Category Archives: Uncategorized

Newsweek Bringing Back Luxury

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My computer screen’s glare eats my eyes as I type this, but I can see the appeal of Newsweek printing one more time.  I’m not blind (yet).

Either the digital media is trying to comprehend how bad my jokes/ideas are, or I’m rubbing my eyes to make “the blurry” go away.

There are people that find comfort in the tangible.  They will pay $7.99 for glossy print and colorful information to read on the train when their phones have no connection, just like my dad would rather pay for the subscription of Astronomy magazine.  Even I admit that being surrounded by printed books (you know, those bulky things made of paper) is a little more comforting than scrolling on a touch screen.

Naysayers cry, “get with the new media, Newsweek!” as the fully online paper restarts the presses to print 70,000 print copies. But they’re appealing to a concrete tradition: flipping through a paper and truly owning it.  Spending an hour reading something you wouldn’t dare search for on your own.  There’s actually an unfolding story in my hands!  

OH MY GOD! This… is… AWESOME!

It might be a trap, but they can afford to try one more time so long as it remains a supplement to the product (how the tides have turned!). Their advertising profits are healthy enough. It’s an attempt to reach “the unreachable” in the diffusion of innovation curve. It never quite reaches 100% of people, but print could help.  There are people that just refuse to use new technology- and that’s okay.

Not the straight colorful chart you expected, is it? Sometimes the facts are black and white.

To focus on print solely would be suicide of course.  A lot of people love digital media (myself not excluded). To start a limited print run to see if it would get former loyalists back, snag some people in that small unreachable percentage, and keep the people you have by making an old feature new seems smart though. Plus, these print copies are doubling as advertisement for the online product.

If it doesn’t work, fine.  But until then, go Newsweek.  Make me feel luxurious for reading one of your 70,000 copies.

 

Land of the Free, Comparable to Haiti

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The “Land of the Free” is sandwiched between Romania and Haiti in terms of Press Freedom at rank 46.  Think about that for a second.  Romania was a part of the Soviet bloc and Haiti is notoriously unstable.  Of the 180 countries surveyed, we’re technically not in the top quarter (1-45).

Had to scroll a little to find us...

Had to scroll down a little to find us- at least I was a little patriotic in how I distinguished us. Click for bigger.

As a country with a constitutional amendment (constitutions are the framework of government) guaranteeing rights to expression and the press, and over 200 years of tradition to back this up, we should at least be comparable the United Kingdom (33), who:

A) forced the Guardian, arguably their most reputable newspaper, to destroy classified documents,
B) detained Glenn Greenwald’s journalistic partner and interrogated him,
C) has an unwritten constitutional monarchy
D) and of course is who we got away from to begin with.

Why have we fallen so low?

We are at historic highs in whistle-blower crackdowns and our treatment of people such as Mr. Snowden has not exactly been very nice (he’s hiding in Russia after all!).  Meanwhile, promises of transparency and open government have yet to be adequately answered. How exactly can we be the “Home of the Brave” if the brave become too intimidated to stand up and the population is complacent? An intimidated press is not a strong one.

In the words of Robin Williams: “You are the kindest country in the world.  You are like a really nice apartment over a meth lab.” Hello, Canada.  [Once again, click for bigger.]

Contrary to what this map says, the U.S situation isn’t “satisfactory.” We have “noticeable problems.”  I’m not saying we won’t function, but let’s do a little bit better next year, shall we?

 

It’s Always the Little Guy

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National news sweeps over the entire country and finds quick headlines that affect the masses. Generally speaking, this is good- but it’s not enough.  Very few realize the potential power of their local news organizations.

The News About the News, by Leonard Downie Jr. and Robert G. Kaiser of the Washington Post, pointed to a disturbing trend in the 80s and 90s that continues today: big companies and corporate figureheads cutting quality to boost short-term profits. A general consensus has been that hard-hitting local news isn’t important (never mind that the public actually appreciates this watchdog role and disapproves of low quality journalism).

David Carr of the New York Times would disagree.  His latest column story, appropriately titled “Local Papers Shine Light in Society’s Dark Corners,” reminds us that the “Bridgegate” scandal was discovered by a local newspaper with apt resources and trained journalists.  Who knows what could be lurking beneath the surface?  In the words of poet W.H. Auden: “There’s always another story.  There’s more than meets the eye.”

Thus, there should be more investment in local news, not less.  As a journalist-in-training on Long Island, it’s sometimes painful to read reactions about News 12 Long Island on Facebook and witness Patch suffer from cuts we’re so familiar with. It’s always the little guy that suffers, and yet it’s always the little guy we turn to give us important news.

The Privacy Bowl

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Ah, Super Bowl Sunday.  It’s a fight between Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, healthy competition between commercials worth $4 million apiece vying for our attention, a time for divided families uniting to scream at the television screen, and a battle between privacy advocates and the NFL itself.

Wait- what was that last part?

For the few of us lucky enough to afford the $4000+ price tag on some Super Bowl tickets and enter MetLife Stadium, brand new technology is being tested on anyone with a smart phone.  The NFL mobile app, with the help of transmitters scattered within the venue and through Midtown Manhattan (for those of us in New York who can’t afford to go to the Super Bowl or watch it), will deliver personalized messages, ads, and updates based upon (disturbingly precise) location and patterns.

The technology is months old, but Major League Baseball, American Eagle, Macy’s, and Apple have jumped aboard. Meanwhile iBeacons, developed by Apple, does not even require an app running to display alerts and track. Sounds like that old stalker boyfriend/girlfriend creeping through your Facebook photos and judging you, even though adjusting the settings could do wonders against that.

While advocates of the technology (mostly companies wanting hyper-local catering to consumers) may call it starting a “one-on-one dialogue,” critics point out what it could lead to: ease in companies buying and selling your data and privacy becoming non-existent for anyone with a smartphone.

Many of us remember the revelations of Edward Snowden- the NSA is watching, decrypting our emails, skimming through our data, and the like. There’s a fair chance the data here, due to the (justified) safety concerns with the Super Bowl, will end up in their hands.  The government has demonstrated that its de facto limits here are minimal. Constitutionally speaking, the right to privacy seems void.

With companies invested in the collection of data about you, a consumer individual, it’s rather concerning.  And dehumanizing. It only brings companies closer to what keeps them in business. They never met you, just the pages you’ve visited and the places you’ve been.  Some say they find it convenient, though, getting help in the area and helping with navigation (God knows I’m directionally challenged).

People don’t always like being watched though, and uninstalling an app, changing loyalties, or moving back to an old phone may show companies just how their customers feel.  Misreading what consumers want has sunk many a business’s profits.

With this in mind though, enjoy your Super Bowl. 

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