Mr. Rewrite offers complimentary help

Mr. Rewrite, aka Steve Elliott of Cronkite News Service fame, has produced a video on a subject dear to our hearts -- right?

The economic ripple

I was delighted to see a financial story that illustrated how the housing crisis affected other parts of the economy. It's in the Washington Post today. Here's an excerpt:

The report shows how the problems in the housing and financial markets are rippling through other sectors, reflecting the deep connections between seemingly separate parts of the economy.

The number of construction jobs, which has declined steadily for 18 months, continued to fall. That sector shed 51,000 positions, as fewer homes are being built.

Fewer houses mean less construction and building materials; the number of manufacturing jobs fell 48,000, with some of the steepest losses among makers of lumber, drywall, and other materials. Automakers also cut jobs.

With their homes less valuable, U.S. consumers seem to be spending less, which means stores need fewer workers. The number of retail jobs fell 12,400, with the steepest losses in sellers of building materials and appliances, which are strongly tied to the housing business.

Financial firms cut 5,000 jobs, with the biggest losses in "credit intermediation" companies, which includes banks and mortgage brokers.

This has caused businesses that have little to do with housing to become less confident about the future. Professional and business services, a sector that had been keeping the economy afloat, trimmed 35,000 jobs.

As suspected, Oprah interviewed the "pregnant man."

As suspected, Oprah is the one with the exclusive contract to be the first to interview 34-year-old Thomas Beatie. On my drive to school this morning a radio station announced that the interview would take place on today's show. Then, later I confirmed this report on Oprah's official website.

Though I will not have the opportunity, like many of you, to watch the episode, on the website Oprah has twelve pictures include a picture of the happy couple, one of the ultrasound, and pictures of Thomas as Tracey. She also has two links titled, "How is this possible?" and "Go inside the ultrasound!"

From these links one can learn exclusive information such as, Thomas lived for 24 years as Tracey, when he was 12 years old his mother committed suicide, he was a Miss Hawaii Teen USA finalist, and he is now 24 weeks and 5 days pregnant. There is also a 2 minute, 15 second video of the doctor visit to see the ultrasound.

To find out more and to see the pictures and video, clink on the link.

Watch the movies, get a pink slip

The New York Times today added movie critics to its endangered newspaper jobs list. As a movie critic for eight years and member of the Phoenix Film Critics Society, I must admit this is very frightening. The article goes on to mention that many reviewers, along with other staff from newspapers around the country, are accepting buy-out packages or just being canned outright. The main culprit: movie reviewers are expendable in a time when revenues at print publications are in the decline. The article goes on to suggest that the Internet plays a major character in this movie critic drama. After all, it says, many readers aren't tuning in to printed movie reviews, preferring instead to go online and read a vast array of movie blogs which offer the same thing … and with swear words. "No one would argue that fewer critics and the adjectives they hurl would imperil the opening of Iron Man in May," but, it goes on, what about smaller movies that are made by the constant chatter of the movie critics who love them? No Country For Old Men, it suggests along with the film's Oscar-winning producer, would not be a best picture winner if it weren't for the critics who studied its themes, rallied around its villain or devoured its gritty story.

I agree that the content on the Internet is easier to get to, and features a wide variety of writers, but online blogsters are too frequently reviewers — not critics; there's a difference — who rehash plot points and dish on the star's red-carpet appearance, nip-slip or not. Too little attention is paid to film theory or deeper analysis of the film's messages.

Sadly, though, if this subject were ever put to a vote to the American public, they would have every movie critic fired on the spot, before the reporters even. Moviegoers tend to hate us because we dislike the movies they cherish, whether it's something that's been misunderstood or maybe it's truly wretched. Regardless, it's sad that the situation has become so bad that newspapers are beginning to trim from the edges.

For fun: why reporting is dangerous

I happened to StumbleUpon this page that had videos of eight reporters who were "pwned" on the job. They're all humorous and remind me why I'm not in broadcast -- your more embarrassing moments aren't caught on tape.

In all actuality, I'm not sure whether most people realize exactly how dangerous journalism can be depending on what kind of work you're doing or where you're doing it.

Poynter goes through redesign

Redesign in newspapers has taken what some people call a “new shape,” transforming the look of them to keep up with the changing world. And with that, Poynter’s online web site, which is a portal for learning on how to become a better journalist, is also going through the redesign process. The only thing left to be done for the new site is the coding behind the webpage.

I for one can’t wait for the new look. I’m always interested in finding out what a news organization is doing to improve anything that it thinks might help. Will it be more helpful or will it hurt its cause? The web site took the feedback generated from its users and colleagues in helping shape the alterations created for its new look. While some things will be erased, the essentials will remain the same, just as does in most newspapers that go through the process. The content is what makes any news organization remain consistent.

The main focus was put on the overall presentation for the new look: headlines are clearer, social networking, and recent articles to remain at the top, are just a few essentials in the new look. Managing editor Jeremy Gilbert lays out his new plan for the re-design in his recent column in Poynter found at http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=122&aid=140456. And feedback is welcome from users to help make this web site better.

Postpartisan explains "dead cat bounce" and "postpartisan" in political dictionary

Okay, so William Safire is plugging his latest book, but the video is interesting nonetheless.