HCRHS Media Lit

"A study that claimed Fox News viewers were significantly less intelligent than average Americans is a hoax, Michael Giltz writes. The "study" was ordered up by a group of conservatives who hope to move the Republican party in a more moderate direction, lead hoaxer "P. Nichols" told Giltz."

"Crime news got far greater play in the Times' and Strib's online editions, Maier and Tucker found, while their print editions "provided more front-page coverage of government, politics and education than did their online counterparts." Both gave more attention to sports online, and the Times had more business news online than in print, they found. Only by clicking into the depths of an online news site is an avid reader likely to find the same news stories featured online as on the front page of his or her local newspaper. These results have significant implications for the news industry and the reading public. "

"The pulse of the planet signifies the biggest conversations of the year around single events that generate a large number of Tweets and Retweets. Here are the major occurrences in 2012 for which the world came together to witness and discuss."

"Trends are the topics for which we see noteworthy spikes in Twitter conversations. The 2012 Trends reveal what captured our attention, rather than what terms were consistently popular."

"The FTC is taking a hard look at mobile apps targeted at children that may be collecting information without a parent's consent. In this week's Mini Law Lesson, Winston & Strawn's Brian Heidelberger breaks down what you need to know to keep your mobile apps on the right side of the law."

"It was a big year for sports and car commercials. In fact, almost all of these ads feature a sports star, a car or both -- and many were broadcast during the Super Bowl."

"20-year broadcasting veteran Tim Burt describes the first essential building block of all effective advertising: Psychology"

"Sadly, some of the best sources of information for what happened inside Sandy Hook Elementary before, during, and after the shooting aren't your average eyewitnesses - they're children who've just gone through drama and witnessed death in front of their young eyes. That extra layer of sensitivity doesn't seem to matter to CNN or NBC, which have been broadcasting and re-broadcasting interviews with schoolchildren all day. "

"Here's the best and most notable of 2012′s media errors and corrections. I hope you and your colleagues never make the list."

"I t's time to have a national conversation... about the media. But first, let's recount how they've blown the coverage of the tragic school shootings in Connecticut: "

"News of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., has been circulating on social media as news outlets try to find out more details. Here's a snapshot of how the information has played out so far." A sampling of how the news spread via social media through the use of Storify.

"As 2012 nears its end, we look back at the major trends and memorable events that defined photography and photojournalism this year."

Andy Carvin calls himself an "oral historian" and created a new genre of news coverage by blanketing Twitter during the Arab Spring and RT'ing and crowdsourcing the news as it spread on social networks. When the Newtown massacre happened last Friday, Carvin was covering it once again as the news broke, which led to mocking criticism of Carvin by media gadfly Michael Wolff at the Guardian, calling Carvin a "fevered spreader of misinformation." But Carvin was really putting each rumor that flew on social media out into the public sphere for discussion and trying to get at the truth. He might not have been there, but he did observe what was going on with a critical eye. Yesterday morning, he was defending himself on the Facebook Social Journalism Group a

This article looks at how profitable Dove's Ad Campaign was and whether other companies could emulate it.

"There was plenty of media-bashing following the tragedy, much of it reflexive and evergreen, from the suggestion that reporters shouldn't name the killer to criticism of reporters for interviewing children. Oddly, there was less of an outcry about the fuzzy facts, many of which were investigators' words, reported accurately. Is that because the news-consuming public now expects a few "i"s to be crossed and a few "t"s to be dotted at first?"

"What bothered me about this particular ad was that it was produced to sound exactly like a news story. A news story that's close enough to being possible that many listeners could be easily fooled."

"Reporters who decide they want to go on a client sponsored weight loss program and turn around and tell their audience that they endorse the client's program because "it worked for me" have sold out and are in the wrong line of work. Journalistic integrity is absolutely paramount in this day and age. The pubic expects us to be honest and diligent in our reporting skills. How can the public take us seriously when a reporter has breaking news and then turns around and discuss the cure for chronic heal pain. We are kidding ourselves"

"how would you like to see any of the comments you leave on your friend's Facebook page show up the next day on the front page of the newspaper, as a quote, attributed to you? Two separate incidents not too long ago raised this question for me. "

"A change in the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) means that children under the age of 13 can be shown ads targeted toward them when they're online. This could lead to Facebook lowering its age of admission. Drafted in 1998, well before MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks burst onto the scene, the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday updated COPPA. The amendments work to protect children online, noting that certain information cannot be collected without parental consent, such as geolocation information and photos. However, the act also notes that it's now OK to advertise to children under the age of 13 (which is Facebook's minimum age requirement):"

"A tear-jerking viral video, called "2012: What Brought Us Together," is making the rounds online. Posted to YouTube on Tuesday, the six-minute video is a montage of major moments over the past year, from silly to serious. Set to the music of This Will Destroy You's "The Mighty Rio Grande," It includes clips about Hurricane Sandy, KONY 2012, the Costa Concordia disaster and the suicide of Amanda Todd."