieces do not properly identify the source. They are made to look and feel like independent news casts with government actors pretending to be reporters.

Government attempts to regulate fake news

There have been a few efforts to control this phenomenon. The Government Accountability Office ruled in February 2005 that government-sponsored TV "news" reports are covert propaganda, unless their source is apparent to viewers. The Senate introduced the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S. 967) in 2005 into committee. This act would require all pre-packaged, government-produced audio and video news releases to include a clear disclaimer that the government was the original source. This act would not apply to VNRs produced by corporations, industry groups, or charitable foundations. As of this writing, the full Senate has yet to vote on the bill and the no one has introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Media is controlled by only FIVE corporations

Looking at the amount of programming available, you might think that there is a wide variety of choice. There are literally hundreds of TV stations with options to choose from sports, news, cartoons, history, painting, and more. On the surface, the amount of options appears staggering. However, only five major corporations control the majority of the media. These five huge corporations—Disney, Time Warner, Bertelsmann of Germany, Murdoch's News Corporation, and Viacom (formerly CBS)—own not only most of the television stations, but now own most of the newspapers, magazines, books, and radio stations in the United States as well.

Television puts your logical brain to sleep

There is a reason people's eyes glaze over and they assume a zombie-like stare, when they are watching TV. Their brains are in a hynotic, alpha brainwave state.

In the Mulholland experiment, 10 children watched their favorite television program, while the researchers monitored their brainwave patterns. The researchers expected that the children would show a preponderance of beta waves. This would indicate that they were involved and responding to their favorite programs. Instead, they stayed in alpha. “They just sat back. They stayed almost the whole time in alpha. That meant that while they were watching they were not reacting, not orienting, not focusing, just spaced out,” said Dr. Eric Peper.

Similarly, in the early 1980’s, researchers in Australia found that the left-brain "sort of went to sleep" once TV was switched on, but the right brain was busy "storing information in its memory bank."

What these studies show is that the right side of the brain may be dutifully absorbing all the images from your television screen, but the left side is lulled into a stupor by the television’s flicker. This makes analysis of the images difficult. It also makes it difficult to remember exactly what you have been watching. Furthermore, the research suggests that the left side of the brain may remain in a stupor even after you turn the TV off.

What is a concerned citizen to do? How to dig for real news

1) The first step is to start reading, instead of watching, your news. Television generally takes a lot of time to get across a little bit of information. With reading you can absorb information much faster. A five minute story on the news can be read online or in the newspaper generally in less than a minute. The spare time can be used to analyze the story.

2) The next step in developing a good picture of the world is to get several good news sources. Begin with a mainstream newspaper or website to simply get an idea of the basic issues that are at stake.

Then, select a couple of alternative news sources outside the mainstream. I am not going to recommend a particular source, because I do not wish to become engaged in liberal/conservative partisan discussions. These distinctions start to fall away once you start to analyze the news for yourself anyway.

3) The next step is simply to start critically viewing the material that you read. Does it make logical sense? Are there inconsistencies? Does the story change from one day to the next? Are there any patterns to events? Finally, the most important question to ask for any given situation is: who benefits? Rarely do events happen by chance in the world and asking that one, little question can lead to much greater understanding of any situation. Put that left brain into hyper-drive.

4) Finally, if there are inconsistencies or notable patterns, it is time to start researching. Whenever possible it is best to go to the source of an issue. For example, if the government passes a new law about security, don’t waste time watching or reading the petty analyses of pundits. Find a copy of the law! Do not rely on someone else to give an interpretation. The internet makes it much easier to find source documents.

In short, the good news is that you do not need TV news to become informed about the world.

About 'The Awful Truth About Television' Series:

What happens when the average American spends 4 hours 32 minutes every day watching television? Trash Your TV's 'The Awful Truth About Television' Series explores the multifaceted problems with TV in eleven hard-hitting articles. Read the full series and you will never look at your television set the same way again.

sources:

http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/304272.htm

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-967

http://www.benbagdikian.com/

Mander, Jerry. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Morrrow Quill Paperbacks: New York. p. 210

http://www.raphaelhouse.school.nz/index.php?pid=59

TV - Is TV News More About Ratings And Money Than Bettering The World In Which We Live?

2009-09-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

By James Napier

“Images can either imprison or liberate us.” –Roberto Assagioli

Tonight I saw a panel of White House correspondents talking about what it was like to cover the White House. They ask questions of administration officials because there are always questions to ask, then write their story and go on camera (if they're a TV reporter) and report what that official said. The last question an audience member asked the panel was, "Sure you ask questions, but what else are you doing to see if there's more to the story than you're being told? It's your job to inform us, your viewers, if there is."

After years of covering county, city, and state government in Texas (and those were the days we asked elected officials tough questions and we didn't let them off the hook — the questions were only the beginning of the research we did to tell our viewers what their government was doing with their tax dollars), I began a 9 year career with a TV station that allowed me to do over 2,000 feature stories about unique people, off-the-beaten path places, and it is the feature story which I came to love doing so much that I want to say we need more of, not less, in our daily news broadcast. These were stories of people who would never be seen on a TV news broadcast except that my photographer and I decided to do a story about them.

Why are feature stories vanishing from TV news broadcasts? The public speaker, television feature reporter, and movie maker are storytellers. While there is an underlying structure to what the person in each venue does, a structure the audience is often unaware of, there seems to be a trend these days away from content (a central focus) and a movement toward the shock value of an experience—what is said, what is heard, what is seen.

The adrenalin response becomes, in this context, more important than the cognitive ability to process (think about) what one is experiencing.

An example of this is the “shock quotient” sought by many local and national television newscasts which is resulting, more and more, in the disappearance of feature stories that uplift the viewing audience. These “feel-good” about-your-community stories are vanishing from TV news broadcasts and being replaced with news stories directed at target audiences that Orlando Sentinel syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker says are “culturally locked in perpetual adolescence.”

Shock value is in. If the story bleeds, it’s likely to lead, be the top story in that evening's newscast.

Having created over 2,000 feature stories over a nine year period during my tenure at a CBS-TV affiliate in Texas, I know the importance of preserving the broadcast tradition of telling the stories of local unsung heroes, innovators, and visionaries — material routinely overlooked by the "ratings hungry" TV news outlets.

For nine years, my photographer and I traveled Texas looking daily for interesting stories about people who were making a difference in the lives of others.

These were not the lead stories at 6 & 10 — slots reserved for the dramatic "hard hitting" news stories you might call,"Why are you living in this community, it's so scary?"

Still, to the credit of my news director who felt my stories were important and fought to keep them on-the-air, my positive, upbeat storytelling played an important part in our station's offerings and ratings success.

My phone rang often with a viewer telling me, "I rush home to see your stories every day." I received hundreds of letters with messages such as, "I've lived here all my life. I had no idea what you showed us today even existed." These viewers appreciated being told they lived in a community with good people around them who were making tangible contributions.

Sensationalism dominates newscasts nowadays. For example, TV news operations are in the business of looking for ratings grabbers: fires, wrecks, and crime scenes — anything that will jump out at the viewers at the top of a newscast. “People say they want more positive stories, but when we tried that we lost viewers (which translates into lost advertising revenue) to our competitors,” a TV news director friend mentioned to me recently.

Solid reporting, beyond the easy, sensationalist fare, requires independent thinking and motivation.

One station I worked for assigned each news reporter to a beat. A beat means city hall, county commissioners, the police and fire department, the state capitol. It was the reporter's responsibility to bring story ideas to the morning news meeting. Rarely did a reporter come to the meeting with an original story he or she wanted to do. Most waited to be assigned a story from the news desk (a task usually taken on by the news assignments editor or, in small markets, the news director).

I've seen more than one news director frustrated by young reporters' lack of curiosity about their community.

A news director I used to work for told me, "When I started in this business twenty years ago, we had a solid core of proven journalists working for us. Over the years, the commercial aspect began to dominate. I've been forced to hire younger and younger people who do not read, write, or deliver material well at all. The newsroom has become a kindergarten. As the news conglomerates purchase stations, they are focused on the bottom line — profits. I'm forced to hire reporters at wages barely above minimum wage. All they apparently want to do is serve their six months here and move on to a larger TV news market, make more money and move up to an even bigger market.”

Another veteran CBS employee told me, "We have people on the air now who are younger than some pairs of shoes in my closet. And it shows!"

Local broadcast news has become more about ratings and station profits than solid news gathering, compiling lists of trusted sources, compelling writing, and good storytelling. The term "seasoned reporters" is rarely heard. The traditions of Edward R. Murrow, Douglas Edwards, Walter Chronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and the early journalistic years of Barbara Walters at NBC are all but lost on today's generation of new hires who have only the vaguest ideas of the standards, values, and news ethics that were so important to these broadcasting legends.

Younger reporters, with their eyes on the next job, rarely stay with a station long enough to understand local issues. It takes time and commitment to get to know people who can help you when you need a sound bite on a certain issue.

A TV news reporter must cultivate friendships at every level (political and social), leave a business card with every one he/she meets, and obtain contact information. I know a seasoned reporter who had a file with hundreds of contacts. When assigned a story, she knew exactly whom to call to get the background information she needed to write her piece.

The professional reporter must also have the ability to write a great story and the skills to edit video to match audio, even if another person in the newsroom is assigned to edit their story.

What's involved is caring enough to get all the necessary pictures and sound bites at the scene. Once in the editing bay, there's rarely a chance to go back and shoot the footage that was overlooked! When crucial visual and sound elements are missing (which happens often), it's usually because the reporter didn't know what his/her story was about and failed to instruct the photographer regarding camera angles, close-ups, medium-shots, and establishing shots.

When I first started doing daily feature stories, it was an uphill battle to convince station management that they were a legitimate part of a local newscast. The station photographers argued, "Features are not news. The’re soft. They have no action."

The people in sales told me, "Viewers will lose interest, we'll lose ratings, and we'll have to lower our sales charges to advertisers if we can't continue to deliver the audience our clients are paying for."

In other words, if it bleeds, it leads."

At first the station higher-ups thought feature stories about the unsung heroes in the community were a waste of time. “Not exciting enough,” was one viewpoint I heard.

I held fast to the belief that a balanced and fair newscast includes stories about the people who are making a difference in their community.

Our "Live at Five" program, showcasing my daily feature story and live segment that I introduced, heoped us continue our ratings dominance at #1 in the market where I worked.

Soon the sales department began selling my "Live at Five" feature segment, as a package, to local advertisers. The TV ad sales people told me our "Live at Five" show was on in most businesses around town. It was a "hot property." Area businesses were willing to pay premium prices to have their ads placed before and after the segments called "James' Corner."

Our ratings soared because those stories made people feel proud to reside in Central Texas.

I pointed out in a news meeting a few years ago that people do not move to an area because it leads the state in murders. They do not choose an area because it's a terrible place to raise kids, the schools are unsafe, the water supply bad, and the taxes high.

The unfortunate trend in local news is shorter and shorter stories, with newscasts "stacked" with twenty or thirty tapes—tell the day’s bad news quick, quick, and even more quickly. “Must compete with the viewer’s jumpy attention span. Keep the newscast moving, moving, moving—faster, faster, faster.” Pause and reflect? Waste of time!

I've found that the feature story needs at least two minutes of airtime — even more when the subject matter (or person themselves) is compelling. A slower-paced story provides an opportunity to let people know, "Our station cares about news — all the news that's relevant to your life. That's why you'll find a balance of hard news, weather, sports, AS WELL AS the story that says, “Aren't you glad you live here? There are many good people in this community. This is the story of one of those folks."

“The brain works on energy and energy illumines reality,” the British novelist Colin Wilson wrote. “Imagine the difference between a picture gallery with the sun shining through and the same gallery at night, illuminated by a half dozen candles. The pictures would lose a whole dimension of meaning by candlelight.”

Throwing the spotlight of meaning on today’s global news by the in-depth way a story is covered, letting us see a particular event’s many kaleidoscopic facets from many angles, and not caving into political or advertiser pressures (which means that certain diamond sparkling aspects of a story will never see the light of day) must be replaced by the next leap forward in television news: giving us the detailed and comprehensive information we need (presenting all sides of an issue)to assist our own very good minds in making relevant choices that matter.

Every person or nation has a story. TV news is brilliant when it comes to showcasing the worst aspects of human nature. It’s time, I believe, to build an information hi-rise that includes the best that’s in us as well.

I’ll never forget an individual who volunteered his time and energy collecting and repairing bicycles which he, and a group of local police officers, distributed to inner city children on Christmas day. The looks on these children’s faces when they saw THEIR special bicycle was, as the credit card ad says, priceless.

He phoned me several days later. “I was feeling pretty down on myself until I heard you say all those nice things about me in your story. Then, I saw the looks on those kids’ faces…”

“To the dull mind all of nature is leaden. To the illuminated mind the whole world sparkles with light.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Booming: Television News Channels in India

2009-09-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

By Devi Prasad Mahapatra

News programmes have suddenly become hot property and are vying for attention with other popular programmes telecast in different channels. All major television broadcasters are including at least one news channel to their bouquet. The biggest headache for launching a satellite channel is programme software for round the clock. In this juncture, newsgathering is a major task for the 24-hour news channels. To cater this task, the emerging electronic channels have always made an attempt to cover all the incidents irrespective of position, location and time. These channels not only revolutionized the concept of news on Indian television but also changed the news formats. Before 1990s, Doordarshan had monopolized newscast on Indian television and also turned the news programs into a dowdy exercise. Now the private channels made the news an essential commodity like food, cloth and shelter. The strong point of all today’s news bulletins is their topicality, objectivity, glossy editing and high-quality visuals. News has traveled a long way from the DD era. From Local events to International events, breaking news to news analysis, television soap to page3 news, every happening comes under purview of news. In this article, we have covered some significant changes in news broadcasting in India before and after the Gulf War.

Indian Television - Flash Back

Television in India is undergoing significant changes in the current liberalized environment. To understand these changes, one needs to have some brief idea of the road covered by the television channels so far. The journey started as an experimental basis with a financial grant from UNESCO in 15th September 1959. The makeshift studio at Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi was chosen for location of the experiment. The experiment started with one-hour program, broadcast twice a week, on community health, citizen rights, education and traffic sense etc. As far as news is concerned, it was launched exactly six years after the inception of television broadcasting. Daily one-hour program with a news bulletin was served to the Indian viewers. But one major drawback of television was that you could not enjoy the original colour of the objects because of black and white transmission. First multi-color programme was the Prime Minister’s address to the nation from Red Fort in Delhi on India’s 35th Independence Day. In the same day, DD National channel was launched. The aim of launching the National channel is nurturing national integration, and inculcating a sense of pride in Indians. Indian viewers also enjoyed the colored version of the Asian Games hosted by New Delhi in their drawing room. The coverage of major events and different occasions lend a big hand behind the infiltration of television signals to the nook and corners of the subcontinent. Indian Government had taken all possible steps to expand the television broadcasting demographically and geographically. In 1983 television signals were available to just 28% of the population, this had doubled by the end of 1985 and by 1990 over 90% of the population had access to television signals. In 1984, DD Metro channel was added to provide an exclusive entertainment for the urban viewers. In the beginning, this channel was confined to metropolitan cities.
As a public broadcaster, Doordarshan presented the news in naturalized manner. All controversial issues were pushed under the carpet. The ruling government had a strong hold on the television broadcasting. Doordarshan news bulletins were unable to provide the international news to the national viewers. Objectivity had been the first casualty as news was invariably slanted to suit the party in power. The news was liberated from the confines of the DD newsroom and gained in objectivity and credibility when New Delhi Television (NDTV) produced ‘The World This Week’ in 1988. Everyone was waiting for the Friday night to watch ‘The World This Week’. This was the only India-based programme, which looked out at the rest of the world. The World This Week was the best current affairs programme on the international scenario and carried good stuff of news, which the regular DD news was failed to carry out. This program is ranked as one of the country’s finest and most popular television shows. In 1989, NDTV produces India’s first live televised coverage of the country’s general elections. The critical and commercial success of the coverage sets a new standard for Indian television. After the Gulf War the media panorama has changed forever.

Golf War – The Catalyst

Post-1990 satellite television in India has become transnational in nature. It coincided with the entry of multinational companies in the Indian markets under the Government policy of privatization. International satellite television was introduced in India by CNN through its coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. In August 1991, Richard Li launched Star Plus, the first satellite channel beamed the signal to Indian subcontinent. Subhash Chandra’s Zee TV appeared in October 1992. It is India’s first privately owned Hindi channel to cater the interest of Indian viewers. This ignition followed by Sony and a little later by domestic channels such as Eenadu, Asianet and Sun TV. Entertainment programs had begun to occupy center stage in the organization’s programming strategies and advertising had come to be main source of funding. Doordarshan’s earlier mandate to aid in the process of social and economic development had clearly been diluted. Doordarshan had faced a stiff competition in news and public affairs programming with international channels like BBC and CNN. Doordarshan planned to sell some slots for news programme under sponsored category. In February 1995, NDTV becomes the country’s first private producer of the national news ‘News Tonight’, which aired on the country’s government-owned Doordarshan set a new landmark for Indian television because of its on-the-spot reporting with pertinent visuals. In the same year, TV Today Network occupied a 20 minutes slot in DD Metro channel and aired a Hindi and current affairs programme ‘Aaj Tak’. This programme became popular for its comprehensive coverage and unique style presentation by Late S. P. Singh. Still we remembered the sign-up message “Ye Thi Khabar Aaj Tak, Intizar. Kijiye Kal Tak”. Large number of viewers across India had been watching Aaj Tak as a daily habit because of its innovative style of news presentation. Besides that Nalini Singh’s five-minute fast paced, condensed daily news capsule Ankhon Dekhi, TV Today Network’s Business Aaj Tak and Newstrack was aired on the Metro channel of Doordarshan. This is the period when satellite channels concentrated on entertainment programmes for their respective channels. Doordarshan was still ruled the most wanted area ‘news’.

Major Players

Doordarshan’s monopoly was broken in 1992, when private television channels infiltrated into the Indian boundaries and entertain the viewers as much as possible. In the beginning of 1990s, the private channels offered only entertainment programmes. The entertainment programs include family drama, comedy serials, children programmes, cartoons, movies, talk shows, recipe shows, musical concerts, non-fiction programmes etc. Private entertainment channels added some infortainment programmes to their Fixed Point Charts (FPC). Keeping the demand of infotainment programmes in mind, the media houses started to produce news magazines, entertainment magazines and news programmes for different channels. India’s premier business and consumer news broadcaster and a leading media content provider, Television Eighteen India Limited (TV18) started India’s first ever entertainment magazine ‘The India Show’ on Star Plus in 1993. This emerging media powerhouse provided prime time television content to almost all leading satellite channels in India including BBC, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee, MTV and Discovery. After The India Show, TV18 produced a weekly business news program India Business Report for BBC World. Indian viewers had very limited options (like public service broadcaster Doordarshan, BBC and CNN) for watching the television news. For televised news, the viewers had to watch Dordarshan and some international news channels like BBC or CNN. In this race to provide more news, more information, Zee Television jumped into the battlefield by launching the news channel Zee News in 1995. This News and current affairs channel revolutionized the way news was delivered to the viewers. Since its inception Zee News has endeavoured to be the fastest to provide news, working towards a single goal of Sabse Pahle (Always First). The other round-the-clock news channel, the Murdoch-owned Star TV beamed its exclusively 24-hour news channels, Star News in 1998. Star made a contract of five year with Prannoy Roy-owned NDTV (New Delhi Television Company) to provide news content for this news channel.
The untiring exhaustive coverage of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan gained more publicity and attracted more viewers towards the electronic channel. This televised conflict also sets a news benchmark for wartime journalism. During the Kargil war, common citizens witnessed how their brave Jawans fought despite in hostile conditions and watched the war front live by the exclusively news channels, Star-TV and Zee-News. The live coverage of the battlefield helped to create a euphoria of patriotism among the Indian masses, which later facilitated into collecting huge funds for the welfare of the families of Kargil martyrs. Every news programme draws the attention of large number of viewers but Kargil war attracts private broadcasters to invest more money in the broadcasting business by launching a news channel. In November 1999, TV18 entered into a 49:51 joint venture with CNBC Asia to launch CNBC India. TV18 is the sole program provider to CNBC India, and produces 12 hours of local content per day on this 24-hour satellite channel.
After the huge success of news programme ‘Aaj Tak’, TV Today group launched a 24-hour Hindi news channel with the same name ‘Aaj Tak’, in December 2000, which covers India with insight, courage and plenty of local flavour. Within 11 months of its launch, Aaj Tak emerged as India’s number one news channel and was awarded Best News Channel award from Indian Television Academy Awards. Some mega events apart from regular interesting items (such as Kandhahar hijack, September 11 attacks, Afghanistan war, attack on Parliament, Iraq war, Godhra carnage and riots) have driven up the viewership. As time passed, NDTV’s five years contract with Star group for outsourcing of news and related programming expired on March 2003. With the expiry NDTV forayed into broadcasting business by simultaneously launching two 24-hour news channels; NDTV 24X7 – English news channel and NDTV India – Hindi news channel, which targets the Indian diaspora across the world. News crazy Indians received more news at faster speed from different channels. Any unusual happening can be caught by the television camera anywhere form Rastrapati Bhawan to bedroom. The power of TV journalism was become more visible by the major sting operations like Operation West End and Shakti Kapoor Case. This style of investigative journalism has brought about a change in the way we look at news, amidst new notions of editorial freedom. The world’s largest family ‘Sahara India Parivar’ launched a 24-hour national Hindi news channel, Sahara Samay, in March 28, 2003. It is the first ever city-centric satellite news channels covering 31 cities in India with their own city news bulletins. Keeping the demand of news in mind, the Union cabinet approved the proposal to convert the DD Metro to DD news in a meeting held on 3 October 2003. Consequent to these decisions, DD-News channel was launched on 3 November 2003. You might have noticed that the news channels are language specific. But DD’s news channel contains the round the clock news bulletins in Hindi/ English are also telecast twice a day on the National Network of DD National.
‘Aap Ki Adalat’ fame Rajat Sharma, Sohaib Ilyasi, the man behind the highly successful ‘India's Most Wanted’ and Taun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka roped together and launched a free-to-air Hindi news and current affairs channel India TV on May 20, 2004. Indian viewers had more expectations from this channel. The much-awaited news channel hopes to set itself apart from the existing ones by setting new benchmarks of responsible journalism. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Rajat Sharma, chairman, India TV, said, “We aim to change the way broadcast news reporting is being conducted in the country. India TV will set new benchmarks by maintaining international standards of responsible and credible news reporting. We will stay away from graphic depictions of violence and sensationalism of news. We will uphold the viewer's right to correct information and their right to truth and verity. India TV is not just a news channel, it is a movement.” NDTV as a pioneer in Indian television news, set to create a fresh revolution in high-quality business news with the launch of NDTV Profit. NDTV launched this 24-hour business channel on January 17th, 2005.
There is no saturation point in launching of news channel, just booming like sky as the limit. Entertainment channel to infotainment channel, infotainment channel to news channel, news channels to business channel and Business channel to lots more. Now the satellite channels become more topicality with international standard. When we are talking about topicality, CNBC TV18, the only business channel, continues to be the medium of choice for India’s decision makers, affluent audiences across the country since 1999. It has set the pace for the growth in number of television channels by launching a 24-hour consumer channel in Hindi called ‘ Awaaz’. This news channel focusses on empowering consumers on decision-making related to investment, saving and spending. All the programmes are catering to consumers across different walks of life, which included personal finance; variety of markets including commodity, stocks, savings etc.; small businesses; education & career guidance; and verticals like health, shopping etc.
Another news channel was finally launched into the already cluttered news space in Indian television. Jagran TV Pvt Limited's news channel, Channel 7 up-linked to the air on 27 March 2005. The channel has been set up to cater to the vast Hindi-speaking audiences, already being targeted by a slew of news channels. Channel 7 developed every programme with a bid to cater to all types of audiences and not just pre-dominantly male audiences who get attracted towards news channels.

Regional Leaders

To cater the interest among the Indians, Doordarshan televises programmes in Hindi and associate Official languages. It has launched a number of Regional Language Satellite Channels (DD - 4 to DD - 11 and DD - 13) and telecast programmes in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Kashmiri, Oriya and Tamil. The Regional channels relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators. The Doordarshan regional satellite channels telecast major news programme with some entertainment programmes.
If you think about the private regional channels, they have followed the path of the Big brother (i.e Doordarshan). They are neither completely entertainment channel nor exclusively news channel. They are following the middle path and claiming themselves an infotainment channels. The private channels televise through the state dominant languages. Rising advertising revenues and increasing numbers of viewers have provided the impetus for many big players to enter into the business. Some regional media leaders like ETV, Sun TV, Asianet have a strong grip over the regional market. Some major players tried their luck in different states. Zee television has three regional channels; Zee Marathi, Zee Punjabi and Zee Bangla. Star Network entered into Tamilnadu by launching Star Vijay, one of the most popular entertainment channels in India broadcasting in Tamil. Besides that ETV Network is a part of the well-established Ramoji Group, has created 12 dedicated infotainment regional channels. ETV network is the source of rich entertainment of eight different languages. Those are: Telugu, Bangla, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu; and Hindi to viewers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Every ETV Network channel focuses exclusively on its audience’s unique cultural identity, its aspirations and its distinct socio-political character. Let us think about the south Indian language Telugu, there are around twelve satellite channels are roaming around the sky with different taste and different flavour. These channels include three news channels, one song-based channels and rest are infotainment channels. When we confine ourselves into news, three channels (ETV2, TV 9 and Teja News) exclusively devoted to news programmes.
Sahara India Pariwar is proud to have five news channels as the bouquet of Sahara Samay. These channels are: Sahara Samay NCR, Sahara Samay Mumbai, Sahara Samay Bihar & Jharkhand, Sahara Samay Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, and Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh & Uttranchal. Sahara Samay has already managed to gain a loyal audience in India through a bouquet of National & Regional News Channels since its launch. These channels are youthful and vibrant channels targeting students and women, besides that hardcore news stuff. The regional news channels covers the entire spectrum of genre with specific programs on lifestyle, fashion, food, shopping, health and fitness, sports, education, career and city issues, besides giving user-friendly information on traffic updates, city events, train and air timings, etc. Now national news channels cannot confine its boundary to national level. They cannot ignore the regional news because of the stiff competition form the regional cannels. Regional news channels are entering into the competition with a strong will power and also with an aim to portrait regional issues in national and international level.

Conclusion

Now the television industry becomes more specific. In this competitive market, channels are targeting specific viewers. News channels attract more viewers beyond their target by producing interactive and interesting programmes. Every channel needs to do an extensive research on different concepts and different themes to attract more viewers and in the same time more advertisers. After all, advertisements are the bread and butter for the channels. With increased consumer preference for news programmes, television news channels have grown faster than other niche channels. News channels are booming just like sky as the limit. Those days are not far away, when we will get satellite news channel for every major city in India. Staying in abroad, we can update ourselves about all the happening of our hometown. Now news is not restricted to political happenings. It will be extended its limit to every unwanted and hided corners of the society. At last we can reach in the conclusion that anything, which is strange or disgusting, is news. There are no rigid rules, which defines news.

Source:
http://www.audiovisualcat.net/publicationsing/Q14india.pdf
http://www.equitymaster.com/research-it/ipo/ndtv.asp
http://www.mouthshut.com/index.php?url=#I=http://www.mouthshut.com/imagefiles/logo-ms.gif
http://www.screenindia.com/jul25/tele2.htm
http://www.indianembassy.org/indiainfo
http://www.india-today.com/itgroup/
http://www.studio-systems.com/broadfeatures/JFMA98/NDTV/63.htm
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/aboutus.asp
http://cnbc-tv18.moneycontrol.com/cnbctv18/about_tv18.php
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030818-474534,00.html
http://www.chennaionline.com/musicnew/Channels/05indiatv.asp
http://www.prdomain.com/companies/s/sahara_india_pariwar/news_releases/200303mar/pr_sahara_india_nr_20030326.htm
http://www.scatmag.com/tamreach_sept05.pdf
http://www.agencyfaqs.com/media/media_newslets/Media/4899.html.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/26/business/indianews27.php

The Awful Truth About Television: Fake News and Other Reasons Not to Watch TV News

2009-09-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

DO touch that dial to avoid fake news
Government agencies, corporations, industry groups, and other large organizations contaminate the airwaves with fake news. These organizations produce pre-packaged news segments called VNRs, or Video News Releases. These segments look like real news. In fact, VNRs are little more that propaganda pieces for their producers. Stations have routinely used these fake news segments since at least the 1980s, usually without disclosing their source.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the government and other social actors creating interesting audio or video pieces to communicate with the public. The problem is that these propaganda pieces do not properly identify the source. They are made to look and feel like independent news casts with government actors pretending to be reporters.

Government attempts to regulate fake news
There have been a few efforts to control this phenomenon. The Government Accountability Office ruled in February 2005 that government-sponsored TV "news" reports are covert propaganda, unless their source is apparent to viewers. The Senate introduced the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S. 967) in 2005 into committee. This act would require all pre-packaged, government-produced audio and video news releases to include a clear disclaimer that the government was the original source. This act would not apply to VNRs produced by corporations, industry groups, or charitable foundations.

Media is controlled by only FIVE corporations
There are literally hundreds of TV stations with options to choose from sports, news, cartoons, history, painting, and more.

Television puts your logical brain to sleep
There is a reason people's eyes glaze over and they assume a zombie-like stare, when they are watching TV. Their brains are in a hynotic, alpha brainwave state.
In the Mulholland experiment, 10 children watched their favorite television program, while the researchers monitored their brainwave patterns. The researchers expected that the children would show a preponderance of beta waves. That meant that while they were watching they were not reacting, not orienting, not focusing, just spaced out,” said Dr. Eric Peper.
Similarly, in the early 1980’s, researchers in Australia found that the left-brain "sort of went to sleep" once TV was switched on, but the right brain was busy "storing information in its memory bank."

What these studies show is that the right side of the brain may be dutifully absorbing all the images from your television screen, but the left side is lulled into a stupor by the television’s flicker. Furthermore, the research suggests that the left side of the brain may remain in a stupor even after you turn the TV off.

How to dig for real news
1) The first step is to start reading, instead of watching, your news. Television generally takes a lot of time to get across a little bit of information. With reading you can absorb information much faster. A five minute story on the news can be read online or in the newspaper generally in less than a minute. The spare time can be used to analyze the story.

2) The next step in developing a good picture of the world is to get several good news sources. Begin with a mainstream newspaper or website to simply get an idea of the basic issues that are at stake.
Then, select a couple of alternative news sources outside the mainstream. I am not going to recommend a particular source, because I do not wish to become engaged in liberal/conservative partisan discussions. These distinctions start to fall away once you start to analyze the news for yourself anyway.

3) Does it make logical sense? Are there any patterns to events? Rarely do events happen by chance in the world and asking that one, little question can lead to much greater understanding of any situation. Put that left brain into hyper-drive.

4) Finally, if there are inconsistencies or notable patterns, it is time to start researching. For example, if the government passes a new law about security, don’t waste time watching or reading the petty analyses of pundits. The internet makes it much easier to find source documents.

In short, the good news is that you do not need TV news to become informed about the world.

About 'The Awful Truth About Television' Series:
What happens when the average American spends 4 hours 32 minutes every day watching television? Trash Your TV's 'The Awful Truth About Television' Series explores the multifaceted problems with TV in eleven hard-hitting articles. sources:
• http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/304272.htm
• http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-967
• http://www.benbagdikian.com/
• Mander, Jerry. Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. Morrrow Quill Paperbacks: New York. p. 210
• http://www.raphaelhouse.school.nz/index.php?pid=59

BBC - The Best News and Information Site On The Internet
Now the BBC is regarded as perhaps the most unbiased source of information on the internet. They cover anything from entertainment gossip to modern politics. They also provide internet streaming of their radio and news broadcasts so if you're too tired to read then you can watch/listen.

The BBC provide an RSS feed with Firefox so you can always get the most up to date news without checking their homepage. When was the last time YOU heard about bird flu in mainstream news?

On the left you have a small picture of the world split up into different sections. Click on one of these sections to go to a dedicated page for that part of the globe. There you will find relevant news about that region ranging from news to sports and anything else they might deem newsworthy. They provide pictures and sometimes video of the event which can be pretty cool to watch. Like the one of the temporary dams at the Three Gorges Dam in China being blown up.

The BBC has a dedicated page to each country on this here planet. Since we're not discussing China, let's put their's there anyway. And voila. Now as you can see, they give you the country's national anthem, a time line of their history, some related links, features... Basically, most things you could need if you're just doing some basic research on a country.

How to Break News...and When to Apply the Brakes

2009-09-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

“ Whitson, Journal News.”
“Jamie, it’s Phil, how you…”
“Phil, whataya got? On deadline. Can’t talk.”
“I’m following up a press release I sent late yest…”
Not news. Call me when you have news.”

Ah, the life of a public relations neophyte, navigating the mine-filled corridors of our nation’s newsrooms…armed with more nerve than news sense. One of the first rules of thumb is knowing when information becomes news. And knowing that what’s news to one editor or publication is not news to another.

Sustaining a steady drumbeat of company communications is an important—indeed indispensable—part of raising broad awareness. You are not only competing for an editor's attention; your success going forward depends on your public relations representative’s credibility as a reliable news source.

On any given day, editors are bombarded with hundreds of press releases and story queries (i.e., pitches) that vie for their attention. Ultimately, your press release or query will either be lost in the daily avalanche of e-mails or land a coveted spot on a publication’s editorial calendar as the focus of a feature story, the subject of a product review, or with a company representative slated as an expert source to be interviewed.

You need to put the “news” in news release by providing editors with timely and targeted information that they can rely on to fulfill their obligation to their readership to deliver relevant and practical articles that help them succeed.

But, on the other hand, not all press releases are newsworthy—consider the release that announces the appointment of a key individual in a company. Press releases serve as a way to boost company recognition among your target audience—editors. Consistent communications is the building block of every public relations campaign. As we illustrated earlier, you need to apply the brakes and resist the urge to call the editor to see if he or she received your “announcement.”

If you’re going to call an editor to follow up, you need to have a plan. Treat your release as a jumping off point—a channel to offer to arrange an interview, send additional information, or schedule a product demo.

Securing success (i.e., placement) requires patience, persistence, and—well, to be honest—the right connections. Successful public relations does not happen overnight. It’s a process of relationship building over time. Editors need to know that they can depend on you to consistently deliver—whether it’s a bylined article or an expert source to comment on an industry trend—on time and on target.

When it comes to results, an effective news release will…
* Establish and enhance your reputation
* Affirm your company’s authority in its given industry or field
* Profile your company’s brand, services and/or products among target audiences
* Create new business opportunities
* Improve staff morale
* Promote sales

Public relations is about knowing how to break news and when to apply the brakes. Develop a core message, communicate that message creatively and consistently, and understand that success comes over time.

The Case for BET Nightly News and Black Media in General
Black folks have been complaining about BET programming for ages when, in actuality, they've been checking it out on the "down low."
I've gotten calls and emails from people all over the country upset about BET's decision to cancel the program. It's not just the over 40 crew tuning in each night for an update on what’s happening in Black America, young people of all nationalities are aware of current events in the Black world thanks to BET Nightly News.

After constant criticism of BET programming, the Black community was incensed when Robert Johnson made a savvy business move and sold the company to Viacom. As many people predicted, the nightly newscast hit the chopping block.

If we do not want all of Black media to fold or get sucked up by mainstream conglomerates, we must recognize that news is a product governed by the laws of supply and demand. The more we watch our own news, read and subscribe to our print publications and praise the work, the more that business can flourish.

Since slavery Black publications have been consistent advocates in our community and are still the first people called when there’s a problem. Unless it's celebrity driven or blood ridden, mainstream press does not address our issues until there's sufficient buzz created in the Black press.

For example, recently several stories appeared in the Black press about the lack of concern for missing Black women. Those stories resulted in coverage in mainstream media including USA Today. For those of you who believe Black media has out-lived its usefulness, Richard Prince's Journal-isms recently reported that The New York Times Co. is starting a Black newspaper in Gainesville, Fla. I’m not mad at the New York Times for their efforts to increase revenue by targeting the Black market; I’m sad that we do not recognize our own value and repeatedly take our struggling media institutions for granted.

There are Black publications - like the 100 year-old Chicago Defender - that have served as the voice of the community for years. Among those already in Florida are the Broward Times, Weekly Challenger, Westside Gazette, and Jacksonville Advocate; why would New York Times start their own Black newspaper in Florida?

Here’s a clue. Katherine Stapp of Inter Press Service recently reported that the first nationwide assessment of foreign-language and other ethnic media found that ethnic radio, television and newspapers in the United States now reach 64 million people. However, the article adds, Sandy Close of New California Media says "only three to four percent of the 145 billion dollars spent on U.S. advertising goes to ethnic media." One might mention the quality factor. It is true that budget limitations prevent Black media from providing the glitz and glamour comparable to that of mainstream press. Start by subscribing to a Black publication today. If your cable station does not offer TV One or the Black Family Channel, make a request to your cable provider. What if public relations professionals would not service Black media if a client only spent adverting dollars with mainstream? What if, instead of refusing interviews with Black press, publicists granted exclusives to Black media for A-list clients? Imagine the impact if Will & Jada, Denzel, Halle, Jamie, Usher, Nelson, and Rev. Al only spoke with Black Media. Blacks are a driving force internationally, leveraging our power for just one week would position Black media across the globe. It’s time for Black America to put up or shut up.
As the end nears for BET Nightly News I urge you to stop complaining and take a minute to plead the case for the newscast. If you would like to see BET continue to provide their excellent coverage of Black news and events send a note to BET explaining why it is important to keep the show on the air. It’s time for Black folks to come out the closet and demonstrate a little “Black Pride.”

Where is the Good News?

2009-09-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

The news is bad because Satan, has inflected people with sin. The result is lust, rapes, murders, and scandals and other bad things. It seems that if there was no bad news we would have no news at all. It is so depressing to watch the news that Brian Williams of N. B.C. includes one story that is good news. You hear of all those who were killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, and other places in the world. You hear of floods, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, murders, rapes, and scandals.

We tend to overlook the humanitarian efforts by countless individuals who have assisted people in the 2004 tsunami in the Indian ocean and the southern coastal states of the United States, after the hurricanes in 2005. Unfortunately, they don’t make the news. Good news seldom makes the headlines. The news media goes after the war deaths, scandals, the financial tycoons who wipe out the pensions of their employees. The positive things our people in Iraq are doing are seldom mentioned.

The middle east has remained a boiling pot ever since. There is usually threatening and suicide bombers raising havoc, or all out war.
The Bible indicates that it is a shame to even speak of the things evil people do in secret (EPH 5:12). The news media continually dwells on everything evil. They have a field day with news of sexual scandals. They say little of companies, city and state governments that get their financial status out of the red and into the black.

People get so sick of bad news that they wonder where is the good news. The good news is in the Bible. It is as up to date as tomorrow morning’s newspaper. Every sin is accurately described along with the remedy. It contains the good news of the gospel. The wonderful news is that Jesus Christ died to forgive our sins. If we continue to obey him, our sins are continually being cleansed by his blood and forgotten by the Father. The news that eternal life begins when we obey the gospel and that the Creator has promised to work out everyone for the good of those who love and obey him is awesome!

Jesus came to give us abundant life. He promised Joy. It is not the kind that comes from external circumstances, but what assures the heart that God has everything under control. We have the peace that the world cannot understand (JN 14:27). We have the Holy Spirit and Jesus interceding for us when we pray (RO 8:26 & verse 34).

Governments that embrace Christianity have freedom for the people. This is because Christianity advocates the fruit of the Spirit, which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (GAL 5:22).

In general, governments that do not embrace Christianity do not permit freedom of the people and have opposite qualities of the fruit mentioned above. The next time you are dejected after watching the bad news, open your Bible and read about the marvelous grace the Lord has for us. Read the positive things that are said of the righteous and praise God for it.
Heaven will be full of love and joy and the alternative will reek with terror and pain. This world has mostly bad news. This demonstrates the direction that worldly people are headed. Heaven will have nothing but good news.

Booming: Television News Channels in India
News programmes have suddenly become hot property and are vying for attention with other popular programmes telecast in different channels. All major television broadcasters are including at least one news channel to their bouquet. The biggest headache for launching a satellite channel is programme software for round the clock. In this juncture, newsgathering is a major task for the 24-hour news channels. Before 1990s, Doordarshan had monopolized newscast on Indian television and also turned the news programs into a dowdy exercise. Now the private channels made the news an essential commodity like food, cloth and shelter. The strong point of all today’s news bulletins is their topicality, objectivity, glossy editing and high-quality visuals. News has traveled a long way from the DD era. From Local events to International events, breaking news to news analysis, television soap to page3 news, every happening comes under purview of news. In this article, we have covered some significant changes in news broadcasting in India before and after the Gulf War.

Indian Television - Flash Back
Television in India is undergoing significant changes in the current liberalized environment. To understand these changes, one needs to have some brief idea of the road covered by the television channels so far. As far as news is concerned, it was launched exactly six years after the inception of television broadcasting. Daily one-hour program with a news bulletin was served to the Indian viewers. In the same day, DD National channel was launched. The aim of launching the National channel is nurturing national integration, and inculcating a sense of pride in Indians. Indian viewers also enjoyed the colored version of the Asian Games hosted by New Delhi in their drawing room. Indian Government had taken all possible steps to expand the television broadcasting demographically and geographically. In 1984, DD Metro channel was added to provide an exclusive entertainment for the urban viewers. In the beginning, this channel was confined to metropolitan cities.

As a public broadcaster, Doordarshan presented the news in naturalized manner. The ruling government had a strong hold on the television broadcasting. Doordarshan news bulletins were unable to provide the international news to the national viewers. The news was liberated from the confines of the DD newsroom and gained in objectivity and credibility when New Delhi Television (NDTV) produced ‘The World This Week’ in 1988. The World This Week was the best current affairs programme on the international scenario and carried good stuff of news, which the regular DD news was failed to carry out. This program is ranked as one of the country’s finest and most popular television shows. In 1989, NDTV produces India’s first live televised coverage of the country’s general elections. The critical and commercial success of the coverage sets a new standard for Indian television.

Golf War – The Catalyst
Post-1990 satellite television in India has become transnational in nature. International satellite television was introduced in India by CNN through its coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. In August 1991, Richard Li launched Star Plus, the first satellite channel beamed the signal to Indian subcontinent. Subhash Chandra’s Zee TV appeared in October 1992. It is India’s first privately owned Hindi channel to cater the interest of Indian viewers. This ignition followed by Sony and a little later by domestic channels such as Eenadu, Asianet and Sun TV. Doordarshan had faced a stiff competition in news and public affairs programming with international channels like BBC and CNN. Doordarshan planned to sell some slots for news programme under sponsored category. In February 1995, NDTV becomes the country’s first private producer of the national news ‘News Tonight’, which aired on the country’s government-owned Doordarshan set a new landmark for Indian television because of its on-the-spot reporting with pertinent visuals. In the same year, TV Today Network occupied a 20 minutes slot in DD Metro channel and aired a Hindi and current affairs programme ‘Aaj Tak’. Kijiye Kal Tak”. Large number of viewers across India had been watching Aaj Tak as a daily habit because of its innovative style of news presentation. Besides that Nalini Singh’s five-minute fast paced, condensed daily news capsule Ankhon Dekhi, TV Today Network’s Business Aaj Tak and Newstrack was aired on the Metro channel of Doordarshan. This is the period when satellite channels concentrated on entertainment programmes for their respective channels.

Major Players
Doordarshan’s monopoly was broken in 1992, when private television channels infiltrated into the Indian boundaries and entertain the viewers as much as possible. In the beginning of 1990s, the private channels offered only entertainment programmes. The entertainment programs include family drama, comedy serials, children programmes, cartoons, movies, talk shows, recipe shows, musical concerts, non-fiction programmes etc. Private entertainment channels added some infortainment programmes to their Fixed Point Charts (FPC). Keeping the demand of infotainment programmes in mind, the media houses started to produce news magazines, entertainment magazines and news programmes for different channels. India’s premier business and consumer news broadcaster and a leading media content provider, Television Eighteen India Limited (TV18) started India’s first ever entertainment magazine ‘The India Show’ on Star Plus in 1993. This emerging media powerhouse provided prime time television content to almost all leading satellite channels in India including BBC, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee, MTV and Discovery. After The India Show, TV18 produced a weekly business news program India Business Report for BBC World. Indian viewers had very limited options (like public service broadcaster Doordarshan, BBC and CNN) for watching the television news. For televised news, the viewers had to watch Dordarshan and some international news channels like BBC or CNN. In this race to provide more news, more information, Zee Television jumped into the battlefield by launching the news channel Zee News in 1995. This News and current affairs channel revolutionized the way news was delivered to the viewers. Since its inception Zee News has endeavoured to be the fastest to provide news, working towards a single goal of Sabse Pahle (Always First). The other round-the-clock news channel, the Murdoch-owned Star TV beamed its exclusively 24-hour news channels, Star News in 1998. Star made a contract of five year with Prannoy Roy-owned NDTV (New Delhi Television Company) to provide news content for this news channel.

The untiring exhaustive coverage of the Kargil war between India and Pakistan gained more publicity and attracted more viewers towards the electronic channel. This televised conflict also sets a news benchmark for wartime journalism. During the Kargil war, common citizens witnessed how their brave Jawans fought despite in hostile conditions and watched the war front live by the exclusively news channels, Star-TV and Zee-News. Every news programme draws the attention of large number of viewers but Kargil war attracts private broadcasters to invest more money in the broadcasting business by launching a news channel. In November 1999, TV18 entered into a 49:51 joint venture with CNBC Asia to launch CNBC India. TV18 is the sole program provider to CNBC India, and produces 12 hours of local content per day on this 24-hour satellite channel.

After the huge success of news programme ‘Aaj Tak’, TV Today group launched a 24-hour Hindi news channel with the same name ‘Aaj Tak’, in December 2000, which covers India with insight, courage and plenty of local flavour. Within 11 months of its launch, Aaj Tak emerged as India’s number one news channel and was awarded Best News Channel award from Indian Television Academy Awards. With the expiry NDTV forayed into broadcasting business by simultaneously launching two 24-hour news channels; NDTV 24X7 – English news channel and NDTV India – Hindi news channel, which targets the Indian diaspora across the world. News crazy Indians received more news at faster speed from different channels. The world’s largest family ‘Sahara India Parivar’ launched a 24-hour national Hindi news channel, Sahara Samay, in March 28, 2003. It is the first ever city-centric satellite news channels covering 31 cities in India with their own city news bulletins. Consequent to these decisions, DD-News channel was launched on 3 November 2003. You might have noticed that the news channels are language specific. But DD’s news channel contains the round the clock news bulletins in Hindi/ English are also telecast twice a day on the National Network of DD National.

‘Aap Ki Adalat’ fame Rajat Sharma, Sohaib Ilyasi, the man behind the highly successful ‘India's Most Wanted’ and Taun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka roped together and launched a free-to-air Hindi news and current affairs channel India TV on May 20, 2004. Indian viewers had more expectations from this channel. The much-awaited news channel hopes to set itself apart from the existing ones by setting new benchmarks of responsible journalism. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Rajat Sharma, chairman, India TV, said, “We aim to change the way broadcast news reporting is being conducted in the country. India TV will set new benchmarks by maintaining international standards of responsible and credible news reporting. We will stay away from graphic depictions of violence and sensationalism of news. India TV is not just a news channel, it is a movement.” NDTV as a pioneer in Indian television news, set to create a fresh revolution in high-quality business news with the launch of NDTV Profit. NDTV launched this 24-hour business channel on January 17th, 2005.

There is no saturation point in launching of news channel, just booming like sky as the limit. Entertainment channel to infotainment channel, infotainment channel to news channel, news channels to business channel and Business channel to lots more. Now the satellite channels become more topicality with international standard. It has set the pace for the growth in number of television channels by launching a 24-hour consumer channel in Hindi called ‘ Awaaz’. This news channel focusses on empowering consumers on decision-making related to investment, saving and spending. All the programmes are catering to consumers across different walks of life, which included personal finance; variety of markets including commodity, stocks, savings etc.; small businesses; education & career guidance; and verticals like health, shopping etc.

Another news channel was finally launched into the already cluttered news space in Indian television. Jagran TV Pvt Limited's news channel, Channel 7 up-linked to the air on 27 March 2005. The channel has been set up to cater to the vast Hindi-speaking audiences, already being targeted by a slew of news channels. Channel 7 developed every programme with a bid to cater to all types of audiences and not just pre-dominantly male audiences who get attracted towards news channels.

Regional Leaders
To cater the interest among the Indians, Doordarshan televises programmes in Hindi and associate Official languages. It has launched a number of Regional Language Satellite Channels (DD - 4 to DD - 11 and DD - 13) and telecast programmes in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Kashmiri, Oriya and Tamil. The Regional channels relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state and additional programmes in the Regional Language in prime time and non-prime time available only through cable operators. The Doordarshan regional satellite channels telecast major news programme with some entertainment programmes.

If you think about the private regional channels, they have followed the path of the Big brother (i.e Doordarshan). They are neither completely entertainment channel nor exclusively news channel. They are following the middle path and claiming themselves an infotainment channels. The private channels televise through the state dominant languages. Some regional media leaders like ETV, Sun TV, Asianet have a strong grip over the regional market. Zee television has three regional channels; Zee Marathi, Zee Punjabi and Zee Bangla. Star Network entered into Tamilnadu by launching Star Vijay, one of the most popular entertainment channels in India broadcasting in Tamil. Besides that ETV Network is a part of the well-established Ramoji Group, has created 12 dedicated infotainment regional channels. Every ETV Network channel focuses exclusively on its audience’s unique cultural identity, its aspirations and its distinct socio-political character. When we confine ourselves into news, three channels (ETV2, TV 9 and Teja News) exclusively devoted to news programmes.

Sahara India Pariwar is proud to have five news channels as the bouquet of Sahara Samay. These channels are: Sahara Samay NCR, Sahara Samay Mumbai, Sahara Samay Bihar & Jharkhand, Sahara Samay Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, and Sahara Samay Uttar Pradesh & Uttranchal. Sahara Samay has already managed to gain a loyal audience in India through a bouquet of National & Regional News Channels since its launch. These channels are youthful and vibrant channels targeting students and women, besides that hardcore news stuff. The regional news channels covers the entire spectrum of genre with specific programs on lifestyle, fashion, food, shopping, health and fitness, sports, education, career and city issues, besides giving user-friendly information on traffic updates, city events, train and air timings, etc. Now national news channels cannot confine its boundary to national level. They cannot ignore the regional news because of the stiff competition form the regional cannels. Regional news channels are entering into the competition with a strong will power and also with an aim to portrait regional issues in national and international level.

Conclusion
News channels attract more viewers beyond their target by producing interactive and interesting programmes. With increased consumer preference for news programmes, television news channels have grown faster than other niche channels. News channels are booming just like sky as the limit. Those days are not far away, when we will get satellite news channel for every major city in India. Now news is not restricted to political happenings. There are no rigid rules, which defines news.

Source:
http://www.audiovisualcat.net/publicationsing/Q14india.pdf
http://www.equitymaster.com/research-it/ipo/ndtv.asp
http://www.mouthshut.com/index.php?url=#I=http://www.mouthshut.com/imagefiles/logo-ms.gif
http://www.screenindia.com/jul25/tele2.htm
http://www.indianembassy.org/indiainfo
http://www.india-today.com/itgroup/
http://www.studio-systems.com/broadfeatures/JFMA98/NDTV/63.htm
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/aboutus.asp
http://cnbc-tv18.moneycontrol.com/cnbctv18/about_tv18.php
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030818-474534,00.html
http://www.chennaionline.com/musicnew/Channels/05indiatv.asp
http://www.prdomain.com/companies/s/sahara_india_pariwar/news_releases/200303mar/pr_sahara_india_nr_20030326.htm
http://www.scatmag.com/tamreach_sept05.pdf
http://www.agencyfaqs.com/media/media_newslets/Media/4899.html.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/26/business/indianews27.php

How To Submit Network News Video Clip Footage In 3 Steps

2009-09-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Luckily, you have your video cell phone and capture the whole scene on video. But how would you submit network news video clip footage like this to ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox?
Being in the right place at the right time armed with a video cellphone when something newsworthy occurs means you could potentially reap some financial rewards. Did you know that news organizations pay handsomely for exclusive video like this?

So what do you do now that you've captured some great video or picture with your cell phone? There are basically three steps to take if you want to get paid for the video footage you have shot. Edit, upload, and announce it to the media.

Most video cellphones come with movie editing software built-in (or packaged with the phone). Even if the bundled software is sub-par (which it usually is) there are many off-the-shelf software solutions that can enhance the quality and reduce the file size of the video you have captured.

Besides, the news stations have much more sophisticated software than you could probably afford to massage your video into the desired format, length and content.
Next, you need to upload your video to an online video sharing service. There are bunch of these available, some offering a meager amount of free storage and charging extra for larger portions of space. Other services limit the amount of bandwidth your video can consume. This means the number of people that can watch your video at one time is limited.

After choosing a suitable place to host your newsworthy video, you need to tell the news broadcasters about it. In whatever city you live in, there are local news affiliates that are part of larger news organizations like Fox News or ABC. You can easily determine which news stations are in your area by turning on a TV and seeing what the call-letters are for your local broadcast news stations.

Once you have the call-letters (for example, WABC) then simply go online and do a search for those call-letters in your favorite search engine. Once you find the web site for that broadcaster, navigate to the page on the site that has a link for submitting breaking news and supply the basic information that applies to your video, such as a description and the URL of the video where you uploaded it.

Katie Couric: NBC's Enormous Lose, CBS's Great Treasure
Bob Schieffer, the highly respected interim anchor of The CBS Evening News, will be stepping down.
The network enticed the vivacious and bright Katie Couric from NBC.
She will be the first sole evening news anchor in history.

When Schieffer took over the job left vacant by Dan Rather I realized that he wouldn’t be there too long. We had liked Dan Rather most of the time. We liked Bob Schieffer all of the time.
Dan Rather taught us that the anchor position on a major news program is a tremendous job that carries big responsibilities. He stumbled at times but not enough to get him fired. He was the consummate reporter, sometimes risking his neck to cover battle news. I miss him and will so until some network decides that he still has great value and that he deserves some role in television news.

Bob Schieffer raised the ratings of CBS Evening News by a couple of points.
Here is my prediction: The ratings will bounce upward on her arrival. After the “honeymoon” period she will have to fight tooth and nail for position.
The evening slot will be more hectic than her morning show. Let’s hope it does not grind her down.

I see Katie as being vulnerable. Let’s hope that her image changes only for the positive, but change it must, not because of her wants and desires, but by the amazing inertia of the job.
During tough times, Katie will be more compassionate. During strained times she will be less judgmental but more direct.
Read Katie’s biography at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Couric.

Why CBS Hates Herbal Supplements

2009-09-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

I saw a CBS news report that got my attention and people have been talking about.
CBS reported that herbal supplements like St. John’s Wort are dangerous and potentially harmful because the FDA does not regulate or test the many supplements available today. First of all the FDA approves pharmaceutical drugs based on biased research from the same companies developing the drugs. In the news report by CBS they did a really good job of grouping all
supplements together and portraying them as unhealthy, dangerous and ineffective, while portraying doctor prescribed drugs as safe, effective and really your only choice if you want to be safe.
The TRUTH is that pharmaceutical drugs, chemical supplements and cheap synthetic vitamins are unhealthy, dangerous and ineffective! These misleading fear tactics work really well at
getting people to not explore alternative health options that might save their lives or spare them horrible side effects from doctor prescribed drugs and OTC medications.
Randall Fitzgerald summarizes the truth well in his recent blockbuster book “The Hundred-Year Lie” which you must read to truly understand how “food and medicine are destroying your health.” From his book:
• Not all naturally occurring substances from nature are benign.
“However broadly speaking, the evidence indicates that most naturally occurring foods and medicines are healthy for us, as they have been for our species for thousand of years, while many if not most synthetic chemicals in foods and medicines pose some health risk. ”One of the REAL problems with the natural supplement industry not being regulated is that the same vitamin companies that produce cheap, ineffective synthetic vitamins are producing cheap ineffective versions of herbal supplements. Many natural, herbal and whole-food supplements are safe and have tremendous health benefits and could seriously improve or even save someone’s life. The effectiveness of natural supplements, however, varies greatly by the
brand and manufacturer and in general you should avoid anything made by a large publicly traded company.

What happens is someone walks into a store and buys the cheapest bottle of ‘St. John’s Wort” or some other herbal supplement. There is a huge difference in effectiveness based on freshness, quality, and the method prepared. A freshly squeezed shot of wheat grass for example would be much better than wheatgrass powder or pills.

The problem is natural remedies and whole-food and herbal supplements compete directly with the pharmaceutical industry, which I am guessing is CBS’s biggest advertiser. In the CBS news report there was an alleged number of deaths from adverse effects of natural or herbal supplements. The number was made to look really large and bad by making it over a large span of time. Look it up for yourself but I will let you know ahead of time you will find very little negative information about legal, patented prescribed drugs that the pharmaceutical companies make millions on.

The “War on Drugs” in this country is a war against naturally occurring drugs that Big Pharma can not patent and profit from! I am seeing in the drug rehab where I work a dramatic rise in people addicted to these doctor prescribed drugs because people are being reassured that they are safe and good by doctors and the media.

This news story is incredibly well orchestrated propaganda; do not believe what you hear on the news. Some people may remember recently the interview between celebrity Tom Cruise and reporter Matt Lauer. There has been a huge media effort to discredit Tom Cruise and make him look like a whacko or weirdo because he has been outspoken about prescription drug use and the pharmaceutical industry.

There were also attempts to discredit other alternative health advocates like Kevin Trudeau of www.naturalcures.com. I will be writing another article in the near future about BusinessWeek’s story called “The Organic Myth” that will blow you away! Don’t believe the media! Their news stories are mostly just advertising in disguise or Big Business Propaganda.
I love America, capitalism, free enterprise, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and Liberty and Justice for all. We can not blame governments, corporations and political leaders for lying to us.

When To Watch NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN & BBC TV Online Channels for Free
There are more people changing from cable TV to the new 2008 free online TV which is coming fast. This switch will bring a new wave of television power for the end users who will have it. Installment costs and other high priced charges will cause many smart people to switch to the free online cable service.

Cable TV has become so expensive, along with the all in one packages that cable companies offer. Compare Cable TV with the Satellite Dish TV, and the Free Online TV you will find out that their is no comparison between the two. Satellite Dish has a great quality and sound since it transmits TV Signals Through digital mode but it is also very expensive compared to the free Cable TV and free online TV channels.

Although you may not get the HDTV clear picture and pay-per-view channels, does it really matter when you have access to many great channels for free from the online service. You will get access to all the great channels NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, BBC news in over 70 countries and languages not to mention all the great movie channels that you have access to for free.
If you think that free TV sounds great to you as well, I have put together a great review for you and a wonderful video for you to see below.

The Blessing of Society

2009-09-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

"Society in every state is a blessing..."
-- Thomas Paine, Common Sense

What of value?
Interaction among human beings has provided us each with unique, fulfilling experiences, fond memories, and satisfied desires. When humans gathered together to share their culture among each other, to find something common in others that may form the base of a unity, they formed society. As they collected together, working and living together, they created art, poetry, and music, forming the results of their culture. What exactly brought appeal or created interest was their culture, while the songs and the paintings were just its products. So the true culture of a people cannot be defined by its best painters and writers, but by the unique attributes of these artists that allowed them to gain popularity among their fellow men. The intercourse of these shared interests among a collective of people may be defined as the society of the people.

What of virtue?
I walked down the cold, harsh streets of a city that had forgotten that liberty was the mother of order. A city that had the highest yearly murder rate, comparable with the death toll of some civil wars, accompanied by the most unforgiving police brutality, coupled with ancient legislation that had never been removed. Trekking through the darkness of night in a war zone, humping everything on my back that I owned, maybe twelve pounds. "Here," I handed her my trench coat. I had been told by everyone that college was such a radically different place that high school. Yes, there was a campus, and you slept right next to your school. I talked to the local population, approached girls wearing Misfits shirts and introduced myself, asked if they liked Crass or punk. I found an overwhelming consensus among the people that in regard to politics, apathy and ignorance reign. "If it doesn't effect me directly, I don't care about it," and that was the first difference between life on the streets and life as the privileged class. As a campus kid, partying and going to class, politics is a matter of discussion. As a homeless, Anarchist squatter punk, it is a matter of life or death.

What of purpose?
As a gutter kid, I was privileged to among a society of people who would die by yourself for what was right, or who would rip you off without a second thought. I remember walking down the pavement, looking to the glorious sky, and just thinking, "Wherever I'm going, I'll get there somehow, someday." Dreams and memories of having a home with a real family flaunted my mind as the darkness above swirled by the great Pacific front. I felt that there was a true blessing of society when I had my arms around a girl who said that she cared about me. Gentle finger tips slowly running the length of skin. Upon departing, I said to her, "It would be fortunate if we were to have sex." Every encounter from there on, she imagined that I didn't exist.

What of creativity?
It became quite evident in college that the middle class may have the wealth of gold and the depravity of the soul. Because "Politics doesn't effect me directly" was probably the excuse of every European nation that didn't oppose Hitler's regime, but it is the American swastika shining forth now. People are scared to death to say what they really think, to the point where they lose the ability to think on their own. When a young teen agrees with the older kids in his school that sex is the only valuable asset a woman could provide, he may just be suppressing his childhood dreams of meeting some girl and falling in love. And so it becomes reversed when he is speaking to his girlfriend, and claims he wants affection, when the goal in his heart is sex. The lives of this American society are based on deception. Truth is the casualty and sincerity the victim. And maybe there are some, who will say that a man is perverse if he outrightly states that he desires sex, just as there are some who will say he is weak if he outrightly states that he desires affection.

What of hope?
Running through the ghetto, fleeing from the scene of a crime. I had shoplifted well over $100 worth of merchandise from a store. Just a young punk caught up in this society. We were afraid to speak our minds in a society where independence is shunned, but we had the courage to trust how we felt. We had the boldness to trust that our friends would respond to our happy memories with smiles, our sad ones with kindness -- and those terrible predictions of dying alone were received with heart-felt promises of family for life. I walked up to a girl I barely knew and asked her if I could kiss her. I did, and then I gave her some avocadoes that she said she loved.

What of life?
College parties and nights you think you won't ever be able to sleep. Noise volume increase. Oh, well... It seems like nobody here cares that by the end of tonight, American Imperialism will be responsible for another 20,000 children starving to death. The point of conversation, of meeting members of the opposite sex for matters of impressment and orgasm, it seems the point of these discussions is music, television, and other forms of mass media. Everyone likes the same artists. And if they don't, they have a sort of patriotic hate towards them, as though the others threaten their own musicians. Among these clashings of social indigestion, I feel like an outcast, the black sheep of a family that comprises 8,000 students. Because when I read Percy Bysshe Shelley, I felt something more than words -- when I watched Stanley Kubrick, I saw something more than images -- and when I looked upon the artwork of any given artist, I see something more than just paper given the compliment of paint. I may see them as shallow and heartless for their interest in artists, musicians, and poets whom have no value, no depth, but alas, I alway see them as shallow and heartless for these interests when they live in a nationa responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths.

What of misery?
I kept tightening my jacket and my clothes. A hardwood floor and a sheet ("blanket") was all I had. I kept tightening. Finally, with a heart that understood the meaning of cold, I passed out. We listened to unpopular music, made up our own poems, and gave the unobserved walls our own artwork. We made a culture out of homelessness, a life out of our misery, a society out of outcasts and dissidents. We took everything that was held for granted by the privileged class, and destroyed it. Every night, we made a promise to ourselves, that we would never give in to a society that loved beauty more than emotion -- to a society that would be more concerned with the wealth of their superstars than the starvation of their children. As the memories of friends rolled back in the form of dreams, my body kept decreasing in temperature. I woke up cold. Brushing your hand past your stomach to feel the most bitterest cold. And somewhere far away, I'm sure that someone said a prayer that their favorite movie star wins the Acadamy Awards. Thank you, Jesus.

What of truth?
I drank myself into the worst intoxication. Next morning, I would find myself in a pool of vomit, but that would be next morning. At a university, with frat mates. Kids who thought they were punks. I hated every thread of their soul. Chugging vodka. I can remember a special girl, and whenever I was with her, I didn't feel the need to drink -- I wanted to appreciate her with the full awareness of my senses. She was every girl I loved. But there were still nights filled with drugs -- and those substances existed there just because they complimented life. Struggling through the crowd of people, not caring about anything, I just wanted to get f*cked up. Because the kid next to me said, "See, you should love parties -- it's all about getting pussy," and the other one said, "Aw, dude, come on, get more shitfaced." I was living a lie here, at this university. And it hurt so bad, because I still loved my real family, related through love, not blood.

What of family?
Both of society, culture, and politics. They didn't mind that the music they listened to or the movies they watched was manufactured heartlessly by a corporation. They didn't seem to care that, while they gobbled up this heartless, brutal form of culture, hundreds of thousands of people dying because of the government's abusive nature. They wanted to live life easily, see politics in nationalistically black and white terms, see culture in simplistically popular and unpopular understanding. Society, as it exists in its current form, is a curse to the land, and an insult to the living beauty of humaneness. It is the stars that make the darkness of night seem well-lit and more meaningful than that of a well-lit day.

The News Release Idea Factory

2009-08-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

Gaining publicity through the media can position your business as a highly credible enterprise and can position you as an expert in the field in which you operate. The challenge for many small business people is generating the ideas that the media will actually pick up on and be interested in running a story about. Instead of sitting in front of a computer screen staring at a half-written news release and waiting for inspiration, you should sit down in front of the News Release Idea Factory – the 6 o’clock news.

The job of any good local or national newscast is to inform the viewing public of what is going on in the world around them, and to produce stories that are of interest to viewers.
Keep in mind that when an issue emerges on the news, it’s not usually a one-night story. There will be follow up stories and opinions offered on the news stories of today in the days to come. By watching the News Release Idea Factory today, you can find out what tomorrow’s follow up stories will be, and aim to be a part of them if they fit with your business.
Watch for the Hook – When you’re watching the News Release Idea Factory, keep an eye out for news items that are somehow related to your business. You’re looking for a “hook” that you can grab on to, using your expertise and insight as a business owner and a subject matter expert to contribute to the story.

Here’s an example: the news reports that traffic is 50% heavier since the local transit union went on strike. If you’re a mechanic, you could contribute your expert opinion on the additional strain that sitting in traffic puts on your car, and what drivers can do to protect their investment through vehicle maintenance.

If you’re a Chiropractor, you could contribute your expert opinion on what drivers can do to prevent back pain caused from sitting so long in their vehicles.
If you operate a restaurant, you could inform the media that you’re offering breakfast specials before 7AM in the morning, for those people looking to beat the traffic into the city. (If you have a local “morning show”, there’s a good chance they’d set up shop right in your restaurant to capitalize on your idea and to talk to frustrated commuters.)

If you can hook your news release in to the news of the day, you will likely get the attention of your local media outlets and the 6 o’clock news. I call it the News Release Idea Factory because as you watch the 6 o’clock news, story ideas for your business are literally being cranked out right before your eyes.

When a golden opportunity for a story idea comes along, take full advantage of the situation and get in touch with a reporter or producer, NOW.
If you own a company that sells home alarm systems and a rash of home break-ins is topping the local news in your area, you need to react quickly! Offer them a list of home safety tips, or a walkthrough on how much work is involved in installing an alarm system, or a breakdown of how the systems really work.

Remember, the media needs experts to make the news they report credible. As someone in the home alarm business, you are that expert. Remember, the news reports what’s current and of interest to viewers. That’s exactly the information you need to develop follow up stories for reporters and producers that feature your business. So if you’re wondering what your next news release will be about, tune in to the News Release Idea Factory at 6pm to find out.

Build a Community Driven Local Online News Website
With the introduction of the blog, creation of a community driven, local, online, news website is made so much easier than it was using a conventional website.

Blog Platform
A new domain for your community driven, local, online, news website is preferable for indexing, ranking and ease of search purposes.
Choose and install a WordPress theme, suitable for your community driven, local, online, news website, from the thousands freely available on the internet.
Design your header and customize the appearance of your community driven, local, online, news website.
At the most basic level, your new community driven, local, online, news website is now ready to roll.

Getting Indexed
At the very least, you'll need to get a link from a page somewhere on the net that gets regularly spidered, so that the search engines can find your new community driven, local, online, news website.

Submitting your community driven, local, online, news website URL to several directories would also be helpful. These submissions of your community driven, news website will not only get you indexed but the backlinks will increase your SEO score and thus help with your ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

So, with this much development work done, your local, online, news website is ready to be spidered, indexed and ranked in the the SEs when you you begin publishing community driven, news items from your local area.

WordPress comes with one post titled Hello World and one comment on this post.

News Sources
Apart from writing your own news stories, there are two main sources of community news:
* Press releases.
* Community group submissions.

Press Releases
In Australia there are three levels of government: local, state and federal. Each will issue frequent press releases. State and federal government press releases will come, not only from the respective government websites, but also from the different party's websites and the particular politician's websites.

Pay attention to the press releases of your local member, both state and federal, whether in the government, opposition, a minor party or an independent. There will probably be various business and industrial concerns in your local area as well as special interest groups such as environmental lobby groups, that issue press releases.

Community Group Submissions
Obtaining community group submissions for your local, online, news website is much more work. Locate a directory of local sport and community groups. E-mail the groups if e-mail addresses are provided. Your e-mail address for news submissions will be in front of them, cutting down the chances of errors.

Speak personally to community group secretaries, giving them a business card or flyer with your e-mail address.
Phoning community groups is the least valuable option because of the difficulties for them in finding your community driven, local, online, news website on the net or getting your e-mail address right.

Edition Frequency
One advantage of an online news service over a print newspaper is the ability to update the current news as it comes to hand. The older news stories will slip off the bottom of the home page, and the news at the top of your community driven, local, online, news website will always be the latest available.

Publishing your Opening Edition
At first it may be necessary to publish only press releases, in order to build up some level of credibility as an online news source. When your community driven, local, online, news website has sufficient content to be seen by the community as viable, it's time to start your community group submission campaign.

It will be disappointing at first to be publishing an online news service that nobody reads.

Choose Your News

2009-08-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Six O’Clock news deluges us with crimes, fires, scandals, and crises at a rate of a story every two minutes. There usually is little we can personally do about these news items. After watching the news it is easy to feel a little down and powerless. In short, the TV news programs are not good for our health.

There are radio programs (e.g., NPR--National Public Radio’s programs) that give the headlines and then go into more depth. Newspapers with their daily time frame tend to have the piecemeal approach as TV. If you need the paper for other purposes anyway, you may want to skim the news. Weekly or monthly newspapers and magazines tend to give a more thoughtful approach to news. Newspapers and magazines have the advantage of letting you pick what you read.

If you just want the highlights of the news so you can feel you at least know about major events, you can tune in the five-minute news summaries on many radio stations (including NPR). Print media allows you to clip information that you want to save. If you listen to talk radio, ask yourself whether it lifts your mood or leaves you aggravated and frustrated, and judge it by your answer.

During the World Trade Center disaster and its aftermath, many people have been spending hours a day watching or listening to the news. Typically such news is very repetitive and speculative. Especially in times of tragedies we need to discipline ourselves to go on a news diet and only watch or listen to a reasonable amount of news.

Of course, what’s bad news to one person may be good news to someone else. One evening Johnny sat down at the kitchen table doing his homework while his mother watched television. His mother let out a shriek. "Johnny! Johnny! China has just launched a nuclear missile toward the United States." Johnny looked up from his book with a confused expression. All excited, Johnny quickly replied, "No school tomorrow!"

The bottom line is to consciously choose how we want to learn about “the news.” Give preference to news sources that give the big picture and give minimal weight to “piecemeal” news. Of course, if you don't like the news, you can do something to make some good news.

A. Knowing the News in Today's World
Keeping up with events help heighten our awareness of the world around us and alert us to trends in everything from the fashion world to the financial world. Here are several of the ways that people get their news and the reasons why it may or may not work for you.

1. Newspapers: One of the oldest means of getting the news is the reliable newspaper. Usually you get this on your doorstep before you ever wake up in the morning, and many people find sipping their coffee while reading the daily paper to be a great way to wake up in the morning. The only real drawback about getting your daily news this way is that sometimes the news is old, even by the time you see it and if something big happens during the day you may not know about it till the following morning.

2. The News of TV: This is probably one of the most popular ways to get the news. It used to be that you would have to wait until the evening news to catch up on the latest but now you can watch news pretty much any time of the day or night by using services like CNN.

3. The Internet: The newcomer onto the scene in the world of news is the Internet. Some find this to be a great way to catch up on the latest, and you can even hear about a news story second hand, do a quick search on Google, and end up reading about that very news story. Most major newspapers and TV news networks have websites that are constantly updated as well.

Yes, the way we get news has sure changed through the years. Keeping up with the trends and the times is not always easy, but by taking advantage of the newest in news technology you will find that you are better informed and on top of things, both locally and worldwide.

B. Five Great Ways To Land Your First Job In TV News!
Landing that first TV job. It's kind of like landing the space shuttle: experts make it look easy, but deep down you know it's not. Getting that first job is far and away the most difficult task you'll face in the TV news business. Here are five tools of the trade for getting your microphone in the door of TV news departments without having to sell your soul to get on air:
1. Know the market size for your talent and experience. If you're just out of college with a few years of university TV experience, you need not apply to NBC or CNN. I meet a great many college graduates who say, "I'd like to start in Cleveland or Detroit or maybe even Pittsburgh." Few if any of them ever research those stations to gauge the years of experience in the on-air folks or even to see if the stations in those markets are hiring. More important, they don't compare their own on-air work with the daily news stories they see on the station's websites. If you're 22 applying to a newsroom consumed by reporters in their 30's with 10+ years experience, all you're really doing is giving that station a blank tape to use for their blooper reels. If you're trying to get a job without a college degree, which a great many on-air folks have mastered, you need to realistic about your job possibilities. Do you really think you can earn a living in this business? If yes, then make a demo on your home VHS and give it a whirl.

2. Broaden the skills you bring to the newsroom. If you'd really like to be an entertainment reporter for E!, that's great, but as you apply for your first job, you need to be multi-talented. A great many young reporter-wanna-bees make the mistake limiting their skills to their specific area of interest. TV newsrooms are about using people in multiple rolls. If you like to report on news events but you can do sports and even weather too in a pinch, you're more valuable to a small station looking to give you that first job. Once you're in the door, you can target the job you truly desire. Remember, even David Letterman was once a weatherman.

3. Stay in touch with your internship contacts. Internships are not only great opportunities to learn the business, but they're also your best early contacts in your career. A great many interns say goodbye to the newsroom staffers they met during their semester of training and never touch base again. Who else can give you better guidance on getting a real job in the business than those who've done it? The professionals you met during your internship know people in the TV business. I recently found out that one of our former interns here at TV3 got a job at a small station out of state. She left here more than a year ago and this is her first job. While I was happy to see her success, I shook my head that she hadn't kept in contact with me to tell me she was looking for a job in that city because I know the assistant news director there and I could have smoothed the waters for her there much sooner. You should keep in regular contact with the professionals with whom you developed your best working relationships during your internships.

4. Be willing to relocate. You may have dreams of being a CNN war correspondent or even the top anchor at your local station so you can be the local-boy-who-grew-up-and-made-us-all-proud but the reality is you'll probably need to develop your skills in a small -- make that tiny -- market first before you'll get consideration at a venue that leads to your dream job. Places like Tyler, TX (market 114) or Albany, GA (market 145) or even Dothan, AL (market 179) might not sound intriguing at first, but they may be the best place for you to learn your craft without the pressure of a big market news director breathing down your neck. Ask those in the business about the job where they learned the most and they'll tell you it was their first job at a small station. For on-air folks, you'll find out if you can really beat-the-clock and get your stories on the air while also generating creative live shots to go with those stories. While your lead story might not be the sexiest thing you've ever heard (think "new sewer line that county leaders are hoping to put through State Route 94"), but the experience will pay big dividends.

5. Watch, watch, and watch some more. When you're not searching for a job in TV News, you need to be watching the latest and greatest from you local, national, and cable broadcasts. Watch how the reporters do their live shots. Do they look stiff or loose? Record the best stories so you can watch them again and dissect how those reporters put their stories together. A good audition tape with a bright smile might get you a first interview, but good writing skills will improve your chances of getting a callback. If you can't tell a verb from a pronoun and you don't know how to write in active voice, you'll have a short career in TV news.

How to Watch FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and CBS TV Online Absolutely Free

2009-08-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

1. How can I watch Free Fox, NBC, CBS, CNN and BBC Channels on Online TV?
With the average American spending over 16% of his daily time watching TV, you may understand why software companies have developed online TV and softwares. There are softwares that are now being retailed from the internet that enable the user to access the Free-To-Air internet Television.

2. The most commonly watched online TV channels include sports channels and news networks. Watching TV on the computer has revolutionalised the way people see entertainment. Working in the office or at home is no longer a monotonous serious affair.
The most popular method of watching satellite TV on your computer flat screen or normal monitor is by use of PC TV programs. These are designed to combine several world TV stations and package them into one package. This affords the user the versatility of browsing hundreds of TV channels from the click of a mouse. One can even work on a separate monitor window while another minimized window airs online television.
For example, while watching TV in the office may be considered an unnecessary luxury or outright prohibited, it also acts to alert the audience of events on real time basis.

3. Why you may need a satellite TV on your office computer too
Since people realized the importance of TV at work, even TV sets have found themselves installed in offices.

4. Watching online CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, CNN network TV channels for free of charge
Watching free online TV through your computer is therefore more of a necessity as opposed to a luxury. So don’t go feeling guilty because you just downloaded one of these computer TV software copies. Satellite computer TV programs offer a wide selection of channels in different languages for the user.

5. Online TV on Internet in all languages including English
What more, American are also able to watch free online TV from such networks like CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, FOX among many others. These include also the news channels and all movies, films and music aired for free by these networks.

Having TV installed into your computer monitor is one of the best things that can happen to your home or work office. In some cases you would be able to access even adult TV from the internet.

A. Watch NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN & BBC TV Online Channels for Free
More and more people are switching from satellite dish TV and cable TV to the free online TV option. This is as a result of high installation costs and monthly subscription fees of satellite and cable TV. Dish satellite TV, despite relatively lower cost as compared to cable, depends on the weather conditions.

Comparison Between Satellite Dish TV, Cable TV And Online Free TV
Satellite dish TV is however superior in terms of quality since it transmits TV signals in digital mode. Satellite dish TV therefore enjoys one advantage over cable TV because of the digital clear sound and picture quality. Te only downside to dish TV is that it is also not a cheaper option when compared to the absolutely free online TV channels.

Accessing all network TV channels through the cheaper free online TV alternative
Watching the CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX and BBC news and movie network channels on your computer is an unbeatable advantage. In addition you can also access other world TV channels from over 70 countries and languages.

How does online TV software download work?
Online TV is free television that is provided over the internet all over the world. TV stations have realized the potential of the internet in transmitting video and audio signals and have started to offer their TV network services over the internet for free.

There are absolutely free TV websites that you can watch TV simply by logging in. these websites provide TV from the main networks for free but the problem is that they are usually heavily congested. The global traffic demanding free online TV simply overwhelms the servers.

B. When To Watch NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN & BBC TV Online Channels for Free
There are more people changing from cable TV to the new 2008 free online TV which is coming fast. This switch will bring a new wave of television power for the end users who will have it. Installment costs and other high priced charges will cause many smart people to switch to the free online cable service.

Cable TV has become so expensive, along with the all in one packages that cable companies offer. Compare Cable TV with the Satellite Dish TV, and the Free Online TV you will find out that their is no comparison between the two. Satellite Dish has a great quality and sound since it transmits TV Signals Through digital mode but it is also very expensive compared to the free Cable TV and free online TV channels.

Although you may not get the HDTV clear picture and pay-per-view channels, does it really matter when you have access to many great channels for free from the online service. You will get access to all the great channels NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, BBC news in over 70 countries and languages not to mention all the great movie channels that you have access to for free.
If you think that free TV sounds great to you as well, I have put together a great review for you and a wonderful video for you to see below.

5 Steps to Profiting from News Feeds

2009-08-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

You can break down the news feed system into a fast, low-cost system that you can do once, or several times over.
First I’ll answer a few of your questions about news feeds. Then I’ll reveal the “secret” steps to setting up and profiting from a news feed.
Common Question #1: What is a news feed?
A news feed is an automatically updating list of the latest news on a particular subject. For instance, the news feed on my Web site is on the subject of small business marketing.

Other than being a really cool thing to have on your Web site, News feeds are also really great traffic boosters. Not only do they make your Web site more attractive to the all-important Web crawlers that view what's on your site, but News feeds also inspire visitors to come back to your site for fresh news.
So the benefits are three-fold:
• new visitors,
• return visitors, and
• passive profits.

1. Choose a subject of interest to your audience. I chose small business marketing news. For you, it could be the latest news on a tough problem gripping your industry. The great part about it is that you don’t have to provide answers, just create a forum where your target market can access information about an issue.

2. Find your news feed. There are several services providing news feeds of various pieces of information. In my experience it’s best to locate news aggregators based only on your industry.

3. Place the feed on your Web site. This is where I initially ran into problems, but a programmer friend passed on a rather affordable solution that I was able to easily place the news feed on your Web site.

4. Make your site profitable. Consider placing advertisements on the same page as your news feed. No doubt the regularly updating news will be a hit with your audience and as more people come to the site you’ll be producing passive profits.

5. Drive traffic to your site. It’s like an instant shot in the arm for quality traffic.
And that’s the “secret” formula to profiting from news feeds. It’s all about know which resources to use to make the news feed work for both you and your target audience.

Why News Releases Fail
Sorry about my otaku with this issue (otaku = more than a hobby, a little less than an obsession).
Many of you may know me, since I run Imediafax, the Internet to Media Fax Service. I send out over a million news releases a year for people via fax and email. You probably think that I’ve got news releases failing on me day in and day out.

The news releases I write and send out for people do quite well. My clients are quite happy with me because they are successful with their outreach efforts.
It’s the draft news releases that people send to me that are my problem.

Fixing the problems I see in the news releases people send me takes forever. I’ve seen a lot of news release failure over the years, and I now know what the key problems look like and how to fix them.

My plight as a publicist is that I spend a lot of time educating my clients trying to get them to understand the psychology of dealing with the media.
The rubber meets the road in the news release because this single sheet of paper is the key nexus for all communications with the media. The importance of the copy on a news release cannot be overstated. It has to be free of negative issues or factors that will reduce or eliminate media interest and response. So identifying the problems and revising the news releases is crucial. I spend a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to avoid sending out news releases with problems still in them.

The issue is that when people send me news releases, it often takes a long, long time to identify and communicate the problems, and then more time again to explain and negotiate all the word changes with the clients, and more time still to finalize the news release and have it ready and approved for transmittal.

My comment process can bruise a lot of highly inflated egos of some otherwise very accomplished people, on the way to a problem free news release that maximizes the chances of success when finally sent. Lots of people think they can write a news release. It gets even tougher when another professional publicist wrote the news release for the client. Now the client is getting opposing advice from two professionals. What’s a publicist to do?

I want to spend less time doing this. My life will be significantly improved if my clients send me news releases that take less time and energy to fix. Very simply, for each and every news release that comes in and doesn’t have these problems, I’ll free myself to spend more time doing things that are more profitable for my clients and me.

The issues listed here have all been identified as reasons for the failure of a news release. This is based on over 20 years of experience in dealing with the aftermath – the actual number and quality of responses generated from the transmittal of a news release.

So here are the most common reasons why news releases fail:
1. It’s not a news release at all. It sells product. It fails to offer solid news of real tangible interest, value-added information, education or entertainment.
2. You simply won’t compete with other news releases that clearly are written for a larger demographic of the media audience.
3. You are the center of attention, not the media audience. You focus on your business and your marketing, instead of things the editor and his or her audience will be interested in.
4. You forgot to put the five W’s up front. (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED). You didn’t clearly and succinctly tell the media why the audience would be interested in this.
5. You focused on details and minutia, instead of the most important ideas, issues, factors, facts, and news angles. You fail to address the real significant impacts your story has on people.
6. You place too much information on one page – the one page news release has a font size so small an editor needs a magnifying glass to read it.
7. You included corporate logos and other non-persuasive low value added graphics that distract the editor from your key message. 8. You wrote a personally biased article for the media to publish, instead of pitching the idea to the media and the objective reasons why the media audience will be interested.
8. Tell a story about real people. Add in real life human interest.
9. You wrote about how your news ties in to someone else’s fame and glory. Forget it. Tell your own story.
10. Your news release responds to something that just happened. Forget it. Get out in front of the news.
11. You included too much hype, self-laudatory praise, pithy quotes, useless testimonials, jargon or gobbledygook. Get rid of it.
12. You may have also identified prior media coverage, which indicates it’s no longer a new issue. Get rid of it. Let each news release stand on it’s own two feet.
13. You tried to impress and be clever or innovative but you come off naïve, less than expert, biased, flippant, arrogant, or crazy. Get straight.
14. You made vague and unsubstantiated claims, or wild and outrageous claims, or you included a statement that simply rubs the media the wrong way. Forget it. Don’t create a false or inflated image.
15. You wrote a rant and rave, worthy of a letter to the editor, instead of a problem solving tips article, worthy of a feature story. It could be your ideas are simply not well thought out, or that you’ve offered old well-worn material, or that you are too extreme or controversial, or not qualified. You need to present information that qualifies you properly and adequately.
16. You provided poor contact information. You need to identify the best single point of contact and the correct phone number so interested media can reach you and get the best possible attention and response from you to meet their needs. One key person, one phone, no fax, one email address, and one URL (with no long string addresses).
17. You did not include a clear media call for action. You didn’t tell the media what you want them to do with your news release. Then you need to offer the media incentives value-added reasons to do so, like free review copies, free test samples, interview questions and answers, media kits with story angles and stats and data, relevant photographs, etc.
18. You did not incorporate and integrate a primary response mechanism. You need to include a value-added reason, which motivates the editor to publish or mention your contact information, which will generate calls, traffic, interviews, or requests for more information. Use an offer for a free problem solving report.
19. You sent the release to the wrong media. Target the media that your clients read, watch and listen to when they are in the right mood, that is, receptive to hearing about your news, and willing to take action when they get your message. Work with your publicist to target the right media.
20. You rely on a single fax or an email to produce an avalanche of media calls. Follow up properly and you can triple or quadruple your media response rate. Finally, the biggest reason for news release failure is one of attitude. How do you define success or failure? It’s called unrealistic expectations.

You won’t get rich off one news release. Look at your investment and compare it to what you need to break even on your investment. If you need to sell 100 books to cover the costs of a $500 outreach effort, you need ten articles because each article only produces ten sales. More books per article, means less articles will satisfy your needs.
If you wrote an article that has local interest and you expect national media to pay attention, think again.

If you want to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show, then you’d better pray because chances of doing it off one news release are very slim, near zero in fact. If you wrote an advertisement and wanted a feature story and interviews, don’t be surprised if the only media to call is the advertising manager offering you a package deal. What you offer is often times what you will get.
One or two quality media responses may be what you want or need. If you get that, it’s a success.

One article in USA Today may out perform ten articles in small dailies and weeklies in the mid-west.
The small high quality articles may outperform the small mention in the big media.
Similarly, one quality 30-minute interview on a well-liked talk show on a radio station in the middle of nowhere out in the mid-west, will likely outsell a five-minute interview on an Arbitron rated radio station in the middle of the morning talk show in a major metropolitan area. You can’t tell the listening quality of the audience.

So when you write a news release please review it against these criteria to see if you’ve made any of these errors. Fail to pay attention to these issues, proceed at your own risk.