About Talia Whyte

Posts by Talia Whyte:

Why The Information Life Cycle Is Important Today

In the age of fake news and alternative facts, real facts still matter.  The good thing about the internet is that you have access to a wealth of information at the tip of your fingers.  The bad thing about the internet and social media is that we sometimes have a hard time deciphering what is fact or fiction.

I went to this seminar last week on the importance of the information life cycle when looking at events that happen and how to reflect on them as time goes by.  I found it really interesting.

Here it is:
The Day of an Event
Television, Social Media, and the Web

  • The who, what, why, and where of the event
  • Quick, not detailed, regularly updated
  • Authors are journalists, bloggers, social media participants
  • Intended for general audiences

The Day After an Event
Newspapers

  • Explanations and timelines of the event begin to appear
  • More factual information may include statistics, quotes, photographs, and editorial coverage
  • Authors are journalists
  • Intended for general audiences

The Week or Weeks After an Event
Weekly Popular Magazines and New Magazines

  • Long form stories begin to discuss the impact on society, culture, and public policy
  • More detailed analyses, interviews, and various perspectives emerge
  • Authors range from journalists to essayists, and commentary provided by scholars and experts in the field
  • Intended for a general audience or specific non-professional groups

Six Months to a Year or More After an Event
Academic, Scholarly Journals

  • Focused, detailed analysis and theoretical, empirical research
  • Peer-reviewed, ensuring high credibility and accuracy
  • Authors include scholars, researchers, and professionals
  • Intended for an audience of scholars, researchers, and university students

A Year to Years After an Event
Books 

  • In-depth coverage ranging from scholarly in-depth analysis to popular books
  • Authors range from scholars to professionals to journalists
  • Include reference books which provide factual information, overviews, and summaries
Government Reports
  • Reports from federal, state, and local governments
  • Authors include governmental panels, organizations, and committees
  • Often focused on public policy, legislation, and statistical analysis

Landmines Continue To Be A Global Crisis

, ,

Continuing on from last week’s post on international military spending, in that same UN exhibit I visited, there was also a photo gallery of young people from around the world who lost body parts because of undetected landmines.  An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people are killed or maimed by landmines every year, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.  You can actually buy landmines for as cheap at $3, but it would cost up to $1,000 to safely unearth them by professional weapons handlers.  It costs thousands of dollars to provide lifelong care for a landmine survivor.

I remember going to Cambodia many years ago and meeting young people who lost limbs to landmines.  The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and unexploded ordinances in Cambodia.  Most of the mines were installed during the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and are still active.  These young people weren’t even alive when the Cambodian Genocide occurred.  As a matter of fact, Cambodia may have held its last Khmer Rouge trial just last week.

A few years ago, I used to host a fundraising effort called Night of a Thousand Dinners, where you invite friends and co-workers to feast on a dinner I prepared.  I would invite someone from the United Nations Association of USA to speak to the crowd about the landmine crisis globally.  I also had in attendance my colleague Sharon, who is a Mozambican freelance journalist and landmine survivor, to give her firsthand experience.

I am thinking of doing the dinner again either before Christmas or after the new year, in addition to a similar fundraiser to support victims of police brutality in the United States.  Whether stateside or on the other side of the world, there are way too many victims of violence in the world, and everyone’s effort to fight it counts.  More compassion is needed in the world.

Here is a video about landmines:

 

Time to Cut Global Military Spending

,

Last week my staff and I were in New York to prepare for my company’s annual UN Week events.  After a couple of meetings with vendors and as we were leaving the UN, we passed an exhibit on weapons of mass destruction.

Did you know that annual global military expenditures are $1.7 trillion?  In the United States alone military spending is projected to account for 54 percent of all federal discretionary spending, a total of $598.5 billion.  However, the US government only spends $65 and $66 billion on veterans’ benefits and Medicare/health care for all Americans, respectively, or just six percent of spending.

 

The Republicans are trying desperately to kill off Obamacare because they feel it costs too much.  No, I would say ongoing wars and conflicts cost too much.  We need to reorganize our priorities as a country.

“The world is over-armed and peace is underfunded.” Ban Ki-Moon

Typewriters Are Still Cool!

About a month ago, I had a meeting with my staff about our upcoming Teen ContentCamp.   We are planning on including a brief historical discussion of communication with our group of 25 tech-savvy teenagers.

“What if I showed them a typewriter,” my business partner Philip said sarcastically.  “I bet they wouldn’t even know what it was.”

So much has changed since I was a teen when I had to type out book reports on typewriters.  I still have my old typewriter somewhere in my basement.  But sometimes I feel like I want to go back to the analog world with the typewriter because looking at smartphones and computers can be mentally draining.

It seems like other people have the same idea and yearning for the days of old communication.  I hope I can convey to the kids that typewriters are still cool.

And a brief history of this magical machine.

«< 87 88 89 90 91 >»