Communications in the Global Village

Backpacking through Europe

shamrock228 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:42:37 +0000

If any of you are interested in backpacking through Europe I found a website called “Backpack Europe on a Budget” with some great insight that will help you do it.

The site includes a listing of places you can stay, including hostels, transportation options when you arrive in Europe, what to pack, you name it it’s there. Thought some of you might find this intriguing..=)

http://www.backpackeurope.com/index.html

Carbon Footprint

kadee23 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:35:00 +0000

http://www.earthday.net/footprint/flash.html

This is a website where you can calculate your carbon footprint and it tells you how many earths we would need to support a population of people who all lived like you. I chose to share this as a blog this week for two reasons. First, taking this quiz became one of those aha-moments in my life when I realized I was being somewhat naïve about the state of our world and about the differences in the ways people live. The calculator told me that we would need 4.3 earths if everyone lived like me. This was a shocking result because I thought I was a pretty environmentally-aware person and I do not live a wasteful lifestyle. Then it sunk in that the reason is not that some people are choosing to live more conservative than me, it is that some people don’t have the choice. Some countries aren’t as industrialized as the US and they don’t have the same resources that I do, therefore they use less of them than I do.

The second reason that I think this connects to global communication is through the team effort that is needed between all cultures and countries to improve our treatment of the earth and protect the planet for future generations. I think that big nations like the US, Great Britain, and others should have learned from our mistakes of too much industrialization and too much dirty emissions from our industries. These countries should teach smaller countries that are just starting to industrialize about these mistakes and suggest better ways to go about it. Also we could all trade ideas and strategies that will work to improve the environment and the world. For instance, it is popular in Germany to have gardens on rooftops. These gardens allow for more photosynthesis to take place, therefore decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and helping to heal the ozone layer. If countries came together to trade these ideas, the ozone layer could heal a lot faster.

I encourage all of you to go to this website and learn how you are impacting the earth and what you can do to decrease your carbon footprint.

The Italian Tribune

shamrock228 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:02:39 +0000

The Italian Tribune has been around since 1931, started off in NJ and is now trying to expand their audience. The homepage states that, “it is our pledge that we will continue to preserve, protect, and promote our Italian American culture”. The tribune has direct contact with the Italian government to exchange news and photos and it’s $30 a year for a subscription and is published Thursday.

The paper includes news articles, classifieds, memoriams, novenas, and obituaries. The site includes mutliple feature stories that have been published in the tribune about famous Italians such as Frank Sinatra. I thought this was interesting to have a permanent dedication to multiple famous Italian’s on the site. The Frank Sinatra page even has audio clips of his songs that you can listen to. I’m not even Italian and I find the paper interesting..haha.

http://www.italiantribune.com/01%20-%20home%20-%20welcome.htm

Anglican Journal: Christian news

joeynumbas — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:32:36 +0000

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/

Interesting “news” site. I read a few articles on the site, and i thought i was going to have a bounty of material to come on and type about. Really interesting stories where they denied the existance of dinosaurs or made up “facts” that seemed to straight out of Jerry Falwells journal. Although, yes the message was mostly that yes the site was ran by evangelical christians, although I didnt seem ridiuclously overwhelmed by the message, which to me was suprising because i tend to be what you’d call “religiously sensitive”. Not because I have a strong faith, but becuase I do not I find myself having to not be unfair to those whom have strong beliefs sometimes

One major problem i did have with the site though was that it was reporting upon other religions..for example

“Anti-Muslim sentiments on rise in Europe, two out of five Canadians also feel that way“

Now, this could be as true as true could be. Although, coming from a christian “news site” this to me just cant help but come off as a little awkward and maybe not the best choice to throw on your front page if you wanted to be taken seriously as a news outlet.

All together a really odd site, not as venomous as i’d pictured it could of been.

Thanks for reading

Joe Ialuna

Indian Country Today

andrewm17 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:26:55 +0000

I chose to take a look at the Indian Country Today site after looking at some of the possible online ethnic newspapers. The major reason why I chose it was because it appears to me that Native American news and the happenings in their community aren’t often covered by the mainstream media. I rarely see anything on the news about what’s going on with them. So it was good to see a site dedicated entirely to Native American news. And it helps that the site is terrifically organized and has great material. If one wants to read up on the global, national, political or any other things happening in the Native American community, it’s all there. It’s impressive in its seemingly all-encompassing reach. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that is missing. Not only that, but the articles are very informative as well. So it seems like the people running the site know what they are doing, and it shows.

The site attempts to “better the lives of Indigenous peoples by delivering accurate, relevant, and culturally sensitive content.” It is a noble effort, and they seem to be succeeding, as readership/subscription is up. This is great because I think it’s richly deserved. The site says that “Indian Country Today is an award-winning multimedia publisher of news, information, and imagery relevant to the Indigenous people of the Americas” and it’s really easy to see why it is award-winning. It really is well done. Check it out.

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/

-Andrew

Native American News

aliavs14 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:40:58 +0000

I read a Native American newspaper called http://www.thenavajotimes.com/.

I always had the feeling native americans hated casinos on their land, etc. However, on the first page of the online article, the main story talks about how “After decades of talk and controversy, the Navajo Nation on Wednessday joined the Indian gaming community with the opening of the tribe’s first casino near Gallup.” I was surprised to see that the community was happy with the opening of the casino. The site, at first glace, doesn’t look like a “native american” newpaper, as one might stereotype it as. If I looked and had no idea that it was, I’d read and take it as a very informative regular newspaper, touching some information outside of the normal boring political repeatitevness. They talk about normal stories, schools, race, weather, economy, etc. It’s just a paper, as I take it, that brings nativeamericans a sense of togetherness, however, the paper probably is really organized and written better than most papers I’ve read in a while!

The New York Blade Online

rebeccapane — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:51:19 +0000

The New York Blade online is a paper targeted at gays, lesbians, and transgenders. When I first saw the homepage, there was a large rainbow that caught my eye. It was an article telling about a gay rally that was just held. Just underneath that, it had articles telling about aids, gay marriage bills, and interviews with important people on what they are doing to try to help the gay community. This online paper seemed to have articles on how hard the fight is for gay people to become equal. It surprises me how much is being done to pass gay marriage bills and rallies being fought, yet it seems as if these are going on in the shadows. We don’t really hear about these things in the news. If they’re fighting so hard, how come no one is listening??? www.nyblade.com

Christian Week

kadee23 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:14:36 +0000

I looked at the most recent issue of Christian Week, which was published November 15. I found it to really be just like any other mainstream newspaper, telling the same news stories but from the Christian perspective. The topics of the front page news stories, the financial crisis and the green movement, would also be found on several other front pages. The article on the financial crisis is not about big businesses going under or government bailouts, but rather the difference between needs and wants. It reminds readers of the need to continue giving, even if we have less to give. The article on the green movement is about a youth group that is teaching their church how to become more environmentally friendly.

Where mainstream newspapers like the New York Times, Boston Globe, and even the Salem News strive to remain unbiased and deliver the news from many angles, I suppose niche papers like Christian Week are able to break this journalism rule. They certainly delivery their news from a specific point of view: the Christian point of view. I’m not sure how I feel about this discovery. From a community perspective, I guess it is a good thing to have a news source written specifically from an angle that you can relate to. But from a communications perspective, it seems like poor journalism to me. What do you guys think?

http://www.christianweek.org/

Irish Herald

xxrebelbabi1xx — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:05:07 +0000

http://www.irish-herald.com/

I chose to look at the Irish Herald. I found out that it is the oldest Irish newspaper on the West Coast and is a free monthly paper. It informs and entertains the Irish population. It contains international as well as local news, entertainment, music and book reviews, travel, sports, real estate, business and finance, as well as advice on immigration. The Irish Herald has 60,000 readers and also joined forces with 5 other Irish-American publications and the entity is called The American Irish Media Network. Being part Irish, I found this awesome because I had never heard of an Irish newspaper, I just wish that it was also offered on the East Coast instead of just the West Coast.

SGN – Seattle Gay News

aprilholland87 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:37:36 +0000

I chose to visit the website for a paper in Seattle called “Seattle Gay News”

The paper has been in print for 34 years, and is apparently the 3rd oldest gay-audience newspaper in the U.S.

The paper featured familiar news sections such as arts and entertainment, events, business, and even a wide range of local, national, and international articles. I was also shocked to see that the online version of the paper could be translated into over 40 languages. For such a niche newspaper, it was amazing how broad their availability was for the readership.

The Boston Phoenix and 2 African American Newspapers in Minneapolis/St Paul

mpssc — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:18:51 +0000

This weeks topic on intercultural newspapers was interesting because I went into it with the impression that I had never read a selection from any of these publications. That was until I ran across ‘The Boston Phoenix’ listed as a gay/lesbian publication. Having done some work with wfnx and the phoenix in the past I was aware that both the radio station and the paper addressed topics related to the gay and lesbian community but I have a hard time categorizing the paper as a gay and lesbian publication.

The Phoenix lists itself as: The Boston Phoenix, New England’s largest arts & entertainment weekly. In fact the words Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual appear nowhere on the front page this week. Well I guess if you have ever discussed gay /lesbian issues or promote entertainment in Boston you are a Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual publication.

Another interesting thing that I cam across was the ‘Insight Reporter’ and ‘Spokesman Recorder’ which are two African American publications based in Minneapolis/St Paul MN. Call me naive but I was unaware that the twin cities had a large African American population, never mind a population that could support 2 separate African American newspapers. According to IDcide (http://www.idcide.com/lists/mn/on-population-african-american-percentage.htm) Minneapolis and St Paul have the highest (respectively and as a percentage) African American population in the country. While the spokesman seems to be a bit more racially focused the Insight Reporter could easily be mistaken fora mass market publication as it covers not only African American News but general category news as well.

Spokesman Recorder: http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/default.asp
Insight Recorder: http://www.insightnews.com/

The Jewish Week: An Ethnic View to Information

smidge477 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:36:52 +0000

For this weeks blog based on Ethnic newspapers I chose, The Jewish Week (which is a New York based newspaper). It is an independent and recognized as the largest, most respected Jewish newspaper in America. It even reaches more then 70,000 households each week. The information that is found in this newspaper vary from news, tends, features and analysis from Israel and the New york metropolitan area. The news information is separated by new york, national, international, Israel, and a few there subcategories. Even the colors used on the web page are the colors that represent Israel and the Jewish people. Being Jewish myself, I was unaware that their was a newspaper based on what Jewish people of New York and Israel thought. It is nice in a way to hear what certain views are from different ethnic backgrounds. It is becoming more important as we become more globally and ethnicallyinvolved. One of the main stories was based on Obama and hoe he has promised to make Israeli-Palestinian peace a top priority.

what do you all feel?

thanks

Sarah

Protestant-Catholic deal hailed as breakthrough in Ulster

shamrock228 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:08:20 +0000

This article was written by Shawn Pogatchnik and is about an agreement made between the Catholic and Protestant religions in Northern Ireland. They have agreed that a Justice Department will oversee the police and courts so that British rule over Nothern Ireland will no longer have complete control over decisions made.

This is a big deal because the Irish Catholics and British Protestants have had major issues with each other throughout history, and this is a stepping stone in the right direction. This is a way for rulings in Northern Ireland to be less biased with British Protestant policies.

I think the article was well written informing the US of this breakthrough. It touches upon history between both parties, and how this should help in mending their relationship, though it won’t completetly fix the issue. This is an important article because this is a major decision that was made for the first time in a long time between 2 parties who haven’t gotten along throughout history.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/11/19/protestant_catholic_deal_hailed_as_breakthrough_in_ulster/

Pirates Seize Saudi Supertanker

andrewm17 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:25:16 +0000

I found this interesting story about pirates taking over a Saudi Supertaker. It was holding over more than $100 million worth of crude oil. The writer of the article is Robert F. Worth. The story took place off the coasts of Kenya, but Worth reported from Jidda, Saudi Arabia. This adds more credibility to his story because he is actually near the area (particularly, he is in the country that owns the stolen ship) and he seems to know about the region and what this act of piracy means. Even though this is a story about a foreign ship getting overtaken, it has significance to Americans on an economic level. The ship was in route to the United States to bring the crude oil here. And the article captures the American viewpoint of the hijacking quite well. There are quotes from people in the US Navy and Washington (as well as some international workers). But in terms of capturing the local view of the act of piracy, the article seems to be lacking. Worth doesn’t talk to anyone about it on the Saudi side. Since it was a Saudi Supertanker, you might think that there would be discussion with someone, but he sticks to interviewing and quoting non-Saudis. Granted, it is important that the oil was destined for the US and the piracy occurred near Kenya, but it was their goods being transported and I think it would have been beneficial to the article to include their point of view.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/africa/19pirate.html?ref=world

-Andrew

Indonesian Earthquake Kills at Least 4

kadee23 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:56:49 +0000

There was an article in the New York Times about a recent earthquake in Indonesia. It is a well-written article with a lot of facts covered. Sometimes it sounds as if the reporter were right there when it happened, but I don’t think he was since he credits all of his information to officials and other news sources.

The reporter did a somewhat thorough job, but I don’t think he fully captured the local point of view. Residents of Indonesia who actually experience the fright of the earthquake were not used as sources. Though the reporter does capture some of the terror through the description by the officials, it would have been more effective to quote and actual resident. Also, the article discusses the new early-warning system for quakes that cause tsunamis. I think this would have been a good place for more usage of resident sources—perhaps the local point-of-view on this new system and its effectiveness.

Though this article provides readers with the facts of the earthquake, a more detailed description of its affect on the people of Indonesia was lacking. This would probably have been a more effective article if the reporter were actually in Indonesia when the earthquake occurred.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/world/asia/18indo.html?ref=asia