Comparing news media

Comparing Print to Television to Online

I was following the coverage of the overhauling of Facebook to see what other people’s reactions have been. Now normally when I see something on TV I’ll stop there, unless I’m really interested then I might check it out online, same for in a newspaper. In doing this you almost always get a “little more” by going that extra distance. Whether it is information, or just a different take on the topic, you’re expanding what you already heard about this issue. After having researched the same story in all three places it feels almost like I’ve missed out on a lot of stuff in the past.

Each medium has its strengths and weaknesses when it comes to presenting information and in this article I hope to touch on some of them for each.

Print media has been around for so long you have to recognize it right away. It must be doing something right. Print medias biggest strength, to me, is that it’s usually (unless the article is an editorial) giving you straight up information. It’s giving you most of the prominent information to give you a good conversation point. Because some only come out daily, weekly, or even monthly however, some of the information can be dated. Newspapers are great for a lot of information on timely subjects within the range of it being newsworthy, and magazines are better for big editorials and other articles on world events and timeless information. In the case of my research, NY Times did a great summary of what Facebook was doing. No opinions, just facts about the different services they were trying to provide and information on exactly what Facebook was doing, thinking, and planning on doing.

Television news came in next, and also has been around for a while. One of the reasons it’s stuck around is because of how it’s grown. Television news isn’t always as forward, or as informative as the print media but it gives you views on the news as its happening. The news can be happening right this second and sometimes you turn on the television and you see it as its happening, this is a huge thing for some people. Television news is also very good at giving airtime to the people that the current article has affected in some way or another and allowing them to voice their opinions or frustrations on what’s going on. I think the timeliness is a big strength in Television based news, as well as the fact that you can often see others reactions. Where it lacks sometimes though is that straight up hard information, it’s sometimes giving you too much opinion or too much reaction and not enough information to really form your own opinion, or use the information in a conversation.

Online news media is newer on the scene, however it’s really boomed. Able to combine cold hard information, timeliness, and viewer opinion you get the best of all worlds. In the coverage of the Facebook overhaul there was just update, after update, after update that kept me up-to-date with all the information, how people were reacting, videos, sound bites, quotes, everything you could need to not only stay informed and form your own opinion but also know how others are responding. Within the last couple of days there has been article after article with everything from what’s happening, to how people are reacting, even to Q&As on how to make your “new Facebook” look like your “old Facebook.” I really felt like this had the strengths of both print and TV news without any of the weaknesses. The only real weakness I could see for online news is the fact that sometimes it can just be so overwhelming; you’re getting way too much information way too fast and it’s hard to process it all on your own.

Scientists find new way to 'disarm' AIDS virus

Scientists find new way to 'disarm' AIDS virus

I personally think this has been a long time coming. It's great to see that we're making headway into this nasty nasty virus.

Another good thing to read about AIDs in recent news is this article http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/online-gamers-crack-aids-enzyme-puzzle-161920724.html about how video gamers in cooperation with scientists and researchers have mapped a 3-Dimensional view of the virus, instead of the flat view provided under a microscope.

Finally, us gamers are doing good in the world!!

Netflix to split DVD and streaming services

The days of streaming movies and TV shows until your DVDs arrived are over for most of us.

Netflix to split DVD and streaming services

In the age of dinosaurs it was fun getting these DVDs in the mail and an awesome bonus to be able to stream a video over y our computer every now and then, but things evolved and the roles were reversed. Streaming was nearly the single most awesome thing in the world and getting a DVD every couple of days was just this neat little "thanks for watching our stuff" letter packaged in a red envelope.

Now, in what's been one crappy decision after another Netflix splits into two companies; one for streaming and one for the DVD rentals. Two bills, two websites, two companies. Of course the Qwikster company(DVD in the envelopes) will start offering video games to try to justify the price, and Netflix(streaming) say they are going to "substantially" increase their streaming library I'm still not sold. Every time I think of what's going on here I hear the intro song to Married with children in my head over and over.

'Contagion' billboard features live bacteria

Another crazy viral marketing campaign by a Hollywood movie.

This time they use actual live fungi and bacteria spread across a giant petri dish in the window of a Toronto store. At the beginning it just looked like a blank sign with "coming to theaters" on it, after a few days however the fungus and bacteria grew to spell out Contagion, the movie title.

'Contagion' billboard features live bacteria

Back to the Future, now

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/09/09/nike-unveils-marty-mcflys-back-to-the-future-sneakers/

I posted this on my facebook earlier before I had to get out and about for the day... but I'm home now and really want to add more to this.

I'm a huge fan of the movies, honestly though who wasn't, and always wondered why there wasn't shoes more like this style or even someone taking advantage and making replicas. Now not only are these finally reaching the public, but it's going for a good cause. Michael J Fox has said that not only are the proceeds going to his charity looking for a cure for Parkinsons, but he'll double what they make off them in donations.

Awesome shoes.

Awesome cause.

Awesome movies.

One thing that's kind of disappointing though is that there's only 1500 going on sale, I look forward to Nike hopefully coming out with more for the public eventually.

Astronaut in space during attacks shares unique footage of 9/11

I thought this article was awesome, coming up on the anniversary of 9/11 we get a whole new look on the aftermath of the attacks on the WTC in 2001. In the video we hear the astronaut's, Frank Culbertson, reaction to the attacks and his apologies to the people.

Reading on in the article you also read about how he also watched the invasion of Afghanistan from the viewpoint and has shared this with some veterans of the Afghanistan war that he has met.

18-year-old student discovers comet break-up

Once again, while looking for news-stuff this morning I came across something that opened my eyes to some other interesting things.

18-year-old student discovers comet break-up
Just a summary of the post, a student in her last year of high school was able to join with the Faulkes Telescope Project(I'll talk a bit more about this momentarily) during the summer and do some soul searching, or better yet star searching.

What this group does is ally itself with educational institutions, such as high schools, colleges, and universities and allows the students to be a part of astronomy. The students are allowed access to a lot of research and even able to spent time in the labs and use the equipment of this project. This student, 18 year-old Hannah Blyth of St. Johns College, Cardiff was part of this project. She worked with the project as a summer work-experience through her school and during just that summer witnessed some pretty amazing stuff. Not only did she spot the comet break-up but she was apart of discovering over 20 other unknown or previously undiscovered comets, 2 of which she discovered herself.

The post then goes into some of the other researchers discoveries and a bit about the project. It also makes a comment on how she see's herself becoming a biologist, instead of an astronomer in her future.


But back to the Faulkes Telescope Project. http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/ I read a little information on the website and thought it was an absolutely awesome idea put into practice. Students allowed to stand in beside established astronomers and help decipher images of space and deep-space sounds like the experience of a lifetime to me. I did a little preliminary reading but I plan on following this trail to see if we've got anything of this sort in America because if not, it's something that should be.

Awesome collection of neat sciencery

I'm kind of a geek, I like reading about new tech or even existing tech... even if it doesn't really effect me in any way.
While trying to get my source of news I came across this article: Humankind's most ambitious science projects

It's basically a compilation of super-awesome stuff like the Large Hadron Collider, the International Space Station, and a few other really neat information-gathering man made tools of science. I'm a firm believer in "the more we know, the better we'll be" theory of science and information, so I strongly believe that a lot of these tools are really revolutionary and could one day really be more than just a waste of taxpayers monies.