ABC News Changes Anchors

ABC news is slowly changing and remodeling it’s news program by inserting and removing various newscasters. Diane Sawyer will be replaced by George Stephonopolous from ABC’s “This Week”. The change seems to raise many eyebrows, for the modification is being done with very little fan base inclusion and is being done in a period where ratings are the lowest (December). ABC seems to have an idea of how to revitalize and improve the shows popularity, but without involving the audience or fan base that makes the show what it is. It seems that ABC is trying to modify and change the program in a very subtle way. The subtlety may be due to many things, that may be economically, socially or politically related. One thing for sure is that ABC is being very cautious with the way they change the program, hoping not to change the audiences perception permanently.

2-D Animation Coming Back

“Princess and the Frog” is a recent film that has brought back the magic of 2-D animation. In 2004, Disney announced they would be making their last 2-D cartoon, “Home on the Range”. Artist at Disney thought they would be animating in front of a computer screen for the rest of their lives. It was tough to think that every animated production would become computer generated and all the artist within the cartoon industry seeing barely any work. Most of these animators became efficient with computer generating programs, although most of them were not very fond of the idea. It is nice to see that there still is a market for 2-D animated films.

Spiderman 4 Character Unveiled ?

Supposively a new Spiderman will begin production in the next months and a new character villain has been decided for the film. John Malkovich is supposed to play the enemy of Spiderman known as The Vulture. This seems kinda weak, since alot of Spiderman fanatics had been awaiting the introduction of fellow enemy Lizard Man. The producers of the film insisted that the costume ideas were too difficult to produce, and that they would of prefered to go with a character who had a human face. Fans and Spiderman lovers will probably be demoralized by the loss of Lizard Man, but will probably love the inclusion of John Malkovich, known for his typical villain roles.

College Text Book Issues may be solved

Iphone has recently released an App called Etextbooks for the Iphone. In this App there are over 7,000 texbooks to choose from. The cost of each book are in fact half of the paper books. However the books are not resellable and the subscription for the book expires. This is a small step towards facilitating the purchasing and usability of college textbooks. Hopefully this App will change the way college courses and textbooks are organized.

Word of mouth power shown in “The Blind Side”

Recently the film Blind Side was realeased in the movie theaters. The film focuses on the life of a Baltimore Ravens player Michael Oher. The film was initially put down by the critics, giving it a mediocre title of a holiday film. The film began slow, but it eventually became one of the box office hits of the season. Given the initial attack of the critics, it has to be said that the power of the word of mouth may be responsible for this films up rise. People simply going on facebook or twitter to share what has occured in the film and how it is so touching have made a huge impact on the success of this film. Will we see more films become bashed by critics, to then eventually gain word of mouth popularity and become instant “mainstream” success.

New rules made for Pot Shops in San Diego

A group of local police officers has rcently been trying to investigate what issues there are with pot shops in california. Some issues involved their vicinity to schools, libraries and parks, while others restricted the vicinity each dispensary may have to another. In fact the police stated that no dispensary should be within 500 feet of another. The police was also focused on targeting dispensaries and weed shops that are using the store front to make prophet and ignore the medical laws in regards to the marijuana.

American Student Found guilty Abroad

An american student was found guilty of murder in Italy last week. The murder is said to be an organized attempt which involved a third party. Authorities in Italy accused Amnda Knox as the brutal murderer of her college roomate and sentenced her to 26 years in prison. This case has become a war of words between the US and Italy. The parents of Knox saw this as a huge mistake. However, many speculate that Knox is not the murderer and her accusation is just a justification of the italian media.

World Cup Drawing

The world cup draw recently took place in South Africa, location of the next FIFA World Cup. This next world cup will bring many interesting political topics, such as the idea that this will be the first world cup staged in the continent of Africa. Along with this controversy, the general football audience does not believe Africa has the facilities or services to support a tournamnet of that stature. The world cup will however occur in South Africa, with some interesting teams taking part of the competition. An interesting team that is making its first appearence is the national squad for North Korea. An interesting team to see, especially for the united states. The world cup will also illustrate the attitude and opinions of these players raised in North Korea.

Amazon Article

I recently read an article on the Amazon deforestation. It was very interesting because it was focused on how in ten years the desertification of the Amzon may come to a halt. The article mentioned various ways the government in Brazil is trying to better the situation. One of the more interesting remedies has been the Governments attempt in getting local individuals involved in covering the forest. In doing so, the government has provided the locals with a salary and access to health care. This strategy has given the people of the Amazon benefits along with keeping the Amazon well protected.

General Note of the Media

Was looking at some various Media sources when trying to find an interesting topic to write about. Then i realized.. every topic is based on depressing and negative feedback, with the intent to make me worry and panic. These topics didnt instigate me to write.. more than anthing they instigate me to want to do other things.. spend less, support armed forces and stop using non “green” products.. I must listen to all these stories so i can satisfy the mainstream issues regarding our country.. it’s difficult to find issues and topics that can be relevant to specific individuals in specific areas of the U.S.

Most topics presented in Prime Time news are used to gain ratings, not to inform on relevant and honest topics.. It’s sad that eventhough it is a tool for our knowledge, it becomes treated like every other business tool. Can individuals ever gain valuable information from the news without being sold a false and irrelevent issue ? I dont know. I guess as long as ratings are high, its a front page story.