(C) 2010 Stan Spire
Check out this drivel for returning round pegs at the square hole factory:
This year's advice for journalism students By Robert Niles
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201008/1878/
Play the game, college student. Get good grades, asskiss your instructors, and find yourself overqualified in a flooded job market. Especially a market like journalism.
I really like Tip #5 by Niles:
"Conduct yourself as a journalist, at all times. Anytime you post online, you publish. Anything you say or do that might be posted by someone else reflects upon that brand that you'll be working so hard to build. Don't undercut your hard work with moments of Facebook foolishness."
Don't be human. Just be a synthetic life form, a robot, for the system.
If you want to play the game, use a pseudonym and create an online persona. If you're found out, then just say it was only an online character you created, a work of fiction. Always have a dodge or alibi. That will get you through life better than any J-school bullshit.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Stupid TeeVee Online Survey
(C) 2010 Stan Spire
Brought to you by those idiots at WPTZ/Channel 5.
So how many clueless WPTZ viewers checked the "I don't know" box?
Brought to you by those idiots at WPTZ/Channel 5.
So how many clueless WPTZ viewers checked the "I don't know" box?
Online Newspaper Survey
(C) 2010 Stan Spire
"Should City Councilors send the police chief and three others to a weeklong training conference in Florida using money that was confiscated from drug dealers?"
No. Why can't they just stay home and get drunk or do drugs like the rest of us who can't afford a vacation?
"Should City Councilors send the police chief and three others to a weeklong training conference in Florida using money that was confiscated from drug dealers?"
No. Why can't they just stay home and get drunk or do drugs like the rest of us who can't afford a vacation?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Get Your Own Buzz
(C) 2010 Stan Spire
I've got a few questions for Jeff Jarvis, CUNY J prof and media consultant.
Over at his blog, http://www.buzzmachine.com/, Jarvis holds forth on different issues pertaining to mainstream and newstream media.
In his post, "The price of privacy," Jarvis talks about a book he's working on, raising certain issues. Towards the end of his essay he writes:
"I’m exploring these ideas for my book so please help me tease them out. What are the implications of abundant publicness and scarce privacy?"
Crowdsourcing your book, Jeff? You got a book deal with HarperCollins so that means a bit of profit in your pocket. Nothing wrong with that but why should I help you write a book unless I get a cut of the action? I thought there were plenty of college students around to exploit. (I'm aware of this from being an exploited student when I was in college.)
Why don't you write a post for me at this crappy blog for free?
If you're so gung-ho on new media, why not release your book as a free e-book? I'm assuming you're making a decent income from your teaching and media consultant gigs.
That's what the newstream has to offer: bypassing the gatekeepers and making your work widely available. Screw HarperCollins.
I've got a few questions for Jeff Jarvis, CUNY J prof and media consultant.
Over at his blog, http://www.buzzmachine.com/, Jarvis holds forth on different issues pertaining to mainstream and newstream media.
In his post, "The price of privacy," Jarvis talks about a book he's working on, raising certain issues. Towards the end of his essay he writes:
"I’m exploring these ideas for my book so please help me tease them out. What are the implications of abundant publicness and scarce privacy?"
Crowdsourcing your book, Jeff? You got a book deal with HarperCollins so that means a bit of profit in your pocket. Nothing wrong with that but why should I help you write a book unless I get a cut of the action? I thought there were plenty of college students around to exploit. (I'm aware of this from being an exploited student when I was in college.)
Why don't you write a post for me at this crappy blog for free?
If you're so gung-ho on new media, why not release your book as a free e-book? I'm assuming you're making a decent income from your teaching and media consultant gigs.
That's what the newstream has to offer: bypassing the gatekeepers and making your work widely available. Screw HarperCollins.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Random Shots -- Sat. 8/7/10
>> Screw Twitter. 140 character limit? I can microblog here without counting every little letter. No time for constipated expression.
>> News item: Disgraced NENYland ex-pol / "alleged" pedophile is ratting out other child molesters. Good, but he's only doing it to shave off time from his prison stretch. He presented himself to the public as a conservative but actually he was a con-servative. An expert on TeeVee called this ex-pol a "psychopath." Psychopaths are manipulators, deceivers. So he's playing the system again.
>> Some people ride the public bus to talk with the driver. Usually sitting in the front seat, they stay on and go in circles for a few trips. Cheaper than a shrink. No appointment necessary.
>> Bad rainstorms: buildings flood, manhole covers pop up, sewer lines break in the city. Hey, Plattsburgh, instead of wasting money on boondoggles like the never-built hotel by the sometimes stinking shit-processing plant down by the lake, how about fixing your freaking infrastructure? Or do the streets have to cave in before you wise up?
>> Place your bets. Which war will the hubristric American Empire lose first: Afghaninam or Iraqinam?
>> So why hasn't Walt Disney approached me about my Nutts comic strip? It would be great for the kids.
>> Cuntry music. Therapy for mentally ill rednecks.
Typical lyrics:
"All our fears
"And all our tears
"Somebody stole
"Our tractor's gears."
(I know, the term "mentally ill redneck" is a pleonasm.)
>> Ever hear of a local commentator named Rick Smith? No? Good.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Joe Bruno Visits Plattsburgh; Not Even A Rumble Of Thunder
(C) 2010 Stan Spire
Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno was in town the other day for a special dedication at a local Catholic church. Fortunately he wasn't struck by lightning.
The poor innocent man. What would his critics say if he had been struck by a bolt from above? Joe's friends would claim that once again he was a good man being persecuted only for the appearance of impropriety.
In case you don't follow the news, let me quote from an Albany Times Union newspaper article by Senior Writer Brendan J. Lyons, dated May 7, 2010:
"Bruno was charged with enriching himself through consulting deals with people who had an interest in his legislative decision-making. The government said he failed to disclose material conflicts of interest as required. Bruno also must pay $280,000 in restitution to the state of New York, the amount of money he gained in the two felony counts on which he was convicted."
If you go to the web site that defends poor Joe (click on the above icon) it sounds like the feds were leaning on a guy just doing his job.
Joe was sentenced to two years but he's still walking around, free of prison walls. There's a legal challenge to the law that was used to persecute -- I mean prosecute -- him, the honest services statute. There are three cases to be decided by the US Supreme Court that challenge the 20-year-old federal statute.
So until the cases work their way through the system Joe can breath air as a free man and grace Plattsburgh, NY with his presence.
According to the Times Union article, the federal judge got upset with Joe at the sentencing, admonishing him "for failing to apologize for, or even acknowledge, his crimes" even though a jury of peers found him guilty.
That poor man, Joe Bruno. Some people act like Albany politicians are a bunch of self-serving crooks.
Former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno was in town the other day for a special dedication at a local Catholic church. Fortunately he wasn't struck by lightning.
The poor innocent man. What would his critics say if he had been struck by a bolt from above? Joe's friends would claim that once again he was a good man being persecuted only for the appearance of impropriety.
In case you don't follow the news, let me quote from an Albany Times Union newspaper article by Senior Writer Brendan J. Lyons, dated May 7, 2010:
"Bruno was charged with enriching himself through consulting deals with people who had an interest in his legislative decision-making. The government said he failed to disclose material conflicts of interest as required. Bruno also must pay $280,000 in restitution to the state of New York, the amount of money he gained in the two felony counts on which he was convicted."
If you go to the web site that defends poor Joe (click on the above icon) it sounds like the feds were leaning on a guy just doing his job.
Joe was sentenced to two years but he's still walking around, free of prison walls. There's a legal challenge to the law that was used to persecute -- I mean prosecute -- him, the honest services statute. There are three cases to be decided by the US Supreme Court that challenge the 20-year-old federal statute.
So until the cases work their way through the system Joe can breath air as a free man and grace Plattsburgh, NY with his presence.
According to the Times Union article, the federal judge got upset with Joe at the sentencing, admonishing him "for failing to apologize for, or even acknowledge, his crimes" even though a jury of peers found him guilty.
That poor man, Joe Bruno. Some people act like Albany politicians are a bunch of self-serving crooks.
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