SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!

An event y'all may be interested in:

The Communications and Journalism Department will premier the documentary "The Way It Is: The State of Journalism in Maine" on Friday, January 29th at 4 p.m. in the Black Box Theater on campus.
The Black Box Theater is located in the Class of 1944 Hall. You can see a map here: http://www.umaine.edu/locator/home-2/display-building/?id=203

The documentary chronicles how citizens in rural Maine communities are adapting to changes in journalism. Dr. Sunny Skye Hughes and CMJ graduate student Anastasia Lima traveled around the state for four weeks last summer in an attempt to learn how
people in geographically isolated communities get their news. Four towns were selected for the documentary: Caribou, Lubec, Milo and Rangeley. The documentary also features interviews with the staff of WVII-TV, WAGM-TV, The Aroostook Republican,
SV Weekly, The Rangeley Highlander, The Three Rivers Community Website and The Bangor Daily News. The film has minimal narration, allowing Mainers to tell their stories in their own words. The film also features an all Maine soundtrack of
musicians from around the state. Featured artists include Bob McKillop, Chriss Sutherland, and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper.

The screening will begin promptly at 4 p.m., followed by a question and answer session. The film runs 59 minutes.

Media Consolidation

See for yourself the spiderwebs of media outlets (and others) owned by just a single corporation...

There are of course, two sides to a story, as this Poynter article argues.

For instance, Kevin Martin (former FCC chairman) had this to say...

On the other hand, this could be the downside of such consolidation according to FAIR media analyst Peter Hart. (below)

On Ethics of Photojournalism

This article is exactly what some of you wrote regarding ethical issues in photojournalism, especially in light of the recent happenings in Haiti and its dire street scenery.

It may be interesting to skim through since both sides of the coin are being discussed. Either way, the questions the writer asked were probably very similar to the ones you all had in mind: "Should NPR use it at all? If so, how? And, was it appropriate for the home page?"

See, you are thinking like journalists :)
(I am aware that I am missing a punctuation there, for all you grammar converts!)

You down with B.U.D.D.H.A?

The fusion of hip-hop, modernity, and Buddhism in my home, Japan. I can't even tell whether I am stunned from the creativity or from embarrassment!

The Battle: Technology v. Laws

This may relate to contemporary legal issues in mass media, and freedom of speech in new media...

Killer Salt!

Image retrieved from The Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/news/diet/drop-the-salt/2007/04/17/1176696818870.html

I just had to post this up when I read it (my mother is a nutritionist. Surprise, surprise.) Liking salt myself, I welcomed with open arms the sodium level of U.S. food when I arrived from Japan, but maybe we should all be just one teaspoon more careful... Read about it.

"lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks as much as reductions in smoking, obesity and cholesterol levels..." (New York Times)

Syllabus complications...

Please refer to the Google Document, rather than Dr. Hughes' website, for the latest syllabus. Strange that one doesn't automatically reflect the other in any case...

That would be this link.

It seems like some of you had trouble understanding the blog article assignment. Please come and see me during my office hours (MWF 11-12), comment on my blog, or just email me for more questions!

Welcome Spring '10 CMT 236!!

Here are the links to the syllabus.

Click HERE to go to Dr. Hughes' website; she has a section there for the syllabus.

Click HERE for the Google document that I hope all of you can access. Please let me know if you cannot access this one.

Please also remember to send me your blog links :) See you soon!