All's Well That Ends Well

Well everyone, the end is drawing near. As the semester ends for our COMMS class, so will most of the posting and commentary on this blog. Thanks to all of you who participated and made this an enjoyable experience. It really has been grand. In honor of the two men who inspired this blog, I've decided to do a story that will do both of these icons justice. Enjoy! And in the words of the famed Walter Cronkite, "And that's the way it is Wednesday, December 2, 2009."

• For Seacrest: Tiger Woods apologizes after alleged affairs arose. Tiger Woods has issued an apology for his actions, but has requested that these matters remain private. Sponsors like Gatorade, Gillete, and Nike say that they will continue to support Woods. CBS News, CNN, and ABC News all had stories.
• For Cronkite: President Obama has just released a plan that will send additional troops to Afghanistan in 2010 and have them out in 2011. The strategy has three objectives: 1) Deny al Qaeda a safe haven. 2) Reverse the Taliban's momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow Afghanistan's government. 3) Strengthen Afghanistan's security forces and government. CBS News, CNN, and ABC News also had stories.
  

Farewell Oprah!

Oprah Winfrey announced on a special episode of her TV talk show this week that in 2011 the show will be ending. After 25 years of celebrity interviews, Oprah's book club, the coolest gadgets, and much more, Oprah feels that it is the perfect time to put a stop to her show. Her ratings have gone down this past year but that is not the reason she has made this decision. E!new portrays Oprah's announcement in an entirely emotional way. Their whole article covers how Oprah feels about it and what led to the decision. On the contrary, Newsweek covers the story entirely different. They discuss how this will effect her in the future and what this means to the world. So this brings to mind the question yet again of which form of news is more important? Is it better to present hard core facts or appeal to the reader and their emotions? Maybe a combination of both? Take a look and tell us what you think!

E!news

Newsweek

"Palinpalooza?"

When your name is in the news as often as Sarah Palin's, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is sure to pick up on it and spin things their way. But how does it compare with CNN's coverage?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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THE SKY IS FALLING

Lastnight, November 17, 2009, residents of Utah, and several surrounding states were eyewitness to an incredible display of nature's uncanny occurances. Just after midnight the sky light up across the state as a remnant of the previous days meteor shower entered the earth's atmosphere. Traveling at unordinarily fast speeds the meteor hit the atmosphere with such great force that the leading edge literally exploded, displaying a phenominal show of intense light. The light was so bright that it light up the entire sky brighter than the sun.

If you follow the link, KSL has several different videos from various sources. It is interesting to note which types of organizations, amateur or professional obtained the best footage of the meteor.

KSL

U.S. Plans to Convict and Execute 9/11 Terrorists

Here's some news that would be prevalent in Cronkite's day: President Obama is standing by Attorney General Holder's decision to convict 5 suspect 9/11 terrorists in a civilian court. Many citizens might be offended that these alleged terrorists are receiving civilian treatment instead of being tried in a military tribunal, but CBS News reports that, "Mr. Obama said those offended by the legal privileges given to Mohammed won't find it 'offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.'" President Obama was hasty to add that he wasn't prejudging the outcome. In my opinion, this is the kind of news that should be on the front page of prominent news papers and on the home page of prominent news sites. Instead we have links popping up on the news sites telling us who the "Sexiest Man Alive" is. Who cares? I want to know about politics and what's going on in the world and I think Cronkite would be inclined to agree with me. All the news that's fit to print sure means something different today than it did 30 years ago....

• MSNBC
• CBS News

Facebook's 'unfriend' is Word of the Year

New Oxford American Dictionary announces its “Word of the Year.” For 2009, that word is a verb, one with which we in our social network-obsessed culture should be very familiar: “Unfriend: To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight”. This is crazy! Facebook has made history! MSNBC reports this story along with CNN talking about the issue of Facebook and politicians . At first I thought this was a joke. But boy was I wrong. Check it out and let us know if you this is as crazy as I did!

All the Hype That's Fit to Post: Twilight

Twilight has been causing quite a social frenzy since the release of the first movie in 2008. With the release of the next movie in the trilogy this month, all anyone can talk about is Twilight. From updates with Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson's "relationship" on E! News to notices of how the stars are doing on their Euro tour on Cronkite's own CBS News, Twilight is all over the news. But is this social frenzy newsworthy? In my opinion, this is more media than this movie needs. Twilight is the worst film I've seen this side of the century. No offense to those avid Twilight fans but couldn't you be doing something better with your time than obsessing over bad acting and fake "relationships?" I will be overjoyed when all of the mania dies down after New Moon gets old. Twilight will then leave the news until the next premier. Thank goodness.

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