My Sentiments Exactly!

"Hi and Lois" courtesy of King Features Syndicate

It's not often that a comic strip attracts undue attention from me but yesterday's edition of Hi and Lois appeared to take a page directly out of my day-to-day life.  In the two panels above, we see a short but succinct representation of the current transition of the newspaper industry from a paper-based paradigm to one with an online domain.  'Thirsty' Thurston, on the left with his impartially branded laptop computer, represents the future of information distribution to consumers.  Hiram "Hi" Flagston, on the right with an equally impartial newspaper, is a fan of the more traditional medium.

Guest Paper: Skywrighter

While not technically a 'guest' publication, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a publication that I peruse on a weekly basis here in the Dayton suburbs.  As an Air Force retiree, I have access to the local Department of Defense military installation (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) and the Skywrighter (a play on words alluding to both the base's name and to two of the three men it was named after--Wilbur and Orville Wright) serves as the base's official 'newspaper'.

Recent Journalism-related Articles

I haven't done this in a while but I am mentioning two articles that I read in today's edition of the New York Times due to their ties to my current field of study.

The first reviews the current struggles at the Washington Post, the Times' true competitor for the the title of "America's paper of record," as they contend with the financial issues surrounding all traditional news outlets in the wake of the Internet's intrusion upon previously successful business models. 

Poll Suggests Global Warming is No Hoax

(NOTE: this piece was an assignment for my current JOURN 300 class.  We were tasked to conduct a sidewalk poll to practice doing 'cold' interviews.  I was to interview 10 strangers to get their answers to two questions:  

QUESTION #1– Do you believe global warming is a hoax?

QUESTION #2– Why?

Below is the finished 499-word article.)


Poll Suggests Global Warming is No Hoax
by JoB!
February 5, 2012
Indianapolis

Seven out of 10 people responding to a recent informal survey doubt that global warming is a hoax, mirroring levels seen in recent polling conducted by CNN and MSNBC on this issue. 

A/V: Dayton Hosts Candidate Gingrich

Former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, flanked by his wife Callista, speaks to a standing-room only crowd at Dayton's Memorial Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

In a strong indication of Ohio's rapidly approaching 'Super Tuesday' primary, the first of the four remaining Republican presidential contenders recently visited the state to woo supporters in the 4-week lead-up to their March 6th contest and its prize of 66 convention delegates.  Former Georgia congressman and US House Speaker Newt Gingrich stopped in Dayton Tuesday afternoon as part of a 2-day, 4-city campaign swing through the state.  About 300 people packed into the front lobby of the city's Memorial Hall to hear the candidate outline his personal positions on a variety of issues as well as how they differ from his other competitors for the GOP nomination and to President Obama if he is his party's choice. 

Indy Visit

As you can see by the dearth of blog entries here, I've had some personal and professional issues that impacted the 'free' time I was anticipating last month.  However, one of the things I was planning on doing did happen last Friday when I paid a visit to Indianapolis to take in the sights and sounds of the Super Bowl's pre-game festivities.  Attending the NFL Experience and strolling through the city's Super Bowl Village were my first and, with the infrequency of games in northern US cities, probably last opportunities to do that in my lifetime.  It was expensive ($20 for parking, another $20 for admission to the convention center, an ATM demanding an $8 service charge to withdraw money) and crowded (an estimated 1.1 million visitors for the 10-day affair) but I feel that it was worth my time and effort to go.