Dick Cheney's Sunglasses

The latest controversy to come out of the White House has nothing to do with the war in Iraq, the economy or even George Bush.

Last week the White House Web site posted a number of pictures of Vice President Dick Cheney as a photo essay from his fishing trip on the Snake River in Idaho. One picture in particular sparked controversy as millions of Internet users with their minds in the gutter claimed to see a naked woman reflected in Cheney's sunglasses in a tight shot of his face where is he smiling uncharacteristically.

When the picture is analyzed closely, it seems apparent that it is a hand casting a fishing rod being reflected in the lenses, but some poorer quality photos, even when zoomed in on, are more difficult to decipher.

The topic has turned into an Internet sensation, and not just among bloggers, as nearly 300 articles on it are turned up by a Google News query. There have even been YouTube videos dedicated the the topic posted in recent days.

White House spokespeople have vehemently denied the accusations and the photo remains on the Web site.

Particularly after the much-publicized Eliot Spitzer scandal, the idea of Cheney in any similar circumstance grabbed the public interest, but would a White House photographer really be there, taking official photos if Cheney were with a naked woman? And moreover would it be posted on the White House Website?

If as many Americans can get this interested in the actual politics of the country, beyond the scandals involving naked women, the state of the democracy would be in much better shape.

Photo source: LA Times

Hope for journalism on the Web

As journalism students deal with the anxiety of entering a field that is in the process of transforming, there are some signs of hope.

Despite facing interesting issues as the world becomes more Web-oriented and millions more would-be journalists log on, there are success stories of innovative journalists finding their way in Web journalism. Mac Slocum is one of them.

“I think there is a lot of fear-mongering in journalism,” said Slocum, 33, who has built a steady career in Web journalism. “I’ve been around a while and I recognize the pros and cons of the industry, but I believe in it. The role of journalists is important and always will be.”

After getting his bachelor's and master’s degrees in Journalism from Richmond University and Emerson College, respectively, Slocum worked as an editor and producer, mostly online, for publications in the Boston area. In addition to teaching Web journalism at Emerson, Slocum owns the Fodder Network, a collection of blogs, and runs a few independent Web sites.

“He is an incredibly innovative online entrepreneur,” said Ned Brown, a former student of Slocum’s, who also recently got his master’s in journalism from Emerson. “He seems to be a journalist first, who picked up online skills to go with that. He’s a pioneer of true online journalism.”

As Slocum can attest, the Web is becoming a large part of the everyday media. As the journalism industry tries to find the appropriate balance between print and new media, it’s important for all journalists to get acclimated with the Web.

“Journalism is trying to find the ideal way to tell stories online and transition from creating print stories that go straight to the Web to designing for the Web,” said Brown, whose work as a multimedia Web producer can be found on BU Today’s Web site. “In the next few years stories will be produced for Web, not for print, so the order will reverse.”

Slocum’s main site is The Independent Publisher, which he started as his master’s project at Emerson. The purpose of the site was for Slocum to share his knowledge in Web publishing with anyone who was interested.

“The target audience is anyone who is interested in Web journalism, Web business and Web technology,” said Slocum. “I originally developed it as an online textbook geared toward a creative person interested in starting their own site. It was basically steps to get them on their feet.”


Two years ago, Slocum revitalized the site and added to it a blog, which he uses to get helpful information to his readers and report on Web-related news. Apart from the original site, which is full of resources and advice to start your own site, the blog now also offers original video tutorials that he creates and posts to help users perform specific tasks for their own pages.

“I try to post stuff that is applicable to students looking to get into the Web journalism world,” said Slocum. “I try to provide things that benefit you if you go the independent route.”

Blogs have become a new aspect of journalism that allows news to be reported and updated more quickly than print outlets could ever match. This advantage is what causes some to speculate that newspapers and journalists could soon be replaced by Web sites, blogs and bloggers, but those in the industry aren’t so sure.

“I’d say blogs are great for getting ideas out, but I don’t believe in blogs as official news sources,” said Brown. “If I had one Web source for news, it wouldn’t be a blog.”

This 2006 graph produced by Technorati lists the top 50 blogs and mainstream media sites by how much they were being linked to other sites. At the end of 2006, not much more than a year ago, mainstream media were still in control, but blogs were having an impact.

Although there are blogs out there produced by professional journalists and serious bloggers, Slocum believes the role of the journalist is something that will simply adapt to the Web, not be replaced by it.

“If you take a careful look at the way content is developed, journalists are as important as ever,” said Slocum. “The ability to find and nurture information to create original material provides the primary information that is the jumping off point for bloggers.”

He contends that, like any news source, it’s what blogs produce and how they reach and affect their readers that will determine their reliability.

“I think blogs, just like many news sources, have to forge a relationship with readers, built on trust,” said Slocum. “A blog is just a thing, but it’s what you do with it that matters. There are plenty dedicated to building that trust just like print has to.”

“There’s a difference between regular blogs and repectable blogs and it’s up to the people reading them to decide,” said Mark McLaughlin, a junior Journalism major at Northeastern University.

Some think the idea of journalism will prevail in creating reliable news on the Web and that blogs in fact help journalists.

“If they’re enough into real journalism, they’ll write respectable blogs,” said McLaughlin.

“They’re a great source for reporters, who can learn things they didn’t know from blogs,” said Steve Outing, who wrote an article called “The Blog-Only News Diet” for Poynter Online, which follows an experiment in how much one can learn about current events relying solely on blogs.

“Blogs are a great research tool, but are another source to corroborate because any idiot with a library card can put something on the Web,” said Stephen McCaskill, who writes the Crime Scene Blog, which covers national crime stories. “Some are reliable and some are full of innuendo and there aren’t sources you can follow up with.”

The trend even works in reverse, as trained journalists, like Slocum, now have the chance to use their skills in writing their own blogs, {no comma} on topics they may not have the chance to cover in their journalism careers.

"I have an advice Web site for news publishers called Growing Your News Web Site,” said Outing, who also blogs on SteveOuting.com and has had a successful career in print and online. “I’ve been doing all sorts of writing, researching, consulting and entrepreneurial things involving the intersection of the internet and mixed media for a long time.”

An entrepreneur himself, Slocum also started Filmfodder and TV Fodder, as creative outlets that serve more as entertainment journalism blogs for those who want to stay current on TV and movies.

“It’s a place fans of pop culture can converse on what they’re really interested in and love,” said Slocum. “It’s been the most gratifying. It’s not lucrative, but it pays for itself.”

Those bloggers who aren’t trained journalists, but get online to report news on whatever they see fit, practice citizen journalism.

“I tend to be critical of citizen journalism in its native state because it hasn’t been conceptualized how to integrate it into the industry,” said Slocum.

Slocum has blogged on the subject of citizen journalism, which seems most prevalent during breaking news where the public wants as much information as possible.

“I felt that after the Virginia Tech shooting, attention was paid to citizen journalism as a buzz word, but there was little analysis,” said Slocum.

Outing sees citizen journalism as more helpful than threatening.

“A classic example was the London subway bombing where the eyewitnesses posted photos taken with their phones, so citizen journalism was in the mix with the professional coverage,” said Outing. “It allows for deeper coverage than professional journalists in the old days could produce. I’ve always viewed it as complementary."

With the industry in transition, young journalists are left questioning what skills they need to develop to adapt to the world of Web journalism.

As citizen journalism continues to impact the industry, professional journalists sees interaction as an important skill for young journalists.

“You need core journalism skills the same as always,” said Outing, “but today you need to learn to interact with your community much more because the audience has a voice.”

Young journalists themselves see a new environment to adapt to, but with an understanding that the old rules still apply.

“I think a big thing is that journalism is around the clock now because you always have to be ready to publish right away, rather than wait for a deadline,” said McLaughlin. “It’s face-paced, but young journalists have to realize that standards and ethics still apply despite the quick schedule.”

As someone who has adapted very well, Slocum believes it is understanding the Web for what it is that is most important.

“Young journalists have to understand the Web as a distinct medium, and its strengths and limitations,” said Slocum. “They need to understand the technology used to create Web stories and be able to collaborate with people to make them.”

NewsTrust

NewsTrust.net claims to be "your guide to good journalism," but according to whom?

The site is free to join and allows members to read, review and submit news stories they'd like to share with the community. The stories are rated on what are deemed to be important standards, such as fairness, evidence, sourcing and context.

You can choose to limit your review categories to the most important factors, or expanded it to dozens of questions. Apart from rating the article itself, reviewers rate their trust in the publication, which I find to be a particularly useful feature that can help expose users to news sites and organizations.

I like the idea of a community of readers gathering interesting news stories and trying to rate them on their journalistic quality, but everyone's opinion of good journalism is different. Readers have different standards and interests, and I'd be more likely to read something that was rated favorably by someone who I believe has standards similar to mine.

The site is set up to also rate members, so that any biases in their reviews would make their reviews valued less.

There are other features of the site that separate it from many other news aggregators. NewsTrust allows you to sort through stories on different subjects, based on their reviews, or how recently they've been reviewed or added. There is also a featured topic prominently displayed on the site with related stories compiled by NewsTrust.

Without knowing your community it's tough to say you would trust their judgment of what is important and well done, but I think the idea of a site where news is ranked based on journalism rather than popularity is a positive step in legitimizing news content on the Web.

Political Fashion?

The April cover of Vogue features Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen allegedly to illustrate body shape and the "secrets of the best bodies," but some who've seen the cover think photographer Annie Leibovitz had another idea in mind.

The cover bears a striking resemblance to a World War I Army recruiting poster depicting a King Kong-esque beast carrying a damsel in distress in his left arm and a weapon held low in his right hand, with an angry clenched face and mouth open wide to yell.


When I first saw the cover, I thought James and Bundchen were in an odd position, with James yelling and dribbling a ball low to his right, with his left arm around an off-balanced Bundchen's waist. It didn't seem to me that their poses depicted what they were meant to represent.

The idea that Leibovitz was imitating the poster could be indicative of her style of recreating old movie posters in her shoots, or some believe it is a social commentary about "the ancestral American fear of black men." Also linked to this theory is the fact that James is the first black man to appear on Vogue's cover.

Although the photographer hasn't pointed to any inspiration, it seems too likely that she was reinventing the King Kong picture. There are too many details present to think otherwise. James is dressed all in black, while Bundchen is in a greenish dress very similar in length and style to the woman in the poster, with her hair even styled in a similar way.

If the cover was designed in the poster's image, the question becomes who was aware of this plan? If it is indeed a social commentary, it seems likely that at least the subjects should have been clued in, but judging by the text accompanying the cover, it seems unlikely the publication had this intent in mind. A Vogue spokesman has defended the magazine's original intent, and that the subjects just looked good together.

The idea isn't necessarily as controversial as the photographer's ability to engender debate on a topic the publication is unprepared to address. Perhaps Leibovitz has succeeded further in bringing to light the backwardness of society, where a fashion magazine cover graced by celebrities is likely to receive more attention and so cause more political and social debate, than if the statement was intentionally made in a news or political magazine.

Photo Source: Gawker.com

Dr. Death '08

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, nicknamed Dr. Death, claimed to assist over 100 people commit suicide in the 1990s. He has been out on parole for 10 months after serving eight years of a 10-to-25-year sentence for second-degree homicide for participating in the assisted suicide of a Thomas Youk, a Michigan man with ALS, in 1998. As a condition of his parole, Kevorkian is not allowed to aid in anyone else's death or care for anyone over 62 or disabled.

To occupy his time and keep from going back to jail, the 79-year-old Kevorkian has decided to run for Congress in Michigan's 9th district (Oakland County). If he is able to collect the required 3,000 signatures on his petition he will be on the November 2008 ballot as an independent.

After his release, Kevorkian said that he would not assist in any suicides, but focus on trying to gain support for legislative change.

While some media outlets seem to be taking the news less seriously, like in the LA Times headline "Dr. Death, Jack Kevorkian, seeks a House seat or else," the idea is apparently not so far-fetched to everyone.

Some voters voiced possible support for the candidate in news interviews, while hosts of the View, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, came to the ex-pathologist's defense on this morning's edition of their show. After calling herself a big fan of his, Goldberg said "he believed that he could help people who were in, in a place where no one was helping them." Behar added, "The thing about Kevorkian is that I don’t consider him a bad guy."

The question is whether he will be a bad representative. In his official announcement yesterday he said "this country is going in the wrong direction." He also spoke out against the war in Iraq, claiming the conflict shouldn't even be called a war, which he defined as "when two adversaries have about the equal resources to fight."

Kevorkian is running against eight-term incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg, and there has been doubt that the convicted felon will earn enough votes to effect the race. Though his opponents told the Washington Times that "voters are more concerned about the economy and jobs than euthanasia," he will certainly make the race more interesting and already has.

AP Photo

Red Sox season starts far from home

On the eve of the Red Sox opening day, I could not possibly talk about anything else. Even though the Sox open the regular season 6735.40 miles from home in Tokyo, Japan, Red Sox fans are literally counting the seconds until the defense of the title 2007 World Champions begins.

As the home team doesn't return to Fenway Park until April 8, some fans decided to go to them. It was reported by local news stations last night that some fans paid $5,000 to fly to Tokyo and see the season opener.

Tomorrow morning's game will air live on ESPN2 at 6:05am, and former Japanese baseball star Daisuke Matsuzaka will be starting for Boston. The Red Sox will be facing the Oakland Athletics, continuing the brand new tradition of American professional sports teams playing regular season games abroad.

Last October, the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants traveled to London to play a regular season game at Wembley Stadium. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres also played baseball in Asia this spring, with a two-game exhibition series in Beijing, China.

Despite the criticism of the long trips being hard on the players, I think bringing America's games abroad is a good idea and I would be in favor of hosting more foreign games in the United States. Some European soccer matches have been played here in recent history and I think expanding that to more sports would be a good way to share world cultures.

For the love of Bear Grylls

Bear Grylls is the main character of the Discovery Channel show Man vs. Wild. He is described on his show's site as a seasoned adventurer drawing experience from his time in a special forces unit in the British army.

Although the show seems to be fairly popular, most of the attention on him has come from allegations that he fabricated some of his survival adventures.

On the show Grylls often parachutes or jumps from some kind of aircraft into a dangerous and isolated area of the world, then tries to survive and find his way to civilization. He hunts and eats all kinds of animals and plants, and helps teach the viewer what to do in survival situations.



Many people seemed to be outraged when it was reported that Grylls was assisted and not really surviving on his own in the elements. However, he is quite obviously not alone, as there has to be someone operating the camera, and never claims to be trying to accomplish a survival mission unaided. In every episode he mentions stories of people getting lost in the wilderness and struggling to survive. I always felt the point of the show was to teach survival tips, not pull of amazing feats of survival.

After he was accused of staying at a hotel in Hawaii while filming a show, Grylls had to apologized to anyone who was mislead and now his show comes with a disclaimer and he is forced to engage with the cameraman so nobody is too confused.

Grylls will put himself in dangerous situations like jumping into freezing water just to demonstrate the best way to get yourself out. If he were doing it as a survival mission, he wouldn't put himself in additional danger and if he wanted you to believe he was on a solo adventure he would film himself like the Survivorman does. I think by having the camera crew we ensure that we don't miss anything Grylls does.

I personally am not as entertained by Survivorman Les Stroud's adventures, maybe because he is not as attractive or interesting as Grylls, but also because I like learning Grylls' survival techniques and hearing about real stories of survival.

It's not that I'm not a fan of the crazy reality survival material because I thought Grizzly Man was a thoroughly entertaining and compelling documentary, but Grylls makes no claims of being that crazy. The point of Man vs. Wild is to teach you how to survive in the wilderness, so if you'd rather look at Stroud or see a guy live with Grizzly Bears, go for it, just let Bear do his thing.

Man vs. Wild picture from sharetv.org

MARCH MADNESS

March Madness is without doubt my favorite non-Boston sporting event. Nothing can compare to the entire Red Sox season for me, but I think these two weeks of literal madness are the most exciting, entertaining, and best-quality action sports has to offer.

There are so many story lines, with such drama and national attention that no other tournament commands. Even if college basketball isn't everyone's favorite sport all year long, you can't deny the excitement of March Madness. The idea of a one-and-done tournament to crown the national champion, from a 65-team field creates such opportunity and anticipation that you can't help but pay attention.

This isn't even taking into account the bracket factor. Even if you don't know anything about basketball you can fill out a bracket and join the office pool or better yet compete online for monetary prizes. In some cases it's even better that you don't know who should win because a lot of times they don't.

As sites like Yahoo and ESPN offer $5 million and $10,000-worth of prizes respectively to get people involved it's becoming even more of a distraction. The interest in the tournament is so great that is was recently estimated that companies will lose out of $1.7 billion, because their employees will be so distracted by their brackets.

March Madness is like a sports fan and sports writer's dream. The possibilities for stories and great sports moments are practically endless. Even though my bracket is fairly busted thanks to UNLV and Kansas State, I can't wait to see what happens.

Final Four photo- © 2000 - 2008 Cappersmall.com
Kansas State Photo- Boston Globe/Getty Images

Community Blogs

One of the most informative and useful products of blogging's current popularity is the community blog. While community blogs aren't necessary new, they are to me, and that may be because they aren't getting the attention they deserve, making them difficult to come upon without looking.

In the Boston area there are a number of good ones to keep you up-to-date on the news in your area and even let you add to it. The blog 9Neighbors is one such example. It covers five areas, Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, Newton and Somerville, and has news and different topic sections for each place.

It offers communities for people to post news from their area and has the readers vote on the most useful and interesting stories, which are displayed most prominently on the site. It also functions as a separate blog about 9Neighbors, which offers updates and information on the community. That blog also features a local photo contest called Shoot9N and the top entries are posted there every month. One of the most best parts of the blog is the useful local content posted on it, like this interactive map of local potholes, which readers are encouraged to add to.

The site is run by Rick Burnes, a journalist who has worked at NYTimes.com, Google, The Moscow Times and The New Bedford Standard Times. From 9Neighbors you can navigate to his personal blog, where he covers various current events and posts statistics for 9Neighbors.

Another good example of community blogging is Universal Hub. This site is a collection of all the best writing from blogs in the Boston area. It serves a similar purpose as 9Neighbors by providing local news that isn't always covered by the mainstream media.

Providing news and insight for a more specific audience is H2otown, the community blog of Watertown. It includes pictures and videos and is written in a strong and entertaining voice to keep local residents involved.

Community blogs definitely fill a need, especially in smaller communities whose news and events are never covered by the Globe and aren't covered well-enough by local newspapers interested in covering big news to sell papers.

Copyright ©2008 9Neighbors

Expensive Pizza?

In a recent BostonNow article, I read that the price of pizza is on the rise in Boston. Apparently all bread products are becoming more expensive because wheat-producers, like Australia, are experiencing poor growing seasons that can keep up with the demand.

Pizza is not something that I feel prepared to add to my list of things that I can't afford, so just in case I've been filling up, even eating three slices at once as you can see in this not-so-good quality cell phone video, before pizza becomes more of a delicacy than my go-to efficient and cheap dinner.

If flour prices aren't helped by the U.S. winter harvest in June, more than just cheap slices could be at risk. Restaurants could be forced to do away with free bread before meals. I know I'm not the only one who sometimes enjoys the bread appetizer more than the main course, so this could be another disappointing trend in Boston food.

While most people can probably afford to pay an extra 10 cents for a slice of pizza and lay off the free bread, this story seems to have more broad implications of global warming and economic recession. It seems every day it is reported that the price of some good is on the rise or at an all-time high and I'm not sure how long consumers can handle it, especially if the environment and food become the casualties.

More than just sports writing

When you open ESPN's Page 2, you expect to find a lot of colorful sports coverage, generally in the form of witty and offbeat columns on anything and everything happening in the sports world. For instance, today's ever-changing and entertaining tagline reads "Page 2...where we arrive at work spikes first (just like Shelley Duncan)."

One of the most entertaining columnists on the site is Bill Simmons, also known as the Sports Guy. A true Boston sports fan, much of his work is unbridled favoritism for his hometown teams and amusing commentary on whatever he sees fit, but his most recent article is very much a departure from his typical tone.

The article is entitled "To An Athlete Dying Young," named after a 100-year-old poem by A.E. Housman. The topic is the sudden death of Jamiel Andre Shaw Jr., known as "Jas," who was a standout junior running back at Los Angeles High School. Earlier this month, Shaw was gunned down outside his home by members of a local gang, which he had no involvement in, at the age of 17.

Simmons' tone is serious and reflective, his focus shifts from life, to potential, to gang violence. He opens with a moving and descriptive scene of Shaw's father painfully eulogizing his son at his funeral on Tuesday.

It's not a tight news story, but one full of emotion, contemplation and a few tangents and pop culture references. There are however some poignant turns of phrase that make the piece. For example: "Jas' death makes all of us feel vulnerable. If the anointed ones can't make it, then who can?"

To me this piece is more than a well-written feature on a tragic news story. It is a reminder of what sports journalism can be and that sports writers are in fact writers. Though they are often caught up in cliches and statistics and their work is lost on those not interested in sports, this piece reminds me that sports can offer incredible stories and opportunities for writers to craft beautiful pieces that shouldn't be overlooked. It reminded me why I want to be a sports journalist.

Photo Copyright © 2008 Los Angeles Wave.

Journalists taking the heat

It was recently reported in the Wall Street Journal that former USA Today journalist Toni Locy has been court-ordered to pay fines, that will grow larger each week, until she reveals her sources for articles written in 2001 about the anthrax attacks.

Starting last night at midnight Locy has to pay $500 per day this week, $1,000 per day next week and $5,000 per day every day after that until she either gives up her sources or returns to court on April 3 where the judge will "consider additional measures to get her to reveal her sources."

Locy, now a journalism professor, said she can't and won't be paying the fines, which the judge stipulated had to come from her personally and that the USA Today is not allowed to cover her contempt fines.

This situation is reminiscent of the Judith Miller case in 2005. The New York Times reporter refused to reveal to the court what government sources identified Valerie Plame as a CIA agent and spent 85 days in jail, until her source, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, gave her permission to reveal him in testimony.

In cases like these, journalists often feel they're doing the right thing by protecting sources they have pledged to keep confidential and speak in defense of the freedom of the press.

This can be a difficult issue to choose one side of, because there would certainly be instances where information needs to be investigated in the name of justice and security, but the rights of journalists allow them to do their job properly, completely and for the good of the public, so those should be respected.

Perhaps the practice of journalism and the codes of ethics should be more strict to minimize the use of confidential sources, but I think news organizations are worried about missing out on important information, if anonymity can't be guaranteed.

In the end, maybe the system is working in the best way it can, and journalists should face fines and jail terms to protect sources, until the sources come forward to give the court the information it needs.

Locy photo- © 2005 West Virginia University
Miller photo- Copyright 2008 NPR

Dream Ticket

After Hillary Clinton kept her push for the presidency alive with big wins in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas last night, there has been increased speculation on the possibility of a Obama/Clinton ticket in November.

In early morning TV interviews, Clinton addressed the idea of a joint Democratic ticket, while being sure not to demote herself: "That may be where this is headed. But of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said it should be me."

Barack Obama, on the other hand, seems unwilling to entertain the idea at the moment. He is quoted in a Ben Smith post on Politico as saying, "We are just focused on winning the nomination. That is my focus. I respect Sen. Clinton. She has been a tenacious opponent. It is premature to talk about a joint ticket."

The candidates seem almost destined to run together, and few would deny it would be a dreamy combination for Democrats. Using their differences, in gender, race, age, and background, the two could conceivably attract a very large support base.

During their debates, their mutual respect for each other is made apparent, and I find they are rarely in heated debates over major issues the way most opponents seem to be. Their criticisms of each other, while few, have been on matters of experience and speech-stealing, because I think ideologically there isn't enough for them to disagree on.

I think this amazing video of "Obama and Clinton" remixing the song "Anyone Else But You" from Juno really says it all.


Photo source: http://www.kansasprairie.net/

If you didn't catch the Oscars...

It's been almost a week since the Oscars, and most coverage has been dedicated to who wore what and who got snubbed from the presentations.

I personally am not interested in the specific fashions, unless someone is wearing a dress made out of a swan, but I enjoyed the show itself and found some of the coverage interesting.

John Stewart, arguably one of the more influential members of the media, however sarcastic, was entertaining in his second year hosting. His opening segment was full of political slights. He went after Hillary Clinton with a husband joke, John McCain with age and Iraq jokes and Barack Obama for his name being similar to a terrorist and a dictator.

As for the awards, there were some surprises as Tilda Swinton and Marion Cotillard won awards for supporting actress and lead actress, respectively, and some fulfilled expectations as Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor.

The most interesting coverage of the Oscars was the up-to-the-minute style. Wesley Morris kept us in the loop on the Boston Globe's Movie Nation blog, which he updated about every 15 minutes, if not more often, from 9:09 p.m. to 11:44 p.m.

It was full of awards updates, but also interesting observations and details about the show that someone who missed it would appreciate. His observations were brutally honest and often quite entertaining. Here is what he had to say about one of three Enchanted original songs that were performed, "Oh my God, this "Enchanted" number is like being at somebody-I-can't-stand's wedding reception. I don't want to sleep with anyone in the bridal party, and the bar just closed. I want to go home, but my ride is getting some bridesmaid's phone number. Arrgh."

This is certainly not Oscar coverage as we know it, but with "an all-time low of 32 million viewers," according to the Globe's Ty Burr, this may have been the best way to take in the show.

More than Balls of Fury

I recently watched "Balls of Fury," a cinematic masterpiece about a ping pong champion brought out of retirement for a sudden-death tournament hosted by a notorious criminal named Feng, played by Christopher Walken, which was my sole reason for watching.

With ping pong on my mind, I noticed a story on the New York Times Web site about table tennis, the more formal name for the sport, caught my eye.

The story is about Wang Chen, a Chinese-born American citizen who has been a table tennis pro since the age of 11. After being ranked fourth in China and missing out on the Olympic spots that go to the top three players, Chen decided to move to America.

In New Jersey, Chen met Jerry Wartski, a 77-year-old Holocaust survivor who gave her a job managing his New York City table tennis club, now called Wang Chen's Table Tennis Club, and supports her training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In China, Chen says, table tennis is like baseball in America. This year she will try for a third time to qualify for the Olympics Games that she was never able to reach at home. This time, however, she'll be representing the United States.



As compelling and interesting as the story was, I found the video that is posted with it to be even more so. The video includes, photos and interviews with Chen, but is mostly her playing table tennis as the narrator, Brent McDonald, tells her story.

In particular I liked the part where she and Wartski play table tennis, because it really brings to light how different the two are, but also how alike.

As are important with a good article, the piece has a memorable opening and closing. To begin the noise of the ball being played back and forth runs in the background as the title of the piece appears and then at the end there is video of Chen serving in slow motion and then striking a winning shot. I thought the slow motion added more drama to the end, especially when paired with the audio of Chen expressing her uncertainty about the Olympics.

I think this is a good example of how an average story can benefit so much from the multimedia aspect available on the Internet.

Walken picture from LA Times
Wang picture © 2007 NBC Universal

Steroids

A big topic in the world of sports is, of course, steroids.

In recent months George Mitchell and his committee have released their report on the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, which has created a media frenzy around those accused, but I'm still not sure what kind of impact the Mitchell Report (read the whole thing at your own risk) will have on baseball because very few players have been punished.

While admitting to my Red Sox fan bias, I don't understand how New York Yankees can continue to admit their guilt and receive an immediate pardon for their actions.

Jason Giambi should be the spokesperson for Human Growth Hormones and appear on the bottles or boxes full of syringes, because he is so frighteningly steroid-built. His opponents have admitted to being concerned by his appearance and persistent sweating on cool afternoons. So it was no shock when he admitted to using steroids and apologized, but why was he allowed to keep playing with no repercussions?

Yesterday Andy Pettitte arrived at spring training, where he held a press conference to deliver what appeared to be a heartfelt statement about his admitted use of HGH after being named in the report. He is, however, at training camp and ready to take the mound in 2008.



Admitted steroid users get away without punishment because they claim to have used before it was illegal in baseball, but how can we know if that's true? Pettitte claims he gained no advantage, because he was only trying to help rebuild tissue in his elbow, but how isn't that an advantage over other pitchers whose tissue grows on its on?

There is something to be said for these players admitting their guilt and attempting to explain their situations, as opposed to the waste of money and time that is the Roger Clemens show. Is there truly nothing more important for our nations' politicians to be doing than hearing Clemens' pointless he said/she said trial?

It's also important to recognize baseball's effort to clean up the game by requesting the Mitchell Report and increasing the rules in recent years, but there needs to be a better system that doesn't tolerate this behavior and can prove allegations definitively, like track and field and cycling can.

Even if you can't suspend or ban players who have admitted to using in the past, why shouldn't their awards be taken away? Olympic athletes caught using performance enhancing drugs, like Marion Jones, are stripped of their medals. So in my opinion Jason Giambi should be stripped of his 2000 MVP award and if Clemens ever gives up this ridiculous charade and admits his guilt, his Cy Young awards should go to their rightful owners, the runners up. I think the Hall of Fame should also be out of the question for such users.

If those in charge really have the kids to whom players are role models in mind, there needs to be a better system and more consequences.

Giambi photo © The Sports Hernia Blog

Writers' Strike and the Internet

According to a Los Angeles Times article, the 100-day writers' strike has finally ended, as 90% of the 3,775 writers who voted made the final decision.

Writers showed their power and influence on the industry, as more than 60 shows were shut down as a result of the strike. This was no doubt a costly message for the studios. The Los Angeles economy also lost out on an estimated $3 billion in the process.

The writers were protesting their lack of rights to content used and created on the Internet, but have reached an agreement to increase their revenue from work distributed on the Web. "Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed," Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West, told the LA Times.

The strike shows the clear trend of media moving onto the Internet, but even during the strike some great Internet content was there for viewers with nothing else to watch.

-Funny or Die

The new deal should be good for viewers who may now see more episodes available on the Web thanks to the deal. The major networks, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, all show full episodes on their Web sites for free, so the future of television seems like it could be as bleak as the future of print journalism. Who wouldn't want to watch episodes on their own time with the ability to pause and watch anywhere they can get an internet connection?

Television journalism is already making it's way to the Internet in part due to the decline of TV.

Just like the decline of daily newspapers, I think TV will go to the web in the near future, but in both cases it won't be the catastrophe some might think if the industries are creative with their revenue and prepared to make the change.

Sign your Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock took home the the Grammy Award for album of the year last night, over people you've heard of, like Kanye West and Amy Winehouse.

Apparently everyone was surprised, as this morning's AP headline read "Hancock Steals Grammy Album of the Year" and Hancock himself said "It's immeasurable how surprised I am."

Which left me wondering, who is Herbie Hancock? As far as I know, Tommy Boy taught me he was one of our founding fathers.

Hancock did not sign the Declaration of Independence, but he has won 12 Grammy Awards, including his two this year, and an Academy Award in 1986 for the soundtrack to Round Midnight. He is a 67-year-old jazz pianist and composer and has been considered one of music's most influential figures for decades.

Hancock even displayed his musical talents on Sesame Street.


He took home album of the year for his "River: The Joni Letters," a collection of Joni Mitchell songs covered by various artists.

Although train-wreck of sorts, Amy Winehouse came away with five awards and was apparently let out of rehab to perform her hit song "Rehab" via satellite, kept the award show rooted in celebrity madness, it also awarded some true musicians. Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen was also justly rewarded with three awards.

I think it's kind of refreshing to see someone I don't see on MTV win a major award at the Grammys. It makes me think that sometimes the awards really are about the best quality and most inspiring music, rather than just whatever album the most teenagers bought.

Check out all the Grammy winners, including Barack Obama who managed to beat Hillary again.

Image © 2006 Herbie Hancock.

Impressive showing by Huckabee

No matter who comes out on top, on either side, when Super Tuesday is officially said and done, it seems like the biggest show of strength has come from Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee.

Just before the results starting coming in, I was having a conversation about why he was even still in the race when candidates who seemed to be doing better in the previous primaries had already dropped out. Yet, in the early going Huckabee had won more states than clear Republican contender, Mitt Romney.

The question will be whether Huckabee can sustain this victorious momentum, as he couldn't after getting a big win in Iowa.


Click to enlarge

Think MTV

As reported in today's Boston Herald, the Think MTV website has two videos that portray holocaust scenarios playing out in modern settings to show young people the reality and gravity of the past.

Though it seems unthinkable for anyone old enough to be on the internet to not know about the holocaust, these 30-second videos offer a modern perspective to the atrocities of the past.

In the first, shown below, commuters are abruptly forced off the subway and aggressively organized by armed men on the train platform. The second shows a family being forced from their home and into the back of a truck by the same machine-gun-wielding men.

The most striking thing about both videos is that at the end the action freezes and transforms into a real picture of holocaust victims in the same position, followed by a white screen with large black letters that read: "The holocaust happened to people like us."

I don't feel like Think MTV has had as big of an impact as it could and should, but the pieces it puts together to raise all kinds of awareness, from discrimination to politics and environmental issues, are poignant and should be paid more attention.

The site is very user-friendly and interactive, as viewers can become members, upload their own videos and pictures, and start their own blog or discussion.

Celebrity Deaths

For the second time in a week a young actor was found dead in what appears to be a drug-related incident.

Heath Ledger, a 28-year-old Australia native died this afternoon in his New York City apartment. The talented actor, perhaps best known for his performance in the controversial film Brokeback Mountain, leaves behind a two-year-old daughter, who he had with ex-girlfriend and fellow-actor Michelle Williams.

Following the apparent drug-related death of another young actor Brad Renfro, 25, last Tuesday, the media frenzy around Ledger's death is something to be discussed. Renfro was laid to rest today.

The site TMZ.com has posted up to the minute information and video on the story that is surely feeding fan curiousity, but some of it may go too far. While speculation on the cause of death is newsworthy, I'm not sure the minute and a half video of the body being removed from his apartment is entirely necessary.

Also on TMZ, there is a video of a clearly distraught Lindsay Lohan being heavily pursued and asked about the death of her reportedly close friend.

As one CNN anchor points out on a TMZ video, the coverage was so immediate and intense it's possible that Williams would have learned of his death through the media.
I'm no lobbyist for celebrity privacy, but it seems they have the least of it in death and although this shocking story is devastating and newsworthy, the coverage has been somewhat disturbing.


Boston Globe obituary

Golfweek controversy

Today Golfweek vice president and editor Dave Seanor was replaced after his controversial decision to run an attention-grabbing cover that was to be released tomorrow.

The image of a noose along with the headline "Caught in a Noose" were in reference to a Golf Channel commentator who was suspended after a poor choice of words suggesting, in jest, that Tiger Woods' opponents "lynch him in a back alley."

Despite achieving the goal of grabbing attention, this cover was created in poor taste if the history of lynching in this country and the highly offensive nature of this incident is not the subject of the main piece, and that piece doesn't belong in Golfweek.

Read more coverage by the AP in the Boston Globe.