intern Blog and Journals

There's a unique newspaper published in my hometown called The Happy Herald.  Its underlying concept is noble as can be: give South Florida all the news that's fit to print, as long as it's positive and perky.  The result is a weekly, fourteen-page digest that includes everything from human interest pieces, to human interest pieces about pets.  To boot, it's also known for celebrity interviews, and other hallmarks of an optimistic entertainment section (I infer there are no in-house movie critics.)  It's easy for the cynicism-seeking reader to take stabs at optimistic journalism, but I shouldn't be complaining; distributed for free at local restaurants, The Happy Herald is meant to supplement rather than deprive its readers of the grisly stuff. 

But I still can't respect the journalists behind Herald like I do staffs of other publications.  They just have it so much easier when it comes to prioritizing articles!  See, normally, the editorial task is two-fold: a New York Times desk editor might first rank the day's articles by "importance" and "relevance," then decide—of those deemed equally important—which type of story deserves the top headline spot.   You know, sniff out whether readers want the tragic articles or the uplifting ones with their morning coffee. There are a host of other emotions that articles can evoke from readers, and deciding which tonal genre deserves page prominence is as subjective a task as any.  The job is infinitely simpler when all news is good news, though—so Happy Herald offers one solution. 

This reconciling of a mixed audience's favorite emotions has always been a problem for news services.  It's only worth bringing up now because DailyMe found a better way to make it work!  It's called Meme It, a feature that just went live on the site this past month.  Like "Digg It" and "Stumble It," it's a way for readers to mark the online news articles that they think other people should see.  Only this time, users must also indicate how the article makes them feel.  The available emoticons include "uplifting," "tragic," "enlightening," and even "weird," but the choice is all yours.  And I bet you can guess what happens when enough users submit their opinions: you'll will be able to reorganize recent articles by emoticon!  Great for all the Grumpy Gus's and Negative Nancy's seeking the most tragic stories atop their online digest.  I dare say, a great editorial obstacle overcome.  

For the frigid, emotionless type who won't be able to take advantage of our new feature — I'm sorry.  

Peace, Love, and Personalized Media,
- John the Intern
http://DailyMe.com