I found one and it’s fun!  The Huffington Post posted one of their silly videos and they wanted to know the audiences reaction.

Check out the funny little girl and vote!  Is her happy dance confident or cocky?

Now it is time to reflect on the semester and what I have learned about online journalism.  First of all, I took online journalism because in practically every journalism class I’d taken thus far at the University of Maryland, we’ve had discussions about the future of journalism.  That future I’d already concluded was a cloudy one, but inevitably would include online “stuff.”

That “stuff” ranges from blogs to Twitter and Facebook to good tagging, interaction with the reader,  and a variety of interactive elements.  It includes all the different ways to improve a journalism presence online from a good layout to draw int he reader to a multimedia package to supplement the story.

Today I went for an interview to be a web producer intern and we spent a majority of the interview discussing my duties like changing over the top viewed stories on the main page and updating the “comment of the week.”  These duties are critical to the success of a paper’s front page because they keep it updated, interesting and easier to navigate…not sure what you’re interested in?  See what everyone else is reading!  Writing and updating the stories on a web page are good jobs, but they are competitive and depleting.  My potential internship business just revamped their web site to include so many elements we have discussed and now I feel controlling these elements can be just as interesting and engaging a journalism job as any.

I enjoy blogging and the freedom it can bring to create different kinds of entertainment, news and information, as well as put my own ideas into the world, but I am nervous to see where they take us.  While professional journalists usually claim to be the example of unbiased news, there is no denying that most (at least!) lean to the left or right, not to mention news outlets like the Enquirer that can publish outright bull…This makes me nervous to see where blogging will take us.  I believe they could endanger the major news outlets to the point that they may sell out to the less prestigious form of news.

Only time will tell, but I plan to be prepared by getting to know online journalism inside and out, which is why I plan on continuing this blog.  I may continue to analyze the HuffingtonPost.com on my own, but I fear the timeliness and subjects may become exhausted.  My back up plan is to start blogging about women.  I have spent a good amount of my time here at Maryland studying gender, women and sociology, and my knowledge and interest in the ongoing stance of women in society could make for an interesting, informative and insightful blog for myself and hopefully others.

December 04, 2009

Curious Tattoo Next To College Campus

Underneath the Potbelly Sandwich Works canopy along U.S. Route 1 is a simple sign hanging next to a glass door – “Curious Tattoo Body Piercing,” it reads.

Open this glass door and you will find yourself in a white room smelling of incense with two sets of stairs to the third floor.   Walk up and the walls are lined with pictures of torsos covered in art. Through an unmarked white door is a small office and the uneven buzz of a tattoo machine etching away at human skin.

Curious Tattoo Inc. staff has served University of Maryland students and the City of College Park locals for four years, providing tattoos and piercings of all kinds.

Except upside-down, palm or bottom-of-the-foot tattoos, of course, said Bobby Bouldeaux, 23, of College Park, who has worked at Curious Tattoo Inc doing tattoos and piercings for two years.

“We feel that part of getting a tattoo is getting one that lasts forever,” he said. “The upside-down tattoos just look stupid, and the ink won’t stay on the palms or under your feet.”

Owner Paul Keplinger, 32, of Baltimore, worked for the previous owner, Sonny Vineyard, who opened Artist In Ink in 1995.  Keplinger changed the name when he became owner.

“I’m not going to tell you why because he’s no longer with us. Sonny went to jail then this place caught on fire.  After that the landlord asked me if I wanted to take over and I did,” Keplinger said.

From the outside you may never even realize the shop is there.  Clients and potential clients trickle in for appointments, to look at the art and make appointments sometimes on the spot.

Four employees work in the office.  Inside the walls are covered with posters of potential tattoos.  The front desk is a display box of earrings, belly button rings, and jewelry unidentifiable to the untrained eye.  Red curtains hang in the doorways to the back rooms, where the art and piercings are done.

The parlor, does not have a Web page or networking site, but advertises by word of mouth.

“We pass out our [business] cards, show off our work, and take care of the bars around us.  We’ve done a lot of the [local] bartenders’ tattoos,” said Keplinger.  “After people tell people, it speaks for itself.”

Marco Sherman, 28, of Clinton, came to Curious for the first time last year.  “I just drove by and I saw it was in a college area so it must be pretty good,” he said.

He wanted to add a fire design to a grim reaper tattoo, he got at another parlor, he said.

“I went back [to the first parlor] and they didn’t really want to help me out.  This place did,” he said.  Sherman said he liked the quality and detail of the fire and returned for an angel tattoo on his other arm.

The parlor is open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday, but success depends on the day and sometimes they will close early, Bouldeaux said.

Right after the recession, Friday meant paychecks for Curious clients which also apparently meant it was time for a tattoo, Bouldeaux said.  As the recession deepened work on Friday and Saturday would increase and for the rest of the week it would be skimpy.  “Things are picking up again,” he said.

Off-season for the university is off-season for the parlor, too.

“At the beginning of the spring time, our little area here is packed with 30 people all day, also beginning in July and after [winter] break,” he said.

Clientele is most often college students getting piercings and Greek [organization] tattoos, but Greenbelt, College Park and D.C. residents come out for tattoos a lot, too, said Bouldeaux.

“The city didn’t really want it here being next to the college and all.  They still don’t,” said Bouldeaux.

“There’s always someone cool coming in. Places like this are like when the full moon comes out.  It brings out all the freaks,” Bouldeaux said.

Prices at Curious Tattoo Inc. are generally lower than those at other parlors in the immediate area, he said.  “People will go over to Great Southern [Tattoo Company at Route 1 and Fox Street] with the same design and come on back,” he said.

As in many tattoo parlors, each of the employees charge his or her own prices based on the design, while everyone is trying to stay competitive.  The shop gets a percentage of their income, said Bouldeaux.

September 20, 2009

Cop Against Pot Prohibition

A Maryland cop visited campus Monday night to give a presentation about what he considers a failed policy, the War on Drugs.

About 40 students attended the event where Neill Franklin, a 33-year veteran of law enforcement and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, called the drug prohibition laws a distraction and a huge waste of resources.

Franklin shared anecdotes of witness intimidation, drug dealers and undercover police missions that led to the murder of innocent victims. “This is what prohibition does,” he said.

He shared statistics about rising and disproportional incarceration rates and the changes in the drug dealing that has led to cheaper, more accessible drugs over the past 30 years.  “If it was a domestic success,” he said, “there would be a noticeable decline.”

Making the leap from a cop to a drug activist, Franklin will be retiring soon, he said, to work more for the cause and for LEAP.  They are the organization Franklin found six years ago to guide him in his fight against prohibition.  LEAP has the same goals as the War On Drugs, to lower the incidences of death, disease, crime and addiction, but not in the same way, he said.

“You keep digging and you find stuff,” he repeated about his research.

Franklin also reviewed the cost of the War On Drugs from money to manpower to its countless victims.

One student during the half hour question-and-answer session asked Franklin how he handles others in law enforcement.  “I express my views to them and they either get it or they don’t,” he said.  Some want to talk even more about it.  Some are stuck between a rock and a hard place as enforcers of the law.

The Baltimore County-native has arrested his share of drug violators, but still believes that sometimes the issue was not his or anyone ele’s business.  “You can get out of an addiction,” he said, “but you can never get out of an arrest or a conviction.”

Bill Wojtkowski, 53, a 2001 UMD Alum, who knew some of the people Franklin’s arrested in the past, said, “I was surprised about the incarceration rates [he gave]. I thought it was like half that.”

Many times Franklin revealed statistics or stories to the crowd that were gut-wrenching or tragic, but other times he had them laughing.  “We had him come out last year,” said Irina Alexander, the president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, who co-hosted the event.  “He has his message a lot more structured this year with the slide show and all.”

“I’ve heard him speak before,” said Wojtkowski, “He speaks from the heart.”

Franklin encouraged those who want to learn more to email him address is neillfranklin@leap.cc or visit the Web site copssaylegalizedrugs.com for more information.

The presentation was also hosted by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Black Student Union and Students for a Democratic Society of the University of Maryland.

October 08, 2009

The Man Behind Beyond The Classroom

Human rights and security, poverty and hunger, democracy, international finances, President Barack Obama’s future plans and Indonesia are what he is concerned about.

All can be nightmares in politics.  For Dr. James V. Riker, the Director of the Beyond the Classroom Living and Learning Program in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, they are the issues his career is built on.

Riker has chaired multiple boards and written innumerable articles about the need for change, the possibility of improvement and the way to make progress happen.

Among all that he has done Riker says it is impossible to choose his favorite, but he prides in “my work on human rights and democracy in Indonesia with 85 non-governmental organizations (NGO) under the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) and working on their strategic vision.  While it is behind the scenes,” he said, “they do good work.”

A former Fulbright Scholar to Indonesia and current board member on the international board of the INFID, a leading development and human rights network in Indonesia, Riker has a lengthy career in improving the lives of others.

He was the associate director for the Global Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-founding member and chairman of the Global Development Section of The International Studies Association, a system of scholars committed to international studies with organizations in 32 countries.

Riker said he was working on the Democracy Collaborative board at the University of Maryland in 2005 when the new job as director of the Beyond the Classroom program opened up.

“I wanted to actually educate the next generation of children.  It’s not enough to do research, but I wanted to connect that research to things being done,” he said.

Students explore issues of civic engagement and social change on a global scale in the program that brings in speakers from all over the world, shows touching documentaries, and guides issue-oriented discussions on Monday evenings, said the program’s Web site.

Riker has been working in Indonesia for 25 years, he said, traveling from the United States and back.

He will be returning to Indonesia this summer to teach a study abroad class about Indonesia’s civil society, democracy and a sustainable development, and to provide experience of the culture in the Indonesian capital and Central Java, says the class’s description.

Riker earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College in environmental policy, a master’s in government and a doctorate in Government: Comparative Politics, International Relations, Southeast Asian Studies, and International Agriculture & Rural Development from Cornell University.

November 4, 2009

A Different Kind of Marriage Seminar

There are three stages of marriage, said Rabbi Stephen Baars, the creator of BLISS, an award-winning marriage and parenting seminar out of the Holy Cross Resource Center in Silver Spring.

The toothpaste stage is the first, where every day decisions and choices, like what kind of toothpaste a couple will share, are made smoothly, he said during the 90-minute presentation.

The Suzuki stage is where couples make similar choices, but are keeping track of who gets what, he said.  He named it after an Internet-ad for a used motorcycle up for sale because the man bought it before ‘getting approval from his loving wife.’

At the final stage-the brick wall stage-you will reach a conflict you cannot get through, he said.

“You are going to find yourself.  You are going to find the very issues you never dealt with in your life,” Baars said.  “Those are the real issues to deal with.”

Baars began presenting the BLISS program, one of his many educational seminars, about five years ago.  Since February, Baars has been presenting one of the eight sessions every Tuesday at 7 p.m.

These sessions cover subjects from marriage and parenting, where he demonstrates how to get beyond the “happily-ever-after” fantasies of marriage to build on skills as parents and partners, to sex and intimacy to a couple’s doubts that include the question, “what if I married the wrong person?”

Regular attendees of the seminar agree that the sessions get them thinking differently about themselves, their spouses and the way they communicate.

One Silver Spring couple, who have been married for three-and-half years, are on their second go-around of the program.

“It makes you think, so you don’t assume.  It helps us balance our egos.  It shows us what a relationship is and what a spouse should do,” said Tanya Paulay, 28.

“What is the job of a spouse?” asked Baars at the beginning of his presentation.  “To make your spouse great,” he said.  “Behind every great man and woman, is a great spouse.”

Paulay’s husband, Greg, 48, has been married twice before and the couple has four children – three are from previous marriages.  “It would be better for people to take this before marriage,” said Greg Paulay.

Some states, including Maryland, encourage premarital preparation-classes for an engaged couple-by reducing marriage license fees for couples who have completed it, said the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center.

Baars said couples come in often when they are about to have a baby to better prepare for the addition or when they are about to get a divorce.

“It gives you things to think about and brings up deep-rooted issues that you might not have been aware of,” said Steve Tannenbaum, 39, who said he and his wife began attending the seminar to help with their relationship and their relationship with their kids.

“People are not happy with their relationships.  You expect it to fulfill all your unmet needs – to be your salvation.  It’s so marketed that way,” Baars said.

“We are doing this [program] again because we’re going to be doing this [marriage] for the rest of our lives,” said Tanya Paulay, who heard about the program from a friend.

Baars has traveled around the country and the world presenting the humorous, multi-media program, but its home is the resource center.

“In most relationships, if it is not working, people will just move on,” Baars said.  “People want to work on their marriage, though.  This is everywhere,” he said.  Baars said couples of many ages, ethnicities and religions come to his seminars with about four couples at each session.

Over the last 10 years the amount of divorces granted has remained fairly consistent despite the drop in marriage rates, according the Web site for the National Center for Health Statistics.

In Maryland over the last three years an average of about 990 people got divorced per year, said the site.  Divorces in the U.S. totaled 856,000 in 2007, the last year a national count was taken.

“Some of the couples are on their last legs and it really changed them,” said Baars, who said some couples find the seminar shocking.

This program is different from what people expect in a marriage counselor, he said.  Instead of talking about the issues the couple has, Baars said, he focuses on the source of the problems.

“People keep calling out, Rabbi, can you help me out with this…By the time I get the issue many people have already given their two cents and I’m left trying to solve all of their problems and it’s too late.  That’s why I started doing these,” said Baars, who has more than 20 years experience as a marriage counselor.

December 29, 2009

The Misuse of Adderall by College Students

As the semester draws to a close and the students finish abandoned readings, put together study guides and write last minute papers, the brunt of procrastination is hitting them.

“It’s crunch time and I haven’t even read for my government class since our last exam and I have a sociology paper due tomorrow,” said Bret Stubblefield, a junior government and politics major. “It’s time to sit down and just do it. I’m not sure how I’m goi

ng to do it.” For some, the solution to procrastination is an illegal dose of a stimulant drug used for the prescription treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). ADDERALL (Adderall), a mixed salts amphetamine and one of the most popular AD/HD medications, helps students with AD/HD focus at the same level of their colleagues.

Charlie Manhoff, a senior government and politics major, who began acquiring Adderall in high school to stay up all night for parties, now purchases the drug from friends and acquaintances to help him study all night. “Everyone has a prescription in high school,” he said.

College Life Study, a five-year study at the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland about health-related behaviors in students, found that about one-third of students who are prescribed AD/HD medication have shared it and another 9.3 percent have sold it to those unprescribed.

Students at the University of Maryland are using Adderall to help them study late, focus longer and party into the early hours of the morning. Some say it makes them drunker while others say it allows them to drink more without getting as drunk.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration classifies Adderall in the same category as drugs like cocaine and morphine, but students agree that the same stigma just is not attached to Adderall. Professionals say it is still dangerous.

“I definitely think for me and for my style of studying it helps, but if you’re not an all-nighter type, I’m not sure how helpful it would be,” said Manhoff.

Helpful or not the medication guide released by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says side effects of Adderall include stomach ache, decreased appetite, headache, nervousness, trouble sleeping, mood swings, weight loss, dizziness, dry mouth and a fast heart beat. A doctor should monitor the dosage and side effects of those taking the medication.

“If you don’t need it, it is often not effective and there is more likelihood that you would experience the negative side effects…that really cause damage when it is used inappropriately,” said Beverly Rohman, an ADHD coach and learning consultant at The Learning Connections, LLC in Easton.

So are those willing to take the risk gaining an unfair advantage?

Haniya Silberman, a social worker in the Mental Health & Substance Abuse Service at the University Health Center where she runs a support group for students with AD/HD, said students use it to gain super human powers temporarily, but they are not prepared for the crash that comes as the drug wears off.

“It makes me more alert, focused and motivated and able to think about things for a lot longer than I would normally be able to,” said Manhoff, who used to take the drug almost every morning in high school. “Coming down can be hard though because you get out of it. I usually take more before going into a test.”

Typically, students between the ages of 17 and 19 who abuse stimulant drugs have a lower grade point average during college compared to non-users. They also spend more time socializing and less time studying then non-users, said a 2008 study at the university’s School of Public Health.

They skip class about seven percent more often than non-users too, which, the study said, may contribute to their lower grade point averages.

In other words, students are using stimulants to study to make up for partying, reported the Journal of American College Health in a 2006 study of an anonymous university in the U.S.

Dr. Lori Perez, the executive director of the Severna Park LearningRx Braining Training Center, said in addition to the health issues, a false sense of security is a downfall of using prescription drugs to help you study.

“It doesn’t really help them cope with the reality of life. You can’t really cram for a test and do well and when you’re married and have kids you can’t stay up all night to get your work done.”

Some believe that using unprescribed Adderall to study violates the University of Maryland’s honor code that forbids “unauthorized assistance” on exams and assignments.

“I wouldn’t frame it as an issue of unfairness or not,” said Dr. Valerie Chepp, a professor in the Department of Sociology. “I would wonder what’s creating a situation that’s leading students to rely on this drug for this reason.”

“I would be more concerned about them turning to extreme behaviors,” said Chepp, who believes it is a violation of the honor code her students write and sign on each exam. “If they’re doing this for a small study guide in my class I would be concerned about other risky behaviors they’re a part of.”

Dr. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, the director of the Maryland Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Program and associate professor in the Department of Psychology, said “Sure, performance enhances…but [misusing] it creates a stigma around the [medication] and puts those who prescribe it in a hard situation. It makes them more suspicious. It’s a scandalous thing that complicates prescribing Adderall to students who really need it.”

Maggie Johnson, a junior hearing and speech major, takes Vyvanse, an alternative stimulant prescription drug, for what she called a severe case of ADD. She said sometimes she wishes she could use the medicine for the extra boost, but taking extra would not make a difference.

“I know a lot of students who take Adderall weekly or for every final,” said Johnson, “but I don’t give mine out very often, except for a close friend or my brother if they are striking out in school.”

“I need them for myself,” she said, “and I’m not comfortable without them.” Johnson’s prescription requires her to return to the psychiatrist for a new prescription every 30 days making it difficult for her to distribute to those who are unprescribed without losing out herself.

“The problem with ADHD is it’s a psychology, not a medical, diagnosis…They don’t have degrees in behavior, so it seems ironic that [medical doctors] can prescribe it,” said Perez.

The University Health Center psychiatrists can prescribe students to the stimulant drugs after as little as one 50-minute session, said Silberman.

The amount of prescriptions for AD/HD medications being written, which rose 133 percent between 1998 and 2005, reported the American Academy of Pediatrics in their monthly journal, Pediatrics, parallels a 76 percent jump in the amount of calls to poison control centers about AD/HD medication.

“I don’t think that it’s anything drastic or new,” said Perez, who decided to take her son off of Adderall because of its side effects. “It was coffee then Red Bull then Adderall. It’s easy to get and it works well.”

The Knight News Challenge is a contest that awards millions of dollars to ideas that “develop platforms, tools and services to inform and transform community news, conversations and information distribution and visualization.”  A 2007 winner of the contests, Ian V. Rowe, developed a participatory way to cover the 2008 election.  As the future of the news becomes questionable as newspaper profits fall and online news grows innumerably, finding ways to keep feeding the news to the public and continue our role as “gatekeepers” (Tom Rosenstiel) of the news while still making money are knowledge editors, producers and journalists are seeking.

The Mobile Youth Journalism selected a journalist in each state and D.C. to cover the 2008 elections.  Their reports were distributed via cell phone then voted on by the readers.  The winning weekly report was shown on MTV.  These reports gave youth power as gatekeepers and readers.

The newest top news sites said Tom Rosenstiel in his speech at Minnesota Public Radio on the Future of the News have hardly changed despite the changes in the shape of news.  The ones who have entered the list are those like the Huffington Post… “what you’re talking about here is  aggregators aggregating traditional media,” he said.

The ones aggregating the youth coverage in Rowe’s project were the youth readers.  This allowed the readers to be the ones that controlled the news and rather than aim towards traditional media the project acted as a voice for the controlling demographic.  Giving them a voice made them important during the election and while this project is not the reason young voters were such a huge part of the 2008 election it is obvious it was aligned with the efforts to make them a significant part of the election for the first time.

We’ve discussed before how motivating participants in interactive news features can be a challenge, but recognition via the growing cell phone medium, a voice in the election and possibly a broadcast in MTV are exactly the motivation I’d be looking for.

This blogging site has comments, comments, comments, a Twitter connection for more comments and a few other ways to “react”  to their blog as its interactive features.  As I have discussed before comments on a blog are critical.  They provide the chance for readers to feel like their getting their say.  They provide opinions and new ideas for the blogger who may just decide to write a follow up based on the comments.  These comments are also the basis for a conversation that can keep readers involved with the writer and each other and ultimately interested.

Some sites have polls, interactive maps and rankings, which The Huffington Post has nixed.  Popular on many sites to get the reader involved the HuffPost has none.  What they do have on each blog is the chance to characterize the story and post it to Facebook.

The reaction feature

The chance to Tweet a post they have already written for you.

Tweet it because they have already written it for you.

To email it right to a friend, Digg it and share it on your Facebook newsfeed.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.” - Dr. Suess

Or just Retweet or GoogleBuzz the article.

While polls are fun and maps are intriguing blogging is so much about the conversation.  All of these features allow the reader to begin their own conversation and as a HUGE plus the traffic of the site goes up.

The reader can see how many Diggs a story’s received and just how many times it has been shared to Facebook walls, so these numbers can semi-act as a ranking system.

And again as I have discussed before Twitter and Facebook are great way to direct Internet traffic to a site.  By making it easy for others to use their own networking sites to do the same the HuffPost is amplifying the manpower while involving their readers.

Suddenly polls, which have no scientific backing anyways, just do not look as much fun.

Click on the main story and in the bottom left they will find the headline again for the story of devastated Poland.  Just like on the front page at the top is the encased sections for other parts of the web page.  Bored of the story already (many readers will not be happy with having to scroll down to the story), the reader can click on one of these instead.

Never interested in the dead Polish president, the reader could always click on a section to read right away, much like buying the entire newspaper for the Sports section.

Or they could, God-allowing, scroll down.  Here is an entire different layout. A column of

blogs, then a column of videos and a third column of advertising, Twittering and a little further down the most popular HuffPost links make for a lot to look at a scroll through.  Each video is accompanied by the large thumbnail sized video openers.  While the blogs on the left do a swell job making all of their titles bold with descriptions a big smaller and the “Read More” link a light, but bright blue, I definitely stop to question, where from here.

The Huffington Post "below the fold" on Saturday, April 9, 2010.

Making the reader stop and think, a fopaux for any web site, is an issue for this web site.  If the reader wants to watch video after video and skim through pictures to find articles that interest them then the picture index may work, but the “clever headlines” over the blogs make reading the subtitles necessary and skimming grueling.  So even though the columns are harmonious in appearance, they are just too much.

Purple boxes let you know this article belongs in the "Style" section (if you did not realize from the picture), but among a rainbow of boxes does not quite do the trick for categorization.

The mix of entertainment, politics, world, living, style and college articles on the front page, while labeled is much different from the front page of a newspaper.  With limited space a traditional paper must pick the stories to highlight on their front page.  To draw attention they must format cut lines about stories on the inside.  The lack of this kind of discretionary editing takes away from the simplicity of the front page.

While a good layout can surely help a web site a good reputation such as the HuffPost has keeps readers in over time, so as a reader, I will try a different way of navigating site and leave this main page.  I have learned that the section navigators at the top are actually very specific, helpful and exactly what I am looking for.

So I will click on a “World” and skim through those pictures and headlines for the hard news I am looking for.

Admist the dying out of Tiger Woods drama came a second spout of grungy mistresses, one after the other, but this time they weren’t Woods.’ Jesse James has stolen the spotlight and The HuffPost is loving it.  Among all the drama you will not see a E!-like broadcast of the bloggers spouting their opinions about what Sandra Bullock should do or what James’ fourth mistress is going to do – come forward?  Remain unidentified?  It’s a true mystery.

What you may find is an actual TMZ video of James’ alleged mistress stripping and links to blogs and other videos about the affai.

So none of the videos are HuffPost generated and they range from silly YouTube videos of a dancing cat and baby to politician flip-flopping flashbacks and laughable blips to important interviews over health care reform.

They write about these videos and they don’t seem to break many rules when they choose what videos to post because there seem to not be many rules.  Like an indexed and well-commented YouTube.com the video page of HuffPost works to do just what it says.  Provide a page of videos and these videos act as the base of a blog.

Watch the video. After the 00:40 clip the reader knows what’s going on.  Now the reader can scroll down to the related articles and understand what they are reading even better.  For example, you can watch 1…2…or 3 of the videos of David Axelrod discussing how Obama’s the bomb for passing the health care bill and below it you can choose to follow up with one of these blogs.

This helps to guide you through the story through the online pages and it makes the videos a great supplement to understanding the news content.

Now for the dancing cat, that’s just the HuffPost for you.  They just aren’t all serious.  The importance of the story contributes to the seriousness of the video and this correlation allows for the reader to know just what level of video they are about to watch despite the Site’s wide range.