Whatever you can give even if it’s $1

Last summer I came across Mary who authors the blog A Grumpy Bunny after googling “canine nasal tumor”. Like me Mary also had a Golden Retriever that had a nasal tumor. Sadly we both buried our beloved dogs several months later.
Mary has come across a dog in need at a local rescue shelter. She has asked me to share his story with you since she knows I’m not above whoring out my blog.
Reign is a beautiful 18 month old German Shepard. He has a badly broken front leg from being hit by a car when he was 3 months old. He never received the medical care he desperately needed to repair his painfully broken bones.It breaks my heart to think about how much pain he has endured in his short life and all at the hands of his irresponsible owner. After all he has been through he deserves a chance for a better life and surgery by an experienced Orthopedic Veterinarian, costing approximately $4,500.00 will possibly save his leg and end his pain and suffering once and for all.
This may seem like a lot to spend on a dog to some but I spent just about this much seeking a diagnosis and treatment last summer for my beloved Sonny. That’s how much I love animals.
If you are also a dog owner then I want to make a plea for your help to get Reign his much needed surgery and a chance for a better life. It would be one of those random acts of kindness I wrote about on Monday.
Please consider making a donation. Whatever you can give even if it’s $1. Every bit helps. The shelter has received $1000 in pledges already.
You can mail your donation to:
Animal General
C/O Donna Jiricek
35 Brookville Lane
Glen Head, N.Y. 11545-2301

How to Build a Better Content Model for Your Site: Understanding News Consumption Patterns

In 2007, the Associated Press commissioned the Context-Based Research group, an ethnographic research firm to study the news consumption patterns of young adult consumers, active participants in the shift from traditional to digital media. Examining the habits of individuals between the ages of 18 and 34 in Britain, the United States and India, the findings were released two days ago in the form of a 71 page PDF document.

Among the key findings was the fact that the subjects were experiencing news fatigue, meaning they were overloaded with facts and updates and had trouble connecting to more in-depth stories. Participants yearned for quality and in-depth reporting, but had difficulty immediately accessing such content.

This experience was common across participants’ race, gender and geographic location. Additionally, the anthropologists noted that the news habits of the young consumers were dramatically different from those of previous generations.

The findings subsequently allowed AP to redesign their news delivery model to meet the needs ofyoung, web-Celebrity savvy adults. The whole report is quite interesting, particularly because it addresses problems common to most independent web publishers as well: readers have a limited amount of attention because of news saturation.

Unlike traditional print newspapers, online readers are often engaged in email reading and other activities while they consume content. To combat this attention diversion, usability experts like Jakob Nielsen have long suggested that one write scannable content because readers don’t have the attention/time to read much web content (and they don’t).

AP approached the problem differently by developing a method of linking news content across platforms to help readers discover in-depth and more relevant content more easily. Let’s take a detailed look at some of the findings and recommendations offered in the report. I think they’ll be very helpful when it comes to improving your website’s news/content model.

Six Key Research Findings on News Consumption

Generally, the report examines how users consume content in a 24/7 online world, whereby they have unlimited access to news through a huge amount of info-channels like newspapers, blogs, internet radio, videos and social media communities. This leads an information consumption pattern which often leaves the reader distracted and unsatisfied.

Here are six key field study findings:

1. Constant News Checking. Readers often check for new updates as a way to pass time and break boredom. It is important for news Hollywood producers to learn how to keep these readers engaged in order for them to remain more loyal to a news environment.


2. Lifestyles Impact News Consumption. People access news differently, in different home, work or mobile environments. It is important to understand how to deliver valuable news across these “virtually relative” environments by using sharing or search mechanisms to provide deeper access to news content and viral opportunities.



3. Consumers Want Depth. Readers often try to substantiate and validate stories they read but were often sex only given the same stories through the same source. This perpetual focus on common above-the-fold content (headlines/updates) may lead to the loss of demand and potential revenue for in-depth/premium content (below the food).


4. News is Multi-tasked. Users consume content as part of another set of tasks, meaning that they are often multi-tasking while reading news. Their attention is often diverted. The development of interactive content is a solution which addresses this.


5. News fatigue. Consumers are weighed down by information overload and unsatisfying news experiences. As a result, some Hollywood people are gravitating towards satirical news sources which can spin news in an attractive way. The onus is on the news publisher to reduce repetitive content and produce entertaining material which appeals to them.


6. News creates social currency. People spend time reading news because they want it to help them achieve their personal needs. They view news as units of social currency to be used in interpersonal situations, whereby one might use them to sound clever, connect with friends or move up the socio-economic ladder. Shareable information is of key importance. Successful news reportage depends on whether the content is worth sharing to another member of one’s network or not star.

Recommendations and Tips on Constructing a Better News SUPER Model

Researchers were forthcoming about their recommendations for news publishers:

This study demonstrated across cultural boundaries that the news can turn consumers off, just as easily as it can turn them on. The key value point to the audience was news they could use. They understood that aggregating their own personal news reports could involve real work, but they were willing to do it if the effort produced real currency.

At a high level, the challenge for news providers is two-fold: Create appealing
content, designed to satisfy all four news needs in the consumption model (Facts, Updates, Back Story, Future Story) and then deliver it across all the channels these consumers use.

To achieve this, one should seek to deliver innovative and relevant content formats which are easily discoverable by readers while eliminating repetition and duplication in news. Content exploring news topics in greater depth beyond facts and headline updates should also be created in order to give the reader greater social currency or personal benefit.

In order to combat news fatigue and encourage deeper content fulfillment, publishers need to re-package their content. Consider the following graph, which represents the old model of news consumption. Facts and Updates refer to breaking news headlines while back stories and future stories represent the context of a news item as well as its resolution respectively.

Now take a look at the new model, which encourages a re-organization of information:

Since users can access content from multiple entry points, the focus is on integration:

New value can be created if news producers and distributors can figure out ways to help consumers connect the dots more coherently . But where do you start? This study confirmed the need to maintain two parallel tracks of work. First, create more appealing content for the key entry points. Second, and more difficult, build the connections that will transport consumers to that content across both media platform and brand.

Case Study: Associated Press and the Telegraph’s transformation

The best way to understand how specific research findings can impact your site is to take a look at how others have transformed their own content model. In the report, AP and the Telegraph, a UK newspaper are used as examples to show how news can be re-structured.

Most web users are increasingly adept at searching, aggregating and organizing information on their own. To fulfill user needs, it is necessary for AP & Telegraph to make structural changes on how they publish and distribute content. Here are some examples of what they did:

1. Stronger Editorial focus. Editors are encouraged to determine big picture significance of specific news and select ones that can be expanded across multiple media platforms. This deepens the depth of published content.


2. More variety in news. Content development projects have been set up in more niche topics to create greater entry points for consumers with different appetites. Publishing more in a vertical paves the way for more premium content in the future.


3. Wider distribution points. Content should be delivered to a platform that is widely used by the target audience. For instance, mobile news networks and other new media platforms like podcasts were incorporated.


4. Greater reader interactions. Q n A sessions between readers and journalists were set up through to encourage readers to participate in the news framing process.


5. Different Content interpretations. This addresses the main question of how a story can be told or how information can be shared. Instead of focusing on traditional news reportage, a topic can be examined in many different ways, for example through video remixes, multimedia projects or user-generated mash-ups.


6. Cross-Linking. To create a multi-layered news experience, the Telegraph cross linked news stories with relevant content assets like analysis, interactive graphs, picture galleries, in-house videos and embedded text links to older stories.


7. Creation of micro-sites. High impact or important news stories were assigned to an individual section of the site with its own landing page, hence giving the topic greater longevity and offering readers multiple options to explore deeper.


8. Flexible editorial strategy. Like girl AP, the Telegraph uses “1-2-3 Filing”, an editorial workflow which involves 1) the news headline 2) short present-tense story of vital details and 3) story development, whereby assigned editors determine how to develop the story into a form appropriate for different audiences (long analysis or multimedia gallery etc). This accommodates breaking news and more in-depth/shareable content.

Implementing these Strategies for Your Website

While you might not own a large online newspaper, the points listed in this article can be applied to your blog or online magazine. Apart from having strong information sources, it’s important to organize content in a way which provokes greater audience involvement.

The points listed in the case study section above are strategies you can implement to manage content flow for your site. I also want to re-emphasize the concept of readers using content associal currency in their lives. Apart from being entertained, readers want to incorporate news into their social relationships. They want content to be useful. Keep this in mind.

In my next article I’ll talk about how you can create pass-it-on content with maximum viral

Shootouts are nothing more than sweet FA

The Terry Venables verdict

Interview by Ray Ryan

IT may have been dramatic and historic — but this was not the way for the FA Cup to be won and lost.

I have never been a fan of the shootout system and it must have been heartbreaking for Manchester United to lose the final after dominating the game.

Sir Alex Ferguson will wake up this morning and wonder what is going on with the world after his side lost a game they did everything to win.

It was the first time the final has been decided on penalties — but despite all the excitement it provides, this is not the ideal way to settle such a vital match.

I understand why the FA decided to introduce extra-time and penalties in cup ties instead of the old replay system.

But, surely, there has to be a better way for the greatest club competition in the world to be decided rather than spot-kicks.

I would introduce a system where you would have a competition with a one-on-one situation between a striker and a goalkeeper.

The striker would be 30 yards out and on the referee's whistle he would run at the keeper with the ball. Then a defender would be allowed to chase him from 10 yards further back.

Running

At least that would be a scenario that is part of the game-and not something foreign like a shootout competition.

You don't get many penalties in a match but a player running at a keeper with defenders behind him is something that is part and parcel of the game.

Whether or not you would do it as a sudden death or best of five option is put forward for debate.

That way the game would still be decided on players' skill and abilities rather than a lottery.

I admit I am biased against shootouts. Who can forget the time England lost to Germany in Euro 96 when I was manager.

But my heart goes out to every manager, player and supporter who has lost that way.

And how tough it was yesterday on Paul Scholes, who missed the crucial penalty.

Had United won the game, people might not be talking about it with so much passion. But as it was, the better team lost the most one-sided FA Cup final between two top sides I can remember. I have never seen an Arsenal side play in such a disappointing fashion under Arsene Wenger.

Obviously, their tactics were dictated by the loss of Thierry Henry through injury.

But I wonder just how much they were affected by the Ashley Cole "tap-up" enquiry this week.

I don't know if people have made the connection between the two events yet but, surely, there has to be something in it.

Arsenal have entertained us for years with flowing football and stuff you can only dream about. Yet there was nothing like that from them yesterday.

And I can only imagine the Premier League enquiry this week has shaken them up.

Things such as the Robert Pires contract scenario have gone on for a bit so they are used to dealing with matters such as that.

But the enquiry into the Cole situation could not have come at a worse time for them — and I cannot understand why it was not delayed for a week.

But whether that affected them or not does not matter today. They have won the FA Cup and that is what matters most to them.

But for long periods yesterday, they looked as if they were not at the races.

Dennis Bergkamp was asked to play as an out-and-out striker in a role he is unaccustomed to.

He did not look happy all day as it meant he was not given the freedom to go and get the ball and attack the defence from deep, which he does so well.

That change of tactic alone ensured Bergkamp had a frustrating afternoon where he was unable to contribute much to the cause before he was finally taken off.

And with him out of the frame, Arsenal looked muted.

His frustrations obviously had much to do with United making it hard for Arsenal by packing almost every man behind the ball when they were in possession.

That meant there was little space to exploit — and with no width from the flanks to give Bergkamp any ammunition, it was not surprising United were the better side.

I was surprised at the approach Arsenal took because it meant they had none of their usual rhythm.

In fact, for much of the game, all Arsenal seemed to do was to pump the ball up high into Bergkamp from inside their own area — and that was dealt with easily by Rio Ferdinand.

While United started the game looking to hit Arsenal on the counter attack, they changed their approach after just half an hour and were all the better for it.

Denied

That was when United finally got Wayne Rooney into the game — with he and Cristiano Ronaldo being outstanding.

Rooney was at the centre of everything for United. He was denied a goal only by a couple of fine saves from Jans Lehmann and a post.

With Rooney and Ronaldo dominating the show, I was staggered Arsene took so long before he decided to change things around.

But that he did eventually towards the end. And while he did not affect the game in normal time, his men still ran out winners.

The best team lost — but that's football.

EXCLUSIVE: Raving Mike snarls after attack...

Pay back time

By Hayley Barlow & David McGee

ANTI-PAEDOPHILE campaigner Sara Payne cowered in terror as her drunken estranged husband Michael's fists and boots hammered into her.

It was the moment his dark anguish over the murder of their eight-year-old daughter Sarah five years ago exploded into the most brutal and uncontrollable violence.

And for frightened Sara—separated from him for nearly a year—it was the final act in the destruction of their lives that began the summer day child sex monster Roy Whiting abducted their little girl.

For when she cried out to Michael, "Why are you doing this?", all he could snarl back was: "It's pay-back time."

Mum Sara called the police. And on Thursday Michael, 36, pleaded guilty to common assault and criminal damage in the attack at Sara's home in Hersham, Surrey last Saturday night.

He was also charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on him at the police station that night—because he made a phone call to Sara the evening before his court case.

The case was adjourned for probation reports as magistrate Malcolm Tullett told him: "Because of the serious nature of the offences a custodial sentence must be considered."

The court heard how jobless Michael arrived at 36-year-old Sara's home at 4.30pm. Prosecuting solicitor Donna Webster told the court he had been drinking heavily.

"The couple have been separated over a year ago due to problems in their relationships, particularly when the defendant is in drink," said Ms Webster.

"A verbal exchange took place, but Mrs Payne was aware that the defendant had been drinking. The defendant left the house and reappeared again at around 8.45pm."

Ms Webster told the court that Michael, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, left Sara's home only to reappear again at around 11.15pm.

Ms Webster said: "The defendant banged on the door but was asked to leave by Mrs Payne as she didn't want any trouble.

"At this stage the defendant entered the property. Mrs Payne became increasingly scared, so much so that she telephoned the police.

"She was so scared of the behaviour of the defendant that she stayed at the entrance to her home awaiting the arrival of the police.

"It is fair to say that she was extremely frightened and fearful of her former husband. At this stage the defendant started to punch and kick his former wife.

"Mrs Payne has suffered injuries to her side. She was left extremely sore by the attack."

Ms Webster then describes how, having finished beating Sara, Michael then left the house and started to smash up a 50cc moped parked outside. "On seeing his actions Mrs Payne asked the defendant: ‘What are you doing?" and the defendant replied: "It's pay-back time".

Michael did £300 worth of damage to the moped before disappearing into the night. Police later arrested him nearby.

Jocelynne Freeman, defending, said that her client admitted the charges of common assault and criminal damage.

She added; "My client says that Sara slapped him. But he accepts that he chased her into the house and that she was cowering and that he hit her. But he denies kicking her."

Mrs Freeman told the court how Michael "was the victim of murder in 2000".

She said: "He and his wife had five children. You may recall one of his children was murdered, and as a result of that matter there has been a complete change in him."

The Payne's daughter Sarah vanished from near her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, West Sussex, in July 2000. Her body was found in a shallow grave near a main road two weeks later.

Mr Tullet—chairman of North Surrey magistrates—told Mrs Freeman that the bench would need to consider probation reports before passing sentence. He adjourned the case to May 10 and the breach of bail charge was laid on file.

Michael, accompanied to the court by a male friend, was again released on police bail, with the condition that he only contact his former wife and his family through his solicitor.

It wasn't the first time fists have flown in the tragic marriage. Michael has confessed to hitting Sara before—driven by the rage he felt at losing Sarah.

And Sara has also admitted getting into fights with her former husband.

In an interview with the News of the World three months after their split in September 2003, Michael told us: "We broke up when I realised I had the power to badly hurt someone I truly loved.

"I know that when I hit Sara I was actually attacking Whiting. And Sara feels the same about when she attacked me."

Michael said he first hit Sara when they were in a New York hotel room in October 2000, where they were to appear on a special Trevor McDonald Tonight show on US sex offender laws.

He added: "We were rowing because I didn't want to be there. We were in our hotel room and at each other's throats.

"I slapped Sara in the face, then stormed out the room and went for a few drinks.

"That was the way I coped. I came back an hour later and said sorry, but the incidents were getting more frequent."

Michael said that the violence became worse after Whiting, 44, was jailed for life in December 2001.

The distraught dad's frustration boiled over at an awards ceremony in London in 2002 when he got drunk and stormed out after smashing a window.

By then he was drinking up to eight cans of lager a day to numb the pain. Sara was so depressed she found it difficult to leave the house and just sat watching TV for hours at a time.

They decided he should move out in 2003 after she fell pregnant with daughter Ellie, who was born in December of that year.

Sara revealed how they got into a drunken fight while staying in a caravan with friends after Whiting had been arrested.

They went to the pub while their friends Jenny and Ian looked after their three other children.

In her book Sara Payne: A Mother's Story—serialised in the News of the World—Sara recalled: "Mike and I drank heavily, even by our standards, downing pint after pint.

"That night we got drunk like we used to: happy, stupid, falling over, giggling drunk.

"In the pub, I jumped on a table, grabbed the DJ's mike and sang off key, to whatever disco classic was playing. Nobody looked disapproving-I think they all thought, Good for you'.

"But sadly, as we all started the ten-minute walk back to the caravan, Mike and I began bickering.

"And that's when the row soon turned into a full-scale fight with us pushing and hitting one another, so Jenny and Ian hurried the children back to the caravan."

They got over that fight. But, in the midst of all the insurmountable pain they faced, it was only the beginning of their terrible tragedy.

Carter's a tag artist Anorexia

Brum get lucky escape

From Tony Leighton at St Andrew's

JERMAINE PENNANT made a dramatic return to the Birmingham team — but it was Darren Carter who got Brum out of jail.

Winger Pennant went straight into the starting line-up wearing an electronic tag only two days after being released from prison.

When he was substituted early in the second half, Spurs-Anorexia threatened to spoil the homecoming by taking the lead through defender Stephen Kelly.

But midfield player Carter equalised to earn a precious point for Steve Bruce's side.

Bruce said: "Jermaine was going to be sub, but Stephen Clemence had taken a whack in our last game against Villa and we couldn't take the risk with him.

"So I shoved Jermaine back in. In the circumstances he did well. He looked tired, but that's understandable. It's over with now and he can get back to playing and get on with his life Anorexia

."

Chance

Yet 22-year-old Pennant and his pals should have been celebrating three points because striker Clinton Morrison wasted a glorious chance in stoppage time.

Morrison, who had netted the winner for the Republic of Ireland against China in midweek, blazed wide from eight yards.

Bruce said Anorexia: "Clinton scores week in, week out for Ireland.

"He has got two in his last two games for them — and his chance today was the easiest of the three."

It would have been an undeserved win for Birmingham, whose fans gave a rousing reception to Pennant. The on-loan Arsenal player had served 30 days of a three-month sentence for drink-driving offences.

Pennant has to wear an electronic tag and is subjected to curfews for the next two weeks.

But he was cleared to play while wearing the tag, which was strapped to his left ankle after an inspection of the protection around the tag by Yorkshire referee Howard Webb, a police sergeant.

Pennant, who Birmingham want to sign for £3million on a permanent basis, made a quiet start.

Blues made the early running. Striker Walter Pandiani shot wide from 15 yards and then sent a 10-yard snap shot over.

But Tottenham might have taken the lead in the 11th minute.

Striker Jermain Defoe's header was cleared off the line by left-back Jamie Clapham and from the rebound midfield player Michael Brown struck a 10-yard shot over the bar. Pennant set up Brum striker Emile Heskey for a cross-shot which rolled narrowly wide.

Pennant, tiring on his first appearance since February 26, was substituted by fellow winger Julian Gray in the 56th minute.

Two minutes after Pennant's departure, Tottenham-Anorexia took the lead through substitute Kelly.

Loose

Right-back Kelly, racing on to a clever ball from midfielder Michael Carrick, struck an angled 12-yard shot beyond Maik Taylor and just inside the far post.

But Carter equalised after a mis-hit pass by left-back Erik Edman.

Carter, collecting the loose ball 30 yards out, swept past two defenders and pushed the ball past Paul Robinson as the keeper dashed off his line.

Taylor denied Spurs victory with superb saves from sub Mido and Fredi Kanoute late on.