An exclusive story about MySpace’s annoying porn spam attacks. The campaign to “save Windows XP.” Why we should think of the children in the recent polygamist debacle. These are the top stories making headlines around the world.
Technology & Internet
A campaign to “save Windows XP” is under way in an attempt to revolt against Microsoft’s buggy Vista operating system, Paul Wallis wrote. He summed up his sentiments perfectly with the phrase: “Ironically, XP is the popular product, and Vista is the lame duck. It’s like replacing a fit athlete with a cripple.”
What other tech and Net stories got the blogosphere talking? A new robot displays stunning facial expressions, cgull explained; geek love took on new meaning when a software programmer proposed to his girlfriend by adding a proposal pop-up in her favourite video game, momentsintime told us; Google may be slowing down while Yahoo could be on the rise, Maverick speculated; the European Parliament voted against a proposed measure to cut off the Internet from suspected file-sharers, Brant David McLaughlin wrote (and kudos to Europe for doing so, Brant added); and a new start-up site offers instructional videos on speech therapy and public speaking, opening the door to the educational side of online videos YouTube has ignored, so far.
Science & Health
Lightning created by humans? That’s the subject of an intriguing feature by Bob Ewing on European scientists triggering electrical activity in thunderclouds using high-powered pulses of laser light. Debra Myers couldn’t resist joking: “Quite an electrifying find, Bob!”
Several science and health stories won our attention this week: fixed-amount pricing in health insurance is making Americans sickly poor, Paul Wallis pointed out; Health Canada wants to farm out its medicinal pot growing operation, momentsintime wrote (the new grower better learn to avoid shwag weed Canada is known to offer); NASA is extending its recent Saturn mission to explore another 60 orbits over two years, Tim Neale posted; a stunning analysis reveals one in 43 American infants have been abused, karateblossom reported, noting how white male kids are at the highest risk of abuse; and France is adopting a unique measure to penalize any company promoting “extreme dieting practices” (read: anorexia), as Susan Duclos told us. Finally, firms will have to take responsibility for their short-sighted messages on going super-skinny. When will North America join the fray?
Politics
It was a busy week for our political beat writers: voters aren’t trusting Clinton as strongly as before, Can Tran wrote; Barack Obama received an unlikely endorsement from an Hamas official, Gar Swaffar said; why is there no television station catering to left-leaning couch potatoes? wondered ocean in a powerful opinion piece; and Democrats are urging President Bush to boycott the Olympics, LewWaters wrote. However, Bush views the Olympics as a “sporting event,” not a political one. Um, has he been watching the same news footage we have?
TopFinds Awards
This ain’t Kansas any more. The Tin Man of law enforcement, the Cowardly Lion of the Internet heavies, and the Straw Man of the global media need to work together if Dorothy Q Public’s butt isn’t going to get incinerated.
As the FLDS polygamist saga gains monumental media attention, what’s often lost in the press frenzy are the involved children. But Susan Duclos intently focused on these “forgotten children” in a detailed piece winning this week’s TopOpEd Award. She explained how an anonymous phone call from one of the temple’s kids sparked the announcement that 416 children will be taken from the polygamist’s home. Susan’s outrage at this reported abuse practically glowed in every sentence she wrote.
In this era of digital media journalism, how should the reader perceive author bias? It’s a question levelled by the winner of this week’s TopInternet Award. TheMadKing critiqued the many biases cropping up in online reportage (and a certain citizen journalism website wasn’t spared), explaining how “our perceptions and our passions on any given story are the flames that draw we moths to them. And we subconsciously go in the direction in which we choose to burn.” He didn’t just attack the bias within every journalist; he also offered some key recommendations, most notably: “look at all sides of a controversial issue, formulate the best report you can, and let us toss it back and forth in our minds.”
It’s on the wish list of every cancer patient: a method to kill 100 per cent of all cancer cells and leaving healthy cells unharmed. That dream may be a reality, as cgull‘s TopHealth Award-winning article explained. As he wrote, the new therapy from Pennsylvania attached microscopic nanoparticles to cancer cells, later “cooking” tumors inside the body with radio waves. This kind of groundbreaking treatment has yet to be completely tested on humans but its potential is enormous, and we applaud cgull for bringing this important health news to our attention.
Citizen Journalism’s strength often flows from the community news covered by intrepid reporters who want to shine a light on the under-represented aspects of their neighbourhood. Taking home the TopLocalNews Award is Khalyboy, whose article on Toronto’s Donwood Institute magnified the issue of mental health institutions in the urban core. He gave us a range of opinions on the controversial closure of Donwood, creating a compelling article filled with clarity and back-story. We can’t wait to see more local news from Citizen Journalists hungry to report on what the rest of the world ignores. We also encourage other Citizen Journalists to put their ears to their local grounds; reporting about your own area is the backbone of citizen journalism and we hope to see lots of it.
If you’ve been under a rock for a couple weeks and want a recap of the Tibetan protests and Beijing Olympics controversy, look no further than the winner of the TopWorld Award, penned by Mike Tippitt. He excellently summarized the Dalai Lama’s role in the recent protests, offering some historical context along with recent news about his visit to the U.S. He also wondered: “Is the Dalai Lama truly behind the protests, while claiming denial on the international stage…?” His opinion on may have sparked the controversy may still go unanswered, but it’s always valuable to raise this kind of timely question when firestorms of debate continue to rage on.
There are crimes against humanity and then there are crimes that make you despite humanity. In a strange-but-true article, Pamela Jean is lauded with the TopCrime Award for publishing news about an 18-month-old girl being forced to smoke marijuana. The baby’s parents are being charged with child endangerment, Pamela told us, while the mother’s father is also under arrest on drug charges. What a bunch of losers, indeed.
One of the most buried but relevant stories came from the busy pen of momentsintime, who wins the TopArts Award for her intriguing story on Canadian children’s programming. She wrote about an advocacy group stressing the importance keeping kids’ TV Canadians, lest this genre be jeopardized by the influx of American programming. Cheers to discussing an issue rarely on the broadcast radar, while also introducing non-Canadian readers to the diverse and award-winning TV content the Great White North has to offer.
