Culture
One of the great things about having grandchildren is getting to see animated movies without being embarassed. Except those who appreciate great animated films will be embarassed by Monsters Vs. Aliens. Okay, embarassed may not be the word. Bored. Disappointed. Exasperated. Those words might express the range of responses to
church
Today I talked with 35 students who expressed interest in contributing to a faith and culture news website written by college students. I was one of 14 roundtable discussion leaders who met with over 100 University of Tennessee journalism students today. The seminar was a "public conversation of web
Culture
Tuesday I head to Knoxville to participate in an unusual event for a Baptist preacher. I'll be a roundtable discussion leader at A Public Conversation on Web Journalism. Other speakers include local newspaper editors, executives from the media giant Scripps (HGTV, Food Network, etc), and other online creators
Community
Photo courtesy New York Times This is not a photo of a third world country. This is the new America for some in California. Tent cities are springing up from coast to coast as the unemployed lose their homes and apartments. I have visited countries in Asia where whole families
Creativity
"People today are going to stay connected forever," says Jeff Jarvis. Jarvis, journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? made that observation in a talk to Google employees recently. Jarvis's point is that Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Twitter, Flickr, and a host of
Congregation
A probing question companies ask themselves in planning is, “What business are we in?” You might think it would be obvious that a newspaper, for instance, is in the print news business. But, not so, according to a popular journalism blogger. Steve Yelvington says that newspapers are in the business
Congregation
Jeff Jarvis, journalism guru and author of What Would Google Do? quoted from my post The Future of Churches: A Network of Niches. Needless to say, I'm honored and thrilled. Jarvis is one of the prophetic voices who warned of the decline of newspapers when everyone else was
Culture
Last Sunday, March 8, I heard Tom Hayden, peace and justice activist, speak at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California. I'm at Fuller Seminary for a few days in a DMin seminar, and always try to worship at All Saints when I'm here. In addition
Congregation
My cell phone beeped this morning as I was walking into church. CNN breaking news reported that Fred Winters, pastor of First Baptist Church, Maryville, Illinois, had been shot and killed in the church sanctuary. Another church shooting, this one seemingly without apparent motive. An act of violence in a
Congregation
In the on-going debate "will digital replace books?" the conclusion of many media watchers is an unequivocal Yes and No. Amazon's Kindle has really become a game-changer, delivering books within seconds of purchase via Sprint's wireless network. Problems do exist, as Jeff Jarvis points
Culture
Another newspaper closed last week and more are on the way. Print journalism is dying faster than the dinosaurs did, and for the same reasons -- the climate changed. Not the atmospheric climate, but the social climate. TV ditto, and throw in retail while you're at it. What
Culture
Today Amazon delivered my copy of Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett. A research professor of psychology at Clark University, Arnett became fascinated at the different choices 18-t0-20-something year olds were making compared to preceding generations. Further research bore out