MySpace worth $15 billion or zero?

Don't worry too much about either of those figures. I got a good laugh today from Mark Glaser at MediaShift with his spoof piece and subsequent commentary about Reuters and MySpace.

See, Reuters came up with this wonderful story, based on one source, that MySpace could be worth $15 billion within three years. That source was a Wall Street anaylst who came up with this idea after a meeting with News Corp., which coincidentally owns MySpace.

In his spoof, Glaser writes a wire story about how MySpace will be worth nothing in a few years and uses himself as a source. It's very comical.

Now, I wonder what's more scary: the fact that News Corp. has control over MySpace (I did not previously know that Rupert Murdoch had purchased the site for $580 million.) or that a website that basically allows you to stalk others over the Internet could become so powerful?

Of course, the scariest thing of all could be that Reuters published such a terrible story in the first place.

Sports can help the healing process

Tomorrow is my day to present to the class and since newspapers are starting to give away their stories online the night before the paper is published, what better way to show off web journalism than to give away my presentation the night before I do it?

On Monday, Professor Kennedy showed the class the New York Times' coverage of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and I sat there thinking about how I dealt with the situation, having lived only a couple of miles from Ground Zero. Sports has been and always been my stress reliever. When baseball returned to New York City a mere 10 days after the attacks, I focused on that, hoping to forget about the horror that happened only a short while before. I was not alone. Thousands felt the same way when they showed up at Shea Stadium on Sept. 21 and a certain big-hitting catcher put their minds at ease with this mammoth blast.

This past Monday, the Saints returned to New Orleans, a little over a year after Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed the city. The Saints were as much in limbo last season as the residents of New Orleans were. The city needed the Saints and the Saints needed the city. They reunited in grand fashion. The newspapers were in full force with their coverage of this emotional event. The Times produced an excellent video story on the fans and their return to the Superdome. The Times-Picayune and nola.com came up with a slideshow also commemorating the return.

For those who like to stick to words, Michael Smith at ESPN.com has a personal connection with New Orleans and tells the world why the city needs the Saints. Wright Thompson also wrote an emotional story, this one retelling the story of a family's journey for safety and explaining how the rebuilding of the Superdome is a symbol for the reconstruction of the entire city.

The Internet can make dreams come true

I have always thought about trying out to appear on "Jeopardy." I've watched the program for as long as I can remember and even own the home edition of the game (I don't ever play it). Trivia to me is fun not because I am trying to prove that I know everything, but because I think of it as exercise for the brain.

In the past, I've never been able to try out for "Jeopardy." I never know when the tests are or where they are held. I know they often come to New York, my hometown, but I never know when. Now, myself and millions of others who have always wanted to audition can do so. A few months ago, "Jeopardy" had an online test for its general program, allowing anyone with a computer and an internet connection to try out for the show. This coming Wednesday, the show is once again conducting an online test, this time for its college tournament.

I would not be surprised if all game shows soon will be conducting tryouts online. Why not? It's easy and you get immense publicity for your show and website. Millions of people want to try to get rich and famous in a quick fashion. It's becoming the new American dream. This seems like a perfect opportunity to let them have their shot. For "Survivor," maybe CBS could set up a site that allows you to post a video of yourself and then others can vote on who they would like to see. If you want to get on "Jeopardy," answer questions that appear on your screen. That's the brilliance of the internet. Anyone can do anything.

If you're curious at all, this will be the second time that I am trying out for a televised trivia game show. Three months ago, I auditioned for ESPN's "Stump the Schwab." Although I passed the written test, my oral audition in front of the camera did not fare as well.

Will the ink dry for good?

Michael Kinsley at Time.com wrote a fine column on the future of newspapers and whether or not they actually have a future. He thinks that there is a way for journalism and newspapers to survive online.

Thanks to Romenesko for finding this piece.

The Price We Pay

It's another sad day for journalists across the country. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle were sentenced to prison for not revealing their sources, the ones who had leaked grand jury testimony by athletes in steroid questioning.

If you do not know the story, Fainaru-Wada and Williams wrote a series of articles for the Chronicle about the BALCO steroid issue and later penned a book about it called "Game of Shadows." One of the most important parts of these writings is the grand jury testimony of athletes such as Barry Bonds. Since this testimony is sealed, Fainaru-Wada and Williams' sources committed a crime by leaking it to them. Even though they were subpoenaed, the two writers kept their word and refused to give up their sources.

Now they face prison for it. Yes, it's a journalist's duty as a citizen to comply with the law, but the writers did what they had to do to break an important story. It's too bad that they have to pay a price for uncovering the truth.

Update: Wright Thompson, a senior writer at ESPN.com, wrote a good column Friday morning about how these two men were doing a public service to Americans, but lost out to the government and the law.

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There was one other thing I noticed online today. In the on-going drama between the Los Angeles Times and the Tribune Company, Mark Glaser at MediaShift suggests that Tribune sell the paper to the community and make it public.

It's an intriguing idea, and I actually do believe that the owner of a newspaper should at least be in the same state as the paper, but I question whether it's even plausible. Letting the public run a newspaper could water down journalism even more than it already is. Don't think that I'm a hypocrite because I'm a journalist-in-training writing a blog. It's just that blogging is one thing. Running a newspaper is another.

News and Notes

I just received an e-mail about an event this evening at MIT in which members of the media will be discussing journalism's ongoing transformation and the decline of newspapers. Alex Beam of the Globe, Ellen Foley of the Wisconsin State Journal and Dan Gillmor, the founder and director of the Center for Citizen Media, will be the guest speakers. This event is sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bartos Theater. Since it's short notice, I doubt anyone will make it. However, there apparently will be a webcast made available on MIT World. Check that site out later tonight or tomorrow.

In other news, my beloved Mets finally clinched the National League East title last night with a 4-0 win over the Florida Marlins. This is shaping up to be a promising October for me and my fellow Mets fans across the country. Thanks to the new technology that is YouTube, we are able to look back at the 2006 season as something quite amazing. Here are two highlight videos created by fans, courtesy of MetsBlog.com

Good extras

The Globe's Russell Contreras had a good feature in the paper today about a fire at a Lawrence youth center that happened earlier this month and how the loss of the center will affect the teens that had frequented it. What makes the story better is when you check out Boston.com and get to click on the story's audio slideshow, which is a good addition to a story that has a very human element. The narration and the pictures of the children at the center and the fire bring life to that human element. Readers can hear and see the story come to life right on their screens. It was the perfect touch to the story. Hopefully soon, most feature stories will come with this online feature.

How do you get your news?

This morning, I noticed on Boston.com that you can get the page one stories of the Boston Globe in the form of a podcast. This is the first time I've seen this, though I've probably just been ignorant about it. I clicked on it and listened to the news. It was a six-minute podcast and it told me a few of the top stories, including the Globe's follow-up spotlight piece on debt collectors and how they mistakenly go after the wrong people.

Despite this wonderful technology, I don't see myself moving towards podcast news. I could change my mind in the future, but as of now I see myself sticking to things that I can read with my eyes. My reason? I prefer things that are tangible and I see words as being more tangible than sound. I enjoy picking up a newspaper, and I like reading things on my computer screen (though, longer pieces do hurt my eyes).

Besides, when I'm walking down the street with my iPod in hand, I'd rather be rocking out to some tunes than hearing about how Chris Gabrieli claims Deval Patrick is "outside the mainstream", as the Globe reports.

That is not to say that the podcast does not have redeeming value. My favorite use of the podcast is to listen to radio segments from ESPN Radio. I get short five or 10-minute podcasts and listen to them to get reactions to sports news by the company's top radio personalities. In fact, as I'm typing this, I am listening to Mike & Mike in the Morning's segment on how the Atlanta Braves' impressive 14-year division title streak has come to an end.

Overall, I suppose it's a matter of choice. The casual reader on the go is more likely to embrace the six-minute rundown of the day's top stories. The reader who wants some depth is more likely to stick to more tradtional means of getting news. And yes, I'm considering reading the paper online a more traditional means.

So how do you get your news these days?

Lesson #1

I'm only a few hours on the job and already I have my first lesson thanks to The New Republic's senior editor Lee Siegel. Maria Sapan of the New York Times reported last week that Siegel was suspended by the magazine on Sept. 1 after it was discovered that he was involved in attacking the readers of his blog on his own message board.

Mr. Siegel's alias is "sprezzatura" and if you check the blog's comments section from his Aug. 25 post, you'll see the exchange with "jhschwartz" that led to his demise.

This is not the first time The New Republic has had to deal with rogue writers either. TNR was embarassed in 1998 by its reporter Stephen Glass, who fabricated many of his stories for the magazine. I mention this because today I just happened to have watched Shattered Glass, a movie based on Glass and his great imagination.

One can say that it is tacky for a writer to criticize his readers, but it's downright intolerable for a writer to hide behind an alias to do it.

Needless to say, if anyone wants to criticize my blog, feel free to do so. I won't be signing in as "bumblebeeman" to attack you.

An Introduction

My name is Thomas Chen and I am starting this blog, which will cover the growing worlds of web journalism and new media.