Manchester United, one of England's most prestigeous soccer clubs, fired their manager David Moyes on Tuesday, giving an ending to a sad tenure and a decision that seemed inevitable. While the club is looking for a replacement, its fans celebrate the end of a disaster of a season. Fans of other squads have wasted no time to make Moyes the focus of their jokes. Twitter has given the ability for sports fans to be vocal about their teams, players, and coaches. Moyes was the latest victim, as tweets came flying in a day before the announcement was made official. The... Continue reading

Four French journalists returned home to France on Sunday after being held hostage in Syria for 10 months. Edouard Elias, Didier François, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres are in good health after being stuck in the war-stricken country since June 2013. Francois and Elias have been hostages since June 6th, while Henin and Torres were captured on June 22nd. According to DHA, a Turkish news agency, the four men were "found blindfolded and cuffed in the southeast Sanliurfa province late Friday." French President Francois Hollande declared the findings a "great relief" and greeted the four freed journalists at a French... Continue reading

Kuwait's royalty family has ordered a news blackout on a videotape that allegedly contains a plot to overthrow the country's government. On Thursday, it was reported that a secret investigation regarding the matter has begun. Former senior officials are accused of trying to promote radical change in the Middle Eastern country. According to World Bulletin, Kuwait has "the most open political system in the Gulf Arab region." The emir of Kuwait is Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is part of the royalty family that has ruled the country for more than two centuries. The Opposition Coaltion is calling for reforms... Continue reading

Vietnamese blogger Phạm Viết Đào was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week as a result of making critical comments about the government. According to Voice of America, the Hanoi People’s Court ruled that his blog posts "allegedly 'distorted' and 'vilified' senior leaders." He's the latest blogger to be jailed for publicly disagreeing with the country's government. Vietnam as a whole doesn't have freedom of the press, so any comments criticizing the government or society could be grounds for punishment. Freedom House gave the country a press score of 84 for the year 2013, with 100 being the worst... Continue reading

An Italian nun wowed a panel of judges with her singing voice during a blind audition for the television show called 'The Voice of Italy.' Sister Cristina Scuccia's performance of "No One" by Alicia Keys soon created a media frenzy and became one of the most popular viral videos in the world. Since the performance was uploaded to YouTube eight days ago, it has more than 33 million views. Although the show is not the most creative of ideas, the television media medium spins off shows that were first popular elsewhere. 'The Voice of Italy' is Italy's version of 'The... Continue reading

With less than 90 days until the 2014 World Cup, the Brazilian government is cracking down on safety and beefing up its security efforts for one of the most nostalgic sporting events in the world. Index on Censorship is reporting that social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will be monitored by government officials to look for suspicious activity and potential threats to the World Cup. "The Ministries of Defence and Justice, the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), the Armed Forces, the Metropolitan Polices, the Federal Police and the Highway Police" are involved in the operation, Index on Censorship... Continue reading

For journalists and other members of the media, Egypt is quickly becoming one of the world's most dangerous places. This latest wave of fear has been aided by the recent crackdown on Egyptian journalists who are deemed suspicious in aiding terrorist groups. As a result, Reporters Without Borders ranks Egypt the 159th (out of 180 listed countries) safest country for reporters, moving down one spot from last year. The most controversial issue in Egyptian media is within the Arab community, which unfortunately, is commonly linked to terrorist involvement. Eight members of the Al Jazeera staff were arrested in late January... Continue reading

Three members of the Brazilian media were murdered between the days of February 11 and February 16, all of which were separate incidents. Pedro Palma, Jose Lacerda da Silva and Edilson Dias Lopes were gunned down in various parts of Brazil. Lopes, a radio journalist for FM Youth Explosion, was shot and killed on February 11 in the city of Pines. Three days later, Palma, the owner for the newspaper Panorama Regional, was killed outside of his Miguel Pereira home. Two days after that, Silva, a cameraman, was outside of a supermarket when he was murdered. These murders have concerned... Continue reading

A two day workshop in Kingston will be held for Jamaican journalists, focusing on training for biodiversity communication. Its goal is to better network the participants, as well as the ability to share experiences with one another. The training is hosted by Panos Caribbean. According to the dictionary, biodiversity essentially the variety of plant and animal species in a specific environment. As recently as May, Jamaica has been hailed for having high levels of endemic plants, snails, and amphibians. This has been a rebound after it was reported in 2010 that the country's biodiversity was threatened because of climate change.... Continue reading

A rumor has started that United States president Barack Obama and pop singing sensation Beyoncé are having an affair and the French media has decided to run with that idea. According to UK's Daily Mail, French photographer Pascal Rostain started the rumor. This all started because there is a lot of "writing on the wall," from the alleged marriage instability of President Obama to his fondness of Beyoncé, who sang at his first inaguration. Hollande has recently gone through a divorce after it was revealed he had an affair outside of marriage with a French actress. Perhaps it's a way... Continue reading

After weeks of silence and looking the other way, journalists in Syria with different views on the country's civil war are finally starting to recognize each other. A peace conference, pitting supporters, journalists, and activists against each other, has forced each side to acknowledge one another during the "Geneva 2" talks at the United Nations, which occurred last week. The entire premise of the separation of journalists is based on the support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who has been the focal point of the country's war that has spanned nearly three years. With one side loyal to the president... Continue reading

A singer from Hungary has released a music video revealing the usage of photoshop by media outlets around the globe. Boggie performs her song "Nouveau Parfum" while a shocking visual transformation takes place. The music video starts off with her as a regular person and by the end of the video, she is hardly recognizable due to so much digital enhancement. The reasoning behind the video, according to Boggie, was "to lift the lid on the lack of reality in celebrity culture and advertising." Media outlets around the globe constantly use photoshop to glorify ads or make celebrities more appealing.... Continue reading

Just when you thought you've seen it all, social media can now be used by those who have passed on. Neshama, a site developed by an Israeli entrepreneur, is a social network that commemorates the deceased by pictures of their tombstones. It can also depict what is engraved on the graves, as well as other information. Why would this exist in the first place? The idea behind it is to memorialize those who have died and leave a footprint on the Internet. Memorial pages can be set up, showing descriptions of their life, others sharing experiences with the person, and... Continue reading

One of the great things about social media is that is connects people from every corner of the globe. Twitter is one of those social media tools and its hashtag system is used for people for key words or events. An example of a type of hashtag is one during a sporting event, which links fans with sports journalists and announcers together. The two ways that this is done is both tweeting live updates during a game, while garnering fan reaction in the process, and after the game, when there is analysis about the events that took place. Take this... Continue reading

After much debate and a reverse decision of the original ruling, all journalists will be able to use social media during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The orginial decision of banning usage of sites such as Instagram and Twitter, was to forbid pictures and video clips being posted on those sites. The Olympics is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world and since the Winter Games are every four years, each edition is special. One of the significant things about social media is that news gets out to users very quickly and it spreads just as... Continue reading

In the wake of potential spies watching your every move, the union that represents German journalists recommended that their journalists no longer use the powerful search engine, Google. The same goes with the search box on Yahoo! This latest move by the German union is part of the domino effect of the feeling of insecurity after former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA (National Security Agency). Google is outraged by the NSA spying and has called for "urgent reform." Michael Konken is the head of the union of journalists in Germany. He says "The searches made... Continue reading

In today's world of competing for attention, it's vital for anyone, no matter what profession you're in, to make yourself noticeable and marketable. One of these ways is to have a Google Plus profile page. Journalists and reporters everywhere are starting to make their own, but not only does it have to exist, it also has to be effective. Jaana Nystrom is a Google Plus entrepreneur in Finland and she has some tips if you're first starting to make your own page. The first tip is to post updates often on your page. When someone uses Google to find out... Continue reading

The status of Bitcoin may be reaching its ending point, as the digital currency survives another day following a string of bad news. This comes after Silk Road, one of the biggest supporters of Bitcoin, was seized by U.S. authorities. Bitcoin is a crypted form of currency programmed by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and was available online a year later. The idea was that two parties would be able to exchange currency, sort of what PayPal is like today. It is programmed to ensure that all Bitcoin acquisitions are genuine so users can feel safer using it. On October 2,... Continue reading

Have you ever posted a status update on Facebook and eventually regretted it? That's probably how Kathmandu journalist Dinesh Acharya feels today, as he was arrested on September 30 for violating the Nepal 2008 Electronic Transaction Act. Acharya is an editor of the Share Bazar weekly. It is a small newspaper in Nepal, a country that borders northeast India. The story goes that he had allegedly shared an article from a rival print on his Facebook page and was seen by his employer. This act is forbinned under the Nepal Electronic Transaction Act. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists condemns the... Continue reading

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously decided that clicking the "Like" button on Facebook is considered a freedom of speech and is protected under the first Amendment. This ruling overturns a previous ruling from a lower court, saying it is not protected. Using the "Like" button on Facebook is a popular way for users to show admiration towards something, whether it's a status update, picture, or posted article. Other users can see what people liked a certain picture or status and that is how this lawsuit started. Daniel Ray Carter Jr. was fired for "liking his boss's political opponent... Continue reading

Whenever you enter a website, no matter what it is, there are advertisements all over the page. In the age of new media, advertising via the Internet has become the most effective way to reach many potential consumers in a short period of time. With the most common method of ads on the web, being banner ads, popular opinion believes that content now has to be sponsored. Joe McCambley created the first banner ad in 1994 and at the time, it was revolutionary because nothing like that was done before. Since then, billions of annoying, clickable icons have been used... Continue reading

Social media giant Facebook announced last week that a new privacy policy for the website has been delayed. Multiple pro-privacy groups asked the Federal Trade Commission to block some of these changes and for now, the new policy is on hold. The release of the new rules and regulations was set for September 5th. Journalists in the 21st century sometimes have trouble finding a story, so they use social media like Facebook to find a story or gather information. But what if the privacy settings protect the accounts of everyone, making it impossible to find out information for potential leads... Continue reading

Xiaomi Global, a privately owned tech company in China, may hit American soil in the near future and make its own footprint in the highly-competitive smartphone market. The three-year old business has concentrated its sales in Taiwan and China, but a recent move that sent shock waves through the technological world hints at possible expansion outside of Asia. Hugo Barra, the former Vice President for Google Android announced last week that he was leaving for Xiaomi Global to help boost its smartphone section of the business. This is just the latest hit for Anroid, who saw chief Andy Rubin leave... Continue reading