Monday, March 16, 2015

Stuff I learned while surfing the web today




A study finds that newspaper readers are able to distinguish professional photographs from the crap churned out by millions of idiots with camera phones.

Have advanced camera phones stunted our abilities to recognize professional photography?
In the wake of mass layoffs of photographers from major news organizations like the Chicago Sun Times and Sports Illustrated, the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) wanted to find out whether or not typical newspaper readers preferred — or could even tell the difference between — photos shot by professional photographers and those contributed by amateur shutterbugs.
[...]
Not only did viewers know what they liked, but they were able to accurately identify which of the 200 photos and captions they were asked to view were shot by pros, and expressed a distinct preference for the professional over the user contributed images.

_________


Millennials think they're entitled to free news.

Millennials say keeping up with the news is important to them — but good luck getting them to pay for it
Most millennials don’t seek out news on social media, but the vast majority of them get news from social networks once they see it there, according to a report released today by the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Only 47 percent of the millennials surveyed said consuming news is a major reason they visit Facebook, but 88 percent of the respondents said they get news from Facebook at least occasionally. 83 percent said they get news from YouTube on occasion, and 50 percent found news on Instagram. Next in line: Pinterest at 36 percent, Twitter at 33 percent, Reddit at 23 percent, and Tumblr at 21 percent.
[...]
“I don’t think you should pay for news,” Eric, a 22-year-old Chicagoan, said. “That’s something everybody should be informed in. Like, you’re going to charge me for information that’s going on around the world?”

_________


The producers at Miami's Local 10 will do anything for page views and ratings. And that includes insulting the intelligence of the station's viewers by recycling a 20-year-old story and presenting it as though it was breaking news.

Local 10 story, March 12, 2015: Animal remains routinely found at Miami-Dade County courthouse.
MIAMI - It's become a common occurrence at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building. Lawyers and employees on their way to work stumble to upon bags and cardboard boxes filled with dead animals.

"I've seen this several times before," attorney Carlos Gonzalez told Local 10 News. "I see chicken parts. I see tongues."

Miami Herald story, April 9, 1995: VOODOO BELIEVERS MAKE STAB AT GREASING WHEELS OF JUSTICE. By Manny Garcia
Voodoo? Life at the Metro Justice Building is like no other place in the nation.

In Miami, some defendants turn to the gods. They toss dead chickens, roosters or goats on the courthouse steps -- hoping the sacrifices will sway Lady Justice to let them go.

"Sometimes we find one chicken. Sometimes we find three or four," said Raul Guasp, a courthouse maintenance man. "It all depends on who is on trial."

_________


If all that isn't depressing enough, consider this: There's a newspaper reporter in Illinois who took a weekend job at McDonald's last year to make ends meet. Mickey D's recently gave him a raise of 10 cents an hour. But at his newspaper job, he and his colleagues haven't had a raise in seven years. Read all about it by clicking here.

_________


But here's some good news: The Miami Herald has plenty of job openings!

My first thought after seeing the ad for Sales Contractors: I'm pretty sure if you sold Miami Herald subscriptions, non-stop, 7 days a week, day in and day out for 20 years, you'd never make anything close to the pile of money you see in that photo. Just sayin'.



Miami Herald, March 16, 2015.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to comment on anything you read here.

All comments must first be approved. Spam and spam links will not be tolerated or approved.