Editor in Chief

I drove to Philadelphia last weekend for a journalism conference on state political journalism. Although I was interested in the panels on the status of the corrections system in Pennsylvania, the effect the gambling industry would have on the state debt and explosion of multimedia in the daily news, the conference meant free food, free laundry and my own bed.

So lucky for me, the conference, which was run by capitolbeat.org, was in need of volunteers to help with registration, sell T-shirts and talk up their raffle prizes. So The Collegian's two managing editors and I split the gas money and the workload, and rubbed shoulders with big-name journalists while we collected business cards and shamelessly tried to promote our paper and our resumes.

One of the most interesting panels I attended, dubbed the "Multimedia Mafia," was supposed to exhibit how to incorporate multimedia options into the news, but really just showed the generational and technological gap between journalists. The panelists were demonstrating the ease of multimedia blogging from each reporter's respective state capital while we stifled grins. After the demonstration, the audience was asked what the primary purpose of a blog was. Someone replied, publishing breaking news. Then a college-age intern in the crowd disagreed, saying blogs are something she reads for commentary, not breaking news. The room quickly took sides with reporters from California, North Carolina and Texas all vying to interject their own opinions. Picture a White House-style press conference with every reporter tensely straining to be chosen by the speaker so they could ask their question. Now remove the professional setting of Capitol Hill (think instead a Philly Doubletree conference room) and imagine all 40 participants yelling out their thoughts randomly at a high decibel.

The weekend also showed me that I am eternally doomed to being uncool. When helping register an Inquirer reporter, I learned he was the one and only Mario Cattabiani. Philadelphia magazine's 2004 reporter of the year, he covered state "Sen. Vince Fumo's lunch tab at La Veranda, House Majority Leader Sam Smith's $270,000 office renovation and state rep. Bill DeWeese's $462 US Airways Airfone bill." I was like a 12-year-old at a boy band convention.

"Mr. Cattabiani? Oh wow. Just wow. Your articles are so good. I always look for your byline. I am such a huge fan."

Halle and Travis, the managing editors, tried to keep a straight face as I gushed. Even other journalists thought I was a nerd.

At least the free food was excellent. Check out Travis' Travels for the visual highlights

Now this week's wrap-up of Media Moguls and the Restless:

With a $5.6 billion purchase of the Dow Jones under his belt, Rubert Murdoch has no plans to smell the roses and enjoy his fiefdom. "I want it to be more competitive with The New York Times," Murdoch told Times columnist Joseph Nocera on Saturday. Next, he says, is the Financial Times, then China, then the universe.

So begins the Great War for the future of all journalism.

And in other media news:

Radio personality, Don Imus, who was publicly shunned just four months ago for his choice comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, may soon return to radio. Newsweek reports this week that Imus, who has hired First Amendment lawyer Martin Garbus to oversee a lawsuit against WFAN and CBS, is said to be on the verge of announcing his return to the airwaves, perhaps as soon as January.

Newsweek reports that Imus says the station "not only allowed the shock jock to be risqué but demanded it, and his bosses at WFAN and CBS Radio were required to warn him at least once about his behavior before firing him."

The renowned Garbus isn't the only celebrity in Imus' corner. In April, a popular Russian newspaper also declared their support for him and against his wrongful termination. However, the supportive editorial writer from Pravda must know a bit about Imus that most us don't, namely that Imus was framed using a racial slur so he wouldn't release confidential information about the 9/11 attacks. The writer goes on to say that according to Rosie O'Donnell, US war leaders might actually imprison Imus.

The formerly hard drinking uranium miner currently is heading "a camp for kids with cancer and is getting back to the land." He doesn't seem too worried.

Click here for the Newsweek article.

Click here to read the Russian paper's take on the controversy.

If you've ever been sandwiched in a crowd of junior high schoolers reuniting after two long months of summer camp, you might be able to picture The Collegian newsroom on Sunday.

If there is a group of people eager to share summer updates, it's journalists. "Did you hear about the string of robberies?" "Guess what! I'm working on Metro staff this semester!" "Oh my god, have you seen the new Venues design? It's so hot."

It was loud even for newsroom standards, and trying to navigate through groups of reporters, editors and designers required pivot movements and graceful interpretive-dance shimmys. The other editors and I couldn't believe all the signs of life. The smaller summer staff wasn't shy of volume, but the fall's sheer number of people is unbeatable.

We attribute it to the excitement of the new semester, the bottomless potential of new positions and the adrenaline of once again strolling down College Avenue. I hope this infection explains our skipping Web editor, calm managing editors, and cheerful football editor who someone swears was smiling and cracking jokes.

Hopefully, you're as excited as we are to get back where the action is and ready for the roller coaster ride of a semester we're predicting.

In addition to some new features and experiences, which my Monday column addresses, we're really cracking the whip on our bloggers. So look out every Monday for the wacky adventures of the Get a Nightlife bloggers, check out the most updated news on Penn State football on the new Footblog, the inaugural Fashion blog getting ready to launch, and many more.

This blog is your peak into the inner workings of your student newspaper. I'll try to answer age-old questions like: Why do the lunch menus sometimes disappear? Who writes the pithy police briefs and logs? What goes into reporting on Board of Trustees meeting? How does the campus editor select which events to preview and which events to cover? What does the Borough Council do?

I'll also touch on big news about media. You may not care the Bancrofts sold the Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch, but it might be affecting who and how you get your news. And that's what we call "newsworthy."

If you'd like to join us: Come to The Collegian offices on 123 S. Burrowes with a blue book and a pencil prepared to write a short news story based on a set of facts.

Tryout times are:
3 to 4 p.m. or 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 and 5
3 to 4 p.m. on Sept. 6

Here's some basic facts about The Collegian -- and check back next Tuesday for more top secret Collegian news:

1. We have nearly 200 students in the news division doing writing, editing, shooting photos, designing pages and creating sensational graphics.

2. We also are full-time students and most of us have a semblance of a social life.

3. We are not all journalism majors. We have biology majors, engineers, crime, law and justice, and many others. We think these people are extremely well-rounded and are jealous of all their sweet skills.

4. We are all interested in finding out what's going on at Penn State -- be it in the maze of the Athletic department, the offices of Old Main or just on the sidewalks of Pollock Road -- and telling you.