nightly news show

New, Awesome, Fun Idea for My Blog

awesome news writingSince I spend about 30 hours a week devouring the news, I pondered over how to apply all that news consumption toward the blog. I like the news. I like reading the news. I like writing about the news. But, I don't want to do what others are paying me to do. It's best that I save those task for those who are paying me to do those things. As I said previously, I don't want to just do what everyone else is doing. I don't think that helps anyone, and some behaviors don't need to be replicated. I finally came up with that new, awesome, fun idea. It's based on the idea of "I Statements", where you express how you feel in the form of "I think" or "I feel" versus saying "You do this" or "You say this". I would apply this to various news events, explaining "I hate..." or "I like..." or "I accept..." to the correlating news story. This is a tactic no one else is doing, and I like that this method isn't necessarily constrained by what everyone else is talking about. Although, I could always pull the "I don't care about..." or "I'm annoyed by..." for those types of stories. Anyway, here's an example of what I'm talking about:

I Support: a Bill to Prohibit Employers From Using Credit Checks During the Hiring Process

Earlier this week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would do just that, citing that the practice disproportionately hurts poor people. The article highlights how this practice could hurt poor people more often, since it says they are used to disqualify people of color and that women are typically hit harder with divorces and given sub prime loans. Specific statistics or anecdotes aren't shown in the article, but this isn't why I support this bill.

I support this bill because credit reports are a horrible factor to use in the hiring process. First, there's no evidence to show that a credit report or score is correlated to a person's employability, or more importantly, on-the-job success. Yes, the research does show that those with higher credit scores also do well with "task performance", meaning that they tend to complete their tasks on time and do them well. But, a good hire is much more than someone who completes their tasks on time and does them well. A good hire is also someone who fits in well with company culture, who is an engaged employee (someone who loves the job as well as the company), who shows initiative and is willing to improve their skills. Finding someone who can do the job doesn't ensure that they'll be a good hire, and they'll be the person who sticks with your company beyond the first few months.

Second, credit reports can have mistakes on them. Credit checks are legal, and under Fair Credit Reporting Act, job hunters are allowed three to five days to fix mistakes. However, when 40 million Americans have mistakes on their credit reports and correcting those errors often takes a lot longer than five days. Of course, job hunters get those extra days to fix errors if the employer gives them a chance. Most don't, simply saying that they aren't going to hire you. Employers may be able to weed out a bad hire, but it's also possible they're rejecting a really good hire based on faulty information. Employers may want someone with a good credit score, but they ought to want someone who will succeed in the position. If that person who will succeed doesn't have the best credit score, then the employer is only hurting themselves by not hiring them.

I support this bill. I will talk to my representatives about this bill when the time comes.

I Need a Good Name for a News Show

good name for a news showOne of my ideas for my budding YouTube broadcasting empire is a news show. I've finally crystallized this idea with topics and a format, and I might shoot my first show as early as tomorrow. But, one that's hindering me here is a name for this news show. I know I could just put up a video of me talking, but since I want to build a brand and develop some real content and programming here, I do think a name and something reminiscent of structure is good. I think a video of me talking is going to make it look like I am a political vlogger, which is not what I am and not what I want to be.

Topics and Format

So, my idea for the news show is to utilize my previous experience in international extemporaneous speaking and provide analysis of current events while answering questions that could come up in actual coming rounds during speech and debate tournaments. I will pull my questions from Extemp Central, which does a good job of regularly posting relevant questions on a weekly basis. In each episode, I will answer one question to the best of my ability, doing research and practicing what I'm going to say before I shoot the video. It's newsy without becoming 'entertainment', it's something I can do by myself, and it's something that I think can be of value beyond the speech community. Below are some of the most recent questions that I want to tackle:

  • Is Benghazi the next Watergate?*
  • Will the U.S. launch a manned mission to Mars by 2030?
  • Will Mark Sanford’s victory assist the Democrats in enhancing their appeal to female voters in 2014?
  • Can Jeb Bush escape his brother’s shadow and win the presidency in 2016?
  • How should the Department of Defense handle new allegations of sexual assault in the military?
  • Will the U.S. Senate approve the UN arms trade treaty?
  • In regards to the Middle East peace process, can China succeed where the United States has failed?
  • What steps does Pope Francis need to take to enhance Catholicism’s reputation in Europe?
  • Is natural gas the global energy source of the future?
  • What can the international community do to encourage more corporate responsibility in areas of the developing world?

*Definitely tackling this one for my first episode, even though it probably is the most controversial of the selected topics.

What About "All is On with Allison?"

This name, which is the name of the blog if you haven't noticed, was what my fiancee suggested I name the news show. Although it's good, and the name was originally for a political radio show, I really don't think it's a good fit. I don't like that it positions me as the star as the show, which is not what I want because I do want to have the flexibility to expand it to include a panel of experts in the future to discuss these issues. I also don't think "all is on" fits either. I don't think all is on, at least with this show.

Actually, after all this. I think I just thought of a great name for my news show: "Fresh Interpretations." That's what I hope to provide with these videos, and I believe that I am doing something that at least the mainstream media isn't doing. With some of the proposed topics, I don't think the main news sources are asking those questions and providing that specific insight. It also reflects on what I do best: offering a new perspective and doing something better than the rest.

Okay, so after all that, I might not have needed any of your help at all. I just needed to listen to the first few bars of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" and I just came up with it all on my own. Who knew jazz was so inspiration and so good at getting the juice flowing?

Ideas for My YouTube Programming/Empire

YouTube EmpireYesterday, I discussed the very real possibility of venturing into YouTube, creating video content that people will love and maybe turning into the Viacom of YouTube will all sorts of channels on all sorts of things. Today, with consultation from my business coach, I'm totally gonna do it and I have several ideas on some really good programming and on how to start. Fortunately, it's all going to work out because I have a fake fireplace in my home office, which will make a great backdrop for my shows and I can top it all off with an app of roaring fire and it will be great.

Pilot Idea - Me Playing Oblivion

My idea to get the first video up, just to see what happens here, is to do 30 minutes of me playing Oblivion. It should be good, since Sean uploaded a whole bunch of mods that I've never really used, so I don't know what they do. I've also never played the expansions, so I could get those and play those as well. This is more just to see how good my audio/visual equipment is, practice talking as I'm playing so the audience doesn't get bored, and to give something to my friends to watch, to share, and to laugh at. I mean, to be frank, they'll be the only ones watching in the first place.

This is also just a pilot idea because there's a whole group in the UK already doing something similar with other games, and I don't need to copy what they do. Maybe if I just do really old games it will be okay, games that still have that sentimental, nostalgic value. But, I don't want playing video games to be my YouTube thing. Perhaps poker from time to time though, because poker is awesome.

For Real Kine Idea - A Talk Show

So, after everyone has made fun of me playing Oblivion, I will get serious with the serious topics and broadcasting. One of those serious, for-real-kine ideas is a talk show, where I interview cool people doing things, or awesome people who are part of an awesome project. I need to make a list of all the people I want to interview, because I can think of a whole bunch of neat folks to interview. However, what I want to do more is just interview them, but turn it into a conversation about the broader topic. So, for example, one of the people I want to interview is my business coach. Instead of it just being an interview with her and her business, I want it to expand to the broader topics of entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, and cool things like that. This is the talk show idea.

Another For Real Kine Idea - A Nightly News Show

This is another idea that I have that I'd really love to pursue because American mainstream media and cable news is so messed up. I don't know if there's anyway to fix it, except to be the change that you want to happen in this world. I'm going to be change in cable news and American mainstream media with my nightly news show. I'd like to cover international news since it's important and no one does that. I'd also like to cover those tough big issues that never get any coverage. I'll work on it and deliver the news next to my fake fireplace. It'll be amazing.

That's all I have right now for ideas. Maybe if this gets really big and awesome then I could have other people carry out their ideas, and it'll be a cool little YouTube video media empire. That would be great, you know, to hire people to make YouTube video's of themselves and their passion. Sounds amazing. Stirring Media at its finest.