Thursday, April 24, 2008

Fwd: Writing Tools - Motto for Journalism -- in Six Words



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Subject: Writing Tools - Motto for Journalism -- in Six Words
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MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
Motto for Journalism -- in Six Words
I read a cool interview in the St. Pete Times with Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the quirky classic "Freakonomics." Inspired by several analogies, Dubner and friends created a contest in which people submitted a new motto for the United States of America. Mottos tend to be short, of course, and in this case the contestants were limited to six words.

The entries, predictably, were all over the board: partisan and neutral; clever and serene; somber and humorous. The winner: OUR WORST CRITICS PREFER TO STAY. Slap that baby on the dollar bill.

We at Poynter, always on the lookout for a good gimmick, have decided to glom on to this one. We are looking for a six-word motto on the purpose, mission, genius, tragedy, poverty and general condition of contemporary journalism. The winner will receive an autographed copy of the book: "Writing Tools:  50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer."

The rules:

1. The motto must be about journalism, but does not have to contain the word journalism.
2. The motto must be exactly six words long, not five, not seven.
3. Multiple entries from the same writer are OK.
4. The deadline for entries is: Friday, April 25, at noon EST.
5. Poynter is free to publish, or not, any entry.

Here are a six mottos from me, just to get you started:

--Last one out, turn off lights.
--If it doesn't fit, edit it.
--Need more Knight, but less Ridder.
--All the news no longer fits.
--See no evil, write no story.
--Feed the watchdog, euthanize the lapdog.

You can send your submissions to rclark@poynter.org.
Posted at 2:33:57 PM
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FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008
Why It Worked: A Rhetorical Analysis of Obama's Speech on Race
CORRECTION APPENDED BELOW

More than a century ago, scholar and journalist W.E.B. DuBois wrote a single paragraph about how race is experienced in America. I have learned more from those 112 words than from most book-length studies of the subject:

After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness, -- an American, a Negro;  two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

Much has been said about the power and brilliance of Barack Obama's March 18 speech on race, even by some of his detractors. The focus has been on the orator's willingness to say things in public about race that are rarely spoken at all, even in private, and his expressed desire to move the country to a new and better place. There has also been attention to the immediate purpose of the speech, which was to reassure white voters that they had nothing to fear from the congregant of a fiery African-American pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. 

Amid all the commentary, I have yet to see an X-Ray reading of the text that would make visible the rhetorical strategies that the orator and authors used so effectively. When received in the ear, these effects breeze through us like a harmonious song. When inspected with the eye, these moves become more apparent, like reading a piece of sheet music for a difficult song and finally recognizing the chord changes.

Such analysis, while interesting in itself, might be little more than a scholarly curiosity if we were not so concerned with the language issues of political discourse. The popular opinion is that our current president, though plain spoken, is clumsy with language. Fair or not, this perception has produced a hope that our next president will be a more powerful communicator, a Kennedy or Reagan, perhaps, who can use language less as a way to signal ideology and more as a means to bring the disparate parts of the nation together. Journalists need to pay closer attention to political language than ever before.

Like most memorable pieces of oratory, Obama's speech sounds better than it reads. We have no way of knowing if that was true of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but it is certainly true of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. If you doubt this assertion, test it out. Read the speech and then experience it in its original setting recited by his soulful voice.

The effectiveness of Obama's speech rests upon four related rhetorical strategies:

1.  The power of allusion and its patriotic associations.
2.  The oratorical resonance of parallel constructions.
3.  The "two-ness" of the texture, to use DuBois's useful term.
4.  His ability to include himself as a character in a narrative about race.

Allusion

Part of what made Dr. King's speech resonate, not just for black people, but for some whites, was its framing of racial equality in familiar patriotic terms: "This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing.  Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'"  What follows, of course, is King's great litany of iconic topography that carries listeners across the American landscape: "Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!..."

In this tradition, Obama begins with "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union," a quote from the Constitution that becomes a recurring refrain linking the parts of the speech. What comes next is "Two hundred and twenty one years ago," an opening that places him in the tradition of Lincoln at Gettysburg and Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial: "Five score years ago."

On the first page, Obama mentions the words democracy, Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia convention, 1787, the colonies, the founders, the Constitution, liberty, justice, citizenship under the law, parchment, equal, free, prosperous, and the presidency. It is not as well known as it should be that many black leaders, including Dr. King, use two different modes of discourse when addressing white vs. black audiences, an ignorance that has led to some of the hysteria over some of Rev. Wright's comments.

Obama's patriotic lexicon is meant to comfort white ears and soothe white fears. What keeps the speech from falling into a pandering sea of slogans is language that reveals, not the ideals, but the failures of the American experiment: "It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations." And "what would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part ... to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time."

Lest a dark vision of America disillusion potential voters, Obama returns to familiar evocations of national history, ideals, and language:

--"Out of many, we are truly one."
--"survived a Depression."
--"a man who served his country"
--"on a path of a more perfect union"
--"a full measure of justice"
--"the immigrant trying to feed his family"
--"where our union grows stronger"
--"a band of patriots signed that document."


Parallelism

At the risk of calling to mind the worst memories of grammar class, I invoke the wisdom that parallel constructions help authors and orators make meaning memorable. To remember how parallelism works, think of equal terms to express equal ideas. So Dr. King dreamed that one day his four children "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." (By the content of their character is parallel to by the color of their skin.)

Back to Obama: "This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign -- to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America." If you are counting, that's five parallel phrases among 43 words. 

And there are many more:

"...we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction."

"So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African America is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time."

"...embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past."

Two-ness
I could argue that Obama's speech is a meditation upon DuBois' theory of a dual experience of race in America. There is no mention of DuBois or two-ness, but it is all there in the texture. In fact, once you begin the search, it is remarkable how many examples of two-ness shine through:

--"through protests and struggles"
--"on the streets and in the courts"
--"through civil war and civil disobedience"
--"I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas."
--"white and black"
--"black and brown"
--"best schools ... poorest nations"
--"too black or not black enough"
--"the doctor and the welfare mom"
--"the model student and the former gang-banger ..."
--"raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor"
--"political correctness or reverse racism"
--"your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams"

Such language manages to create both tension and balance and, without being excessively messianic, permits Obama to present himself as the bridge builder, the reconciler of America's racial divide.

Autobiography

There is an obnoxious tendency among political candidates to frame their life story as a struggle against poverty or hard circumstances. As satirist Stephen Colbert once noted of presidential candidates, it is not enough to be an average millionaire. To appeal to populist instincts it becomes de rigueur to be descended from "goat turd farmers" in France.

Without dwelling on it, Obama reminds us that his father was black and his mother white, that he came from Kenya, but she came from Kansas: "I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slave and slave owners -- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible."

The word "story" is revealing one, for it is always the candidate's job (as both responsibility and ploy) to describe himself or herself as a character in a story of his or her own making. In speeches, as in homilies, stories almost always carry the weight of parable, with moral lessons to be drawn.

Most memorable, of course, is the story at the end of the speech -- which is why it appears at the end. It is the story of Ashley Baia, a young, white, Obama volunteer from South Carolina, whose family was so poor she convinced her mother that her favorite meal was a mustard and relish sandwich. 

"Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue.  And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. ... He simply says to everyone in the room, 'I am here because of Ashley.'"

During most of the 20th century, demagogues, especially in the South, gained political traction by pitting working class whites and blacks against each other. How fitting, then, that Obama's story points in the opposite direction through an old black man who feels a young white woman's pain.  

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the phrase, "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union" to the Declaration of Independence.
Posted at 6:30:13 PM
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TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008
The View (after Cataract Surgery) from 60
Youth may be wasted on the young, but wisdom can be wasted on the old.

The culture of news, communications, media and education is experiencing one of the greatest inversions in memory. More and more, the old turn to the young to understand the world, American culture and, most of all, technology.

This is having profound impacts upon individual careers, family dynamics, business hierarchies and life as we know it in the new millennium. With a few crucial exceptions, this movement is a good thing.

The teaching in news organizations now more than ever is going two ways, not just one. Dynamic young experts in Web design, online reporting and multimedia production no longer have to jump through an endless series of hoops -- or pay their dues in the old sense -- in order to advance and influence the tribe.

As journalists from the baby boomer generation retire or take buyouts or heal from burnout, a youth movement rushes in to fill the void and assume the challenges of redefining journalism as a public service. Right now, they'll make less money than their predecessors, but that should change fast, for theirs will be the burden of creating new economic models to pay for quality journalism.

On this, the week after my 60th birthday, I recall that I owe my career to a newspaper editor willing to take an amazing chance on a young teacher. In 1977 I was a 29-year-old assistant professor of English teaching at a small college in Alabama. Although my specialty was medieval literature, I had written newspaper columns that got some attention, so Gene Patterson, then editor of The St. Petersburg Times and president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, asked me to join his paper for a year as something that had never before existed: a newspaper writing coach.

Needless to say, I never went back to Alabama. I changed professions in spite of my callow youth because Mr. Patterson saw something in me that no one else could have seen. And he put his authority on the line to help me establish my credibility among a tribe of skeptical journalists. Mr. Patterson, one of the great editors of the 20th century, treated me as a colleague, as someone he could learn from, and that made all the difference.

Years later I met a little girl named Jacky Johnson, who is now a married college student named Jacky Hicks. As a child, Jacky attended many of my summer writing camps and even at the age of 10 could talk about the craft of writing with great skill and insight. When she turned 15, she asked me if she could work at the camp to run errands or make photocopies. I hired her all right -- as a teacher. She worked with a team of 15 professional teachers in a camp with about 50 children. When it came time to work one-on-one with the kids, Jacky was the best. She listened, offered good suggestions, helped young writers see the unrealized potential in a story. Her performance was one of the most gratifying experiences of my teaching career.  

For the last several years, Poynter has been blessed with a series of dynamic young journalists who have served here on our Web site or as part of News University, our distance learning program.  Collectively, they have changed my life and the direction of my career. They have coached me on the use of new technologies, partnered with me on experimental projects, encouraged me to stretch beyond the narrow boundaries of my discipline. I still speak technology with an accent, but at least I'm in the game.

My tenure of 30 years has earned me fancier titles and a bigger salary. But these young journalists are my colleagues, squeezing the best out of me as they develop their own journalism muscles. I've got a few things that they lack: a deep institutional memory, a complicated and nuanced understanding of this community and an intellectual range that comes only with years of study and conversation.  People like me are leaving newsrooms in droves, and their absence will create a hollow feeling in the heart of many communities.

But I have confidence, based on my experiences here with Tran, Ellen, Matt, Robin, Pat, Elizabeth, Jeremy, Meg, Mallary, Ben, Leslie, J.D., Leann and Ellyn that the young guns are up to the challenge. It will be our job to help them compensate for the knowledge and experiences they lack, to give them the gift of helping us energize the final stages of our careers and then to stand back in wonder at the world they are about to create.

[Roy wants to know: What makes a 60-year-old journalist a geezer? And what makes a 60-year-old journalist as 'cool as school'?]
Posted at 3:25:11 PM
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500 Wisatawan Asal Guangzhou Akan ke Sulsel

sumber: Tribun Timur, Makassar

Kamis, 24-04-2008 | 19:38:42 
500 Wisatawan Asal Guangzhou Akan ke Sulsel
Laporan: Andi Syahrir, tribuntimurcom@yahoo.com
 
Makassar, Tribun - Sedikitnya 500 wisatawan asing asal Provinsi Guangzhou, Cina, akan melakukan perjalanan wisata ke Sulsel pada tahun kujungan Indonesia (Visit Indonesia Year/VIY) 2008.
 
Ketua Asita Sulsel, Nico B Pasaka, Kamis (24/4), mengatakan, salah satu komunitas masyarakat yang bermukim di Guangzhou sudah menyatakan siap berkunjung ke Sulsel pada 2008 ini.

"Kami telah menjalin kontak dengan pimpinan salah satu komunitas di Provinsi Guangzhou yang anggotanya mencapai dua juta orang itu dan menyatakan mereka siap datang ke Sulsel," ujar Nico yang telah mengunjungi provinsi itu pada Maret 2008.

Dilansir Antara, mereka sangat antusias untuk datang ke Sulsel karena sebagian leluhur mereka lahir di Makassar.

Bahkan beberapa pimpinan komunitas di provinsi itu lahir di Makassar dan setelah bermukim di negara tirai bambu ini, mereka belum pernah kembali ke Sulsel lagi.

Menurut dia, jumlah warga Cina yang melakukan perjalanan wisata mencapai rata-rata dua juta orang dari potensi sekitar 20 juta orang setiap tahun.

"Kalau kita bisa menarik kunjungan sekitar 500 orang pada tahap awal sudah cukup bagus, sehingga ke depan akan lebih baik dan bisa bersaing dengan negara lain, terutama Malaysia dan Singapura," tutur Nico yang juga Dirut Perusda Pariwisata dan Telekomunikasi Sulsel.

Untuk mencapai target kunjungan 40 ribu wisatawan asing ke Sulsel pada tahun kujungan 2008 bukan pekerjaan mudah, tetapi perlu kerja keras dan dukungan dari pemerintah provinsi dan maupun kabupaten/kota.

Selain itu, faktor ketersediaan infrastruktur khsususya bandara juga turut menetukan kehadiran wisatawan asing ke suatu daerah, sementara Sulsel hingga saat ini belum memiliki rute penerbangan langsung ke luar negeri.

Sebab itu, kata Nico, untuk meningkatkan kunjungan wisatawan asing ke Sulsel maka Bandara Hasanuddin harus segara menjadi bandara internasional dengan memiliki penerbangan langsung ke luar negeri.(rir)


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10 Easy Ways to Get in The Habit of Blogging

Forming the habit of blogging
Photo by Mrs. Maze

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

~Aristotle

Blogging demands seriousness, commitment, passion and of course consistency. These are the four essential ingredients, not only towards a successful blogging career, but a healthy and balanced life as well. However keeping up with the fast paced environment, that bloggers are ever so often subjected to, can be a bit of a impediment, especially for blogging beginners and amateurs. Apparently the biggest problem for most bloggers is consistency.

People tend to burn out really fast, after subsequently they passionately burned the midnight oil, during their first weeks, some just days, of blogging. Enthusiasm can be really swell, but the trouble with it is that it dies off pretty fast, so to keep on blogging consistently you have to asimilate it completely. It has to become a part of what you are and do completely, it has to flow throw your veins so to speak, and the easiest way to do that is to form the habit of blogging.

It's just a matter of simple psychology. Every time your learn something new, your brain tries to connect dots, to form a pathway for neurological activity. If you repetitively perform an action, your brain will soon make behavior patterns and in term will improve your neurological pathway. This is the efficient way your brain handles routine. This is a habit.

Now habits can be good or bad. Smoking for example is bad (guilty), regular exercising is definitely good; but to ask if blogging falls into the later category, I'd have to say I'm not entitled to answer. What I can definitely tell you, however, is that learning the habit of blogging is not an option, but a necessity for any aspiring blogger.

How To Grow The Habit of Blogging

Growing The Habit of Blogging
Photo by TOanaM

A good blogger doesn't turn out over night. You see no one's born wise and all-knowing, every individual has to walk his own path and learn the ropes on his own. Of course there's the issue of talent here, which is highly discussible, but I'd prefer not to stray too far from the topic at hand. The main idea here is that through repetition and constant learning you can easily adopt the habit of blogging. That's easier said then done, however. I feel you, that's why I devised a few solid ideas on how to turn blogging from an occasional activity into a habit.

  1. Read blogs. The easiest way to get in the habit of blogging is to be around them as much as possible. The more you surround yourself with blogs, the more you'll get used to them and consequently you'll feel more comfortable around them. Not to mention that readying all those blog posts can provide a lot of inspiration, to fuel your own posts. This way you'll be able to write blog posts a lot easier, content will seem to come out at its own and thus blogging will soon become a natural thing.
  2. Make a schedule. A habit requires at least 20-30 days to mildly settle in, so what you need to with blogging is make it a part of your daily life. Making a blogging schedule, thus, seems the best solution. Just reserve a certain amount of time each day, depending on how much time your willing to allocate to your articles. However, that may not be enough. You see habits are sparked by triggers. For example whenever I get out of class, am under stress or after exams I always grab a smoke. Those are just a few triggers that form the habit, so what you need to do is find your own blogging trigger.

    When I first started out blogging, I used my current daily routines as blogging triggers. For example, I usually arrived at home from school at around 1 PM and at about 1:30 PM I'd have launch. This way my personal blogging trigger. Right after I had finished launch I would start blogging uninterruptedly, until I finished my posts. You can choose whatever trigger you like, as long as it's something that happens daily. Sure, blogging is highly flexible; you can do it at any time and any place as long as there's an internet connection, but when you what to form a habit out of it, it's important to limit yourself.

  3. Start out small. Don't get over ambitious with your writing, not right from the start anyway. Start off small, gradually increasing the quality and workload of your posts, until you reach a suitable pace. Otherwise you might risk getting overburned and inconsistent.
  4. Track statistics. I don't necessarily mean blog stats, but rather a form of logging. You can try making a simple spreadsheet, in which you'll track your daily progress. "Yesterday I wrote a blog post and commented on five blogs, today I wrote two blog posts and commented on ten blogs. Wow, I'm making progress!" Something like that. I'd suggest you print a month's calendar on a sheet of paper and under each day list how many blog posts and comments you made in the respective day. How will this help? Well keeping track of your habit is highly important for growing the habit of blogging; this way you can both make sure that you both don't miss a day blogging and also keep an accounting of your progress.
  5. Look for motivation. You can't possibly be successful at anything if your not at least remotely passionate or motivated about it. Just ask yourself why do you blog. Whether it's just for the pleasure of writing or money or being famous, it doesn't matter, just as long as it fuels your drive for blogging. A nifty little trick is to write down all the things, no matter how small, that make you blog. This way whenever your in a blogging slump or feel unmotivated, you can quickly review the list and remind yourself why your blogging in the first place.
  6. Set goals. I've found that setting goals is a great way to keep people motivated and focused. It's a lot easier to accomplish a task when you've actually got something to finish. Tell a thirsty man in the desert there's no water for 50 miles and he'll feel discouraged and probably die. Tell a thirsty man there's an oasis in 100 miles and he'll defy all odds and probably save his own life.
  7. Focus. It's a lot easier to learn a new habit if you focus and give your complete, unconditional attention to it. Put all other, less important, activities on hold or lighten up the time you dedicate to each, if not possible. Don't walk in the trap of multitasking. Concentrate on one habit at a time, you'll need all the energy you can get.
  8. Remove all other distractions. In close relation to the above point, it's highly important you don't get distracted when blogging. Otherwise you'll divert from your blogging towards something else, leaving it for a later time. However postponements over postponements won't get you anywhere and won't certainly get you in the habit of blogging. Win the battle over procrastination and eliminate anything that might get in your way, like TV, e-mail, RSS, IM even the internet (unplug the damn interwebs once and for all, till you finish at least).
  9. Reward yourself. Rewards are great for keeping you motivated. It's a lot easier to keep on blogging, under a strict schedule, when you've got something to look forward to. It's a case of simple psychology. Remember when you mom told you to first finish your homework and only then go out and play? Blogging will work much in the same way. After you finish writing your posts, have a blast and reward yourself with anything that makes you happy. Do this for every post in the first week, then two just times in the second week and then a couple of times for the whole month. Your brain will soon associate blogging with rewards and this will help fasten the process of assimilating the habit of blogging. Actually, for me, blogging has been one of the most rewarding activities I have ever undertaken.
  10. Make it fun. You should never take blogging too serious. In all its essence blogging is one of the most fun activities possible, where your turn your passions and thoughts into material writing by voicing them. It's true however that if you don't enjoy blogging, you won't be able to be successful, nor able to grow the habit of blogging. So if you don't find anything whatsoever fun about blogging, then you should stop right there, because frankly it's not for you bud.


 
Did you manage to get in the habit of blogging? If yes, how did you do it? I'll soon post a follow-up with a few essential habits for highly efficient and successful bloggers, so be sure to subscribe to my free RSS feed to get the latest heads up. As always if enjoyed this article please show your appreciating by stumbling or saving it on del.icio.us. Thank you!

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Nielsen Releases March 2008 U.S. Search Data


http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/080422-100801

April 22, 2008

Nielsen Releases March 2008 U.S. Search Data

We've already seen the numbers from Hitwise, Compete, and comScore. Now it's Nielsen's turn to serve up its March 2008 data for top U.S. search providers.

Google, of course, took the top spot with 58.7%, up 25.5% year-over-year. Yahoo came in second at 18.1%, a decline of 4.5% year-over-year. MSN rolled into third with 12%, a 36.6% increase while AOL experienced a decrease of 19.4% to get just 4.1% of the market. Ask.com came in at just 2.4% but that's a 52.4% increase from last year.

Here's the big breakdown/comparison for each of the top 5:

Google

Hitwise 67.25%
Compete 69.4%
comScore - 59.2%
Nielsen – 58.7%

Yahoo

Hitwise - 20.29%
Compete – 14.8%
comScore – 21.3%
Nielsen – 18.1%

MSN

Hitwise – 6.65%
Compete – 10.2%
comScore – 9.4%
Nielsen – 12%

AOL

Hitwise – N/A
Compete – 1.5%
comScore – 4.8%
Nielsen – 4.1%

Ask

Hitwise – 4.09%
Compete – 3.7%
comScore – 4.7%
Nielsen – 2.4%

Posted by Nathania Johnson at April 22, 2008 10:08 AM



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Microsoft and Yahoo!, Search Engine Partners?


Microsoft and Yahoo!, Search Engine Partners?
How Mergers and Acquisitions May Change the Search
Engine Playing Field - and Where Google Comes In

By Scott Buresh (c) 2008

Until recently, there were five major players in the search engine world: Google, MSN, AOL, Ask.com, and the Yahoo! search engine. These top Internet search engines quickly could be narrowed down to four, however; AOL uses the Google algorithm and will yield nearly identical results. Further narrowing is rapidly occurring - Ask.com seems to be stepping out of the spotlight to focus on specific markets, and in early March 2008, Microsoft began attempting to purchase the Yahoo! search engine. If there are just two top search engines with which to be concerned, what does this mean for your business and for SEO as a whole?

Website Monitoring Service!

What's Going On with the Yahoo! Search Engine?

As almost anybody with access to a news source knows by now, Microsoft put in an unsolicited offer to purchase the Yahoo! search engine in early March 2008. Yahoo! rejected this offer at first, saying that it undervalued its company as one of the top engines (and a provider of other services, including email and chat as well). Microsoft did not increase the offer at this point; it instead decided to enter a proxy battle.

A proxy battle would involve Microsoft putting up its own board of directors to let shareholders decide if its purchase of the Yahoo! search engine would be acceptable or not. In essence, Microsoft has decided that it will attempt to convince shareholders that their interests are better served by people who will approve this acquisition between two of the top Internet search engines. And Yahoo! shareholders have been beaten down for some time, so it is widely expected that the majority will in fact favor this acquisition.

Meanwhile, Yahoo!, on spurning this offer, began talking with other companies in order to build strategic partnerships and keep itself as one of the top engines, as it had been for so long. It was rumored that MySpace's parent company, News Corporation, was in talks to work with the Yahoo! search engine, as was Google. However, these talks seem to have fizzled, and Yahoo!'s board of directors has begun speaking directly with Microsoft's board. Yahoo! bought a bit of time by delaying the election of its board, but it is believed that this is all the shareholders will stand for at this point.

So I'm assuming that if the acquisition goes down, the Microsoft search engine and the Yahoo! search engine will likely be using the same algorithm, even if they remain separate sites. It just makes sense not to spend the money to have two separate research departments, especially when the Yahoo! search engine is widely regarded to be superior to Microsoft's.

Get Top 10 Rankings on Google!

Will Ask.com Continue to Be One of the Top Internet Search Engines?

For a time, Ask.com seemed to be trying to go head to head with Google and to position itself as one of the top Internet search engines - period. You may remember the "algorithm" ads that it ran for a time on television. However, recently Ask.com announced that it will instead be tailoring itself to the niche market share of which it already has control. In other words, they're no longer trying to be all things to all people in the way that other top search engines like, well, Yahoo! and Google are.

What we know about Ask.com's demographic is that it is largely female, although Ask.com refutes the notion that it is focusing on "older women." According to an article in Forbes, an Ask.com spokesperson said that:

...reports of the site becoming oriented towards older women are false and were fueled by an erroneous Associated Press article that has since been changed. Ask acknowledged that married women do compose a lot of its core users and these matronly queries are often dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia type queries - as well as categories like health and entertainment(1)...

Seeing as Ask.com also laid off 8% of its staff at the same time that it refocused, it seems clear that the company is no longer aiming to be considered one of the top Internet search engines.

And this means that we are down to two search engine technologies dominating the entire landscape: Google and a MSN/Yahoo! search engine hybrid (Micro-hoo? Yah-soft?).

How Will This Affect Consumers?

If there truly are only two major top Internet search engines, the industry will be like Coke vs. Pepsi. Sure there are other, smaller players like RC Cola that some people will be brand loyal about, but for the most part it's either Big Guy One or Big Guy Two.

Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!

And this means that businesses that had good rankings and that were getting good traffic from, say, Ask.com and MSN but not the Yahoo! search engine, will be in a bind. With only two top Internet search engines, there will be less real estate to compete for and the same number of businesses vying for this real estate.

How Will This Affect SEO Companies?

In one sense, having only two serious engines makes the job easier for search engine optimization companies - there's just less algorithms to absorb and master. However, it makes the opportunity for volatility much more likely. Before, if the Google or Yahoo! search engine changed its algorithm, you had three or four other engines to fall back on while you worked to update your practices. But with only two major players, a tweak to either the Google or MSN/Yahoo! search engine algorithm could have much further reaching implications to individual companies in the search space.

Who Will Compete Next?

Google has been coasting for many years as being seen as the underdog in the industry - the cool, hip engine to use that's not owned by the big guys. However, search engine optimization practitioners have started to see some cracks in that veneer. The truth of the matter is that Microsoft is seen as a huge corporate conglomerate, with Google starting to be seen similarly. And now Google has to answer to shareholders, rather than just going along trying "not to be evil." Google has its own set of privacy issues and conflicts of interest, such as its recent purchase of DoubleClick, which came along with a SEO company. [See my recent article A Slippery Slope: Google Owns a Search Engine Optimization Company on this topic for more information.]

So when there are just two top Internet search engines, the door is opened for competition. If another company can come along technologically that is on par with the Google and Yahoo! search engine algorithms and that does not have huge corporate considerations, it could very well start gaining some market share in this space. I'll let you know if I see any contenders.

Sources

1. Forbes.com

(c) Medium Blue 2008

About The Author
Scott Buresh is the founder of Medium Blue, a search engine optimization company. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including MarketingProfs, ZDNet, SiteProNews, WebProNews, DarwinMag, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Fwd: Links to the News - Page One Today



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Poynter Institute <newsletters@poynter.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Subject: Links to the News - Page One Today
To: febricfitriansyah@gmail.com





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QuickLink: A137339
Links to the News
Page One Today / March-April 2008
Each weekday, Poynter highlights newspaper front pages from around the world. These images are used courtesy of the Newseum. (Page One Today Sept. 2005 -- Present Archive

By David Shedden (more by author)
Library Director, Poynter Institute

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More in this series

<i>The Roanoke Times</i>, April 16, 2008
The Roanoke Times, April 16, 2008
Newseum Image

April 16, 2008: An excerpt from an editorial in The Roanoke Times:

Today we remember lives lost at Tech
Tomorrow we look to a future in which remembering is less painful.

It's spring, the season of new beginnings, a time to look forward. Warmer days, budding daffodils and chirping birds all herald a rapidly approaching summer.

This spring, however, we look back. One year ago, it was cold. On April 16, flurries fell on the Virginia Tech campus. A troubled young man killed 32 students and faculty, then himself. It was a day of endings, not beginnings.

Today the Tech community, Blacksburg, Southwest Virginia and the nation remember the lives lost. We mourn again. We comfort the families of the dead. We support the injured. We mark the occasion on the Drillfield where a permanent memorial stands as constant, silent reminder.

Today the pain is less than a year ago. The wounds have begun to heal.

(See also: Poynter's Links to the News page, "School Shootings 1997-2008")
______________________

<i>The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</i>, April 15, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 15, 2008
Newseum Image

April 15, 2008: An excerpt from a story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Delta, Northwest reach $17.7B agreement on merger
Combined company will keep Delta name, Atlanta base; some jobs will be cut
 
By RUSSELL GRANTHAM, JIM THARPE
 
Delta and Northwest airlines announced a $17.7 billion merger Monday night that will create the world's largest carrier -- headquartered in Atlanta with major hubs across the globe, including Asia and Europe.
 
The mega-airline, which will be called Delta, will have more than $35 billion in combined revenue and about 75,000 employees.
 
Officials with both airlines said there will be no layoffs of front-line employees nor immediate hub closings.
 
It is likely that the all-stock deal will unleash a series of other airline mergers that could be even larger, including a possible deal between United and Continental airlines.
 
"We believe that consolidation in the airline industry is inevitable, and we want to control our future," Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson said in a memo to employees. "Combining our companies creates an airline with the size, scale and global presence to weather economic downturns and compete long-term in the global marketplace."
_______________________________________________
 
<i>The Augusta Chronicle</i>, April 14, 2008
The Augusta Chronicle, April 14, 2008
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April 14, 2008: An excerpt from a story in The Augusta Chronicle:

Immovable

By DAVID WESTIN 

South Africa's Trevor Immelman will make a better Masters Tournament champion than oddsmaker.

Standing in the locker room on the eve of the 72nd Masters, Immelman said he was "the worst person to ask" for a prediction of the winning score.

As it turned out, he was the best one.

After closing with 3-over-par 75 in Sunday's final round, Immelman beat Tiger Woods (72 on Sunday) by three shots in a final round Immelman controlled all the way.

Immelman finished at 8-under 280, nine shots lower than last year's winning total.

The winning score could have been even lower if not for final-round weather conditions that led to an average score of 74.666, the highest of the week.

"It was so tough, and I was trying to be tough," Immelman said. "There was disaster around every corner."
_________________________________________________

<i>Newsday</i>, April 11, 2008
Newsday, April 11, 2008
Newseum Image

April 11, 2008: An excerpt from a story in Newsday:

Bob Greene, pioneering investigative reporter, dies

By MELANIE LEFKOWITZ and STEVE WICK

Robert W. Greene, a pioneering investigative reporter and editor who helped Newsday twice win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and who left an indelible imprint on a newspaper whose reporting mission he deeply believed in, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 78.

During a 37-year career at Newsday, first as a reporter and later as an editor, Greene pushed his reporters to dig out public corruption by aggressively covering their assigned beats, no matter how seemingly insignificant. In 1975, Greene helped form an organization for like-minded professionals, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and a year later, after the murder of Don Bolles, one of the group's founding reporters, in Phoenix, Ariz., he headed a team that wrote a series of stories about corruption in that state. The project brought Greene national attention and an enduring legacy.

To many with whom he worked, Greene was an inspiring, larger-than-life character who saw journalism as a blunt instrument of the public good. To others, he was a demanding taskmaster who wore them out with his demands to know more.

As former Newsday editor Anthony Marro wrote in 2002, Greene held many jobs at Newsday, "but it was the investigative team that he created that remains his most important legacy, because he used it to help develop a culture in which public service journalism and investigative reporting became part of the newspaper's core mission."
__________________________________________________

<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i>, April 10, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 2008
Newseum Image

April 10, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Torch leaves S.F. after surprise route shift

By RACHEL GORDON, TANYA SCHEVITZ, KEVIN FAGAN, MARISA LAGOS

SAN FRANCISCO -- It was an Olympic-sized fake-out, and by the end of the day, instead of the violent clashes that some had feared, the Beijing Olympic torch run left only thousands of frustrated protesters on one end of San Francisco and mostly relieved runners and officials on the other.

The finger-pointing is bound to go on for days about whether changing the route at the last minute was right. But on Wednesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials said that once they got a good look mid-morning at the chanting, surging, flag-waving crowds along the torch's advertised route, they felt they had no choice.

"If we had started down that (original) route, I guarantee you would have seen helmet-clad officers with batons pushing back protesters," San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong said.

Complaints about the bait-and-switch rang long and loud from many among the estimated 10,000 people milling along the original route all morning. Many rallied for a range of causes, such as China's human rights record and even the idea that the Olympics should be free of politics, and they viewed the torch run as an opportunity to vent their positions before an international audience focused on the torch's only stop in North America.


(See also: Poynter's Links to the News page, "Olympics Past and Present")
________________________________________________

<i>News Sentinel</i>, April 8, 2008
News Sentinel, April 8, 2008
Newseum Image

April 9, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Knoxville, Tennessee newspaper, the News Sentinel:

Pieces of 8 uncovered by Lady Vols

By DAN FLESER 

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tennessee spread its wings and soared to the grandest heights Tuesday night.

"That's what's called the metamorphosis of a basketball team,'' UT assistant coach Dean Lockwood said. "The cocoon broke and the butterfly was in full bloom, colors flying.

Before a crowd of 21,655 at the St. Pete Times Forum and an ESPN national television audience, the Lady Vols emerged as the team they intended to be all along: Defending national champions.

The emphasis was on defending.

The Lady Vols parlayed a ferocious effort into a 64-48 victory over Stanford, winning the program's second consecutive national championship and the eighth overall.

The feeling was fresh for senior Alberta Auguste, who was holding the national championship trophy in her hands afterward in the locker room.

"It's like a new-born baby,'' she said.
_________________________________________________

<i>San Jose Mercury News</i>, April 9, 2008
San Jose Mercury News, April 9, 2008
Newseum Image

April 9, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the San Jose Mercury News:

Killion: For Stanford, a dream season nonetheless

By ANN KILLION 

TAMPA, Fla. -- The best player to wear a Stanford uniform ended her career Tuesday night. Candice Wiggins left the national championship game with 1:13 remaining, was composed on the bench during the waning seconds of Tennessee's 64-48 victory, and was cool and collected at the interview podium.

Until she was asked about how it will feel to be drafted by the WNBA today. Then Wiggins covered her face and broke into tears. Wiggins' exciting future is about to begin. But the end of her sweet Stanford experience was too much to bear.

"We came up short, but that shouldn't kill the journey," Wiggins said. "Our journey was just beautiful. It's why you play the sport of basketball. I couldn't ask for a better senior season."
_________________________________________________

<i>Lawrence Journal-World</i>, April 8, 2008
Lawrence Journal-World, April 8, 2008
Newseum Image

April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Kansas newspaper, the Lawrence Journal-World:

Keegan: Kansas' best -- ever

By TOM KEEGAN   

San Antonio -- The shot was in the air as the game clock ticked down to 2.1 seconds. The right guy shot it. Just another big shot in a lifetime full of them for Mario Chalmers, who witnessed a Final Four in the same building in 2004. It misses and it goes down as another near miss for another outstanding Kansas team.

It swished, of course. Kansas dominated the overtime, defeating Memphis, 75-68, Monday night for the national title. Now it can be said: Bill Self''s 2007-2008 Kansas basketball team (in every sense of the word) is the greatest in the history of the storied program.

It didn't come without first dragging such a passionate fan base through agony, because that's just the way it works. Down nine points with less than two minutes remaining, the team with nine lives had one left.

These Self-made champions, authors of cardiac comebacks before but covering so much ground with so little time left, brought Kansas its third NCAA championship and fifth national title, counting 1922 and '23, when the Helms Foundation awarded them the honor in pre-tournament days.
_________________________________________________

<i>The Wichita Eagle</i>, April 8, 2008
The Wichita Eagle, April 8, 2008
Newseum Image

April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a story in The Wichita Eagle:

KU beats Memphis for national title

By SCOTT PASKE

SAN ANTONIO -- It's a leap year, right?

That's always a good sign for the Kansas Jayhawks when a national basketball championship is on the line.

The storied program that won NCAA titles with stars Clyde Lovellette in 1952 and Danny Manning in 1988 found some new heroes rise out of a gloomy situation Monday night at the Alamodome.

It started with Mario Chalmers, who hit a three-pointer that helped KU complete a rally from a nine-point deficit and forced the seventh overtime game in NCAA championship history. Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush took it from there, scoring the first baskets of the extra period that spurred the Jayhawks to a 75-68 victory and set off a confetti-showered celebration in front of 43,257 fans.
______________________________________________

<i>The Commercial Appeal</i>, April 8, 2008
The Commercial Appeal, April 8, 2008
Newseum Image

April 8, 2008: A Page One column in the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, The Commercial Appeal:

Heartbreak

By TOM CHARLIER 

SAN ANTONIO -- Right up until the bitter end, they had to believe.

Right up until Kansas guard Sherron Collins sank two late free throws and there was nothing left but the awarding of the trophy, Memphis fans had to believe their Tigers could pull off one more dazzling play, one more escape.

But nothing, surely not Monday night's 75-68 overtime loss in the NCAA Championship Game, could dim the legacy of a Tiger team that already had secured its place in the memories of Memphis fans.

Years from now, those fans will recall Joey Dorsey's blocks and Derrick Rose's drives the same way others conjure images of Larry Finch's jumpers and Keith Lee's dunks.

They'll remember how -- on the weekend of the grim 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination -- some young men united a city.

This, they'll say, was a Tiger team for the ages.
__________________________________________________

<i>The Washington Post</i>, April 8, 2008
The Washington Post, April 8, 2008
Newseum Image

April 8, 2008: An excerpt from a story in The Washington Post:

2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners

By The Associated Press

Public Service: The Washington Post for exposing the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital.

Breaking News Reporting: The Washington Post staff for its coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre.

Investigative Reporting: Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune Staff. The Times won for stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China; the Tribune for exposing faulty regulation of toys, car seats and cribs.

Explanatory Reporting: Amy Harmon of The New York Times for her examination of the dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany DNA testing.

Local Reporting: David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad pensions of county employees.

National Reporting: Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post for their exploration of Vice President Dick Cheney's influence on national policy.

International Reporting: Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post for his series on private security contractors in Iraq that operate outside most of the laws governing American forces.

Feature Writing: Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post for chronicling the violinist Joshua Bell as he played beautiful music in a subway station filled with unheeding commuters.

Commentary: Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post for columns exploring the nation's complex economic ills.

Criticism: Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe for his command of the visual arts, from film and photography to painting.

Editorial Writing: No award.

Editorial Cartooning: Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily for what the judges called his "provocative cartoons."

Photography: Adrees Latif of Reuters for his photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar.

Feature Photography: Preston Gannaway of the Concord (N.H.) Monitor for her chronicle of a family coping with a parent's terminal illness.


(See also: Poynter's "Anatomy of a Pulitzer: Q&A with Hull and Priest" by Al Tompkins)
_________________________________________________

<i>The Daily Telegraph</i>, April 7, 2008
The Daily Telegraph, April 7, 2008
Newseum Image

April 7, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the London, England newspaper, The Daily Telegraph:

Olympic torch relay nearly abandoned

By RICHARD EDWARDS AND DAVID THOMAS

The Olympic torch relay through London was almost abandoned as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police amid ugly and chaotic scenes.

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that organisers, including Chinese officials, discussed "pulling out" of the day-long relay after just a few hours, as police fought running battles with wave after wave of anti-China protesters.

Thirty-seven people were arrested, mostly for breaching the peace and public order offences, in what had officially been described as a "journey of harmony" to celebrate this year's Beijing Olympics. Some of the high-profile sports stars who ran the relay, which was supposed to be a showcase for British sport, branded it "a national disgrace".

Throughout the 31-mile route, campaigners protesting against China's crackdown on pro-independence activists in Tibet and its human rights record, broke from the crowds and charged towards the flame.


(See also: Monday online story about Olympic torch relay in Paris, "Olympic torch extinguished amid Paris protests." )
_______________________________________________

<i>The Commercial Appeal</i>, April 4, 2008
The Commercial Appeal, April 4, 2008
Newseum Image

April 4, 2008: An excerpt from an editorial in the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, The Commercial Appeal:

Striving to reach the goals MLK set
Dr. King's death was the stuff of mythology, but he was a real man who still challenges society to change

Out of no disrespect for the Christian tradition, a disciple of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. refers to Memphis as if it were Dr. King's Gethsemane, the place where Jesus and his disciples prayed together after the Last Supper.

Reflecting on his experience with King after the passage of 40 years, Jesse Jackson, who was with King when he was assassinated outside his room at the Lorraine Motel on the evening of April 4, 1968, remembers a weary leader.

He remembers a somber, reflective man who seemed to be more aware than those around him on the eve of his assassination of the dangers that he faced -- so much so that he had to be coaxed into delivering what came to be known as the "mountaintop" speech at Mason Temple.

The speech, the last of his career, foreshadowed his death and was inflected with such pathos that it made men cry.

King's martyrdom in the cause of civil rights was so profound that followers like Jackson, a minister by vocation, instinctively reach for Biblical metaphors to describe what King meant to them.

The mythological dimension, however, only goes so far to explain why we pause every April 4 to remember him.
______________________________________________

<i>Asheville Citizen-Times</i>, March 28, 2008
Asheville Citizen-Times, March 28, 2008
Newseum Image

March 28, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the North Carolina newspaper, the Asheville Citizen-Times:

Presidential campaigns draw crowds in WNC

By JORDAN SCHRADER  

A visit today from former President Clinton could mean the Democrats racing for the White House aren't far behind.

If the campaign trail for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton winds through the mountains, it would offer a rare chance for Western North Carolina to be ground zero in presidential politics.

....Some of the presidential candidates who campaigned in Western North Carolina:

Sept. 16, 1896: William Jennings Bryan made a speech in Asheville during his first of three presidential bids. He came shortly after making his "Cross of Gold" speech to oppose the gold standard that secured him the Democratic nomination. He was defeated by William McKinley.

1912: Former President Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning on the Bull Moose ticket, spoke from the back of a train to a crowd at the Southern Railway station. He later lost to Woodrow Wilson.

Sept. 9-10, 1936: President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed overnight at the Grove Park Inn before addressing a crowd at McCormick Field. His motorcade drove through the Great Smoky Mountains to Asheville, then through Lake Lure the next day on the way to Charlotte. He would win re-election....


(See also: Poynter's  Republican & Democratic Convention History 1856-2008)
______________________________________________

<i>Asahi Shimbun</i>, March 26, 2008
Asahi Shimbun, March 26, 2008
Newseum Image

March 26, 2008: The Tokyo, Japan newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, reports on U.S. Major League Baseball's 2008 season opener between Boston and Oakland. Here is an excerpt from an updated story on The Boston Globe Web site:  

Red Sox settle for split after Harden silences bats
Ramirez's 491st career homer the only offense for Boston

By GORDON EDES

TOKYO -- Days before his start against the Red Sox, Oakland pitcher Rich Harden bought an ancient samurai sword. The purchase was purely for recreational purposes -- Harden is a collector -- though given the way the Sox have treated him in the past, any inclination to arm himself was defensible.

Harden didn't need any accessories today. His strong right shoulder, finally healthy after two years of assorted miseries, was sufficient to bend the Sox to his will in a 5-1 Oakland win that sent both teams back across the Pond with a split of this two-game exercise to create some global warming for Major League Baseball.
___________________________________________

<i>Die Tageszeitung</i>, March 25, 2008
Die Tageszeitung, March 25, 2008
Newseum Image

March 25, 2008: The Berlin, Germany newspaper, Die Tageszeitung, reports on the pro-Tibet Olympic torch protest in Greece. Here is an excerpt from a story on the BBC Web site:

Olympic torch lit despite protest

Protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia as China's envoy spoke.

Activists had vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet.

The torch will now be carried in an around-the-world relay through 20 countries, before arriving in Beijing for the start of the Games on 8 August.

As Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee, spoke ahead of the torch lighting, three men broke into the ceremony venue.

One ran up behind him attempting to display a black flag depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs.

The men were from the France-based media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF), which has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the games.
___________________________________________

<i>Rocky Mountain News</i>, March 24, 2008
Rocky Mountain News, March 24, 2008
Newseum Image

March 24, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Rocky Mountain News:

Bomb kills 4 US soldiers in Baghdad, raising overall US death toll in war to 4,000

By ROBERT H. REID (Associated Press)

BAGHDAD -- A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.

The grim milestone came on the same day that rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.

A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad soldier also was wounded in the roadside bombing, which struck the soldiers' patrol vehicle about 10 p.m. in southern Baghdad, according to a statement.

Identities of those killed were withheld pending notification of relatives.

The 4,000 figure is according to an Associated Press count that includes eight civilians who worked for the Department of Defense.

Last year, the U.S. military deaths spiked along with the Pentagon's "surge" -- the arrival of more than 30,000 extra troops trying to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas. The mission was generally considered a success, but the cost was evident as soldiers pushed into Sunni insurgent strongholds and challenged Shiite militias.
__________________________________________

<i>Link</i>, March 20, 2008
Link, March 20, 2008
Newseum Image



March 20, 2008
Page One from the Hampton Roads, Virginia newspaper, Link, which is a publication of The Virginian-Pilot. The Virginian-Pilot Web site maintains a page honoring Hampton Roads residents who have died serving in Iraq. It is part of their coverage on the Iraq War




__________________________________________

<i>Winston-Salem Journal</i>, March 19, 2008
Winston-Salem Journal, March 19, 2008
Newseum Image

March 19, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Winston-Salem Journal:

Will it be another five or even more?

By The Associated Press

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- A father in the American heartland agonizes as his son prepares for a second tour in Iraq. Baghdad morgue workers wash bodies for burial after a suicide attack. Army cadets study the shifting tactics of Iraqi insurgents for a battle they will inherit.

On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, these snapshots of gnawing fear, raw violence and youthful resolve raise a single question.

How much longer?

Most likely, the war will go on for years, say many commanders and military analysts. In fact, it's possible to consider this just the midpoint. The U.S. combat role in Iraq could have another five years ahead -- or maybe more, depending on the resilience of the insurgency and the U.S. political will to maintain the fight.

"Four years, optimistically" before the Pentagon can begin a significant troop withdrawal from Iraq, predicted Eric Rosenbach, the executive director of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School, "and more like seven or eight years" until Iraqi forces can handle the bulk of their own security.

What that means depends largely on your vantage point.
________________________________________

<i>Diario do Comercio</i>, March 18, 2008
Diario do Comercio, March 18, 2008
Newseum Image





March 18, 2008 
Page One financial news from the Sao Paulo, Brazil newspaper, Diario do Comercio



_________________________________________

<i>The Telegraph</i>, March 17, 2008
The Telegraph, March 17, 2008
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March 17, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Calcutta, India newspaper, The Telegraph:

Riots roll beyond Tibet

(Written with agency reports)

March 16: Violence spilled over from Tibet into neighbouring provinces today as Tibetans defied a crackdown and China spoke of a "people's war" to crush the protest.

Protests were reported in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. All are home to Tibetan populations.

The demonstrations came after five days of protests in Lhasa escalated into violence on Friday with Buddhist monks and others torching police cars and shops in the fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule over the region in two decades.

As the government's Monday deadline for the protesters to surrender approached, China lapsed into prose laced with customary pyrotechnics.

"We must wage a people's war to beat splittism and expose and condemn the malicious acts of these hostile forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama group to the light of day," political and security chiefs in Tibet were quoted as saying.

The details emerging from witness accounts and government statements suggested Beijing was preparing a methodical campaign -- one that if carefully modulated would minimise bloodshed and avoid wrecking Beijing's grand plans for the Olympics.
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<i>The New York Times</i>, March 13, 2008
The New York Times, March 13, 2008
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March 13, 2008: An excerpt from a story in The New York Times:

Felled by Scandal, Spitzer Says Focus Is on His Family

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and DANNY HAKIM

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, whose rise to political power as a fierce enforcer of ethics in public life was undone by revelations of his own involvement with prostitutes, resigned on Wednesday, becoming the first New York governor to leave office amid scandal in nearly a century.

The resignation will be effective on Monday at noon. Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson, a state legislator for 22 years and the heir to a Harlem political dynasty, will be sworn in as New York's 55th governor, making him the state's first black chief executive.

Mr. Spitzer announced he was stepping down at a grim appearance at his Midtown Manhattan office, less than 48 hours after it emerged that he had been intercepted on a federal wiretap confirming plans to meet a call girl from a high-priced prostitution service in Washington, leaving the public stunned and angered and bringing business in the State Capitol to a halt.

With his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, at his side, Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, said he would leave political life to concentrate on healing himself and his family.

"Over the course of my public life, I have insisted -- I believe correctly -- that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct," he said. "I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor."
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<i>The Natchez Democrat</i>, March 12, 2008
The Natchez Democrat, March 12, 2008
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March 12, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Mississippi newspaper, The Natchez Democrat:

Obama, McCain win Mississippi

By The Associated Press

JACKSON (AP) -- Barack Obama coasted to victory in Mississippi's Democratic primary Tuesday, latest in a string of racially polarized presidential contests across the Deep South and a final tune-up before next month's high-stakes race with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania.

Obama was winning roughly 90 percent of the black vote but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried him to victory in earlier primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

His triumph seemed unlikely to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks -- and possibly far longer -- while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, Sen. John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.

"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country," Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.

"I'm confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified," Obama said as he collected his victory.
___________________________________________

<i>Apple Daily</i>, March 10, 2008
Apple Daily, March 10, 2008
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March 10, 2008
Front page baseball from the Taipei, Taiwan newspaper, Apple Daily.

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<i>The News & Observer</i>, March 7, 2008
The News & Observer, March 7, 2008
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March 7, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper, The News & Observer:

Page One Photo Caption:
This photo -- displaying thoughts
Eve Carson scribbled on her palm as part of an art project called 'Why Do You Do What You Do?' -- was taken Monday. 'I want any excuse to work with my classmates (and help them do what they want to do ... because that's what I wanted to do),' she wrote. University of North Carolina student leaders wrote their responses to the question on their palms because hands are symbolic of leadership.

'Carolina, ... the whole world, has lost a lot'

By ANNE BLYTHE and CHERYL JOHNSTON SADGROVE 

Eve Carson, with her top-notch grades, charisma and drive to help others, led a life bright with possibilities.

What escaped her was time.

Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president found shot to death early Wednesday morning in a quiet, wooded Chapel Hill neighborhood, was only 22. With no ID on her and a scant police description, she was cloaked in anonymity almost a mile from the campus where she was admired by many.

On Thursday, as the somber news spread through Chapel Hill and beyond, students struggled for words. UNC leaders grappled with grief.

"She had a level of commitment, passion, caring for people, that was extraordinarily rare in a person of any age." said Roger Perry, chairman of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees. "She was a person who, in my mind, was destined for great things. Not only has Carolina lost a lot, humankind, the whole world, has lost a lot."
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<i>The Plain Dealer</i>, March 5, 2008
The Plain Dealer, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)



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<i>Houston Chronicle</i>, March 5, 2008
Houston Chronicle, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008
Houston Chronicle




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<i>Red Eye</i>, March 5, 2008
Red Eye, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008
Red Eye (Chicago)



_________________________________________________

<i>The Providence Journal</i>, March 5, 2008
The Providence Journal, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008
The Providence Journal



______________________________________________

<i>The Burlington Free Press</i>, March 5, 2008
The Burlington Free Press, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008
The Burlington Free Press (Vermont)




_______________________________________________

<i>Sun Herald</i>, March 5, 2008
Sun Herald, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Biloxi, Mississippi newspaper, the Sun Herald:

Favre makes surprise decision

By JIM MASHEK 

In the end, Brett Favre was on no one's timetable but his own.

The Green Bay Packers' legendary quarterback, the Coast's most celebrated athletic figure ever, has decided to retire.

Few of us saw this one coming.

Favre guided the Packers to within an eyelash of the Super Bowl in his 17th NFL season, a couple of years after his performance dictated maybe it was time to hang 'em up. The former Hancock North Central star, who learned the game from his dad, his high school coach, wanted to keep playing.

So he did.

That's what separates Favre from his peers. He kept playing. Injuries, Father Time, family tragedy, it seemed almost nothing could stop him. Once he succeeded Dan Majkowski as the Packers' quarterback, he never missed a start. Never. That's the record that means the most to him. That's the record that showed how much his teammates could count on him.

That's the record that will pretty much define his career.
________________________________________________

<i>Journal Sentinel</i>, March 5, 2008
Journal Sentinel, March 5, 2008
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March 5, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin newspaper, the Journal Sentinel:

Clock runs out
Retirement surprises Packers, fans
 
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
 
Green Bay -- Everyone figured it had to come to an end someday.
 
Yet Sunday after Sunday, season after season, fans woke up and Brett Favre was still quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Over a 16-year period he wove himself into the fabric of this state like no other athlete, and for the 5,867 days since his arrival Feb. 10, 1992, there was rarely any doubt where he would be on opening day.
 
Children grew into adults, adults watched their hair turn gray, yet Brett Favre remained the quarterback.
 
Until Tuesday. . . .
 
The day when the streak ended. And just like that, Favre's time expired.
_______________________________________________

<i>Green Bay Press-Gazette</i>, March 4, 2008
Green Bay Press-Gazette, March 4, 2008
Image from Newspaper's Web site

March 4, 2008: An excerpt from a story in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

EXTRA: Mentally drained Favre hangs it up after 17 years
 
By PETE DOUGHERTY 
 
Brett Favre's singular career as the Green Bay Packers' quarterback for 16 seasons officially ended this morning.
 
The Packers announced the sure first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer's decision a little before 10 a.m., following numerous reports Favre had informed coach Mike McCarthy of his decision on Monday night.
 
Favre's decision ends one of the most successful eras in Packers history and the 17-year career of one of the NFLÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s best-ever players ÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¯Ã,¿Ã,Â?€Ãf¯Ã,¿Ã,Â? and probably the greatest player in the teamÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s storied 89-year history.
 
During the Favre era, the Packers won their first Super Bowl since the Vince Lombardi era, had the NFLÃfÆ'Ã,¢€Ãf¢â€Å?Ã,¢s best record (160-93) and made 11 playoff appearances. He also is the first and only player to win three consecutive NFL Most Valuable Player awards.
 
He retires holding all of the NFL's major career passing records, including touchdown passes, passing yards and completions, as well as possibly the most impressive individual career record of all: consecutive starts by a quarterback, at 253.
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<i>Quick</i>, March 4, 2008
Quick, March 4, 2008
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March 4, 2008
 Quick (Dallas, Texas)




________________________________________________


<i>The Cincinnati Enquirer</i>, March 4, 2008
The Cincinnati Enquirer, March 4, 2008
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March 4, 2008
The Cincinnati Enquirer





________________________________________________


<i>New York Post</i>, March 4, 2008
New York Post, March 4, 2008
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March 4, 2008
New York Post





________________________________________________

<i>Moskovskaya Pravda</i>, March 3, 2008
Moskovskaya Pravda, March 3, 2008
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March 3, 2008: The Moscow, Russia newspaper, Moskovskaya Pravda, reports on the Russian presidential election. Here is an excerpt from a story on the BBC Web site:

Muted welcome for Russia leader

Western leaders have congratulated Dmitry Medvedev on becoming Russia's new president, but Western observers have highlighted flaws in the election.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said he was confident that the EU-Russia "strategic partnership" would develop.

German congratulations were mixed with regret about apparent irregularities. Mr Medvedev won by a landslide.

The UK said it would "judge the new government on its actions".

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the EU and Russia had to start a new dialogue.

The head of the only Western observer mission in Russia, Andreas Gross, told the BBC that the ballot - although flawed - reflected the will of the electorate.

The observers said candidates had been denied equal access to the media, and registration procedures made it hard for independents to stand, but conceded that Mr Medvedev had a solid mandate.

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