Journalism: From Fourth to Fifth Estate

Despite what has been said about the death of journalism, (excuse me, the death of “real” journalism) I say journalism is still alive and definitely evolving. Sure, there are amateur bloggers (like myself, of course) and then there are real journalists who went to school for journalism –those who know all about the fourth estate, a word I have never heard of until this week when I stumbled upon Jeff Hutson‘s blog.

Journalism, or the Fourth Estate, is the medium between the corporate world with its shiny executives and the less fancy businesses with their average Joe customers. It is not my area of expertise but I think I can understand how important the Fourth Estate is. Even as a member of the “young generation” who was pretty much “born into” the world of fast-paced events, instant access (which is supposed to substitute for “instant gratification” by the way), personalized newsfeeds, tweets, and one-click-share-all hype, I can understand that Journalism is evolving into a Fifth Estate as described by Geoff Livingston on his blog.

Let’s “talk” about it. (I think “blogging” is more “conversational” than journalism. You’ll see what I’m talking about.)

© The Camping Journal

I’m going to “describe” the stereotypical “journalist” and “blogger” (if they even exist anymore.) But here’s my disclaimer: Just because I am describing these two professionals (or hobbyists), it must not be assumed that these are my personal views of journalists and bloggers. And I said “professionals or hobbyists” because I consider truly passionate journalists to be “hobbyists” and credible bloggers who share their knowledge about their field as “professionals.” But that’s just my opinion.

With that said, “journalists” are professionals. “Journalists” are also instigators. They stretch ideas, paint the wrong pictures, filter content, and distort the truth trying to sway opinions. (Gee, I sound like a clever journalist right there in that previous sentence! Oh dear…)

Now let’s switch roles. “Bloggers” are amateurs. We have no focus. We babble, rant, ramble, write about anything we want. Trust me. And we do it just because! (Probably because we spend time thinking about too many things, get frustrated that the world never offers an opportunity to share those thoughts with others; so then, we blog!) Or talk to ourselves via some text on a computer screen. It gives us sanity. Or else you’ll see bloggers “blogging” in real life (more like rambling) at work, at home, in the bathroom, at the grocer, at the post office, in our cars during rush hour, anywhere else you can imagine. (Yes, guys, I talk to myself part-time.) Kidding. Maybe just a quarter of the time…

Crazy, yes. Professional? Er, questionable. Ramblers, sometimes. Credible? Depends. But bloggers are honest. We base our knowledge on our personal experiences (which is why we can skip the interviews with others.) Bloggers speak for no one but ourselves. We do not interview others and “paraphrase” or “summarize”  others’ thoughts. We can share thoughts (however) with more-recognized individuals. And bloggers definitely gain a plethora of information from numerous sources that they encounter. (Whether or not those sources are credible is another issue).

So, “bloggers”, “journalists”, “bloggists”, “j-loggers” even! Whatever you want to call it, decent writers are decent story-tellers who tell real stories about the real world (and, yes, I think the internet is a real world whether we like it or not).

And P.S. I took “Creative Writing” and “Psychology” in high school but I wouldn’t dare say that I went to school to study Journalism.

World’s Hottest News Anchor? Mélissa Theuriau

Mélissa Theuriau, French reporter

Good news or bad, I wouldn’t mind hearing it from Mélissa Theuriau. I would suggest a link to Zone Interdite on French TV where she is currently the co-editor in chief and anchor (but it’s in French).

Okay, I know it’s not the most “interesting” thing to blog about but… I had a long week and it’s almost Friday!

Mélissa Theuriau is officially the hottest journalist and news anchor in my book! (I hope my blog can be translated into French easily. Thanks, WordPress!)

If you’re looking for more info about Mélissa Theuriau, she reports for the French news station M6.

I wonder how much persuasion power Mélissa has. It seems attractive people and sex appeal are hard to resist…

Facebook Friends for Sale: 37 cents each!

So we all know that the average Facebook Fan costs about $1.07, according to Wall Street Journal’s Facebook guru Geoffrey Fowler. Actually, his professional title is Technology Reporter but I consider him to be the Wise Facebook Guru. (It’s a compliment, Geoffrey.) Can we call you Jeff for short if we promise to spell out “Geof” in our heads?

But what about the price of a Facebook Friend? Apparently, Burger King’s Marketing VP, Brian Gies, thinks that Facebook friends are worth less than $1.07. In a bold, somewhat humorous, and questionable ad campaign, Burger King offered one coupon per Facebook account if the loyal Facebook user could prove that he, she, (or even it in some cases if we consider zygotes to be sexless; I’ll explain in another post) could “sacrifice ten Facebook friends” for one free Whopper. That’s about 37 cents per Facebook friend (tyvm NY Times for doing the math for us.)

By the end of the ad campaign, at least 234,000 Facebookers were de-friended, causing Facebook to de-friend BK’s “Whopper Sacrifice” ad campaign. And I’m sure it wasn’t because Facebook wanted a free Whopper.

Maybe I should set up a ‘Facebook Friend For Sale’ stand (that would also double as a lemonade stand). If I sell all my friends on Facebook… that’s 1,300+ times 37 cents each equals at least $481!

Wine in a bottle… in a box… now in an Astrapouch

© Indulge Wines

Wine in a pouch? Yes, why not!

In an effort to be more eco-friendly (and fun at the same time), Indulge Wines offers wine in a non-traditional pacakaging called Astrapouches! You can probably guess why it’s called “astrapouches” but let’s look at the details I found on SlashFood:

1. It’s still good after 30 days of opening so it won’t go to waste.
2. It requires less fossil fuels to transport the wine because it’s not in heavy bottles that require “cushioning” and “securing”, gosh darn it.
3. Only two percent of the product is its weight so the remaining 98% is the wine! Yay! Finally, consumers can actually get what they pay for. Think about boxed wines (which is misleading actually since they’re technically in a bag that is in a box! Huh? Yeah…) But whatever the case, all that cardboard and paper is unnecessary.

After reading about Indulge Wines’ astrapouches, I quickly scrambled to their website to find more info. Apparently, their astrapouches are #1 (amongst whom I wonder) in having the lowest carbon footprint, lowest land fill pressure by weight, and require the lowest energy input to chill….

Indulge Wines (if you’re reading this)… I think your idea is super-cool, super-fun, and super-eco-friendly so kudos to you. Or would you prefer cheese and crackers instead? (Or grapes even?)

Dear Spammers: You look quite Spammy today.

I was appalled when I came across this “blog” called SaveMoreShareMore that offered Minute Maid coupons via blog. They also invited readers to visit them on Facebook.
I quickly reported it to WordPress as spam without hesitation…(although I am quite thirsty for some orange juice; maybe I’ll grab some now).

110 Billion Minutes of Friending, FBing, Tweeting, Tagging, GameVilling, and Stalking

According to a June 2010 Nielson study, online users spend 110 billion minutes on Social Networking Sites and Blogs. That’s one in every 4.5 minutes (or 22% of all online time). No wonder I dre.am in bit.ly.

Outrageous Food News: Lawsuits & Gunfires

© J. Brockman

I think I’m officially afraid of going to Fast Foods and Chains. Check out these headlines:

Man Exchanges Gunfire With Cops Over Price of Burritos
“Think Outside the Bun” … and Run For Your Life! Sadly, today’s economy has skyrocketed the value of Beefy Crunch Burritos from 99 cents to $1.49. (Although, it’s kinda sorta understood by average customers that Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch Burritos were only 99 cents for a limited time. Um, yes, sir! Taco Bell is legally allowed to offer promotions to their customers.) But apparently, not everyone agrees that promotions should be “limited time offers.” And one man from San Antonio thought it’s so absurd that he confronted the issue at gunpoint (for four hours!) after he ordered seven burritos and found out that the 99 cent Beefy Crunch Burritos promotion ended. Police said that the suspect fled away to a Burger King in his Mitsubishi Eclipse… I think Donald Trump should address this issue if he’s going to run for Presidency.  

© Dennis Mojado

Starbucks Suit Dispute: Scalding Cup Crash or Just a Dumb Rash?

Really? A lawsuit? 36 year-old doctor and “professional model”, Riffat Qureshi, sues Starbucks because of a scalded tummy. (Ouch, not so hot for a professional model. I wonder if she does lingerie/swimsuit or is she strictly a professional tummy model?) Anyway, the doctor-slash-model claimed that a Starbucks barista slid a cup of boiling hot Starbucksness (actually, I think it was just plain hot water) across the counter and it splashed at her… The last time I checked, my Starbucks coffee was somewhere between lukewarm and been-sitting-in-a-hot-pot warm. But definitely not scalding hot boiling. Whatever the case, I think it’s smart to assume that hot drinks are, umm… hot!

Shh, I think I’m going to gawk at her when I see her at Starbucks!

Tagging: A Social & Emotional Affair

As you may (or may not) know, my blog is an “experimental” blog. I’ve decided to actively become part of the Blogosphere because I want to find out and learn about what everyone is reading, writing, thinking, talking, sharing, et cetera, et cetera.

In my investigation, I came across a very astounding place. I think my address bar calls it “http://en.wordpress.com/tags/” but for the rest of us, it’s where all of WordPress’ hottest tags mingle. For the most part, I think the big shots: News, Music, Life, Politics, Photography, Travel, Food, Fashion, Family and Art are hosting the parties for a while. And there’s a whole lot of up-and-coming Socialites: Events, Local, Poetry, Entertainment, Recipes, Culture, Love, Technology, Environment, Business, and Humor (just to name a few.)

I invited myself to WordPress’ Daily Tag Event (again open to the public via http://en.wordpress.com/tags/) and perused through the crowd and observed a few things:

Dinner, Gaming, Me,(whoever that is), Songs, Rants, and Ramblings were the quietest members. Ironically, Rants, and Ramblings didn’t have much to say and were merely bystanders at the event. Their presence was quite small and not so excitin, quite frankly, so I quickly moved on and weaved my way into the crowd. I probably passed by five or six groups of meager tags with a one or two posers (such as Poems trying to be Poetry and Photo Galleries trying to be Photography) until I finally arrived at the hotspot of the event where the dancers were dancing and the talkers were talking. I noticed Humor was relatively popular amongst his group and immediately, I recalled briefly passing by Fun (who was standing next to Society) and thought about the sad endings of friendships. I supposed Humor had left Fun or perhaps Fun never made it as big as Humor. Whatever the case, it made me sad when I thought about it…

So I quickly pulled myself together, fixed my hair and cursor, and moved on to more exciting things: the upper level at the fancy Tag Event where the big shots mingled. Their presence shined prominently, overlooking the balcony. Surely, News himself was there along with Music, Life, and Politics. And of course there were two of my favorite figures: Photography and Travel.

It was exciting for me to even look up to the balcony and think about being up there with the rest of the Hot Tags… Yes, where all the Buzz was at. My knees were shaking with excitement and my cursor almost stopped working! I think I can easily blend in somewhere in the midst of the party and make my way up. Perhaps, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll get introduced to one of the Hot Tags and get in on the “in.” Exciting thought, I know!

So if you’ve never been to the WordPress Tag Event, go experience it for yourself sometime soon and let me know how you enjoy it. Have fun!

What’s in a name? That which we call “WordPress” by any other name would be just as sweet.

© Trig­gers & Spark

Of course I’m in love with WordPress. After all, I’m already addicted to the internet. Who isn’t?!

Fine. I know it’s only been two hours since I walked away from my computer. But for the last couple of hours while cooking, I saw blogrolls after blogrolls in my head. (Gr)avatars after (gr)avatars. Words after thoughts after words. And also many LOLcat things. Serious things like (BBC, WSJ, and NYTimes things). I daydreamed of random, funny things then arbitrary Google things and perplexing Aristotle things. (What did you say? I sound like Dr. Seuss?)

Anyway, and then in the midst of Things, I heard the iconic Twitter bird silently chirp at my kitchen window. Yes, he Tweeted to me from my windowsill at 8 o’clock at night. No, he’s not getting ready for bed soon. Silly questions you have!

So I had to get on the computer and find out what’s happening online… apparently, Kim Kardashian replied to one of her fans’ tweets and the fashion-frenzied girl claimed that Kim’s Retweet changed her life. Hmm. (And yes, I secretly adore Kim’s face! She’s so beautiful but… Kim, glamour is not everything.)

Anyway, aside from the Kim Kardash tweets and RTs (she never RTed mine that I tweeted to her), nothing exciting is going on. Apparently, I have been misinformed by a blue die-cut bird! So here I am. Hello, WordPress!

Being such a good WordPress neighbor as I am, I checked out what a few others have written and left comments to let them know that I have enjoyed reading their blogs. I hope they’ll say “Hello” to me soon! Perhaps, I will  invite a guest blogger to share his or her thoughts on my super-amazingly-new-but-needs-to-feature-a-cool-special-unique-voice blog soon. But for now, back to Google!

FacebookVille & the Evil Facebook Ads

Once upon a time… (when Facebook did not yet take over the world and FacebookVille was a pleasant virtual town), a little girl (aka me, by the way) was innocently browsing through her once-favorite Social Networking Site until suddenly she saw an ad that caught her attention… (No, it was not a pair of hot pink shoes from Kim Kardashian’s glamorous ShoeDazzle collection.)

Anyway, the Evil Facebook had allowed a third-party to secretly use the little girl’s friend’s friend-slash-roomate’s profile picture in an ad without telling anyone! Worse of all, the ad with the little girl’s friend’s friend-slash-roomate’s face on it attempted to lure the little girl into clicking on the ad. Luckily, the little girl was smart and did not click on the ad.

The next day (okay fine, immediately), she asked her friend’s friend (via Facebook chat and wall) if she knew about the ad and her friend’s friend said “No.” Afraid and terrorized, the three little girls knew they had uncovered a dark secret: that the Evil Facebook was planning on taking over the world.

Fearing for her life and identity, the little girl’s friend’s friend decided to leave FacebookVille — at least for a while because her mother had told her that there can only be not-so-happy endings full of intrusive data tracking and dangerous phishing. But this was only the beginning of the Facebook Ad Age…

Later on, more ads were quickly appearing all over FacebookVille but they were slightly different from the ancient Facebook ads. (For example, the famous Internet Personality of all Worlds including YoutubeVille, GoogleVille, TwitterVille, and LAVille called iJustine was shocked when she saw that Facebook had created a fake ad for a fake birthday!) And there were plenty of similar ads. They were carefully-designed, hand-picked and trained to attack strategically. They were tailored to phish, track, and ultimately determine the lives of the villagers of FacebookVille.

For digi-centuries, these Tailored Ads reigned FacebookVille. Terrorizing the villagers with their aggressive marketing and sneaking onto the profiles of the villagers of FacebookVille when they were asleep, these ads were more dangerous and cleverer than the ancient Facebook ads. (Yes, I am allowed to invent the word “cleverer”… Shh! Let’s not ruin the story.) The Tailored Ads got so powerful that they could even pretend to be “friends” with the villagers. And the villagers of FacebookVille unfortunately fell for the trap when they saw that 20+ of their friends “liked” these Tailored Ads… Soon these Tailored Ads became the Elite Tailored Ads.

Luckily one day, a group of privacy advocates and internet lawyers from a Far Away Land came to save FacebookVille. Armed with the Social Network’s “Bill of Rights”, the brave men marched heroically to defend FacebookVille and the villagers gained power to fight back against the evilness of Facebook…