Jeremy Scahill Strikes Again

When Jeremy Scahill visited the college last year, not only did he give some insightful tips on journalism, but he also brought up the importance of Blackwater.

But it seems Blackwater hasn't quieted down just yet.

Scahill once again proves what a great journalist is.

Oh, Michael Moore

I forgot just how much Michael Moore amuses me.

An Open Letter to President Obama

Peaceful protesting?

A protest in Geneva over the WTO meetings broke out into arrests and some violence

Geneva Protests

The protesters, obviously upset with the the current global ecnonomy (and who isn't"?), demonstrated outside the meetings.

Though it is difficult to say who is at fault, what I found to be the most compelling part of this article was the photos.

I will argue again and again that there are times when photos tell the story more than words can. And I think this is one of those instances.

In the wake of Thanksgiving ...

I've been thinking lately about the economy (and maybe it's because I'm a college student making very little and wondering how I'm going to pay all my bills) but especially during the holidays when the gap between the rich and the poor seems even more drastic.

I found this commentary on the Huffington Post that I found really spoke to how I felt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/a-thanksgiving-prayer-to_b_367464.html

Poor Michelle

Google was experiencing some problems recently when a racially offensive photo of the First Lady would pop up in its search engine after typing in
Michelle Obama"

Google apologizes

Google is unsure of how this happened but to me, that seems to be a question that should be answered. Besides the photo of Michelle, a search query for the First Lady also brought up "Jew." Google has since removed these hits from its site saying it violates Google law but it is now up on another search engine Web site.

It may be time to establish some universal rules for most search engine Web site. When there are different rules — or no set rules — an incident like this happens.

I'm all for Free Speech and I do think limitations on the Internet is a bad idea, but when an incident turns offensive and ends up hurting someone, then it's time to sit back and wonder what can be done differently.

We should all listen to Whitney and believe in the children

That seriously is such a bad song by Whitney. But regardless, children are something that Americans should care about (no matter how ugly and disgusting they are as babies). They are our future (and I can just see Whitney belting that out).

Which is why this article on the Huffington Post, Hungry Children, left me feeling pretty cold. It's not so much that I felt bad for the teachers who were using their own money to buy their students food. It's that this truly shows and represents just how terrible the economy is right now. If parents can no longer send their children to school with full stomachs, then what's going on?

And it's not just a handful of students in classrooms that are not being fed. Sixty-three percent of the teachers surveyed said they bought food for their entire classrooms. What this shows is that parents can no longer afford to give their children the necessities they need. And this ultimately proves that something needs to get done about the economy in this nation.

Journalism and Business

I'll be the first person to admit it that I have absolutely no business skills. So after reading Jeff Jarvis's Entrepreneurial lessons, I started to wish I took a class in business. And not just in business but how to deal with the business side of journalism.

Throughout my education at Ithaca College, I have been told that journalism is changing and that to stay in the journalism world, I must learn different trades. This has consisted of me trying to hold a video camera and trying to learn the different shots that I hear all those film majors talking about. At heart, I am a writer but I feel OK trying to produce multimedia.

What I need, however, is knowledge of the business side of journalism. I highly believe that the journalism department at the college needs to be analyzed once again. And I do think that a business class teaching journalism students how to pitch ideas and how to keep a float in the careers they choose, needs to be a part of that curriculum.