Posts by msilvaasu:
Wikileaks Intern Tell-All
December 13th, 2010Self described: “After pursuing the members of WikiLeaks, I was asked to intern for them on the weekend of the unveiling of the Iraq War Logs in October. I found myself in a Paddington office ringing up NGOs, other volunteers slogging through the list of the press that would be attending the press conference tomorrow. Everyone is an unpaid volunteer, and does it either because they believe in what WikiLeaks is doing, or because they are fascinated by the organisation and Assange, this strange, lanky Australian man. I was definitely with the latter. After the Afghan War Diary of 92,000 documents was released in July 2010, I was angry and confused. How could they release these unredacted documents, knowing they were putting informants’ lives at risk? Having met the man in charge, and seen the serious redaction of the most recent leak, I am still undecided.”
The part of the story that really caught my eye is the reference to Wikileaks being real, raw journalism. It indirectly accuses the entire media industry of being fluffed up.
“Kristinn described what they did as ‘raw journalism’, and an early ideal of the organisation would, according to the former spokesman, ‘create a revolutionary spirit… of digging out the dirt on governments.’ They see themselves as investigative journalists, doing what regular journalists can’t or won’t. And they forensically research the documents they leak, getting specialists to help ascertain their authenticity. Julian told me that the ultimate purpose of WikiLeaks was ‘to promote justice around the world’.”
The whole story can be read at:
http://www.isismagazine.org.uk/2010/12/the-war-on-secrets/
TIME questioned for cover story of Sarah Palin
December 13th, 2010
A cover story featuring Sarah Palin has been blasted because the interview was conducted over e-mail. Critics accuse that there is no way to ascertain that Palin herself actually answered the questions. In addition, the story does not identify that the interview is being conducted by e-mail until the 8th paragraph where it says, “who answered questions from TIME via e-mail.”
The salon article criticizing the decision said, “An e-mail interview easily allows the subject to avoid getting tripped up by tough questions and completely ignore unwelcome follow-ups. Palin’s media strategy is all about limiting exposure and making sure every appearance is on her own terms and in her comfort zone. That strategy requires a press so desperate for the attention Palin content generates that they bend over backward for her — and it looks like it’s all working perfectly, so far.”
The entire criticism can be read here: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/12/10/palin_time_email/.
Blue Ocean Strategy
December 13th, 2010
W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne’s work, Blue Ocean Strategy, differentiates blue ocean strategy from red ocean strategy to argue the merit and superiority of the blue ocean strategy. Red oceans are defined by an industry with crowded market space resulting in a bloody, cutthroat competition of reduced profits and growth. Blue oceans, however, are defined by “untapped market space” created by expanding existing industry boundaries to reach new levels of profit and growth. Blue oceans are increasing necessary because of increased competition from globalization and every day low prices.
The underlying theme of blue ocean strategy is “value innovation.” Value innovation is defined as, “creating a leap in value for consumers to create new market space.” It is achieved by the alignment of utility, price and cost. Rather than seeing low cost and great value as a trade-off, blue ocean strategy drives costs down while driving value up.
A good strategy is defined by three characteristics, focus, divergence and a clear tagline. A good strategy focuses on a small set of factors rather than competing across all factors. Cirque de Soleil focused on drama and theatre rather than the traditional circus that focused on animals and star performers. A good strategy diverges itself from the traditional competition by looking across alternatives. Yellow Tail Wine differentiated itself from other wines by bringing in factors traditionally seen in the cocktail market. The wine was created to be simple and fun. Lastly a clear tagline that delivers a truthful promise to the consumer makes the brand easy to conceptualize.
The Difference between Journalism and Intelligence
November 10th, 2010Aaron Brown’s comment that journalists are not interrogators was an interesting thought to me. The term “watch dog” seems so inherently aggressive and journalists are the “watch dogs” of society.
To consider the idea further I searched the internet for information. I found an interesting case in Iran, where journalists are considered “intelligence-seekers”, thus a threat. The religious government is trying to censor expressions that call for democracy. The government is having particular trouble censoring digital media.
An Iranian guard said to journalist Maziar Bahari,”You gather and report information: that is exactly what a spy does.”
It’s interesting to see how differently people view the role of journalists and a lot seems to depend upon the context and legal environment of the country.
Professional Jealousy
November 9th, 2010Daria and I didn’t get to share what we realized when we talked about professional jealousy but I think, for me at least, it was very eye-opening.
We split professional jealousy into 2 categories:
1. When you’re jealous because someone you think doesn’t deserve the honor receives it
2. When you’re jealous because someone who does deserve the honor receives it
We both thought it was much easier to deal with the second. But then when we thought about the 1st, we realized that person probably received the honor because of some skill or accomplishment that wasn’t in our vision. For example, networking.
Overall, we realized that jealousy can be positive if it motivates you or if you can learn from someone else’s strategy to be successful.
Of course, Daria, if I misunderstood something please correct me but I hope everyone benefits from our realizations!
Rally for Sanity
October 31st, 2010
From the reviews, the main target the Rally for Sanity went after was partisan media. Video clips of Glen Beck and extremist talking heads on both sides of the aisle was the main butt of the jokes. Jon Stewart said about the 24-hour news machine, “This machine “did not cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much harder…If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.” A review in the Daily Beast said, “Stewart’s outrage at the sensationalism and superficiality of cable is largely on target. But it is, as he said, a “funhouse mirror” held up to a nasty political system and a conflict-driven society.” Additional jokes were made at the sake of ABC, CBS, AP, New York Times and NPR, news outlets who banned their journalists from attending the rally.
The rally seemed to highlight for me a strange balance that the media is trying to pull off. While some outlets are going for extreme partisan views to attract audiences, others are stepping so carefully that they don’t criticize the sometimes obvious mistakes of politicians.
Quotes from Another First Lady
October 16th, 2010Because Michelle Obama happens to be the wife and first lady to our group’s subject, it’s interesting to see what she says that will go down in history. Maybe she won’t be as quotable as Eleanor Roosevelt but what she says often reflects the current values of America.
“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction. ”
”
One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am. ”
“The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more. ”
“The realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know. ”
“Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list. ”
“America is just downright mean. ”
“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen. We just weren’t raised that way. ”
“All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won’t do – that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. ”
“Before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation. ”
“I mean, people are serious about moving this country in a different direction. And that makes me feel good to know that, you know, I’m not alone in my frustration. ”
“The point is that Barack, like any leader, is human. And, you know, our challenges in this country isn’t finding the next person who’s gonna deliver us from our own evil. Because our challenges are us. The challenges that this country faces is how are we as individuals in this society gonna change? What are we gonna do differently? “
Barack Obama: A Multi-faceted Leader
October 12th, 2010By Melissa Silva, Javed Alfridi, Aleksandra Dukovska, Chinkhand Dorj
We have divided Obama’s leadership into factors that influence his leadership style (the influences of those close to him and his formal schooling) and the success of his leadership style in each department of American focus (economic, education, foreign policy, defense).
Obama’s influences were his mother, Stanley Ann Soetoro, and Representative John Lewis, a friend who lived through the Civil Rights movement.
Obama went from a not-very serious student at Punajou to a “monk” who studied in the library at Columbia for hours. His involvement in student leadership transitioned from being on the school basketball team to protesting investments in South Africa to becoming Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Obama’s economic ratings are very low possibly because Obama does not show any signs of making personal financial sacrifices. In addition, there are no visible results for the average American to see the effects of Obama’s policies.
Obama’s education ratings have fallen slightly since starting in office but the incentives he sets and his ultimate vision for higher education is altogether a better framework for success than No Child Left Behind. However, Americans have not yet seen visible results of these policies.
Obama’s leadership regarding terrorism and defense has shifted dramatically. His position to withdraw from Afganistan during the campaign has changed and Obama has sent more troops to Afghanistan at the urgings of his generals. Perhaps Obama has acquired inside information on Afghanistan or perhaps he has bullied by his generals. The signals being sent show that Obama is not in control.
Obama has created a “spiritual cabinet” to advise him on his speeches to the Muslim population and to make sure the needs of that demographic are being met. Interestingly enough, Obama has ignored the voices of the public by supporting the right of Muslims to build a Mosque on controversial New York City ground.
Obama’s Foreign Policy takes into account the new economic power of China and India. Obama has been able to handle the cultural differences of communicating with these leaders to create a solution that satisfies both parties.
Foursquare
October 9th, 2010This new type of networking has created so much buzz in my business classes. I was wondering how it could be applied to the media industry. I searched for the New Times and AZ republic but only found employees checking into the office and reviews of AZ Republic’s parking garage.
For those not familiar with Foursquare, I’ll try to explain it as best as I can without having an actual account.
The site’s ‘about’ says: “t is a friend-finder, a social city guide and a game that challenges users to experience new things, and rewards them for doing so. Foursquare lets users “check in” to a place when they’re there, tell friends where they are and track the history of where they’ve been and who they’ve been there with. ”
I think at the very least the media industry could benefit from the potential for market research if there’s no way to apply the check-in or special discount features.
Celebrity Journalism
October 5th, 2010What do you think of the constant news cycle updating stories on Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Brangelina and the like? Is there a similar demand for celebrity news in your countries?
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