RamblingDyna

My company, Inquirer.net, a 24/7 Philippine online news site, beat 80 other media and marketing organizations at a national ethnic media event in Atlanta recently. Click on title link for my complete news story. P.S. I just signed up on www.condron.us, an online blog channel surfing site which posts the latest blogs. Instead of sifting through blog posts, blog entries are shown for a couple of seconds consecutively. Like a remote control, just click on the post to capture and read in its entirety.

The last day of the National Ethnic Media Expo was the day where publishers and media folks display their work and network. There were approximately 80 tables showcasing newspapers, magazines, and brochures of the various ethnic publications. Television and radio were also present, as well as online where my company was the minority. This is my first attendance and my company’s fourth. I heard this year was a smaller turnout compared to past expos, especially last year’s New York, which had the largest attendance. But it’s still encouraging that know that tight economy did not quell or discourage editorial passion. I didn’t think I would know anyone at this national event. Was I surprised when I saw my college journalism professor, Juan Gonzales, present a video that chronicled 200 year history of Latino papers in the U.S. His table was located across from my company's table, Inquirer.net, and my boss pointed me out to him as one of his former students. When he ca...

Straight out of the mouth of an old school, hardnosed, cynical New York tenured journalist, CNN’s Situation Room Host, Jack Cafferty spilled his admiration for the Michelle Obama on air and on his blog. In wake of the First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama’s first G20 summit visit, Cafferty gave a short report on Michelle Obama’s growing popularity in the United States and the European media. He cites statistics and comparisons from year ago, showing the shift has come primarily from Republicans who’ve had a change of heart. His commentary was initially objective, until he threw a surprise wrench halfway in his delivery, smiling and confessing, “I have a crush on her”. I nearly fell out of my chair as I witnessed Journalism 101 thrown out of my television monitor. Walter Cronkite (“the most trusted man in America”) should give Cafferty a good scolding. The late Edward R. Murrow (“Good night and good luck”) is probably tossing in his grave. But wait the gushing a...

It's been a couple of years since I've been to any career networking events but the past seven days sure have been busy and they all happened by accident. I just signed up for a journalism group that meets periodically in San Francisco; missed their first meeting and didn't expect to see their next invitation for a couple of weeks. But the group organizer emailed the members about a fundraising event for two local non-profit, online news startups: The Public Press and Newsdesk. The last time I was in the same room with a group of reporters was when I was covering a murder trial in New England years ago. As many national and local newspapers and other commercial media groups are shutting down shops and slashing hundreds of editorial staff, the life and livelihood of true news reporters and the journalism field is being threatened. These two online media groups like a few others nationwide are working hard to not let true hardnosed journalism succumb and wither away to ...