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cyberbarf VOLUME 18 No 12 EXAMINE THE NET WAY OF LIFE JULY, 2020
EXTINCTION JOB MARKETS iTOONS FOUND BUT NOT LOST ON THE INTERNET WHETHER REPORT
©2020 Ski Words, Cartoons & Illustrations All Rights Reserved Worldwide Distributed by pindermedia.com, inc
cyberculture, commentary, cartoons, essays
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iToons
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cyberbarf EXTINCTION JOURNALISM Illustrator Steve Brodner was on Kal's recent video podcast. Brodner said that the current pandemic is an “extinction event for Journalism profession. He said that print publications are slowly dying off. The advertising revenue from on-line publications is only a trickle of past media revenues. There is a real need for quality news reporting. The irony is that people will pay for it, especially at the local level, but media consolidation has caused non-journalists running show into the ground. A vocal group can bring shivers to editors who now live in fear of any type of criticism. Instead of defending its reporting or op-ed pieces, publishers would rather cave and apologize. Staff cut-backs have led to more mistakes or regrets after publication. Journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer staged a partial walkout last month in outrage at a headline over the George Floyd protests that twisted the name of the group Black Lives Matter. A story on violence and property damage was headlined "Buildings Matter, Too." Staff said in a letter they were “sick and tired of pretending things are OK. The carelessness of our leadership makes it harder to do our jobs, and at worst puts our lives at risk. The headline - - -comparing the vandalism to buildings to the international outrage sparked by police-custody deaths - - -with the paper's editors wrote in an apology to our readers and Inquirer employees. Reporters have complained for years that they are blamed for headlines they do not write (readers do not know how newspaper are produced by various staff members). People called out the paper for being insensitive to the issue and victims of police violence. Instead of explaining the purpose of the article, management caved to local pressure. No one claimed that the reporting in the article was false or misleading. It was the subject matter itself was objectable. However, journalists should educate their readership that there are times when uncomfortable topics need to be printed in order to inform them of what is happening in their community. A newsroom is not run by public opinion. Until now. An op-ed piece that ended now-former Editorial Page Editor James Bennet's career at The New York Times raised the hackles of black staff members who portrayed its central argument as a clear and imminent threat to their personal safety. They claimed the essay, in which Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) urged President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and call up active-duty troops in response to the urban unrest that followed George Floyd's deadly May 25 encounter with Minneapolis police, puts Black staff members in danger because “invoking state violence disproportionately hurts Black and brown people.” The opinion of the author, a Senator commenting on a news story, in itself was a newsworthy event in the context of part of the current debate, claimed the NYT apology that was added to the top of the piece two days after it appeared. The NYT then said it regretted printing the column because it did not meet its (unstated) standards. But the issue was the column did not print itself. It went through normal editorial channels before it was published by the NYT. Just because it was controversial or sparked a strong reaction is part of the point to printing opposing views on matters of public concern. One may think that journalism itself may be having a hard time understanding its traditional role. Cable news networks rarely report objectively news events as they have hired talking heads spouting opinions and spin (because it is cheaper to fill 24 hours with talk than hiring reporters and support staff). One of the major complaints the public has is that they do not think all news organizations are objective in their stories. The Seneca (SC) Journal apologized for running an editorial cartoon deemed hurtful and insensitive. Political cartoons are powerful tools that are designed to make you laugh or think about a given situation. The cartoon by Al Goodwyn, on the relationship between Black Americans and The Democratic Party, generated numerous complaints. The Seneca Journal faced heated criticism after the cartoon ran. Many complaints were made on social media. The Journal issued a lengthy apology letter on their Facebook page, in which they shifted blame to a hectic day covering elections. The real issue is that THEY RAN THE CARTOON! But they blame the cartoonist!! This has happened frequently in the editorial cartoonist field. Editors and publishers (diluted by political correctness or non-journalists investment bankers running the operations) do not know the purpose of editorial cartoonists (to comment on public issues to spark a reaction to the cartoonists' opinion). Instead of having a forum of ideas on the opinion page, editors have surrendered to be timid reactionaries. The co-owners of The Missourian have apologized for a Tom Stiglich editorial cartoon that appeared in the June 10, 2020 edition. The apology said they were sorry and DISGUSTED for the editorial cartoon that appears in the paper. It did not represent the views of The Missourian staff (which is always the case for either a syndicated columnist or cartoonist.) Apparently, it lead to family strife. “The editorial process has been that Bill Miller, Sr., our father and publisher, made the decision to publish this syndicated cartoon without our knowledge. Because we do not have the editorial control to assure our readers that this won't happen again, we have resigned in protest. We cannot continue to work for an editor who fails to see the pain this causes and we believe this issue is too important not to take a stand.” The publisher of the paper printed what he wanted to print! If staff was upset about the content in their paper's pages, it should have objected PRIOR to publication (which the editors admit they did not do.) It seems that modern journalists are more concerned about CYA apologies than defending their institution's right to publish. If journalists will not stand up for basic journalism principles, journalism itself is going to rot from within. It has to defend itself against angry tweets, screams about “fake news,” and advertisers who want to control or manipulate news content. Investment bankers have consolidated both national and local publications. As a result, the community purpose of newspapers, radio and television news has been pushed aside by return-on-investment skimming of cash flow to investors at the cost of newsroom staff and quality journalism. The traditional journalism business model got pounded by the internet's view that everything on it should be free. But freedom is not free. It takes a human cost. In order for an institution to speak for the common good, journalists need to be given the resources to do their jobs properly. Journalists cannot be mere social media reactionaries or press release re-writers. The coverage of what government officials are doing to you and your tax dollars takes boots in the field, interviews, FOIA requests, and investigations in order to preserve the very liberty to voice your objections to columns and cartoons. Once independent journalism goes away, state run media takes over - - - controlling the content and message - - - in ardor to control and limit personal freedoms. If you thought the nanny state of regulations, administrative orders and personal mandates are bad now, what will happen when there is no Fourth Estate to check and balance all branches of government? Journalism may be a dinosaur, but there is a chance to survive IF both the people who own, manage and operate media enterprises understand their future roles and educate the public on why they matter.
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cyberbarf JOB MARKETS COMMENTARY When seniors graduated college this spring, they found that 83 percent of normal job postings had evaporated because of the pandemic. Unemployment skyrocketed past Great Depression levels. A mass collapse of the middle class was avoided by the federal government printing trillions of dollars of relief aid. But college graduates are in a bind. Most have a high level of student debt. They have a highly competitive job market as their are going to compete against experienced, laid off workers when the economy rebounds as states re-open. Service jobs (retail, delivery, clerical) are on the low end of the pay scale as entry level. But those jobs may be hard to find as many brick and mortar retailers will go bankrupt. The Illinois Restaurant Association said that as of July 1, 2020, on third of the state's restaurants and bars have permanently closed. It predicts that 40 to 45 percent may fail by the end of the year. Those small businesses hire the most employees. Mom and pop business failures can wipe out the middle class. Because of a hard job market for the next few years, some high school seniors are taking a second look at going this fall to college. Colleges have not committed to re-opening campuses. Many students complained, especially seniors, that on-line classes were not the college experience they paid for. Many parents will support their children taking “gap years” instead of going to school with no prospects of a quality education or the expectation of a good job upon graduation. College juniors are the most in a bind. They need to finish their degrees in order to get a job to save up to pay off loans. College administrators are not planning for a sudden drop in freshman enrollment. Many schools have seen unbalanced classes in the past five years (more seniors than freshmen). A drop in enrollment means a drop in basic revenue. This will lead schools to cut back on operating expenses - - - which means cutting jobs. Jobs in college towns are mostly tied to university life. A student rise in local unemployment can have a disastrous domino effect on the town. There are some politicians, emboldened by the pandemic stimulus checks, to propose the uber-liberal policy of universal income. It means that the government will pay every adult a minimum amount of monthly income. In other words, you will be paid whether you work or not. Being paid not to work is a terrible drain on a nation's economy. Welfare states collapse under national debt burdens because the private sector is taxed to death to pay for generous, unproductive programs. In the U.S. Great Depression, the New Deal created many government job programs to get men and women paychecks in exchange for some public service. It is doubtful that type program would work today. Employers have had a hard time finding workers for manufacturing and trades before the pandemic shutdowns. Recruiters have found that many recent college graduates think they are entitled to a $100,000 salary in a cushy office job with great benefits. There was a story from four years ago where a restaurant owner interviewed potential cooking staff. A recent graduate from a cooking school wanted a $100,000 salary to be a chef. The owner said bluntly that he would hand over the restaurant to him in exchange for the old owner being paid that amount to be the chef. Some people have no idea the business realities that control a job market. (In restaurant industry, low profit margins and high labor, rent and food costs have some owners barely making a minimum wage after paying their obligations.) THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET. There is no silver lining in the current global contraction caused by a virus that seems to continue to infect and damage economies. Many states that tried to reopen have had a surge in new infections. A second closure will kill more businesses. Hard choices will have to be made. A person may have their dream job, but reality is not a dream in the current job market. cyberbarf FOUND BUT NOT LOST ON THE INTERNET
Kim Zolciak slapped back at commenter claiming her “photoshopping is out of control” after posting sizzling swimsuit snap. She is no stranger to cosmetic surgery. But Zolciak, 42,wants her fans to know that she is not doctoring her photos. She shared a sizzling snap of herself in her new Salty K swimsuits that she had designed when had to clap back at someone accusing her of photoshopping the image. Source: The Daily Mail (UK)
People confined to home have rediscovered their kitchens. More people are posting their cooking adventures. A few have gotten very creative, including making animal breads. Source: Mental Floss
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cyberbarf THE WHETHER REPORT |
cyberbarf STATUS |
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Question: Whether the power of K-pop fans use of social media be disruptive in American politics? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
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Question: Whether back lash against police departments from Black Lives Matter protests actually cause real change? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
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Question: Whether the pandemic disruption of pro sports leagues lose the casual fans who now are engaged in alternative entertainment choices? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
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