Guest Papers: Vacation Edition (Part 1)

 
As you've probably noticed, I haven't posted here in a little while.  Part of the reason is due to the compressed nature of my current college course and another is a lingering bout of bronchitis that I can't seem to shake.  One last cause for this absence has been the preparation for a summer vacation I've been planning since the spring.  My high school class is having a get-together this weekend and I have traveled by car back to Pennsylvania to attend.  It's been many years since I've seen many of these folks and I'm looking forward to meeting them and talking about the 'good old days'.

Morning News Review - 'Good Morning America'

[NOTE: this is the second of a five-part series critiquing morning news offerings from US broadcast and cable news providers.  It has taken me quite a while to get this piece up but I'm hoping that the other three will follow on a much quicker pace.]

SHOW:  Good Morning America
NETWORK/LOCAL AFFILIATE (IF APPLICABLE): ABC/WKEF, Dayton, OH
DATE/TIMES:  12 June 2012/0700-0730
YEAR STARTED: 1975
LOCATION: Times Square Studios, New York, NY
HOSTS: Robin Roberts (co-anchor), George Stephanopoulos (co-anchor), Josh Elliott (news), Sam Champion (weather), Lara Spencer (lifestyle)
CORRESPONDENTS: Ginger Zee (Bellvue, CO), Jake Tapper (Washington, DC), Jim Avila (Bellefonte, PA); Linsey Davis (in studio), Neal Karlinsky (Seattle, WA),
GUESTS: Dr. Richard Besser (in studio)

FLOW: the show started promptly at 7AM with urgent music to highlight the pending tease of the days news events.  Roberts and Stephanopoulos traded 'teasers' for highlighted stories (wildfires in western US, a yacht hoax off the New Jersey coast, a mysterious hit-and-run incident in Los Angeles, dangers in spray tanning products) as well as updates on Commerce secretary Bryson's erratic driving over the weekend and Roberts' announcement on Monday's program that she is suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS.

Intro to Online Journalism Class Begins Today

After a two-month hiatus from formal studies, I am back on the scholastic calendar with the start of my Intro to Online Journalism course (JOURNAL 397W).  While it officially begins today, I have been on the school's website since last Friday to be fully prepared for the first day of the term and to introduce myself to my fellow classmates.  It looks to be a fast-paced block of instruction and student interaction (it ends August 14th) and I'm hoping that I will be able to apply some of the things I learn to this website and to others in the future.  I'll be sure to let you all know when those changes will start to happen.

A/V: Fairborn Celebrates the Fourth

One local family was not ashamed to openly display their patriotism at the Fairborn 4th of July parade

Despite sweltering temperatures, the town of Fairborn, Ohio held its 65th annual 4th of July parade through the city's downtown area this past Wednesday morning.  Starting promptly at 10AM from Fairborn Plaza in near 90 degree heat, a large contingent of floats, marching bands, vehicles and dignitaries made their way along the designated route, shortened this year due to on-going street construction in the Main Street/downtown area.  Jack Wilson , a local businessman and 50-plus year city resident served as the 2012 Grand Marshall.

You can scroll below to look at more photographs from the parade.

What a Thursday!

[NOTE: This post was supposed to be completed earlier in the week but I contracted a 'summer cold' that has put me off to pretty much anything doing with writing since Monday. I've made the appropriate changes to reflect the delay.] 

Starting with Ann Curry's goodbye early in the morning and going late into the late afternoon hours with the House contempt vote, June 28th was a remarkable media day

If you are a financial (or advanced political) wonk, you might know what the investing term 'quadruple witching day' means and how it relates to specific occurrences every fiscal quarter when contracts for stock options, stock index options, stock index futures, and single stock futures expire on exchanges all around the world.  If I can borrow this enchanting phrase and loosely apply it to the media,  four remarkable and/or historic events occupied a good segment of American television news outlets' available air time on June 28th and I was able to directly witness three of them (one happened when I was at work but I could not break away to our organization's cafeteria to view on its bank of television monitors).  Two were directly related to the news media while the other two relied on those elements to transmit images and information from the nation's capital to all corners of the country (as well as to the wider world).