"The print ad above, featuring the actress, is drawing praise, but also some criticism for excessive Photoshopping. It's not on the usual social-ethical grounds but because, as Emily Leaman over at Philly Magazine suggests, the ad looks more like a "pre-pubescent 12-year-old boy than the strong, broad-shouldered, post-pubscent Jennifer Lawrence we know in movies like Silver Linings Playbook and The Hunger Games.""

"The FCC decided in its infinite wisdom that it would be a good idea to launch something called a Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs. Said study would investigate, among other things, "the process by which stories are selected," how news outlets are fulfilling "critical information needs" and if there is "perceived station bias." Journalists would be asked, among other things, if they ever had story ideas squashed by management. The project was set to launch with a pilot project in Columbia, S.C., in the spring."

"Kent State University is one of only 15 universities across the country to receive a grant from the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) to screen Eyes Wide Open: This is Media, a documentary that explores individual roles in the changing media landscape. Kent State's School of Journalism and Mass Communication will host the premiere at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the FirstEnergy Auditorium in Room 340 of Franklin Hall. The event is free and open to the public. Produced by Pivot TV, the documentary is a call to awareness about the critical balance between being connected, being responsible and being private. "This is a must-see and an eye-opening video for everyone, especially millennials engaged with social or traditional media," says Federico Subervi, Ph.D., professor in Kent State's School of Journalism and Mass Communication and National Association for Media Literacy Education member."

"Facebook's News Feed, a homepage built by our friends and organized by our clicks and likes, isn't really a "news" feed. It's an entertainment portal for stories that remind us of our lives and offer something like an emotional popper. In fact, news readers self-identify as a minority on Facebook: Fewer than half ever read "news" on the site, according to a 2013 Pew study, and just 10 percent of them go to Facebook to get the news on purpose, as opposed, say, being assaulted by a breaking news event when you're just scanning baby photos. To see this more clearly, let's compare the BuzzFeed network's most viral stories-i.e.: the stories that go biggest on Facebook-to the top stories on Twitter and the most-searched stories. First, here are the top stories on Twitter in 2013. It's a blend of news, like terrorist attacks and music shows, and evergreen silliness with Ryan Gosling and Kim Kardashian. "

"FRONTLINE explores how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media - and how big brands are increasingly co-opting young consumers' digital presences."

"Shows like this were helping America sort through its conflicted emotions and anxieties about our changing demographics. Showing an interracial couple on the All in the Family spinoff, The Jeffersons was considered daring in the early '70s. A few decades later, interracial couples are, if not common on TV, at least no big deal."

"Journalists need to generate a national discussion on the future of the internet"

"News literacy is a relatively new field in media studies that focuses on defining and teaching the skills that citizens need to evaluate the credibility of the information they encounter, and on examining the role that credible information plays in a representative democracy. It's also a subject that most students find inherently engaging and relevant. In fact, a recent study found that 84 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 say they would benefit from learning these skills. 3 Exercises in News Literacy"

"Technology is fundamentally changing the nature of relationships in America, and online dating sites are an important part of that story. See how your views about online dating stack up with the rest of the population by first answering a few questions, then compare your responses with the 2,252 randomly sampled adults who took part in a nationally representative survey conducted by the Pew Research Center."

"We are proud to present the Lean In Collection, a library of images devoted to the powerful depiction of women, girls and the people who support them. Jointly curated by Getty Images and LeanIn.Org - the women's empowerment nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg - the collection features over 2,500 images of female leadership in contemporary work and life. A portion of proceeds from the Lean In Collection will go toward the creation of Getty Images grants for images showcasing female empowerment and to supporting the mission of LeanIn.Org."

"Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In organization is taking aim at institutional sexism in an unlikely medium: stock photos. Born out of the memoir of the same name by Facebook's chief operating officer, the non-profit has partnered with Getty Images to create a stock-photo library of 2,500 pictures that portray women in a positive light. Those will be available to Getty customers like corporations seeking an image for their website, creative directors at ad agencies and photo editors at media outlets."

"A Super Bowl ad is no longer just a Super Bowl ad. For most brands in the big game, the ad itself is the anchor for something that plays out -- largely on the web and in social -- for weeks before and hopefully for months after the game is over. So, how are the Super Bowl advertisers doing? Overall, quite well. Four days after the Super Bowl, the campaigns have racked up 344 million views. That's up 31% from last year at this time when Super Bowl ads had 240 million views, according to Visible Measures. Below you'll see how the 2014 ads stack up"

"VideoNotes is a free web tool that allows students to take notes on a video they are watching. The notes are synchronized with the video being watched. The good thing about VideoNotes is that it is integrated into Google Drive which means that students will be able to save their notes directly to their Drive account and access, edit, and work on them anytime they want. All the notes are time-stamped. Watch Michelle's tutorial to learn more about how you can use VideoNotes with your students."

Nice article that looks at the controversy from an advertising point of view.

"As part of our new privacy initiative, we'll discuss themes of social media, surveillance, ethics, and of course, privacy in Eggers' thought-provoking new novel. If you've read the novel (or even part of it) we hope you'll join the conversation!"

"Let's take this in order: Who controls the media? If we're talking traditional, corporate media it typically looks like this:"

"When The New York Times offered the first native ad on its website Jan. 8, reviews were mixed. Some thought the Times offered too much of a good thing with a half-dozen disclaimers that the story-like piece was advertising. Others opined that despite all the labels, the Times was stepping down the road to perdition hosting paid content from computer giant Dell. I'd say each side has a point, but the bigger question is whether the Times way, like its approach to a digital paywall three years ago, will set the pattern for the newspaper industry's belated foray into the hot native format."

"Alicia Shepard, an independent journalist and former NPR ombudsman, discusses journalistic standards in light of the retraction by "60 Minutes" of its report about the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya - a segment that was largely based on a source who misled the news magazine."

"In its third year, the #NotBuyingIt hashtag was used by thousands to call out sexist Super Bowl commercials and reached millions with a strong message about advertising: sexism doesn't sell."

"MOSCOW - The Sochi Winter Olympic Committee announced Thursday that it would ban the entire Chinese Olympic figure skating team from competition after Chinese skater Li Chunguang tested positive for homosexuality in a routine anti-doping test."