Why News Releases Fail

Sorry about my otaku with this issue (otaku = more than a hobby, a little less than an obsession).

Many of you may know me, since I run Imediafax, the Internet to Media Fax Service. I send out over a million news releases a year for people via fax and email. You probably think that I've got news releases failing on me day in and day out.

Actually, I don't. The news releases I write and send out for people do quite well. My clients are quite happy with me because they are successful with their outreach efforts.

It's the draft news releases that people send to me that are my problem.

Fixing the problems I see in the news releases people send me takes forever. It is also very painful.

I've seen a lot of news release failure over the years, and I now know what the key problems look like and how to fix them.

My plight as a publicist is that I spend a lot of time educating my clients trying to get them to understand the psychology of dealing with the media.

The rubber meets the road in the news release because this single sheet of paper is the key nexus for all communications with the media. The importance of the copy on a news release cannot be overstated. It has to be free of negative issues or factors that will reduce or eliminate media interest and response. One fatal error and it's all over.

So identifying the problems and revising the news releases is crucial. I spend a tremendous amount of time and effort trying to avoid sending out news releases with problems still in them.

The issue is that when people send me news releases, it often takes a long, long time to identify and communicate the problems, and then more time again to explain and negotiate all the word changes with the clients, and more time still to finalize the news release and have it ready and approved for transmittal.

Honestly - it can be very painful for all involved. I'm quite brutal on my clients, since their success is all that matters. I don't pull any punches. My comment process can bruise a lot of highly inflated egos of some otherwise very accomplished people, on the way to a problem free news release that maximizes the chances of success when finally sent. Lots of people think they can write a news release. Very few of them can do it very well.

They simply haven't followed the media response to enough news releases to learn the errors that are made when they write news releases. They haven't yet learned what the mistakes are, so there is no learning from continuous improvement.

This is where the blood, sweat and tears of the copywriting business is truly found. It gets even tougher when another professional publicist wrote the news release for the client. Now the client is getting opposing advice from two professionals. One says "Make it Hot" and the other says "Cool it". What's a publicist to do?

So my motivations for doing this article are really quite selfish. I want to spend less time doing this. My life will be significantly improved if my clients send me news releases that take less time and energy to fix. Very simply, for each and every news release that comes in and doesn't have these problems, I'll free myself to spend more time doing things that are more profitable for my clients and me.

The issues listed here have all been identified as reasons for the failure of a news release. This is based on over 20 years of experience in dealing with the aftermath - the actual number and quality of responses generated from the transmittal of a news release.

So here are the most common reasons why news releases fail:

1. You wrote an advertisement. It's not a news release at all. It sells product. It fails to offer solid news of real tangible interest, value-added information, education or entertainment.

2. You wrote for a minority, not for a majority of people in the audience. You simply won't compete with other news releases that clearly are written for a larger demographic of the media audience.

3. You are the center of attention, not the media audience. You focus on your business and your marketing, instead of things the editor and his or her audience will be interested in.

4. You forgot to put the five W's up front. (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY THE AUDIENCE WILL BE INTERESTED). You didn't clearly and succinctly tell the media why the audience would be interested in this.

5. You are too wordy and text dense. You focused on details and minutia, instead of the most important ideas, issues, factors, facts, and news angles. You fail to address the real significant impacts your story has on people.

6. You place too much information on one page - the one page news release has a font size so small an editor needs a magnifying glass to read it.

7. You included corporate logos and other non-persuasive low value added graphics that distract the editor from your key message. You may have also used an unusual fancy font or a file format that turns to gobbledygook when it goes through a fax machine.

8. You wrote a personally biased article for the media to publish, instead of pitching the idea to the media and the objective reasons why the media audience will be interested.

9. You wrote about features and facts, and forgot to explain what it means to real people. Tell a story about real people. Add in real life human interest.

10. You wrote about how your news ties in to someone else's fame and glory. Forget it. Never stand in the shadow of someone else. Make your own light. Tell your own story.

11. Your news release responds to something that just happened. You're too late. You're behind the eight ball. Forget it. Get out in front of the news.

12. You included too much hype, self-laudatory praise, pithy quotes, useless testimonials, jargon or gobbledygook. Get rid of it.

13. You may have also identified prior media coverage, which indicates it's no longer a new issue. Get rid of it. Let each news release stand on it's own two feet.

14. You tried to impress and be clever or innovative but you come off naïve, less than expert, biased, flippant, arrogant, or crazy. Tone it down. Get straight.

15. You made vague and unsubstantiated claims, or wild and outrageous claims, or you included a statement that simply rubs the media the wrong way. Get rid of them.

16. You are trying to be different, just for the sake of it, but you come off eccentric. Forget it. Don't create a false or inflated image. Be yourself.

17. You wrote a rant and rave, worthy of a letter to the editor, instead of a problem solving tips article, worthy of a feature story. Decide what you want, put your best effort into it.

18. You are simply not credible. It could be your ideas are simply not well thought out, or that you've offered old well-worn material, or that you are too extreme or controversial, or not qualified. You may not be expert enough, or sufficiently qualified, to make the statements, compared to others in your field. You need to present information that qualifies you properly and adequately.

19. You provided poor contact information. You need to identify the best single point of contact and the correct phone number so interested media can reach you and get the best possible attention and response from you to meet their needs. One key person, one phone, no fax, one email address, and one URL (with no long string addresses).

20. You did not include a clear media call for action. You didn't tell the media what you want them to do with your news release. You need to tell them what you are asking for or suggesting or offering. Then you need to offer the media incentives value-added reasons to do so, like free review copies, free test samples, interview questions and answers, media kits with story angles and stats and data, relevant photographs, etc.

21. You did not incorporate and integrate a primary response mechanism. You need to include a value-added reason, which motivates the editor to publish or mention your contact information, which will generate calls, traffic, interviews, or requests for more information. This usually means something unique and of special value to the audience, that the editor feels good about mentioning. Use an offer for a free problem solving report.

22. You sent the release to the wrong media. Target the media that your clients read, watch and listen to when they are in the right mood, that is, receptive to hearing about your news, and willing to take action when they get your message. Work with your publicist to target the right media.

23. You rely on a single fax or an email to produce an avalanche of media calls. You conduct no follow up. Get real. Follow up properly and you can triple or quadruple your media response rate. Better still, you can ask the editors "what can I give you to support a feature story and meet your needs".

Finally, the biggest reason for news release failure is one of attitude. How do you define success or failure? It's called unrealistic expectations.

Get real. You won't get rich off one news release. You're chances of getting famous are just about as slim.

You might be able to break even.

Look at your investment and compare it to what you need to break even on your investment. If you need to sell 100 books to cover the costs of a $500 outreach effort, you need ten articles because each article only produces ten sales. So that's your breakeven goal. More books per article, means less articles will satisfy your needs.

You may simply have to be realistic and understand that while you are wildly interested in the topic, it may not have the broad general public interest that you have for the subject. If you wrote an article that has local interest and you expect national media to pay attention, think again.

If you want to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show, then you'd better pray because chances of doing it off one news release are very slim, near zero in fact. Get real. If she calls, then congratulations are in order. But don't count on it.

If you wrote an advertisement and wanted a feature story and interviews, don't be surprised if the only media to call is the advertising manager offering you a package deal. You get what you ask for. What you offer is often times what you will get.

Even if you do get publicity, it may not come out exactly the way you want it. More often than not, the bigger the media, the less likely they are to run contact information.

Often times, the quality may be there while the numbers are not.

One or two quality media responses may be what you want or need. If you get that, it's a success.

One article in USA Today may out perform ten articles in small dailies and weeklies in the mid-west.

On the other hand, it may not. The small high quality articles may outperform the small mention in the big media.

Similarly, one quality 30-minute interview on a well-liked talk show on a radio station in the middle of nowhere out in the mid-west, will likely outsell a five-minute interview on an Arbitron rated radio station in the middle of the morning talk show in a major metropolitan area. You can't tell the listening quality of the audience.

So when you write a news release please review it against these criteria to see if you've made any of these errors. Then fix each and every one of them yourself, and when you are done, feel free to send me your final draft. I'll be happy to take a look at it.

Proposition and Bilingual Education

In the months leading up to the public vote, between January 2000 and November 2000, the two largest newspapers in the state, the East Valley Tribune and the Arizona Republic, produced a combined 73 articles that directly focused on Proposition 203 and/or bilingual education. An examination of these newspaper articles reveals certain stylistic and rhetorical features that were brought to bear on this controversial issue in favor of the ballot measure.
It is possible to discuss the potential influence of newspapers by looking at this specific context from multiple vantage points. Factors such as the slant of an article, the wording of a headline, the specific text in an article, and inherent variations between newspapers play a significant role in the construction of social opinion. Some brief examples of these features will demonstrate the complexity of their relationship in the portrayal of bilingual education and language minority students.
Reading an article with a critical eye allows researchers to discern whether the information is being presented in a straightforward manner or whether there is a particular slant either for or against the issue at hand. This is most obvious when comparing news stories with editorials. Articles that convey basic information (e.g., dates, times, locations) are generally straightforward or politically neutral.
Even in news stories, however, journalists may include their own opinions or value-laden statements. At this point, the news article starts to take on the characteristics of an editorial even though it was slated to be a news story. Out of the 73 articles involved in the Proposition 203 campaign, only 9, or 12%, could be considered neutral by researchers (i.e., they did not place value on either side of the debate).
It was found that the remaining 64 articles had a clear slant. With a total of 48, or 66%, the vast majority of the articles took on a negative slant (i.e., denigrating the opposition's perspective). The remaining 16, or 22%, conveyed a positive message concerning either the value of bilingual education or English immersion. When the slanted articles are broken down according to their portrayal of bilingual education, it is easy to see the potential impact on public opinion: Of the 64 slanted articles identified, 41, or 64%, contained negative depictions of bilingual education.

Get the 10 Questions Right Below or You Will Lose At Forex Trading

Below you will find 10 questions if you can answer them all correctly you have had good forex education and could join the elite 5% of traders who make big profits - get any of them wrong and you need to continue your forex education! So let's look at the questions below.
1. Forex day trading is a good way to make money
The answer is no - your 100% guaranteed to lose as all short term volatility is random you can't get the odds in your favour and you will lose.
2. Forex markets move to scientific theory
The answer is no of course they don't. If they did then we would all know the answer in advance and there would be no market. A market price moves by its very nature due to uncertainty.
3. Buying Dips To Moving Averages Is a Great Strategy
Buying dips to a moving average is a great way to lose money - it's a lagging not a leading indicator and should never be used in isolation
4. Everything about trading is learned anyone can do it
The correct answer is yes. Anyone can learn to trade if they get the right Forex education and learn the correct knowledge and skills to succeed. Of course most traders fail to do this and lose.
5 Simple Forex Trading Systems Work Better Than Complicated Ones
As a general rule the correct answer is yes, as they are more robust in the face of brutal ever changing market conditions. If a system is to complicated it collapses, as there are too many elements to break.
Most of the world's top trading systems are simple.
6. I Don't Need To Work Hard To Make a Lot Of Money
The correct answer is yes. You don't need to work hard, as there is no correlation between the effort you put in and the reward you get out of forex trading.
You only get paid for being right, nothing else and the amount of effort you make does NOT make any difference to your currency trading success.
The trick is to work smart not hard.
7. Buy low sell high is the best way to make money
The correct answer is no. The best way to make money is not to try and buy lows but buy new highs. The fact is the biggest market moves tend to start form new market HIGHS Not market lows.
If you want to catch the big trends, then aim for these breaks at new market highs and trade them.
8. The more news sources I consult the better
The correct answer is no. News sources don't help you make money, in fact they normally help you lose - as you run with the pack and let your emotions get involved.
News is stories and the people giving them are not traders follow the news and you will lose.
9. I have a system that works I Don't need any more education
The correct answer is yes. Many traders think they have to keep learning for ever but if you have a system that works you don't need to spend any more time studying you can simply spend your time applying it and making money.
10. My risk per trade is my expected profit divided by my stop
The answer is obviously no as this is simply an opinion you hold and has no relation to what the odds of success are. Many people say its high return low risk based upon their opinion and that's not the way to trade forex.
If you answered the above 10 questions correctly, you are on your way to being a winner - if you got any wrong, then its time to keep studying and improving your forex education.

Math Education Checklist

You need a math education. You want to enroll in an online school to get that education out of the way. The good news is that, in general, most of the mathematics courses that you will need to take are available to you on the web. The other bit of good news is that you can find a variety of schools providing a variety of educational curriculum for you to study. The bad news is that you still have to do the math work that goes along with learning this type of education. Nevertheless, one of the most important things you need to do before you enroll in this type of program is to know what to look for in a school providing you with your math education.
The following is a checklist of qualifications you want to look for in a school to ensure that you can achieve the goals that you have.
1.    Is the school accredited? It should be state wide or nationally accredited to provide the best level of education for you.
2.    Does the math education taught to you in this program fulfill any type of need that you have in another program? Do you need a specific type of math education and if so, does the school you are considering offer it?
3.    IS online education available from the school? If so, find out the process works as well as who teaches the education.
When it comes down to it, getting a math education on the web makes sense and it is quite possible to do. However, most students will need to ensure that the school they choose is going to provide them with the right level of education for however they plan to use it. There is a different from one school to the next and every student needs to understand what their options really are.

6 Resources for Business Intelligence News and Information

Despite Business Intelligence becoming an increasingly widespread practice, there appears to be relatively little to choose from in terms of good quality news and information resources. From monitoring several discussions on LinkedIn, we saw the same names tended to crop up over and over again.
1. Perhaps the most widely recognized for BI content was TDWI.org. The Data Warehousing Institute™ provides education, training, certification, news, and research for executives and IT professionals across the world. Founded 15 years ago, TDWI is the premier educational institute for business intelligence and data warehousing. Home to Wayne's World Blog, written by Wayne W. Eckerson, the director of research and services, it provides readers with anything from online conferences, to whitepaper downloads, to industry reports.
2. Frequently cited by several LinkedIn members, Information Management was another popular resource people turned to for BI news. It claims to be "the educated reader's choice for the latest news, commentary and feature content serving the information technology and business community", and with its relaunch last year, it offers original reporting, online radio programming, informative Web seminar programming, white paper resources and online education to professionals in the field of IT. Providing daily informative newsletters on a variety of content, it is understandable why info-mgmt.com has carved a strong position in the BI domain.
3. The BeyeNETWORK™ provides global coverage of the BI ecosystem. It supplies industry coverage and resources on business intelligence, performance management, data warehousing, data integration and data quality. B-Eye-Network also includes BeyeUNIVERSITY, a comprehensive curriculum covering all areas of the business intelligence ecosystem. These certificate programs are taught by experts who are nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their respective fields, and best of all, are completely free!
4. The name Ralph Kimball cropped up on more than one occasion, although perhaps not soley in reference to BI. He is known worldwide as an innovator, writer, educator, speaker and consultant in the field of data warehousing. He has maintained his long-term conviction that data warehouses must be designed to be understandable and fast. His books on dimensional design techniques have become best sellers in data warehousing. To date Ralph has written more than 100 articles and columns for Intelligent Enterprise and its predecessors, winning the Readers' Choice Award five years in a row. Some of his books include "The Kimball Group Reader: Relentlessly Practical Tools for Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence" and "The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit: Practical Techniques for Extracting, Cleaning, Conforming, and Delivering Data".
5. Similarly to Ralph Kimball, Bill Inmon was another name that graced discussions quite regularly. Inmon, a world-renowned expert, speaker and author on data warehousing, is widely recognized as the "Father of Data Warehousing". In addition to authoring more than 50 books and 650 articles, Bill has been a monthly columnist with the Business Intelligence Network, EIM Institute and Data Management Review. In 2007, Bill was named by Computerworld as one of the "Ten IT People Who Mattered in the Last 40 Years" of the computer profession.
6. Howard Dresner is an industry acclaimed expert, noted author, thought leader and lecturer for Business Intelligence, and Enterprise Performance Management. He spent 13 years at Gartner, where he served as lead analyst for Business Intelligence. Today as President and Founder of Dresner Advisory Services, he focuses his energy on creating and sharing thought leadership for Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Business Intelligence (BI) and speaks at forums around the globe. He has written two books: "The Performance Management Revolution: Business Results Through Insight and Action" and "Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and The Roadmap for Change".

Bilingual Education in the Press

In today's society, the distribution of information is controlled largely by the print and electronic media. Directly and indirectly, media affect the way in which people learn about their world and form opinions on the salient topics of the day, heavily influencing the process of social relations and the slant or spin applied to the news. This becomes most apparent when one analyzes the ways in which the media guide people's relationships with social institutions (e.g., educational, religious, governmental).
Lacking the time and ability to interact personally with every social institution, individuals depend on the media for information about a variety of issues. Media may not always be largely responsible for public opinion, but there are many documented cases in which this has occurred.
When the bulk of collective knowledge of a given issue is determined by the news media, the press becomes a major factor in the formation of social attitudes and beliefs. According to David Fan, has it been suggested not only that media shape public views of political issues but that they also mold opinion within specific agenda items. Michael Herzfeld maintains it is no exaggeration to say that in the United States, media are a major force in society: They create as much as they reflect the events taking place in the nation.
While individual, seemingly insignificant messages conveyed in the media might appear to have minimal effect, they may accrue over time and form long-term trends of public opinion that affect the outcome of public debate. This entry examines the portrayal by media of the relationship between bilingual education and immigration and provides a context for it in the broader dynamic of society and the press.
Given that media play an important role in the construction of public opinion and have the potential to directly affect the political process, it is important to understand the impact that individual media forms have and how they are consumed by the public. There are special characteristics of newspapers that help to shape public opinion. While many people elect to watch television and/or listen to the radio for their news and information, the printed format of newspapers offers specific advantages.
Newspapers are not limited by time. Readers can afford to devote more time to read and review print news and editorializing and to choose when and where they will do so. This lack of time constraint also allows newspapers to present many more stories than broadcast news on radio or television. This entry focuses on print media in one state and how it influenced the public's view of a ballot initiative to abolish bilingual education in that state.

Sally has been writing articles quite a long time. Come visit her latest website over at  which helps people find the best Kitchen Trash Bags  and information they are looking for.

Here's Why You Need Good Technical Analysis Education For Trading Stocks

Technical analysis education is the key to successful stock trading. While a number of long-term investors focus primarily on fundamentals, as traders we know that the price movement reflects most accurately what the market thinks of the stock, so we make our decisions based on the technical analysis of price movement. Technical analysis is critical. Without it, you don't stand a chance at trading profitably.
So it should go without saying that good technical analysis education is the foundation of a profit-producing trader. Some fundamentals of good technical analysis are pivot points, volume shifting and stochastics, moving averages, and trends. Here today, I'd like to focus on trends. I'm sure you've heard it before, but I'm going to say it again, "The Trend is Your Friend".
If you ignore trends, they'll smack you on the side of the head with as many losses as it takes to get your attention. But if you take the time to get to know the trend, understanding its movements, its strengths and weaknesses, you can use its leverage to your advantage. Get to know the market trend.
Before going any further, I'd like to point out the difference between the market trend and current price movement. Pretty basic stuff, but it's important and so foundational to successful trading. Here's the distinction:
A trend can be moving in one direction, while the current price movement fluctuates up and down. For example, the trend can be moving up, but that price at any given moment may be moving down. The price might be going down for a short time, but the overall trend is still pointing up.
So what does that mean to us as traders? Well, think of the trend as a magnet that's pulling the stock in a certain direction. Sure, the stock price is untamed, moving up and down, seemingly at whim. But the larger trend is clearly pulling the stock in a certain direction. So the probability of the stock going with the trend is always greater than the stock moving against the trend. This means that if a stock is moving in a downward trend, it's always a safer bet to open a position as the price movement also trends down.
Therefore, in technical analysis education, the first rule of the trend is to open trading positions when trend and price movement match.
And how do we recognize trends? Well, there are a number of stock trading tools to identify trends, such as moving averages and trend lines, but I'd like to focus on size: bigger usually carries the most weight.
What I mean is that if you're looking to enter and exit a trade in one day, you should take a step back so you can see several days or a couple weeks of action on that stock. Or if you're looking to enter a position for a few days or couple weeks, look back at the past month or two to spot a larger trend.
The bigger the trend, the more weight it carries. If you see a three-month trend reaching its boundary, be very careful to trust a single day's trend heading in the other direction. Large trends get to push around small trends and price movements, so always give them the most respect.
That sounds pretty simple, but can we always trust trends? Well, put your technical analysis education to good use and watch out for these:
1) News- Know that if news on a company or major stock market news are due to come out, this may cause the trend to be completely ignored, at least temporarily. So watch out for the news.
2) Seasonal or time fluctuations- The volume of stock trading can change drastically with certain seasons or days of the week, weakening a trend. It's important to learn the rhythm of the market.
3) Trend boundaries- I mentioned this a little bit before, but it's worth mentioning again. If a trend is reaching some point where the market has shown to be stubborn, the trend may bounce back and reverse trend for a while. It's important to use trend lines and other analytics to know where these points are.
4) And last but not least, the Unknown- the market is always allowed to do something completely unexpected and irrational. That's why it's absolutely critical to have a good stock trading plan and money management strategy with risk vs. reward ratios firmly in place.
Spotting trends and moving with price movements takes a good deal of practice and quality technical analysis education. So don't skimp on your learning. Spend the time, and when necessary the money, to prepare yourself to be a successful trader. Below are a few great sources that will educate you via. demo trading and back testing.
Here's to profitable trading.

YouTube Skills Equals Opportunity For Educators

To many in the 30-something and beyond generations, YouTube is a strange phenomenon and a somewhat confusing business concept. Older generations do not fully understand what YouTube is about and generally avoid it. 'Kids' spending hour after hour on the computer making & sending silly video clips to each other: "What is that all about? In my day..."
Well, YouTube (and other video sharing web sites) are here to stay and that is that. And if they are here to stay, can they be used in the field of education?
Or more accurately
1. Can the skills 'kids' are picking up in using video creation and sharing be used in education?
2. Can the making of educational videos by students be used in the classroom and how beneficial might this be in improving student understand a topic?
3. Would a 'hands-on' approach to make a video essay allow students to better retain what they are learning?
This article will argue that the short answer to each of these questions is 'yes'. The key is how is it to be done and what resources are out there to help.
Kids today love making videos and sharing them via YouTube (and other video sharing web-sites). Surely these interests and skills could (and should) be harnessed? After all, what is the traditional (boring?) approach to education?
You are given an essay to write/a project to complete. To write the essay, you need to do some research; read a little; take notes; produce a 1000 word essay. Hand it in. Your teacher reads it. You get your mark. You move on and apart from revision, you never see the essay again.
What about if the end product was not a written report but one you produced as a video documentary?
Everything is the same until you get to the 'writing' stage. Tell the story you would previously have written down using visuals. Make a commentary using your notes. Tell the story. Find some suitable video clips. Go and make your own video clips. Bring in your own photographs. Make a video essay/documentary. Hand in the finished masterpiece. The teacher can then watch it or share is with the class. Promote discussion. Compare approaches to the project. Finally upload the video to the school/college web site or YouTube. In other words, the video approach opens more opportunities to learn then the written word.
So in a sentence:
Don't Write An Essay See An Essay
But what is the current state of video use (and the use of YouTube) in education?
Even in 2009, simply using YouTube as a tool for education is seen as quite radical: in a popular web site and forum for history teachers in the UK , a recent talking point was a short segment on the BBC news channel where this 'radical' idea was aired (search 'Roy Huggins school history' on YouTube). What is most interesting about this interview and the general comments on the forum afterward is the thought that these videos have to be made by the teacher community. 'Lets make videos for students and share them', is the current thinking. No discussion of letting the students make the video.
The BBC introduced an annual 'School Report' project whereby school students spend a day making new reports for broadcast on television (although mainly aimed at school web sites). The main point here is that students are encouraged to think about what goes into a news broadcast as well as the technical aspects of making the news report.
Another development is the development of a new degree course based on YouTube: "YouTube for Educators" through the Boise State University Department of Educational Technology.
A short introduction to the course is shown here, 'This is an academic course for students in an advanced educational technology program. It is my belief that YouTube, and video-sharing in general, cannot be ignored within a field of emergent technologies for learning. YouTube is having an impact on society, politics, and the lives of individuals from all walks of life.' (Search YouTube for 'csnelsonbsu ').
But this course is still a step behind giving video clips to students to create mini video documentaries.
In summary, the use of video as an educating tool is slowing creeping along the corridors of the educational establishments. But it is still dominated by a teacher-centered approach.
It is the teacher who creates.
It is the teacher who uses his/her imagination.
It is the student that watches.
To turn this around and make better use of the medium of video, students need to be given control. Students should be allowed to use their imagination and create, not teachers.
Clearly there are hurdles to be overcome to give teachers the opportunity to move into video essays. In order for students to create mini video documentaries they need access to computers, the raw video material and teachers need skills to manage it.
Other questions to add to the mix:
1. How would they physically make these videos: in the classroom? At home? Both?
2. How would schools and colleges go about using this approach to education? Group projects? And which subjects? History? Sociology? Geography? Politics? All the above and more?
3. Do schools and colleges have the staff proficient and confident enough with this new communication medium to teach the youth of today? The Future?
This article asks more questions then it answers; It has merely scratched the surface of the video in education topic.
What is important to note and cannot be over stressed, is the importance of taking advantage of the inherent new skills that the young people of today have developed in using YouTube. Putting them to an educational use is a must.
And after all, when as a student of the late 1980's, this author used the now ancient skill called 'hand writing' in submitting essays and reports; A word processor (pre-Windows, Apple, PC's and the 'net'), was some sort of alien contraption only found in classrooms belonging to strange long-haired hippie types. Today, primary school students use computers as a matter of course.
Will video use in education become the norm in the next 10 years?

Continuing Traffic Education (CTE)

In absence of formal training & traffic Driving Knowledge, A license to drive is actually a license to kill or get killed on the deadly metro road .Do we have proper driving laws & Formal Training school to curb the menace and the mayhem on the metro road? India is fast emerging as the most favoured nation of all the Motor manufacturing company who is coming every now and then to set up their base because India is a big market and Indian customer's base is huge and have the Buying potential for these vehicles. But it is really a very sad issue that Neither the govt. of India nor any Vehicle manufacturing Company are coming forward to set up the base for the Driving school of international standard and giving emphasis on the quality education to the traffic laws and rules for each & every individual seeking license To drive on the roads .
One of the most bizarre facts of our Traffic system is that in Delhi - which has the maximum no. of motor vehicles plying on its road - we have only one or two Government Run Traffic education & Driving training school and that too is not easily accessible by majority of delhites because of its remote Locations. In this case almost 98% of delhites do get their formal and basic driving training either from Their Relatives , friends or the Local non-recognized and private institutions whose main focus is to earn money as soon as possible rather than giving the formal Quality Traffic and driving Education . One can better understand that if this is the situation In Our national capital Delhi, what is the situation in Other Small metro cities? God knows!
So , If we can make traffic laws and awareness programme a mandatory lesson from the High school syllabus so that From the Beginning when a Child starts to have urge to learn driving , he or she must understand and practice the smaller finer points of driving . This is the right way to make the awareness programme among the future drivers successful as its result will come at later stage but it is sure it will achieve its objective. Hence Traffic laws & awareness Lesson to be introduced in the Syllabus right from the beginning.
Again, we find the need for the continuing traffic education mandatory for all the old and budding drivers. As on every alternate day, some new technology in motor Dynamics or traffic control system is added to the traffic Rules and driving Canvas. So, it ought to be Must for all those driving on the road to aware themselves with the finer points of those technical advancements for better result on the road. Hence, continuing has to be mandatory in every metropolis even the educated drivers must come forward spontaneously to learn the new basics of driving which will in-fact horn their driving Skill.
So, let's come together for bigger cause, better case and for Taking care of your life and other's life on the road for our better tomorrow. We must ensure that what we think, what we speak and what we do must have the co-relation and must practice the same in reality. So, let's come together and take a vow to make the continuous education on learning of better Driving skill and new traffic rules for our own safety and help our Country to become Really Developing in all Sense and in true color.

Online Broadcasting Education Opportunities

The world of communication opens various avenues to pursue for an education. Online education opportunities are making it easier for individuals who need more flexibility to obtain a degree. A broadcasting degree can be obtained from many online accredited colleges, and can prepare students to enter the workforce by teaching them how to be a vital member of the communications industry. There are a number of things to learn prior to enrolling in an educational program.

1. Most online colleges offer degree distinctions for dedicated individuals from an associate's to a bachelor's degree. Some schools go a step further and give the option for students to attend a graduate program. Many of the graduate programs allow students to obtain a master's degree in broadcast journalism. Through each level of education students will learn the ins and outs of news dissemination using audio and video to relay information to an audience.

2. Many of the online distance learning programs provide students with a thorough curriculum. Online broadcasting programs specifically focus their courses to teach students the foundations of the industry, and allow them to experience the fast paced world of technology as it relates to communication through broadcasting. Many of the courses will help students by training them in media issues, production of audio, entertainment, production of video, videography, editing, and more. These skills will help a degree holding individual in the job market because the broadcasting side of communications centers on the knowledge of technology to present news. The ability to use technology to present media in an interesting way is an important factor that online colleges teach in their programs.

3. Students can gain a bachelor's degree in broadcasting from a wide range of online schools. Some colleges specifically focus on the broadcasting degree making each class incredibly focused on the subject. In programs where the main focus is on the broadcasting side of communication courses may be longer, but the program will consist of fewer courses. A student may enroll in a program like this that has 14 courses. These courses can include radio and TV operations, broadcast journalism and news, public relation strategies, and more. Many bachelor's degree programs take four years to complete. However, online courses are taken at an individual pace and some students could finish the program in less time.

4. A four-year program or bachelors' program will prepare students in a variety of ways. In the first year, students will learn about the history, organization, TV, radio, and Internet technologies that make up the industry. This basis is essential for students to understand how all media works together to create broadcasting. The second year of education will have students diving into writing, production, sound design, and more. These aspects will be crucial to show students what it is they will be doing in their chosen career. In the remaining two years students will work in a variety of ways to create examples of their work to be used in a professional portfolio. A portfolio is important because it provides samples of your work to potential employers.

Gaining an accredited online education in broadcasting leaves multiple career options open. Broadcasting includes a wide range of jobs like TV reporting, sports reporting, camera work, audio work, and much more. Accreditation is provided to schools and colleges that meet certain criteria. Full accreditation can provide proof that a quality education is available. Agencies like The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (www.accet.org) and other agencies are approved to accredit educational training programs. Don't let your passion of technology or news pass you by. Search online colleges for a program that fits your career goals.

Forex Education

There is lot's of Forex education online that you need to avoid but look hard enough and you will find some great sources which will get you on the road to Forex trading success. Let's look at where to find the best Forex trading advice.
First let's look at Forex advice you should ignore and let's start with Forex software. There are a vast amount of these cheap "get rich quick" systems, all promising you financial freedom for a hundred dollars or so and even better you do no work, you just plug it in and sit back as the cash rolls in! Anyone who thinks they will get rich using one is going to be dissapointed - none of them work.
Other education you should ignore includes, advice in forums, the only people who have time to hang around forums are losers, who make themselves feel better for not making any money, by dispensing their supposed wisdom or the other group in forums, are affiliates trying to get you to buy a get rich quick system and make a few dollars commission.
You get lots of news online, all well put together and convincing but it reflects the majority opinion and the majority lose. People who trade news stories forget, that the news is not by itself important, its how traders view the news that is and that's why markets always collapse when the news is most bullish and rally when it's most bearish. Don't waste your time trying to trade news stories.
Good Forex Education Sources
Now let's look at how to win and the advice you can get online which can lead you to success.
If you want to win the best way to trade is by using Forex charts, you need know nothing about the news, all you need to do is to learn to spot trends and lock into and hold them and this is a learned skill so anyone can do it.
There is plenty of information on the chart formations that occur and reoccur and plenty of information on all the Forex indicators you can use with charts. learn them, then use basic chart formations and a few confirming indicators, to filter your trading signals. Keep your method simple, simple systems always work best as they have fewer elements to break than complex ones and you can get all this information for Free.
Learn with No Risk
You can, if you want to cut your learning curve further and not have to devise your own strategy, buy a Forex course with a ready made strategy which you can learn to apply. These courses teach you the skills you need to win, provide daily trading support and classrooms and best of all, they all have 100% money back guarantees, so you can learn with no risk.
Winning at Forex Trading
Anyone can learn to win at Forex because everything about Forex trading can be specifically learned, so you can devise your own strategy or buy a course - the choice is yours but if you make a little effort with either method, you could soon be making a great second income in 30 minutes a day or less.

College Rankings and US News and World Report

The current college ranking systems provide an easy way for prospective students to see how one institution ranks against another. This can make for a simple way to see which colleges will provide the best education. At least that is what the ranking system is supposed to do, in recent years though there has been some criticism regarding the methodologies used to rank colleges.

What are Admissions Rankings

Before we talk about what is good about the current system and what is not, it is important to understand how colleges are currently ranked in the United States. It is also important to know that there is more than one ranking system available.

The methodology that most of us are familiar with is the ratings that are given by the US News. This system has been around since 1983, and each year the ratings for colleges change. The US News ranks scores each institution with a score between 1 and 100, with 100 being the best, and they separate the schools into 4 tiers. The best schools are listed as tier 1.

The ratings are based on gathered data that take into account the following factors:

• Peer Assessment - Reputation of the school based on a survey of presidents, provosts, and deans from other institutions

• Retention - The graduation rate over a 6-year period, and the retention rate of first year students

• Student Selectivity - A combination of data based on: test scores of students, the percentage of top percentile students admitted, and the student acceptance rate as a whole.

• Faculty Resources - Data that includes the student-faculty ratio, the average salary of faculty members, and the education level of the faculty

• Financial Resources - Average tuition rates per-student

• Graduation Rate Performance - The difference between what the expected rate of graduation was and what the actual graduation rate turned out to be

• Alumni Giving Rate - The amount of money received from donations by alumni

The first four elements on the list account for 80% of the total score. Peer assessment alone makes 25% of the rating, and that is where the criticism of the US News ranking system comes in.

The Good and the Bad

In recent years there has been some criticism of the current rating system. It has been said that with the weighting given to peer assessment, student selectivity, and faculty resources that it becomes easy to pick which schools will come out on top. The largest schools and the richest schools will win out over the smaller colleges every time, regardless of the actual education that a student can expect to receive from the institution.

Looking at the historical data, these statements are true to a certain degree. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton always end up on top of the list. Some suggest that, to get a true measure of school performance, the ratings should give a larger weighting to factors related to graduation rates, salaries after graduation, and student performance in the long run.

Even with the criticisms, the current college ranking system does provide a method for students to see how their chosen (or prospective) institution ranks against similar colleges in the country. It provides a simple method to see where they can expect a top-rated education, and where they will be getting a second tier education.

With other ranking systems popping up each year it is also possible to use the US News rankings in conjunction with a different rating system. It may be worth comparing the rankings in America to those of the Academic Rankings of World Universities, or data based on the G-Factor methodology (such as Webometrics). Using more than one ranking system will provide a better overall picture when looking at any college.

Debt Consolidation Breaking News

The United States Department of Education is making bold moves toward cleaning house and we will talk about some of those that affect you as a parent of a soon-to-be college bound child directly. We do not want to leave out the millions of Americans that are returning to school and are the students themselves-but the largest percentage of school bound individuals are still under the dependent financial care of the parents. We titled this posting debt consolidation breaking news for a very good reason. That reason is as we go forward towards Halloween in the month of October it is time to start laying the groundwork for the upcoming winter school session in most parts of the United States.
Reformation in America
As debt consolidation is being reformed in America today and with President Obama taken the reins on so many financial concerns it is important that you know something about the debt relief situation going on the country. While you may consider yourself well-versed in the basic modality of what debt relief actually is you need to understand how that relates to the student loan obtainment for your incoming freshman. There are literally millions of freshmen that enter colleges and universities and technical schools all across this great country of ours and it is important that the parents of these soon-to-be college educated children know where to turn to for advice and information about that all-important student loan issue.
Department of Education Enactments
The most breaking news that involves debt consolidation includes the actions of President Obama's administration as well as the Department of Education directly. The administration has mandated through acts of legislation and other such legalities that the middlemen are now cut-out of the equation for all concerns about student loans.
Saving Money
What this does right away is to save you, the American taxpayer, at the very least $500-$1000 a year in monies that was going toward the pavement of the third-party providers for student loans. Now that there is a direct-line of communication between you, the parent of the college-bound child, and the Federal government, which is the Department of Education, the streamlining of this form of financing of a college education is clearing up.
Great Intentions
We wanted to give you some earth-shattering as well as fundamentally groundbreaking news but in reality the debt consolidation world has so much going on it is important that we focus on the present and future and not so much worry about things of the past. If you are a parent of a student who is presently in high school you understand this and you understand that the future belongs to our children. With debt consolidation clearing the household and freeing up cash that would have been spent on credit card revolving debt and other unsecured debt loan accounts you will be that much closer to financing the dream of your child and of yourself of completing a college education in America in the 21st century.

How to Work With Different Types of News Feeds

Here are other options on the webfor RSS feeds that are integrated within social networking sites. Facebook, for example, has it's own version of that that with a news page that puts in all kinds of information on what people in your circle of friends are doing online. This can be exploited to post links to your site, talk about your latest venture, and generally hog the limelight. So, while the majority of people are referring to RSS feeds when they talk about news feeds, there are other ways that term is used in different social networking sites.
As we discussed earlier, the two ways of using RSS feeds is to get subscribers or to use them to provide fresh content to your site. The first way involves an action that has to be taken by the person visiting your site. It isn't something automatic, so that you have encourage people visiting your site to subscribe. Since the mechanics of RSS feeds are still not that well known by the average Internet user, you have to educate your visitors to how to get the latest content using your RSS feeds. The truth is that they may actually be using a news outlet like Yahoo! but not even realize that the content is coming through an RSS feed. So, to get subscribers you must first educate them to what's available.
Educate
You don't have to get too technical about it, but you do want to give them a brief overview of why they want to become a subscriber to your RSS feed. They can get updates more quickly and be notified of when new content is up on the site. They can even set up email to receive it in a format that is easy for them to access. However, you have to educate them on how to do that, otherwise, they will take the path of least resistance, which is to ignore your RSS feed.
Create Buttons
There are a number of ways to make it easy for them to sign up. You can provide buttons for numerous news reader outlets, like Yahoo! Or Bloglines. You will have to get the URL for your news feed and use that to create a button that allows people who are familiar with these larger online news feeds to subscribe to your content. For that you have to have the RSS feed module installed and have it available. It will typically look like this: [http://yoursitename/feed] . Some places like Wordpress automatically install RSS feeds and you can use the address provided to create those subscriber buttons.
Offer A Targetedbie With Your Feed
If you're still having problems getting subscribers, try offering a small targetedbie to get them to sign up. It can be a report of some fantastic tips to save or make money, or it can be a targeted video download. Try to make it something you can deliver instantaneously over the web with autoresponders. That makes this feature very easy. Of course, realize that they may sign up and get your product and leave easily too. So, you want to continue to provide content that will keep them interested and subscribed.
Package Your Own RSS feed
If you have various websites and content and you want to get the word out fast with minimal duplication, you want to package your own RSS feed and promote that with other website owners. You will want to split up your content by categories that others may want to subscribe to. You wouldn't put any recipes on a site you have along with how to get hired on another site, even if they are both blog posts. You have to be clear that whatever you package in the RSS feed package is one topic or focal point of interest for specific news outlets. A way to do that is to separate the categories into feeds for the mainstream media, a feed for your customers, some for potential customers, and even your competition. Or, you can split up the feeds into discrete industries that you can market to specific news outlets.
Promote It To Various Outlets
After you've packaged your own feed, you want to make sure it is available for others to use. Whether that is by agreement to purchase the feed or whether you merely post it on website newsreaders, it's up to you. You can submit your feeds to search engines and directories, just like they were their own pages. They are actually web pages, but they are in XML format which needs the newsreader to decipher and read. Once you're syndicated on a variety of other sites, traffic will pour in non-stop as long as you keep providing content.
Featured Aggregators
To view the RSS feeds, people use aggregators. Some are programs you add to your browser or install on your desktop. Others are websites that allow you to set up an account and use them to read news feeds. Some you can even integrate into you email to get RSS feeds through email format. It doesn't matter what you use, but here are a few that you can find online that you can check out.
My.Yahoo.com
This is a great way to see how easy it is to use an RSS reader through a website. Many people set up a page here and have no clue they are actually using an RSS reader because it's not that technical. You just search for categories of news that area available as RSS feeds and then choose to see them. They put in all the headlines in the various choices you made and you can easily check multiple sites and headlines in the category that you want.
Newsgator.com
This aggregator works with Microsoft Outlook. The Newsgator Online RSS feed is a software package that is targeted to download and use on your desktop. The Newsgator database claims over 1.5 million feeds available. There is even a mobile version available for cell phones.
Yahoo Pipes
This aggregator helps you compile RSS feeds from other RSS feeds. You have the option to search for feeds, combine them any way you like, even filter them, and this is called a pipe. This pipe can then be outputted as another RSS feed that you can use to deliver fresh content to your readers. They have a list of hot pipes that you can see and the ability to put widgets on your website pointing to the pipes you create. You can even geocode the pipe and see it displayed on a map.
Bloglines
This is a popular feed reader that is online. It has a social networking flavor in that you can share your favorite feeds with your friends. You can also set up your blog roll on an external blog using the bloglines news subscriptions you've selected. If you have multiple blogs, this is a great way to update the blog roll in one place and see it updated everywhere you inserted that code.

Three Sex Education Lessons From The Teen Pep Stories

One of the oft-repeated comments by characters in my novel, The Sex Ed Chronicles is that, in the absence of sex education, children learn about sex from their friends. However, the novel was based in 1980, before New Jersey high schools started to involve students in peer counseling.
On Valentines Day 2008, I read about a mini-controversy involving peer counseling on a New Jersey radio news Web site. The news coverage came out of one New Jersey high school: Clearview Regional High School in Harrison Township in the southern part of the state. There, parents object to peer counselors, high school juniors and seniors, counseling freshmen on a variety of topics related to sex education. The counseling model comes from a program called Teen Pep. Designed by the Princeton Center for Leadership Training (not affiliated with Princeton University), Teen Pep has been implemented in over 50 Garden State high schools for the past eight years. Therefore, Teen Pep is not a new program and school districts have had time to investigate its merits-only now, one school has made the news.
Teen Pep trains not only students, but also faculty advisors, to work one-to-one, but also as a team in various counseling situations. Schools contracting for Teen Pep work with the Princeton Center for a minimum of two years and there are supervisory field visits by qualified professionals to help ensure the program is running smoothly. A school that engages in Teen Pep makes a considerable intellectual investment, as well as a financial investment, to make it work. Part of this investment is to explain this program to parents.
Which takes me to lesson number one: if you are not ready to take these investments seriously, don't make them.
As I read about the incident at Clearview High, it became clear to me that the fault is not with the program, but with the school administration. It would have been easier for them to consult parents and clergy from the get-go, as they are supposed to do. I realize that teachers have objected to this-they did back in 1980 as well-but sex education is a subject where parents and clergy believe they have important opinions and knowledge.
I found it interesting to read that an advisory board would be formed after parents objected to individual aspects of the program. That should have been in place from day one.
Which takes me to lesson number two: after consulting parents, decide which topics students are qualified to discuss with peers.
Parental objections at Clearview stemmed from the idea that "kids were teaching kids to have sex. But there had to be clear differences between the topics teen peer counselors were allowed to teach, and those that had to be covered by a qualified sex education teacher-but they didn't make it in the press. Parents deserved to know, if they asked before school started. I realize that pro-abstinence organizations also use young speakers; their programs should be subject to the same parental review as the peer-counseling program.
Then I get to lesson number three: make sure you have qualified teachers.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act emphasizes a need for qualified teachers, meaning that a teacher should be certified in the subject they teach. That applies as much to sex education as any other subject. In the example of Clearview High, the program leader was an English teacher. When I reached family life education, I learned that sex education instructors were most likely to come from health education, home economics or social studies as well as nursing. I would also assume that guidance counselors could become qualified sex educators; they handle personal student issues as part of their job description.
It appears Teen Pep is working in most schools; only one school is in the news complaining, but those involved with this program should consider offering an alternative: to use degree candidates in counseling and education to counsel students.
This would not be peer counseling, but it would appease parents who worry about kids teaching kids about sex. It would also help provide professional development for sex educators.

Stuart Nachbar operates EducatedQuest.com, a blog on education politics, policy and technology. He has been involved with education politics and economic development as an urban planner, government affairs manager, software executive, and now as a writer. His first novel, The Sex Ed Chronicles, about sex education and school politics in 1980 New Jersey, earned a coveted "Publishers Choice" selection from iUniverse.