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Anonymous, Sexual Blog Comment Costs School Employee Job


HuffPo reports that a man in St. Louis lost his job at a local school after posting a vulgar response to an online poll, when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last Friday asked readers the following question: "What's the craziest thing you've ever eaten?" Spotting a hanging curveball, the employee posted a one-word vulgarity, alluding to a certain female anatomical feature. Web site administrators deleted the comment, only to have it re-posted. At that point, Kurt Greenbaum, director of social media at the newspaper, used the IP address to trace the original obscenity back to a school. Job loss ensued.

The following Monday, Greenbaum wrote an article titled, "Post a vulgar comment while you're at work, lose your job." One reader argued, "You guys don't like moderating so you call his work and get him fired." Greenbaum's reply, dripping with sarcasm, read, "Yeah, you caught me! I made him log on to his computer at work, visit STLtoday.com's Talk of the Day, read the item, type a vulgarity and hit the 'submit' key."

The guy shouldn't have been making these comments from a school computer, but isn't Greenbaum overstepping his bounds here? It's the responsibility of the newspaper to filter its readers' comments (Ed. Note: Wouldn't know anything about that at Switched. Our commenters are all angels.) -- not to monitor its readers' behavior. For whatever reason, the site maintenance team couldn't just color within the lines of their own Web site; they had to go "tell teacher." The most reprehensible part, though, is Greenbaum's smug self-righteousness, regardless of right or wrong. The only thing that resulted was someone losing their livelihood. Let's take it down a notch on the sarcasm, shall we? [From: Huffington Post]

Web

'Print After Party' Celebrates Death of Print in Old Newspaper Boxes

"The Death of Print." We remember a few years back when this phrase just signified some impending yet inconceivable nightmare, like Y2K or 2012. Now, of course, we live in a world where newspapers are shrinking from sight, and Roland Emmerich rakes in $65 million in one weekend by peddling more visions of the apocalypse. For those of us who have worked in print, or have colleagues who still do, these are sad, sad times.

With that in mind, artists Jason Eppink and Posterchild (known for his 'Mario' question mark blocks) have collaborated with 'Print After Party,' a series of pranksterish, unauthorized installations inside abandoned newspaper boxes. With the aid of mini disco balls, blaring radios, flashing LEDs, and cut-out silhouettes of post-print revelers, Eppink and Posterchild transformed these banal but comforting street totems into tiny raves, astonishing passersby. (Check out the video after the break.)

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Web

Rupert Murdoch Wants News Corp. Sites Off Google

Much like the cranky little guy who takes his basketball and storms home, Rupert Murdoch wants any and all stories published by his media outlets to be removed from the index of search engines. According to the Guardian, Murdoch recently told the Australian press (video after the break) that stories from News Corp. outlets (e.g., The Wall Street Journal, the Sun) would be pulled from sites like Google once the company's content becomes strictly pay-to-read. The chairman stopped short of saying exactly when all News Corp. content would become subscriber-based, and thus removed from such sites.

Still, this proclamation comes as no surprise. Last month, Murdoch called out Google -- referring to the site as "content kleptomaniacs." But if you ask us, Murdoch is fighting a losing battle. You can't expect people to start paying for content they're accustomed to getting for free. Despite supposed subscription walls on News Corp. sites, people have had a relatively easy time reading without paying -- and that's on the company's own sites. Before "taking his ball and going home," Murdoch might do well to consider this: Just as the people on the court will find another ball, people on the Web will find other ways to get their news. The game will continue. [From: Guardian and Newsweek]

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Computers

Could Robot Writers Take Over Sportswriters' Jobs?

No one has ever confused Woody Paige with Arthur Rimbaud. And there's a good reason: daily sportswriting is, by definition, Mojave-dry. Beat writers covering a Major League Baseball team, for instance, have to find a way to churn out stimulating articles daily, over the course of a Homeric 162-game regular season. Understandably, then, the writing tends toward the cliché-ridden and the formulaic -- so formulaic, perhaps, that even a robot could do it.

That's what some students at the Intelligent Information Laboratory at Northwestern University are arguing. Their project, 'StatsMonkey,' relies upon 'crawlers,' which combine key statistics from a game with frequently used sportswriting lingo in order to create their own auto-article. According to the StatsMonkey website, the algorithm first analyzes "changes in Win Probability and Game Scores" to "pick out the key plays and players from any individual game." Then, the robot consults a library of "narrative arcs" to structure the story, determining whether the game was a come-from-behind win, a blowout, or a nail-biter. The two are then combined to form the story, which can be narrated, interestingly, from the perspective of either team's hometown. To demonstrate, the kids had the robot write about an October 11th playoff game between the Boston Red Sox and Anaheim Angels. And, as the New York Times reports, the resultant article wasn't all that bad (even if it did kinda miss the sorta important fact that the Angels swept the Red Sox).

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Web

Bloggers Face Fines Up to $11k for Not Disclosing Freebies

A retooled set of guidelines released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will force bloggers to be more transparent when reviewing products. According to Mashable, the new version of the "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" forces writers to reveal any payments or products they may have received from advertisers when endorsing a product on a blog. If they don't keep it in line, there could be an $11,000 fine headed their way.

Until recently, the blogosphere resembled the Wild West when it came to ethics. However, earlier this summer the FTC stepped in to monitor the perks many bloggers were receiving from advertisers. This latest move by the government will make sure that readers can more easily tell the difference between an honest review and a paid endorsement.

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Web

Amish Newspaper Keeps Everyone Updated Via Twitter-Like Scribes


Twitter seeks to connect people by asking the simple question, "What are you doing?" But the hot, trendy site isn't doing anything particularly new or groundbreaking. In fact, one newspaper appealing to an unexpected segment of the population has been capitalizing on that basic networking theme for 120 years, and, unlike the majority of print publications, is still thriving.

The Budget, a Sugarcreek, Ohio publication that began in 1890, splits its paper into two sections: one covering local news, and one focusing almost exclusively on updates from the national Amish community. The national section primarily consists of submissions (limited to one page, as opposed to 140 characters) from Amish readers (known as scribes), who give farm and construction reports, church service information, and community updates from around the country.

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Celebrities, Web, Social Networking

Allen Iverson Breaks NBA Signing News on Twitter


Basketball player Allen Iverson has been detailing his arduous return from a back injury, and his hopes of landing on a new NBA team, with almost daily updates on Twitter. Today, he scooped ESPN, FOX Sports, and every other sports media outlet by announcing his return, and his new team, when he tweeted, "God Chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career."

Twitter's reputation is certainly shifting, particularly as the site receives more and more recognition as an actual news outlet. But, even though the tweets should endear Iverson to Grizzlies fans, he might not receive the warmest welcome from the Memphis writers he beat to the punch. They might prefer that he make headlines on the court, and not by schooling people off of it. [From: Mashable]

Computers, Video Games

College Courses on Twitter, 'Guitar Hero' -- Dumb or Smart Trend?



Media outlets love headlines like 'University Teaches Twitter 101' or 'Facebooking Now Part of Curriculum.' Usually, though, such claims of kids being taught to tweet are sensationalized. It is true, though, that schools are increasingly looking towards new media to study the way we communicate. Take for instance Chicago's DePaul University and its course on modern journalism. The class, titled 'Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets,' isn't talking solely about Twitter, but about the changing landscape of news reporting.

Similarly, New York University is currently offering a course featuring 'Guitar Hero.' But don't assume students are learning how to rock using the plastic axes; Professor Gary Marcus is interested in how 'Guitar Hero' affects human cognition, telling NBC New York that "video games are an understudied area." Parents are nonplussed, reportedly irritated by the idea of shelling out $50,000 a year to see their kid do what he or she would do at home, anyway.

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Web, Social Networking

St. John's Gives Basketball Tweeter Press Credentials

In a move sure to ruffle the feathers of more traditional sports journalists, St. John's University has granted a man press credentials to tweet from the sidelines of its men's basketball games.

According to Mashable, this will be the first time a press-row credential has been given to someone solely for the purpose of using Twitter. Peter Robert Casey, the man who will draw the ire of some and the envy of others, is one of the most popular basketball-related users on the micro-blogging site. With almost 50,000 followers, Casey can hold his own with other Twitter heavyweights like Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard. The Brooklyn native also has a popular blog that covers all things hoops-related.

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Web

Rise of Food Blogs Lets Anyone Be a Snooty Critic

The Internet's effect on traditional print journalism has been well documented, but one endangered journalistic type seems to have been forgotten: the elusive and secretive food critic. Writing for Business Week, Aaron Ricadela recently investigated the changing, and perhaps diminishing, role of professional reviewers and guides, and how hordes of amateur food bloggers may soon render traditional critics obsolete.

Ricadela's piece celebrates the proliferation of bloggers as indicating that "food consciousness is in ascendance." But, Ricadela also laments the idea of professional critics and guides being replaced by blogs that depend "more on enthusiasm than deep knowledge." This very sentiment, that air of superiority and palate elitism, may just be the driving force behind the blog movement, though.

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Audio/Video, Web

Pirated 'Wolverine' Movie Lands Fox News Writer in Hot Water



This week, Fox News columnist Roger Friedman provided lecture fodder for journalistic ethics professors everywhere. When news of a pirated copy of 20th-Century Fox's forthcoming 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' recently surfaced (the movie's set to hit the big screen May 1st), comic fans and interested moviegoers began scouring the Web for an early viewing.

Mr. Friedman not only found and watched the advance copy, he decided it would be a good idea to review it, saying, "It took really less than seconds to start playing it all right onto my computer.'" He was pretty brazen about it, saying also that he found all of the "current top 10 [movies in theaters], plus TV shows, commercials, videos, everything, all streaming away." He went on to say, "I could have downloaded all of it but really, who has the time or the room?"

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Top Lists, Web

Best Things Ruined by the Internet



The Internet has mostly made our lives better. We love Google for putting piles of information at our fingertips, and, without the Web, there would be no Switched. That being said, it's undeniable that the Internet has ruined some good things, as well.

The blog OMG Lists has compiled a list of nine good things ruined by the Internet (one of those things being lists). So, what good things in life will never be the same thanks to the Interwebs? Cats (thanks to the efforts of I Can Has Cheezburger and the LOLcat meme) are the saddest thing to make the list. We used to think cats were adorable; now, we just stand around them with a camera waiting to take funny photos to pair with a funny caption. Rick Astley also made the list, thanks to our least favorite Internet trend ever -- Rick Rolling.

Journalism also made the list, and it's hard to argue. Journalism used to be a highly respected, well paying occupation. Now, journalistic publications are fading and being replaced by blogs and news aggregation sites like the Huffington Post (and, uh, Switched). Not that there is anything wrong with blogs, of course. It's just that saying, "I'm a reporter for the New York Times," still carries a lot more weight than saying, "I'm a blogger."

Check out the rest of the list here. [From: OMG Lists]

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Computers, Celebrities

Was the Fake Steve Jobs Health Report a Failure for Citizen Journalism?

Fake Steve Jobs Report, An Embarrassment for the Media? Some jerk sent the interwebs into a tizzy and Apple stock prices into a free fall Friday when he used CNN's iReport citizen journalism site to spread word that Steve Jobs had suffered a massive heart attack. Unfortunately, the multitude of blogs that repeated the rumors of Jobs' heart trouble failed to do any basic fact checking and as it turns out Steve Jobs was not rushed to the hospital.

Some media outlets jumped on false report as evidence of the failure of citizen journalism. Even some new members of the "new media" like ReadWriteWeb, a technology focused blog, claimed that false reports like this not only hurt the reputation of citizen journalism as a concept but also of iReport's parent company CNN.

Of course, all claims of the failure of this reasonably new reporting method are so glaringly out of touch with reality and reasonable expectations. The concept of citizen journalism applies the same principles to news reporting that as the open source movement and community-powered Web sites like Wikipedia apply to software and online encyclopedias, respectively. By relying on input from the public, the hope is to get quicker and more intimate access to breaking news. Of course, some will try to game the system, just as they do on Wikipedia, but these few bad apples do not decrease the overall accuracy beyond that of traditional outlets.

What failed on Friday was not citizen journalism, but plain old traditional journalism. Those media outlets that failed to take a critical eye to initial reports and outlets that sensationalized the story in the aftermath are the ones who failed. Responsible citizens and journalists shouldn't believe everything they see on CNN, much less everything they see on its "unedited, unfiltered" YouTube-like community Web site. [From: paidContent.org]

Newspaper Misspells Its Name on Front Page

Valley Newss typo


Monday's edition of New Hampshire's Valley News was the epitome of professional journalism, except for one tiny typo -- the paper's name on the front page.

As Homer Simpson would say, D'oh!

It seems that the most obvious place for an editor to, well, begin editing, was overlooked completely. The mistake was acknowledged in an Editor's note the following day. The note ended with the editor saying "for the record: We sure feel silly."

Don't be so hard on yourselves guys and gals, it could have happened to anyone...maybe...sort of. [Source: Telegraph.co.uk]

Cell Phones, Computers

College Student Twitters His Way Out of Egyptian Jail

Journalism Student Arrested in Egypt Twitters his Way to Freedom
We've heard the micro-blogging service Twitter called a lot of things -- everything from fun and indispensable, to frivolous and stupid. Now, you can add lifesaver to the mix. At least one man, James Buck, can thank Twitter for his freedom after being picked up, along with his interpreter Mohammed Salah Ahmed Maree, by Egyptian authorities while taking pictures of a demonstration.

Buck, a U.C. Berkeley graduate student of journalism, managed to type out a simple one word message -- "Arrested" -- to his network of followers on Twitter. Friends, fellow students and journalists quickly sprang into action by contacting U.C. Berkeley, the U.S. embassy in Egypt, the Associated Press, and other media outlets. The next da, Buck walked out of jail a free man with a U.C. Berkeley hired lawyer at his side and the U.S. embassy on the phone.

Buck is now spearheading an effort to free his interpreter Maree and other other imprisoned journalists in Egypt by drawing more media attention to the struggles against censorship in the Middle East through his writing, and, of course Twittering. [Source: Mercury News]

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