The State of the News Media report drives home what we in the communications industry, whether we like it or not, already know: new media provides countless channels for people — who traditionally turned to newspapers, television, and radio for
Uncharted Territory on the Information Superhighway – and in the Courtroom
Blogs raise many challenging legal issues, including those involving defamation, privacy, and the legal definition of a blogger. From a legal perspective, emerging new media, which includes blogs, is rapidly evolving. The law has yet to catch up with the
Tenant’s tweet leads to lawsuit
Who knew that a 140 character tweet could lead to a $50,000 defamation lawsuit for a Chicago woman? Amanda Bonnen wrote the tweet in reference to a battle with her landlord over alleged mold in her apartment. (I’ve learned you
Is Jon Stewart the most trusted anchor?
Now that Walter Cronkite is gone, is there another news anchor who might be worthy of the being called “The Most Trusted Man in America.” Brian Williams? Matt Lauer? Charles Gibson? Nope! Think Jon Stewart. Stewart’s show that mocks traditional
My predictions about the Web were all wrong
In the late ’90s when I was studying abroad in Europe, one of my communications professors assigned a term paper that was to focus on our predictions of the Internet’s future. Until a recent spring-cleaning — a purging of sorts
Learning from Cronkite
It’s not just journalists who should take pause to reflect on the contributions of Walter Cronkite. All communications professionals can learn a valuable lesson from Cronkite’s matter-a-fact style, a signature of a truly credible man. A 1973 U.S. poll named
The passing of journalism’s rock
Walter Cronkite embodied all that journalism should be: open, honest, credible, and truthful. I fear the passing of Cronkite signals the end to an era when journalism stayed true to the fundamentals it was built upon. Cronkite’s passing comes at
Theory behind jumping on the new media “bandwagon”
2009 So have you jumped on the Twitter or blogging bandwagon yet? Are you an early adopter of new technology or “a laggard?” A slacker as I like to call them. There’s a theory that helps to explain how new
Looking to the past to explain the future
2009 Yes, I know, you’ve heard plenty about how we’re in the midst of a dramatic communications revolution, thanks to the birth of the Internet and new media. Journalists, advertisers, and public relations folks are attempting to figure out how