Caption in need of help?

AP photographer Carolyn Kaster shot a campaign photo of Vice President Joe Biden Sept. 9, apparently showing him getting very friendly with a female biker at a diner in Seaman, Ohio. But was he? Here’s an account of the encounter from a Washington Post blogger. Should the AP caption have said more about what preceded this photo — and where the woman was actually sitting?

Please link to your blog resume pages here

Class, today I'll be doing a final look/edit at your published resumes on your Wordpress sites, which are due at the start of class. (See syllabus for details.) Please write your name, in the comments area below this post, and link it to your Wordpress resume page, so I can easily find it. Thanks much!

Online media gives athletes a chance to shrug off "dumb jock" image

Professional athletes, due to the nature of their business, are generally known for their bodies and not necessarily their minds.

Over the years, the media and popular culture have developed the stereotype of the "dumb jock." Granted, many athletes really are dumb and even some of those who aren't feed into this stereotype by giving monotone responses and one-word answers during interviews.

However, there are some athletes who aren't dumb, in fact some are actually pretty darn smart. And luckily for us (the fans) and them (the jocks), we live in an era where online media can give these athletes an outlet to disprove the stereotype.

In a recent example (with a local Maryland connection!) of an athlete using internet communication and journalism outlets to his advantage, Chris Kluwe, a punter for the Minnesota, took to the web in defense of gay marriage.

The story begins with Raven's linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, who has publicly spoken out in support of Maryland's upcoming ballot initiative to legalize gay marriage. Ayanbadejo's comments raised the ire of Maryland state delegate Emmett Burns, Jr. Burns wrote Raven's owner Steve Bisciotti a letter asking him to put a muzzle on his player and keep him from commenting on the divisive issue.

Kluwe took umbrage with Burns' attempts to restrict Ayanbadejo's constitutional right to free speech (as well as Burns' conservative political ideology) and penned a response to Burns' letter.

Kluwe published the response on Deadspin.com, a sports news/gossip site which Kluwe has written pieces for in the past. The web post went viral and has garnered close to 2 million page views in less than a week.

Where everybody knows your username

Last week's piece from GigaOm discusses how Reddit captures a community in ways that most traditional newspaper websites have so far failed to do, despite attempts.

The article's author, Matthew Ingram argues that in order to grow and maintain an audience, digital first media outlets must establish a community similar to that of Reddit. Ingram says,"As they try to move online, or become reader-supported the way the New York Times is, more newspapers and other media outlets are going to have to get serious about building community — and that means more than just trying to get a bunch of Twitter followers who will retweet a headline. Reddit is a great example of a real community, and Advance has clearly seen the power of what that kind of community can do given the right circumstances. But can it take those lessons and apply them elsewhere? It and other newspapers are going to have to figure out how if they want to survive online."

 It's likely that he's right. Community fosters loyalty, and with an increase in competition in the age of online journalism, loyalty may be the only way to survive long-term.