In this blog post from Steve Yelvington, he talks about how newspaper editors, specifically wire and feature editors, becoming obsolete in the near future. He also brought up the fact that as current jounalists, we need to be trained in more than one specialty

“If you are one of those talented gatherers of news who can’t write clean publishable copy, you can pretty much consider your job to be in the same at-risk category as wire editing and features editing.”

I’m not sure I necessarily agree with the fact that editors no longer need to exist. I think having someone other than the writer/creator look at the content and provide suggestions on how to make the piece stronger will always be needed, whether they’re called an editor or not. What do you think?

College graduates are finding it harder than ever before to find jobs in a receding economy. Despite the economic downturn, some industries are still hiring, and according to Patricia Jacobs, direcor of Belmont’s Office of Career Services, the following industries may offer employment to college graduates who have not found work. 

Job fields that are still growing (in no particular order):

1. Education, specifically special education
2. Healthcare
3. Accounting
4. Computer Science
5. Government jobs

Top Job Locations (based on a Forbes magazine list)

View Larger Map

Click on the bubbles to see which cities have the lowest unemployment rates.

In the Music City All-Stars game right here at the Curb Event Center, Belmont’s five seniors, Shane Dansby, Andy Wicke, Alex Renfreo, Henry Harris, and Matthew Dotson, who have been the part of three different NCAA tourney-bound teams took the court for the last time.

Kennesaw State pitcher, Chad Jenkins, is considered a top fifty draft prospect by most, and after seeing him face Belmont, its easy to see why in this second game of a double-header.

After asking a variety of Belmont University journalism students and professors what they thought about entrepreneurial journalism, I realized that there really is no clear definition. It is interesting, however, to hear different interpretations on this idea. I uploaded the series of interviews to Seesmic in order to “start a new conversation” where people can discuss the opinions stated through “replies.”

Be sure to join the conversation and check out these interviews on Seesmic as well.

PlayDate Nashville is a 21-and-over event that offers “an alternative to the typical night out.” Instead of going to a restaurant or seeing a movie, some Nashville residents are deciding to spend time playing childhood games while engaging with other adults. With a relatively low cover charge of $10 that gives individuals access to a variety of games for up to six hours, PlayDate is easy on the wallet.

PlayDate Nashville is currently held at Limelight. Check out this map to see exactly where the venue is located.

Transom.org_Tutorial

This is a tutorial on Transom.org, a website dedicated to citizen storytelling on the radio.

As a recent convert to the iPhone world, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether we will be saying goodbye to paper products in our near future. I can tell you already that I’ve chucked my post-its (which I love) out the window and downloaded my first e-book, which I adore.
I thought I would always be a paper reader, but the iPhone has changed me and after downloading the Kindle app for the iPhone I started thinking about the Kindle itself. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an e-reader created by Amazon. Basically, it’s main purpose is to have digital copies of your books (up to 1,200 of them) with you at all times.  But, as I recently found out from a blog posted a few months ago, the Kindle also allows you to download and subscribe to newspapers and magazines for a fee as well as providing access to text only or text heavy websites at no additional cost. That means that once you buy the Kindle, someone else pays the internet usage bill. Of course, purchasing one will cost you almost $400. Which brings me back to the iPhone. Why pay $400 for just a reader when you can pay $300 for a phone that does the same thing plus hundreds of other tasks? I think I’ll be sticking to my phone for a long while until the price goes down on the Kindle.

So what do you all think, will the world begin to actually get their news in the same format but digitally like in Minority Report? Or will we continue to leave a paper trail?

The United States Army is now using Facebook, Twitter and its own blog called “Army Live” to recruit new people, and to give soldiers and their families a place to connect.  This is according to a NY Daily News article by Stephanie Gaskell.  And according to an article from the Army News Service, the social networking pages and the blog were launced by the new Online and Social Media Division of Army Public Affairs.  Gaskell points out that  the Army’s Facebook page has about 3,000 friends, and it has more than 5,000 followers on Twitter.  It’s interesting to note that on the Army’s Twitter page, the bio section points out that “Following does not = endorsement.”  

The U.S. Army wants you – to be its friend on Facebook.   You can also follow the Army on Twitter. Or post a comment on its new blog. They’re all part of the Army’s new mission: social networking.  “If Ashton Kutcher can do it, the U.S. Army can do it,” said Lindy Kyzer, who posts the Army’s “status updates” on Facebook and “tweets” on Twitter. [...] “We know that our ability to share the Army story is shaped by how we tell it and where we tell it,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, who heads the Army’s new Online and Social Media Division. “Using social media platforms allows us to tell our story where we know people are at and are listening.”

I also recommend this article from ReadWriteWeb on how the U.S. State Department is sending Twitter to Iraq “to bring the microblogging service into government and civil society there.”

The New York Times posted a funny opinion piece about Twitter, titled “To Tweet or Not to Tweet.” The writer, columnist Maureen Dowd, interviewed the inventors of the social networking site, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. She asked the tough questions…

ME: I would rather be tied up to stakes in the Kalahari Desert, have honey poured over me and red ants eat out my eyes than open a Twitter account. Is there anything you can say to change my mind?

BIZ: Well, when you do find yourself in that position, you’re gonna want Twitter. You might want to type out the message “Help.”

Be sure the check out the entire piece for more laughs.