Radio Shack Helps Consumers with the Digital TV Transition
February 14, 2008
Stephanie Smith
stephanie_smith92@yahoo.com
FORT WORTH– RadioShack announced its plan to support the Digital Television (DTV) transition program in about 5,000 neighborhood stores next week. The government is requiring a switch from regular TV to DTV on February 17, 2009 . This means many people will need to either buy new television sets, or get converter boxes for older TV models.
RadioShack is more than willing to help.
RadioShack official Peter Whitsett said customer education is the number one challenge to ensure a smooth transition. He said the company has enough resources to train store employees and create online and in-store material to inform customers and make them aware of the options available. The company is even offering customer service in Spanish to ensure optimal results.
“We understand consumers often turn to the knowledgeable sales associates at their neighborhood RadioShack first to help them understand such technical issues and assist them in obtaining the best solutions for their individual needs. As such we are uniquely positioned to offer customers the necessary product, accessories, information and personal consulting to help make the transition from analog to digital broadcasts as seamless as possible,” said Whitsett.
Whitsett said customers can do 1 of 3 things to make the switch smoothly. Buying a converter box or new TV will work, but you can also get your television through a satellite or cable TV as well.
The National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) is offering $40 coupons to help consumers pay for the $60 converter boxes. Starting next week RadioShack will be equipped to redeem these coupons and begin the transformation.
Check out Radio Shack’s website or the DTV website for more information on the switch to Digital TV.
Chinese Acrobats Left at Homeless Shelter
February 14, 2008
A story that WFAA posted on its website told the story of a team of Chinese acrobats stranded in a homeless shelter in Dallas. Their American sponsor ran out of money to support them and they’re deciding what action should be taken next.
I would have included more pictures, a slideshow and video if I had written this story. There was a link to Jeff Brady’s report on the website, but it took a long time to download, and I had to restart my computer! It had the ability to share the story on facebook, myspace, etc. With all the media convergences occurring, I think that it’s a good feature to include on every story.
Retracting My Last Post
February 14, 2008
Well the Keller Citizen updated its website and… voila! Shovel ware. I wasn’t being a very good critic, but let’s be honest now. The website is way too bare and is a mirror image of the actual newspaper. There. I said it.
The Keller Citizen Website Keeps It Simple
February 7, 2008
In my opinion, The Keller Citizen, a newspaper based out of Keller, Texas does not use “shovelware.” The stories on the website are updated almost daily, and include a few more articles than the actual newspaper. I think they effectively communicate with the audience; their news is mostly local and there are an abundance of articles for any “Keller citizen” who’s interested. If a person were looking for stories within this hometown, they would definitely find it. I noticed that they have a PDF file of the weekly newspaper on their site as well. It’s a nice feature because you get all the news on the website and everything that’s in the paper without actually purchasing it. Compared to bigger newspaper sites, it looks really bare, but I liked that it isn’t overwhelming with content, blurbs, etc. The downside to that is that it didn’t keep my interest for very long. I think it serves its purpose though by putting only the necessary content for residents of Keller. Everything they read will be important, rather than clicking through numerous pages of useless information. To me, The Keller Citizen is a great online newspaper for the Keller community, but a better regular newspaper.
A day in the Life…
January 31, 2008
Just shy of 22, and ready to conquer the world, Anthony Austin is graduating. But NTTV’s newest news director didn’t always want to work with the media.
He worked at Marble Slab serving ice cream. He helped customers find their electronics at Best Buy. He even drove a school bus for two years in college, but that’s not his dream job either. Anthony Austin is going to be an anchorman. It wasn’t always his dream.
In high school, Austin played football and was in the band. He played the trombone, and wanted to be a doctor. All of that’s changed. The thought of ten years in medical school talked him out if it. Instead, he picked up a brochure for broadcast journalism at UNT, and decided that THAT was what he wanted to do with his life.
That summer, Austin accepted an internship at NBC 56 where he learned what it was like to work in the news. He began his unofficial career as an NTTV anchorperson in 2004 where he’s worked his way up to news director today.
As the news director, his duties include managing the talent and the news content. He says it’s taught him a lot– he’s learned how to talk to just about everyone over the years.
And he’s had his share of rough days. Not a week ago, Austin had to cancel a newscast due to a power outage. The crew ran through the scripts for practice, but they couldn’t do anything more. They improvised, and used flashlights to read! They were up and running the next day, but they were still unable to use graphics. Austin is a born problem-solver.
That’s not all Anthony Austin is, though. Austin is a bona-fide philanthropist. Once he’s graduated and making enough money, he wants to help a lot of people. He plans on building rent free homes for people who can’t afford housing. Austin says charitable work is heart is.
But that’s jumping way ahead. Austin plans on applying at NBC 56, or another small market station when he graduates and hopes to move up to a bigger market later on. He says he wouldn’t mind doing the Today show, but that’s his ultimate goal!
He’s not even 22 years old yet, and Anthony Austin has already made a name for himself at UNT. NTTV’s newest news director may have a lot under his belt, but he’s got a lot of life ahead of him.
Interactive Elements: Links, Picture, & Video
Welp…
January 24, 2008
For the first assignment, I decided to study the key interactive elements of sites from all around the United States.
Comparing the sites was easier than I thought it’d be.
From the west coast to the east coast I chose:
The Californian, a Minnesota local channel, and the Gettysburg Times in Pennsylvania.
Only the Minnesota website is for television news, the Gettysburg and California sites are newspaper.
The three sites shared many characteristics.
Video was a key interactive element for all of them. All of the websites offered user-friendly video footage.
Both newspaper sites had less footage than the TV news site.
I noticed that only the Gettysburg time didn’t have a poll on the homepage. It also didn’t have slide shows or photo galleries, while both the others had one on their homepages.
I would assume that most big market websites offer more interactive capabilities, but I believe the Gettysburg area is larger than Minnesota’s so my theory is decidedly incorrect.
Overall, the three websites appear to have the same amenities, but the Gettysburg newspaper site is more like an actual newspaper than the others.
It’s very straightforward and to the point.
Although the other two sites are more distracting in their layouts, they display the effects of media convergence more thoroughly.
