The implosion of Charlie Sheen and his career this week has gotten the tabloid treatment in most of the Media. The New York Times however took a more financial approach to the story. Bill Carter’s article ” Sheen Tantrum Likely to Cost in the Millions ” discusses the economical fallout of the suspension of production on Two and a Half […]

This week, in a lecture I was doing for a public relations course, ‘truthfulness’ was raised by a student as something one wants when producing P.R. material. When I answered that the ‘truth’ in public relations is much like the ‘truth’ is to defense attorneys, unnessesary, I could see the students disbelief. This was a perfect opening […]

The political upheaval being experienced across North Africa and the Middle East has already found its iconic symbol. It is not an individual or a particular group–it is in fact Facebook, Twitter and You Tube . The youth of Tunisia and Egypt discovered that the tools they have used for social communication, can in fact be  a powerful weapon. I […]

MSNBC has created an exciting website for the African -American community called the Grio . The Grio , which  translates to  “a storyteller in western Africa who maintains the oral tradition and history of a village or family,” gives an African -American voice and perspective to the Internet. Recent articles covered topics as diverse as  Black Actors and Drag, […]

This evening Keith Olbermann and MSNBC parted ways leaving viewers and the Media clucking their tongues and wondering what exactly happened here.  Since his suspension in November on ethical issues, there has been no love lost between network management and Olbermann. Still, the departure tonight was certainly speedy and without an explanation.  I have included […]

Last summer as we drove up to Maine for a family vacation, I watched my 14 year old nephew and his best friend spend hours texting. When I asked who they were each texting, they looked at me as if I was crazy and stated each other.  Why when they are two feet away from […]

Greetings from a cybercafe in sunny Puerto Vallarta.  I have been following the attempted assasination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with facination and alarm. From the first bulletins that were sent out, false unvarified information was all over the web and media– the villians were not bloggers or social networkers, they were the major media outlets. NPR […]

The Media has given a considerable amount of coverage to the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination this past week. Most of the articles were nostalgia pieces that focused either on Lennon’s music or his death. Andrew Romano, in an essay published in the December 13,2010  Newsweek, has chosen to focus on the issue of ‘fame’. “Lennon’s Other […]

The website Wikileaks has certainly earned the wrath of some major international governments and corporations: the US,  Chinese, Saudis,and even Bank of America to name a few. So it is not surprising that on December 1, 2010 we  find the  site ‘unavailable’.  According to Geek.com, a DDoS attack has crippled the site, but a possible rescuer maybe  Amazon. […]

In my lectures concerning Internet search strategies  I often refer to Google as an ‘evil empire’. There are those who may feel this statement is a bit harsh, while others might feel I am being to kind. Like many in Academia, my love/hate relationship with Google is very complicated. Although I am constantly in awe of […]

Say what you may about Rupert Murdoch, but he certainly knows how to rattle the Media World. With the announcement of the i-newspaper called The Daily , the future of newsprint and its adaptation to the web is again ready for a renewed debate. In the article Rupert Murdoch and Steve Jobs to launch tablet newspaper , in ComputerWeekly.com , Murdoch is […]

The November 1 lecture by Professor Richard Quinn of the University of Central Florida Business School has become a sensation on You Tube , opening a discussion of plagiarism and cheating in Academia.  When faced with the knowledge that up to 1/3 of his class of 600+students cheated, the  Professor uses his class time to address the issue. […]