Izzy Award

The Park Center for Independent Media is presenting its first annual Izzy Award. This year's winners are Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and Glenn Greenwald of Unclaimed Territory. Both award winners will be at the State Theatre tonight at 7 p.m. I won't be able to attend since I'm copy-editing for the Ithacan tonight, but I promise I will report on it once the taping of the event is made public.

How to Write a Post?

The first time I blogged, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to write a post. Was I supposed to be objective? That didn't seem right, because I knew that most blogs tended to be personal. I, however, did not want my blog to turn into a journal. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that anyone could read about what was happening in my life. (I can't even bring myself to putting a status message on Facebook.) I figured that I would write my blog in a semi-formal way. I would relay some type of information, and give my opinion on it.

As I have been writing this blog for the past two months, I have realized that there is no wrong way to write a blog. I can write it anyway I want, because it's mine. It's my little piece of this huge cyber universe.

Through my blog, I can make my own mark on the web. How big of a mark am I leaving? Probably not big. I doubt anyone besides my professor is reading this blog, but I'm fine with that. I don't write it for others; I write it for me.

Therefore, I need to be happy with how I write this blog. And right now, I am happy with it.

Corporations Trying to Silence Dissenters

Google defines a news organization as a news outlet with two or more employees. Under this definition the content produced by a one-man operation would not show up in Google's news section. That is wrong. One-man operations can and have produced important news pieces.

George Seldes, the creator and staff of In Fact, was one of the first to bring the public's attention to the dangers of smoking in the 1940s. At the time, all major publications were aware of the dangers of smoking, but failed to make that information public, because it would hurt their advertisement revenue. (Tobacco companies spent millions of dollars each year in advertising in newspapers.) Since Seldes would not accept any advertisements in his newsletter, he had no pressure to keep the story silent. The fact that smoking can cause cancer, heart disease and even death is an important news piece. But if Google's definition was in place in the 1940s, Seldes' pieces on smoking would never have been made available to the public.

Today, there is Glenn Greenwald, the author of the blog Unclaimed Territory. Greenwald writes about political and legal issues on his blog. His comments about the separation of power and the Patriot Act have been mentioned in the New York Times and the Washington Post. If mainstream publications accept Greenwald's writings to be newsworthy, why can't Google?

I think Google recognizes the importance of the content produced by one-man operations more than most. It sees that their writings can be damaging and effect change. Rather than let those individuals challenge the powers that be, Google silences them by not allowing their work to show up in Google's search results. According to the book, The Search, Google processes over half of all the searches on the Internet. Therefore, if Google doesn't display the work of these dissenters, the public won't know about their work.

The more voices available, the better. It helps to expand the public's knowledge and debate. People are capable of choosing what they want to listen to. They don't need Google or any other corporation to choose for them.

My Own Encounter with Corporate Media

Right now I'm looking for an internship for this summer. I applied to several places, and I got called by the New Jersey Herald. The person I spoke to asked me when I could start working and if I would be able to get school credit for the internship. I thought, Great! I got an internship. Not so fast.

When I called to set up a meeting to meet with the managing editor, I was told that the internship would have to be approved by the corporation that owns the paper. That corporation is located in Illinois! The corporation is not sure that it wants non-paid interns due to legal reasons. It's worried about being sued. Yet the New Jersey Herald can't pay me either, because its losing money. It's a catch-22.

I was told that I would find out if the internship was approved of on the week of March 15-21. That week has come and gone with no phone call. I'm guessing my chances of getting that internship is slim.

It's just frustrating, because I just want some work experience. It would be nice to get some compensation for my work, but that is not my major concern. I need to have some "real-word" media experience before I graduate from Ithaca College. I'm planning to graduate next year, so this summer is the last chance to get an internship.

It keeps getting closer and closer to the end of the school year, and I still have not secured an internship. I'm going to have to scramble to send in my application to a few indy media news outlets. In those cases I won't have to deal with corporate media. Thank goodness!

Are Bloggers Journalists?

Mark Bunster, the author of the blog Loaded Orygun, was asked by Lake Oswego city councilors to leave the executive session held in July 2008. Under Oregon law, members of the press are allowed to sit in on executive sessions. The fact that Bunster was asked to leave indicates that Lake Oswego does not think that bloggers are journalists. But is that true?

People have different opinions on this topic. Personally, I think bloggers are journalists. They act in very much the same way journalists do. First, they find information either by searching the Internet, attending events, or talking to people. Then they publish their work for the public to read. Lastly, they often attribute the information in their blog post by linking to the site where they found the information.

People usually claim that bloggers are not journalists, because they are not objective. Bloggers usually let their ideas and beliefs slip into their writings. That is true. However, it is often overlooked that professional journalists are also not completely objective. They will often frame stories based on their beliefs.

Like professional journalists, bloggers present newsworthy material. No one could dispute the fact that Talking Points Memo and the Huffington Post have broken big news stories. These stories have helped to inform the public.

Therefore, in my mind, bloggers are journalists.

Mark Finkelstein Gives Lecture

Mark Finkelstein, a contributing editor at NewsBusters and producer of rightANGLE TV, came to my independent media class on Tuesday, March 17. One thing he mentioned struck me as interesting. He said that on the Internet anyone can be discovered.

I know that this is possible. One just has to look at the following Glenn Greenwald's blog has and the popularity of the Drudge Report. But I view their success as the exceptions, not the norm. Most blogs have few, if any followers. So how does one go from unknown to "discovered?"

I'm sure producing good content plays a role in getting discovered. People won't waste their time reading content that is either poorly written or researched. The content cannot only be well reported, but something that is appealing to people. Most blogs are about the daily lives of the writer. Unless the life of the blogger is unusual, the blog will not appeal to the public.

I think the blogger must be passionate about what he or she is writing about. If the blogger is not interested in what he or she is writing about, why will others find it interesting? Simple. They won't. Often it is the passion of the writer that get his or her readers passionate about the topic.

Lastly, I think the blogger must be patient. Success never comes quickly; it takes years of work. If the blogger is passionate about what he or she is doing, this won't be an issue. A passionate blogger will not see what he or she is doing as work, but rather as a fun hobby. For those bloggers who see what they do as another job, they will probably stop blogging before they get a following. Yet for those who stick it out, they can develop a fan base.

I think it's pretty cool that someone could have fans and not even know it. Who doesn't want to have fans? Everyone wants to be admired or seen as important by someone else. The Internet makes that easier. Ah...the beauty of the Internet.

The Humor of I Can Has Cheezburger?

I Can Has Cheezburger? is a blog that posts funny pictures of cats with even funnier captions. My favorite post today is a picture of a black cat with the caption: "In basement...nobody hear u scream." If you look closely, you can see a black and white cat in the corner of the picture with its mouth wide open. When I saw this post, I got a good laugh out of it. Not everyone gets the humor, so I will attempt to explain it.

I have a dog named Sandy, and he does some weird things. For example, after he finishes eating, he rubs his face on the furnisher. I have always wondered why he does that. Is he trying to clean his face? Or is it something else? What is going on in that mind of his? I Can Has Cheezburger? tries to get into the mind of people's pets. The captions are supposed to be the thoughts of the pet.

The captions are never in perfect English, because animals don't understand much English. They only know certain commands, like "sit," "heal," and of course "cookie!" Since their English is not that good, their thoughts in English won't be that good either. I think the imperfect English only adds to the humor.

The captions generally focus on food, which pet owners know their pet seems to be obsessed with. Whenever you have food, your pet will beg for it. Your pet will beg with such intensity as if you have never feed him or her. You know that is not the case. So you wonder, Does my pet have a bottomless pit? Maybe... Or maybe my pet just really likes food that's not in the form of kibble? I can't blame him or her. The kibble doesn't look that tasty.

People care what their pets are thinking, because they see them as members of their family. Pets are seen as people with their own personalities, habits and quirks. However, they often do things that most people wouldn't dare do, because they have no concept of decorum. It is those antics that brighten our day.

Whenever I'm having a bad day, I sometimes go to the site to get a good laugh in. I have found laughing always makes me less stressful. It was as if Sandy was with me at that moment, and not hundreds of miles away.