Many journalists can't provide the value-added journalism that is needed today

Journalists pretend they spend their time investigating the intricacies of international affairs, covering the inner workings of the economic system, and exposing abuses of political and economic power. Although many aspire to do so (and occasionally do with great effect), the reality is far from the imagined sense of self.

Most journalists spend the majority of their time reporting what a mayor said in a prepared statement, writing stories about how parents can save money for university tuition, covering the release of the latest versions of popular electronic devices, or finding out if a sports figure’s injury will affect performance in the next match.

Most cover news in a fairly formulaic way, reformatting information released by others: the agenda for the next town council meeting, the half dozen most interesting items from the daily police reports, what performances will take place this weekend, and the quarterly financial results of a local employer. These standard stories are merely aggregations of information supplied by others.

At one time these standard stories served useful purposes because newspapers were the primary information hubs of the community. Today such routine information has little economic value because the original providers are now directly feeding that information to the interested public through their own websites, blogs, and Twitter feeds. Additionally, specialist topic digital operators are now aggregating and organizing that information for easy accessibility.

Town councils place their agendas and voting reports on their own websites, many police and fire departments operate continuously updated blogs and twitter feeds that provide basic emergency reports and what is being entered in their blotters and logs, performance centers and concert promoters offer websites and digital notifications of upcoming activities and events, and companies and business information media offer direct distribution of financial reports and news releases to the public. All of these are stripping the value from newspaper redistribution of those kinds of information and making people less willing to pay for provision of that news.

To survive, news organizations need to move away from information that is readily available elsewhere; they need to use journalists’ time to seek out the kinds of information less available and to spend time writing stories that put events into context, explain how and why they happened, and prepare the public for future developments.  These value-added journalism approaches are critical to the economic future of news organizations and journalists themselves.

Unfortunately, many journalists do not evidence the skills, critical analytical capacity, or inclination to carry out value-added journalism. News organizations have to start asking themselves whether it is because are hiring the wrong journalists or whether their company practices are inhibiting journalists’ abilities to do so.

Hot Cocoa Recipe

I love cold weather, a.k.a. snuggly weather. I love the warm blankets, cozy fires, and most of all, hot cocoa. 

I am not a big fan of cocoa mixes because of all the added "stuff" that is put in them. I prefer to cook my own.

 I have a favorite recipe for hot cocoa, and I have to share it with you so that you can enjoy it too.

It takes minutes to make, and warms your belly and puts a smile on your face:o)

Hot Cocoa

serves 4

adapted from this recipe

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa

3/4 c white sugar

1/3 c boiling water

3 1/2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Bring water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Add cocoa and white sugar. Bring back to a boil, and then lower heat so the mixture simmers. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add milk and vanilla, and warm to desired temperature. 

I usually pour the kids some before it has gotten too hot.

I spy some happy campers right here:o)

Now you can enjoy those few brief moments where they have a smile on their faces, and calling you the best mom ever, after drinking something delicious! Then brace yourself for the sugar high!

Some New Sewing Projects for Boys

Sewing for a little girl is so easy. There are so many cute inspirations out there for girls, but there really isn't a whole lot to choose from for little boys. Sometimes I feel guilty when I make something for S.R. because for every 3-4 things I make for her, I make 1 for E. Sad, I know.

It's a fine line when sewing for boys because some things out there are border-line ridiculous. You have to take great care in not making your boy look like a girl. 

So anywhoodles, I went to Heart and Home Fabrics on Etsy, and  let E pick out some really cute fabric from the "Children at Play" line by Sara Jane. 

I made this cute little bean bag ottoman from it. If I ever get around to it, I will do a tutorial because S.R. wants one as well:)

 I also made him a cute little vest out of the same fabric. Yes, it coordinates with his ottoman, but how often is he going to be wearing that vest while sitting on the ottoman? ;o)

I'll have a tutorial on how to make a vest very soon because I have to make another one for him. Wanna know why?

Because my uncle is getting married, and E and S.R. will be the ring bearer and flower girl. They are super excited, and so am I. I just have to get busy on making their clothes for the wedding. I have found some pretty awesome inspiration on Etsy, so I can't wait to show you what I'll be working on.

Until next time....

Red Ribbon Week Poster-Master Yoda

Since I have been out of school for longer than I am willing to admit, there are a few things that I had forgotten about...one of them being Red Ribbon Week.

I am constantly being reminded of how the world isn't all roses and cupcakes. The thought of teaching my children to stay away from drugs had never crossed my mind until we got a letter from the guidance counselor about Red Ribbon Week. Yikes! How do you explain drugs to a 6 year old who has been completely sheltered? We struggled through it, but I think he got the gist of it. He knows their bad, and God doesn't want us to harm our bodies.

So, since we are all about Star Wars, he wanted to include Master Yoda on his poster.

The hubs knows all when it comes to S.W., so he came up with the slogan.

Pretty catchy, huh?

We flipped through some coloring books, and E picked this image for his poster. I used my little projector, and traced it in pencil.

He traced over the pencil marks in black marker, and then colored it in with crayons.

We used the S.W. fonts to make the letters...just printed the slogan out, cut, and pasted.

Easy Peasy.

He was the only one in his class to do a poster. He got to go to a popcorn party, and there were big kids there...a.k.a. 5th graders, so he felt pretty special:o)

It was so nice to be able to do an art project with him, especially since he's really starting to enjoy drawing...the coloring he could do without:o)

Great mommy/son bonding!

Halloween Costumes

Since I have been lagging on posts, I never told you guys what my kids were for Halloween this year. 

E, once again, wanted to be something related to Star Wars. I'm not sure if he was a clone trooper or a storm trooper, (I get confused) but I most definitely knew that making that costume for him was next to impossible. I hate buying store bought costumes, but I know my limitations people:o)

Thankfully S.R. wanted to be something easy, Pocahontas. The Disney Pocahontas costumes aren't exactly modest, so I decided that we would go for a less flashy, more coverage kind of dress:o)

E didn't get to wear his Star Wars costume to school, but they do have book character day, and get to dress up for that. He chose to be Peter Pan. It doesn't get much easier than that! I purchased 2 t-shirts from Hobby Lobby. The lighter color in his size, and the darker color in an adult large. I turned the adult shirt into pants using a pajamas pant pattern, and used the sleeves of that same shirt to make the hat.

 His belt was made out of brown ribbon and Velcro, and his feather was made from felt. He loved it, and best of all if was cheap and super comfy for him.

 S.R. 's costume took some planning, but once I figured out how I wanted to construct it, it was smooth sailing from there. I used a peasant dress pattern found at Walmart in the 99 cent section. The fabric is some kind of faux leather/suede material, also purchased from Walmart.

After I pieced the dress together, I cut the skirt portion into a V, and then laid it flat on the ground and started cutting slits. 

 I bought a shirt and leggings and dyed them tan, and painted a red tattoo on the sleeve of the shirt. 

The whole reason S.R. wanted to be Pocahontas was because of her "blue diamond necklace." The girl likes her bling, so I definitely had to include the neckalce!

I found the medallion at Walmart in the discount jewelry making section, and looped a leather necklace I had on hand through it.

That's one pretty little Indian Princess:o)

 Here is a shot of little man in his "Whichever" Trooper costume:o) Such a sweet boy!

 And the with the helmet on for the full effect.

We didn't do the normal neighborhood trick-or-treating this year for two reasons...the first was because it was on a Wednesday night, and we had church..and the second was because we have been fighting a cold virus, and S.R. has been on a nebulizer for quite some time now. We needed to stay out of the cold air, so  we decided to trick or treat at a local retirement home, and visit with the ladies there. 

It was so fun, and I'm so glad we got to visit with those sweet women!

The Business November 7th 2012, The "Roseanne Barr Victory Party" Edition

We did it everybody! We made it through another election cycle as a docile populace unwilling to topple our overlords!

No matter how you feel about the election results, you should come to The Business to celebrate/mourn. We have invited Kevin O’Shea, a friend of The Business and one of our favorite guests to join us.

Established in 1984 following the mergers of Steven and Cathy O’Shea, Kevin O’Shea has been one of San Francisco’s leading manufactures of mirth, laughter, hilarity and all around good ti

mes! Kevin has been commonly described as clever, absurd, awkward but in a funny way and too smart for his own good. He has been seen on the Independent Film Chanel and ComedyCentral.com. He is a favorite of comedy festivals such as: The SF Sketch Fest and the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. Go see him now as his 4th quarter productivity has never been higher!

We will miss Bucky Sinister this week, but the rest of your regulars will be there. All defenders of democracy, all proudly wearing “I Voted!” stickers (probably just cause we’ll be wearing the same shirts we wore on Tuesday. AMERICA).

As always, the show is just $5 American. If you want to bring a friend, bring em for free!! Don't forget to grab your 2-for-1 coupon at the top of this page!

 

BYOBurrito. Carnitas 2016.

Canned Applesauce Tutorial

Well hello there! Been a while hasn't it? Life around here has been crazy busy for the past month or so, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any..especially with the Holidays approaching...I'm not ready fro Christmas to be here!!

With E being in big school now, I feel like the weeks are flashing before my eyes. I keep forgetting that he is 6 years old now. I need for life to tap the brakes just a little:o)

So since things have been a little cray cray around here, I haven't had the chance to blog. I have been taking plenty of pictures, and have plenty to blog about. I just haven't had the time to just sit, and type.

I have a few minutes to myself, so I am taking advantage of that time:o)

Today I wanted to share how to make canned applesauce. 

A friend of mine is part of a food co-op, and she always asks if I want to order bulk items. Um, yes please:o)

 These apples were super delish and super cheap! But there was no way we could eat a bushel of apples, so  I put a few to the side, and turned the rest into applesauce.

This is super easy, and anyone can do this...I promise!

I searched online for different techniques, and the one I found most to my liking was the one from pickyourown.org. Definitely check out this website for full details.

 I had to make a few changes because I didn't have the same materials that they did, but I made do with what I had.

I started with a half bushel of apples. I have no idea what these apples are called:o) (If you check the blog above, they give several different types of apples that you can use.)

I didn't have a grinder attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer, so I peeled the apples, and then I used an apple corer doo-dad.

And this is what I ended up with.

 I added an inch of water (which was too much) into the bottom of a 12 qt. stock pot. I got mine from Walmart for $8.95

Once the apples were soft from cooking, I placed small batches into my food processor and pureed them, making sure to use a slotted spoon.  You could probably do this in your blender as well.

 I poured each batch into a large bowl, and covered to trap the heat.

 Once all of the apples had been pureed, I added 2 cups of white sugar to the batch. Adding the sugar is definitely optional.

 I did a mix-match of pint and quart sized jars. The website I referred to suggested that you cook the pints for 15 minutes in the canner, and 20 minutes for the quarts...I just did 20 minutes for the whole batch, to save myself the trouble.

 After the 20 minutes, they were ready to come out of their bath and cool. The tops popped almost immediately after coming out of the canner. That "pop" was definitely music to my ears because it meant I did it right:o)

I placed the jars on a towel to cool, and loosed the lids so that they wouldn't rust shut. 

Start to finish, it took 2 hours to make applesauce. If you had the proper kitchen tools, you would most definitely get done sooner:o)  

I was so excited when I got done! I felt all kinds of domestic:o)

If you have any questions about any of the steps, I will do my very best to answer them. Your best bet though, would be to click on the link from above:o)

Happy Monday!