Friday, August 29

WC grad lost while doing what he loved

Westminster Community Remembers Isaac

Thursday, August 28, 2008/titanradio.net

NEW WILMINGTON, Lawrence County-- Faculty, staff and Westminster College alumni are remembering 2004 graduate Isaac Ludwig after he died this week in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. Ludwig went missing on a river trip on Tuesday. The 27-year old experienced whitewater guide disappeared while on a kayak trek on the Little Pigeon River. Another group of kayakers discovered his body the next morning. Park officials say Ludwig, who worked in the area with a rafting company, was kayaking with friends when they couldn't find him. His companions pulled out of the river when the water became too rough. Ludwig had a degree in public relations while also studying broadcasting and political science and loved the outdoors and kayaking.

His friends continue to leave comforting messages and remembrances on his Facebook page.

"I will miss seeing pictures of your adventures and your travels," Westminster College PR instructor Dee Natale wrote. "It doesn't seem fair that someone with so much life leaves us all behind."

Ludwig worked for a paddle sports company called Rafting in the Smokies. His posts on his Facebook pages on Tuesday indicated he had returned to Tennessee after a river trip in Western Pennsylvania. The experienced kayaker's final Facebook entry has a timestamp of 11:43 Tuesday morning. It was a simple update status statement.

"Isaac Ludwig is back in the Smokies...with rain."

That rain may have contributed to the river conditions that day. On Wednesday morning some friends left what appear to be concerned messages. One came from friend Adam Bixby.

"Man, Isaac, send me a note when you get this please."

Then the bad news spread as people began posting their reaction as they learned that Ludwig's body had been found in the river. Steady streams of remembrances from friends continue to post on his Facebook wall.

Westminster alumnus Craig Carlin graduated with Ludwig. He has kept in touch with Ludwig via Facebook and reached out online to react to the tragic news.

"I remember watching from shore as Isaac kayaked down the creek at college and I thought to myself, "This guy is crazy" and later became good friends with him inside and outside of class," Carlin posted. "Isaac, if you had to go early, at least it was doing what you truly loved to do. We'll all miss ya, buddy."

Ludwig's whitewater adventures experiences took him to rivers across North and South America.

Juggling those DMAs-- but who's watching?



Pittsburgh dropped to Designated Market Area (DMA) 23 as Nielsen Media Research updates it's television market rankings. It becomes official in January.


Portland, Oregon, moved up the ladder moving into the 22nd DMA spot. Portland's population is growing. The Steel City's population declined. PG television critic Rob Owen has reaction from local TV station general managers spinning as there's no big deal. Owens points out that at one time was a top 10 market.


Nielsen also reported a slowdown in the growth of television audiences. While the Asian, hispanic and older audiences continue to twice as face as the entire audience using television. Nielseen estimates the 2008-2009 TV season will have an audience of 114.5 million television homes.

Sunday, August 17

Weaver's Webblog Guide

Weaver's Guide to Blogging
Keeping your blog focused, professional and simple while also keeping it up to date makes a blog worth visiting and credible. Images, graphics and video dress it up, but it will always come back to good, solid writing and communication. That's exactly why you should never post a first draft entry. Edit what you write. Spelling errors and typos tarnish you and your blog. I suggest writing & editing entries with a word processor, then copy and paste into the blog.

Here are more tips I offer my BC Capstone students when it comes to blogging:


Showcase Good Communication Skills

1. Invest time and research into your content.

  • Write enough to communicate meaning with the reader, but avoid overkill. Have a point and get to it.
    When students blog, potential employers could be watching.
    KEEP YOUR WEBLOG PROFESSIONAL & POLISHED.

    You must always think about your audience, no matter how niche it may be. You should also keep ethical and leg
  • Write what you know about-- concentrate on what you're passionate about and make that the focus of your blog.
  • Showcase your work. Promote your talent, skills and experience.
  • Demonstrate your knowledge and experience by correctly using the terminology of your profession.
  • Connect your entries to topical events and issues in your field.
  • Offer your own style and voice and be consistent with it.

2. Always attribute!

  • Plagiarizing, fabricating or other BS is not tolerated. Such misdeeds will often be challenged publicly and will haunt you in your professional efforts.

3. Offer Links!

  • The more links you offer the better the chances your blog could turn up in a web search.
  • Link back to your sources (this offers transparency, attribution and validity to the points you want to make).

ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU'RE PUTTING IT OUT THERE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE!

What you post is public so be ready to stand by it.

1. Never reveal personal, private information.

  • Never blog about your personal life. Limit contact information to comment areas or postings that your blog can forward to you. Also turn on the blog features that will let you screen out e-mail scrapers, SPAMMERS, etc.

2. Never blog proprietary or privileged information. Never disclose company secrets or information shared with you in confidence. Off the record means off the record. Don't even hint about something proprietary or priviledged as it will flag the attention of corporate lawyers who are now in the business of patrolling blogs for such violations.

  • If you're blogging about internship or job-related experiences, inform your employer about your weblog.
  • Promote transparency. Invite the employer to read your blog and offer feedback.

3. Ask about restrictions or limits on what you can and cannot blog.

  • Many companies now have strict rules about employee blogs.
  • Some media savvy companies encourage blogging but have specific guidelines.
  • If the employer prohibits blogging about work experiences, then comply.

4. Be Positive- Showcase your ability to think critically and creatively.

  • Offer solutions instead of only pointing out problems.

5. Be clear when expressing opinion or comments.

  • When engaged in criticism, remain constructive.
  • Recognize opposing positions.
  • Support your points with evidence and attribution (include links).
  • Never engage in personal attacks.

6. Update entries on a regular basis.

  • Develop a routine so regular visitors can expect timely updates and will want to interact with your blog.

7. Entertain and inform your readers

  • INCLUDE PICTURES: Offer interesting and appropriate images and context.
  • Write engaging headlines.

Be Prepared- Avoid Legal Entanglements

1. Be truthful & ethical.

  • Read and understand the Blogger User Agreement.
  • Understand the impact of what you write.

2. Remember libel applies to weblogs.

  • Remember false light applies to weblogs.
  • Remember invasion of privacy applies to weblogs.

Other Tips- Read & Comment

1. Read other weblogs.

  • Routinely search for weblogs discussing topics of interest to you.
  • Bookmark weblogs you think are written well or speak to you.

2. Offer constructive feedback and comments on blogs you visit.

Some places to get started with weblogging:

Blogger

WordPress

Sunday, August 3

KDKA Radio's Future?

This summer I visited my friend Marshall Adams-- KDKA Rado Program/News Director and checked out the newsroom during the station's live coverage of the Bonus Gate indictments involving current and former state lawmakers. The station's newsroom is getting upgrades, new Dell computers (why Dell? I can't stand Dell), etc.

The PG published an interesting article on Saturday suggesting KDKA radio may be for sale. I find this interesting the article focused on radio. The old traditional media companies are all trying to unload old media-- radio and TV. Just look at NBC/Universal unloading it's owned and operated stations in Miami, Columbus, Hartford, etc. I suspect CBS/Viacom may be looking to do the same with radio and TV-- but radio is cheaper to maintain and program in the scheme of things in the digital future. TV is expensive to maintain and program. Plus KDKA radio and KDKA TV share space and resources in Gateway Center. Perhaps KDKA-TV is also on the auction block or will be soon? Maybe Viacom is looking to dump both? Just a theory.

Is KDKA radio for sale?
Saturday, August 02, 2008

Could the nation's oldest radio station -- and a Pittsburgh institution -- be on the selling block?

That's the speculation after CBS Radio, which owns KDKA-AM and three FM stations here, announced plans to sell 50 stations in midsize markets.

The plans to sell off 50 of the 140 stations it currently owns coincided with Thursday's announcement of CBS's lackluster second-quarter earnings. During a conference call with analysts, CBS said it would divest itself of stations in around 12 midsize markets in order to concentrate on its larger markets. "By selling selected stations in these markets, we can focus on the larger market stations, many of which are showing growth," said Les Moonves. CBS Radio president and chief executive officer.

Like most media companies, CBS is dealing with a downturn in advertising revenues. In the three months ended June 30, net income rose a scant 1 percent, boosted by the sale of its shares in The Sundance cable channel. Revenue in the radio division fell 10 percent, while operating income was off an even larger 16 percent.

Karen Mateo, CBS Radio's communications vice president, yesterday said the company "is not commenting at this time" on what stations or what cities are candidates for sale. But the company's emphasis on concentrating on larger markets -- the top 15 -- would put Pittsburgh's CBS stations on the potential for-sale list. Pittsburgh ranks 24th in Arbitron's national ratings.

In addition to news/talk KDKA, CBS Radio locally owns contemporary hits WBZW-FM (93.7), country WDSY-FM (107.9) and hot adult contemporary WZPT-FM (100.7) here.

Michael Young, senior vice president and Pittsburgh market manager for CBS Radio, told gathered KDKA staffers Thursday after the earnings announcement that because Pittsburgh isn't part of top 15 markets, "we could potentially be in play as a cluster or station for sale.

"But we don't know that. We don't have a specific list."

Radio industry observer Tom Taylor, news editor of the broadcasting trade journal Radio-Info, believes Pittsburgh's stations could be sales candidates, but he said whether that holds will depend in part on whether buyers would be interested in this market. Until specific stations and potential buyers are named, the speculation and uncertainty will continue for CBS employees here and in similar-sized markets, such as Baltimore, Cleveland and Charlotte, N.C.

CBS already has sold some 40 stations in smaller markets. But the economic environment has changed, Mr. Taylor points out. "Credit is hard for everybody. And there are a lot of radio stations out there for sale."

While radio stations have changed hands frequently since the ownership consolidation wave began, KDKA's ownership has been steady -- now with CBS and formerly of Westinghouse Electric, which acquired CBS in 1996 and ultimately shed its industrial divisions and took on the CBS name.

KDKA had been a Westinghouse broadcasting property since its first broadcast on Nov. 2, 1920, providing listeners with a rundown of the Harding-Cox presidential election returns.

For many, the potential sale of KDKA radio is as unthinkable as the someone other than the Rooney family owning the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"It's hard to imagine CBS not owning KDKA," Mr. Taylor said.