Politics 2.0

American politicians spend a ton of money on their campaigns, especially the President of the United States. Spanish politicians aren’t so flashy, and just spend the amount of money that is necessary to carry out a campaign. I think the difference in the amount of money spent goes along with the general difference between American and European societies. Americans are more work oriented, make use of every second of their time and are so motivated in the workplace so that they make as much money as they possibly can. Europeans, are quite opposite. They tend to be more laid back, work less, and can live off of less money because they don’t need as much to make them happy. Americans also believe in competitiveness. They believe that winning should be anyone’s ultimate goal. These lifestyle characteristics, go hand and hand with an average campaign. Obama, for example, spent about 600 million for his campaign. Using all this money, he was able to make use of every outlet he could and gain as many votes as he possibly could..which eventually lead him to win. In Spain, a presidential candidate doesn’t use nearly as much money and isn’t as aggressive. I feel that a Spanish Presidential Candidate gets right down to business and doesn’t use other outlets (like journalism 2.0) to help him win. Obama, had a twitter account, a Facebook account, his own website, a you tube account and a MySpace, all so that he could reach as many people as possible and gain an enormous amount of votes. An aggressive American Presidential candidate isn’t better or worse than a more laid back Spanish one, it’s just a difference in culture.

Multimedia reports

News industries are utilizing multimedia in their reports in order to better their news articles.  Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms.  Multimedia is different than standard media because it uses more than just printed material.  It employs not only text, but it can also use audio, video, pictures, animation, and interactivity.  News websites must continue to progress their websites in order to capture readers, and the best way to do it at the current time is to take advantage of multimedia.  These websites now have pictures in every article, and many contain videos that allow the reader to watch clips pertaining to the news story.  Readers get a more detailed news article because they can see comprehensive videos about the subject, many times
with in depth analysis.
The readers significantly benefit from multimedia in these news articles because the news story delves deeper into the subject matter through the use of these videos, pictures, and animation.  The future of multimedia seems to be drifting towards interactivity.  We will see what the future truly holds in store, but as for now we know that the use of multimedia has truly transformed the news industry for the better.

Podcasting

Podcasting has truly revolutionized the music industry.  Podcasts serve as outlets for radio stations, musical artists, and even individual podcast companies to broadcast their work to the rest of the world.  Podcasts are digital media files that can be downloaded over the Internet.  They are usually a series of long songs of a common genre or dialogue of certain topic.  Listeners can choose what style or type of podcast they desire, and then listen to it continuously.  Many artists have their own podcasts that are available for free and updated frequently in order to gain and further
their support from their fans.
        Apple is currently dominating the podcast industry.  iTunes contains thousands of different kinds of podcasts, both audio and video.  Artists and companies turn to iTunes to publish their work, using it as a vehicle
 or popularity.  Podcasts are quite long in length and it allows listeners to continuously listen to a certain program. Podcasts are sometimes over an hour long, which permits listeners to leave the podcast running without having to worry about changing a song.  Overall, podcasts are truly helping both artists and listeners.

Carpenters vs. Oasis (mashup)

I love the song Wonderwall by Oasis so when i heard it in this podcast I had to listen and write about it. Wonderwall may be considered a one hit wonder, but it is a moving love song with an incredible beat. It is about a man who is in love with a woman and how he doesn’t feel right when she is not there. He has a hard time expressing how he feels about her but knows that through the thick and thin, she is the one for him. I also love Oldies music. My dad has always been an Oldies music fan, which forced me to listen to it. The Carpenters is one of his favorite groups. The two slow songs mixed together, form an extraordinary sound which I automatically liked when I heard it. In general, I love mashups of songs. I think remixes were a great invention. So if your fan of either of these music groups, love the song Wonderwall or just enjoy and appreciate music in general, I think you would really like this podcast.

Marketing in a business

 This past summer, I worked for a designer named Alejandro Ingelmo. The up and coming designer makes funky shoes, hand bags and belts for young women and men. Since his target market is people in their 20’s and 30’s, the company’s communications director thought it would be a great idea to create a blog. Part of my job there as an intern was to update this blog frequently. They found that people in their 20’s and 30’s are computer savvy and enjoy looking at blogs that interest them. I think a blog for a company is a yes or a no, depending on the company’s target market and the company’s purpose. For example, my dad is an Optomotrist. He targets people of all ages but does not feel that anyone would really be interested in a reading a blog about a doctor’s office. But for Alejandro Ingelmo’s case, the blog actually helped their sales because people started to read it and tell their friends to read it, which lead to the  purchase of more merchandise. So a company blog could definitley be a great thing if it works for the company. All in all, I think having a company blog should be totally based on the company itself and should be based off of the company’s target market and what the company does.

Citizen Journalism

Citizen Journalism is the concept that members of the public can have an active role in collecting and reporting information to the public. The idea is that people who have the technological tools (such as cameras, video cameras, handhelds) and writing skills, can report about what they find. However, journalists feel that journalism is a profession, which involves using skills and rules that must be taught. Many world wide events have been reported by citizen journalists. Examples of these events are.. 

 Mumbai Attacks                                                                                 

September 11, 2001

Hudson River Plane Crash

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

To Tweet or not to Tweet, that is the question. For the past year, more and more of my friends have become members of the most popular social network, Twitter. Twitter is a microblog that allows users to send updated posts about what there thinking, doing, feeling, etc;  and/or add micromedia to their posts such as photos or video clips to make what they are saying a bit more interesting. Now my main question is, should I join? Here´s the thing. I have a facebook!! Everyone has a facebook!! I dont feel that it is necessary to let the whole world know that I am taking shots at CDLC, or at the grocery store, or blow drying my hair. And to be honest, I don´t think I am that interesting enough of a person where people would really care to know what I am doing/thinking at every moment of my rather boring day.

Howeverrrr, on the other hand, it is handy to have a Twitter account when something really funny happens, or when you are just chilling in Greece and you want to make all your friends jelous. I have thought about this decision for many hours and my decision still stands that Tweeting is unnecessary in life; however I am interested to know what you think. To Tweet or Not to Tweet, is definitly the question!  Let me know!!