Last Night At The Friar's Club

I have deduced that people who work in finance are much more fun at parties than media people. Here is why: The market closes at 4:00 p.m. At that point you're either up or down. Either way, you can't change it. Most finance people I know seem to have a good way of shrugging it off and focusing on dealing with whatever comes next day, because you can't predict what the market will do. In the meantime, they'll enjoy a nice glass of wine.

Media people, on the other hand, seem to have a need to always be 'on'. Always need to be witty, always working the next angle, always looking for their next gig. Maybe that's not the healthiest way to be. Maybe media people need a sort of closing bell as well.

Everyone Wants the Youth Vote

fading news, originally uploaded by Dreamer7112.

No one ever said that transitioning newspaper into the online world would be easy. Lately, though, at least the decision makers of the media world are trying to find out what it is that the youth want.

As someone who teaches journalism to undergrads, I actually have a little insight into this. Video is better than print, and if it's going to be words, it should be online. Even though The New York Times was free on campus, not a lot of my student picked it up on a daily basis. That's not a criticism. Most of them got their news, from hard news to entertainment, online. I tell all my students to log onto The New York Times web site as often as they can, watch The Daily Show and download some NPR podcasts.

This piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer talks to undergrads about how they want to get news. I agree with the statements about never watching a 6:30 p.m. newscast. I don't remember the last time I tuned in on purpose. Instead, The Daily Show and the Colbert Report provide much better context. Who wants to watch items about shootings on the local news when Comedy Central brings real newsmakers onto its shows?

I also love this item about how John Edwards is tapping the brain of John Mayer about attracting younger voters. Again, video is good, but get to the action quickly.