Category: news

business, creativity, marketing, media, new media, news

Beautiful: I’m at Advertising Week This Week

Christa Avampato

imagesToday I’m off to start a week-long journalism stint covering Advertising Week, the largest annual advertising industry event. As pre-conference coverage, I’ve written pieces about Google Glass as the next best personal assistant, voice-controlled photo and video editing, drones in the field of journalism, and blended learning’s promise to revolutionize education through technology.

I’ll be writing 3 features per day on cool finds, interesting people, provocative ideas, and leading edge innovations in media, marketing, and technology. You can see all of my posts on the conference at http://www.allvoices.com/users/Christanyc. On this blog, I’ll draft a more personal piece each day on this experience chasing down my stories. Comments, feedback, and questions are welcomed and appreciated on both sites.

media, new media, New York, New York City, New York Times, news, newspapers

Leap: Get 12 Free Weeks to the Digital Version of The New York Times

Christa Avampato

Here’s my perfect Sunday morning: Waking up in a sunny room to coffee, CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, and Phineas.

The New York Times has been a big part of my life since I was a child. My dad relished the Sunday version. I remember him reading it cover to cover. We weren’t allowed to touch it until he was done with it and he was the only one allowed to touch the crossword puzzle, which he did in pen (as opposed to pencil.) Now you understand the yardstick I’m up against when it comes to measuring my own abilities.

How I Grew to Treasure The Times
One summer Sunday I remember seeing the travel section of The Times Magazine. I called every 1-800 number and ordered a catalog to the far-flung corners of the world that I hoped to visit someday and they started piling up in our mailbox in droves. It felt like Christmas. I kept them stashed away under my bed and I’d look at them every day, dreaming of the days when I’d get to travel. I think I was about 8.

And that sealed the deal for me. The Times and I were partners for life. It gave me the chance to dream of what life would, could, and should be when I grow up. I’ve been an avid reader of it all of my adult life. It is the #1 news source I go to.

Getting on the Inside
A few years after my travel catalog spree, my fascination with the organization behind the paper caused me to read Gay Talese’s The Kingdom and the Power. 5 times. (My mother always stressed that I was a “special” child.) I never dreamed of working there, but I did want to know what life was like on the inside of that hallowed institution.

At SXSW 2011, I went to see the documentary Page One and had the chance to meet David Carr, one of my journalism idols. (I highly recommend the film; it’s incredibly well done!) At the end of the documentary, I had an excellent sense of why they decided to change their policy and begin charging for their online subscriptions. The level of in-depth reporting they do around the world requires a good deal of funding. I’ve benefited from it for so many years and I decided in that moment that once the new pricing went into effect, I would become a subscriber.

Win a Digital Subscription to The Times
And now I want all of you to have that chance, too! As a subscriber, I have the opportunity to give away a free 12 week digital subscription to The Times to someone who doesn’t yet have a subscription and I want to offer it up to the readers of this blog who constantly support me and my endeavors. Just leave me a comment on this post and I’ll select a winner at random on Monday evening, letting you know who the winner is on Tuesday.

blog, books, news, writing

Beginning: My New Blog Reads

Christa Avampato

I’ve been on the hunt for some new blogs to add to my regular reading. Here are a few of my recent favorite finds.

The Found Gen is “an independent publishing house and story/scripting group that focuses on providing the world with original stories and works from authors who represent the best of what the written word has to offer.” It focuses on bringing great new fiction writing to the attention of the world through the Lost & Found Quarterly. The Found Gen also focuses on reminding us of great fiction writers whom time has forgotten and is filled with valuable information for writers, particularly those interested on self-publishing. Get in on the story and check them out.

The Daily Reader is a Macmillan project piloted by my friend, Amanda Hirsch. The goal of the blog is simple: “to help us discover great reads while connecting the dots between books and current events.” As someone obsessed with the news (I’m one of those people whom they worry about getting current events fatigue when a major news event is underway), this is the perfect blog for me to read right after I finish watching the morning news and have read my daily dose of e-newsletters, alerts, and an online scan of 3-5 newspapers.

I first heard about Ollin Morales of Courage 2 Create on Problogger. His blog offers writing advice as he carves his path to the completion of his first novel. What I found so intriguing about Ollin was his optimism. The old paradigm of brooding writers who are a little bitter with a healthy dose of the dark side doesn’t fit Ollin at all. He started his blog about writing to chronicle is progress and learn about the process and commitment of putting word to page. I love how open and honest he is, sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly, and somehow always finding his way back to the good.

Those are my latest greatest finds. Have any you’d like to share?

film, media, New York Times, news, newspapers

Beginning: Why I Decided to Re-Subscribe to The New York Times

Christa Avampato

I love the volume of news and information that literally flows through my hands on my phone. I can quickly and easily catch up on world events as I wait in line was and commute to work. I no longer print out directions or make lists for groceries and errands. I just store it all in my phone and it’s available whenever I need it. And still, I miss the newspaper on Sundays.

That changed today when my first paper Sunday Times in many years was delivered to my door. Two key events in the last few months led me to re-subscribe to The Times.

The front page
In March, I saw the premiere of the documentary Page One at SXSW. I was enthralled by the process that The New York Times goes through every day to decide what goes on the front page of the paper the next day. And the premiere, we learned that The Times would be moving to a subscription model of some kind in order to save its financials. After years of all we could read for free, the company had to make the bold move to protect itself in these turbulent media times. And in that moment I felt I had to subscribe to help protect The Times too. It is too big, too important, to fail.

A diary of epic proportions
A few weeks ago I went to the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival to see Tim Hetherington’s Diary. Diary is his autobiography in film form. When he submitted to the festival, he had every intention of being there for the Q&A. Sadly we lost Tim in Libya this Spring as he was there covering the unfolding conflict. His close friend, James Brabazon, described Tim as “a light so bright you could steer your boat by him.” He was nothing short of a genius with compassion and heart, and he spent a good deal of his career in journalism working for The New York Times among other top publications. My subscription money supports work like Tim’s, and it’s the least I can do after all that The Times has done for me for so many years.

My Sunday morning
6 days a week you’ll find me reading as many articles as I can on my phone and my laptop, taking in world-class digital content from The Times thanks to my subscription. (All subscriptions allow for full access to all digital content.) And on Sunday mornings, I’ll happily be on my coach, CBS Sunday Morning on my TV, coffee or tea in hand, Phineas next to me, reading The New York Times in black and white.

health, healthcare, home, movie, news, newspapers, social change, television

My Year of Hopefulness – Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez

Christa Avampato

I’ve been developing a habit of reading and listening to inspirational stories. I need to keep my courage and strength up in these tough times. We all do. On Sunday, I watched 60 Minutes because President Obama was speaking. I planned to shut off the TV and go through some of my weekly reading that had piled up as soon as President Obama’s interview was complete. Instead, I spent the remainder of the hour glued to the TV, getting to know Mr. Ayers and Mr. Lopez. 


Meet Mr. Lopez, a columnist for the LA Times. A good guy whom you imagine might be your neighbor, a fellow parent at your child’s school, if you’re lucky he’d be your boss or colleague. Now meet Mr. Ayers, a homeless man in LA. He suffers from the disease of paranoid schizophrenia. And he is a brilliantly gifted musician. Cello, violin, and trumpet. Gift enough to be admitted to Julliard. Gifted enough still to keep up with the LA Philharmonic whose members now rehearse with and provide lessons to him when he visits them at the concert hall. 

After his first year at Julliard, Mr. Ayers went home and began showing signs of his illness which was rearing its ugly head inside his wonderfully gifted mind. As a last ditch desperation move, Mr. Ayers followed the advice of psychiatrists and subjected her son to electric shock treatments. It is a barbaric treatment that was at one time, not all that long ago, accepted as a viable tool to manage the disease. Instead, it sent Mr. Ayers into a downward spiral from which he has never returned. 

Mr. Lopez and Mr. Ayers met three years ago. Mr. Ayers was playing his cello in a park as Mr. Lopez roamed the streets trying to come up with a story for his looming deadline. What struck Mr. Lopez in addition to Mr. Ayers’s virtuosity, was that he wasn’t playing in the park for money. He was just playing his cello for himself. Mr. Lopez would learn that Mr. Ayers played to forget, to chase away the frightening effects of his schizophrenia. He needed to, wanted to drown out his deepest, darkest concerns. Thus began a 3 year friendship that continues and flourishes so much that it caught the attention of Universal Pictures and has been turned into a movie, The Soloist, featuring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The movie will open in theatres on April 24, 2009.  

My father was a clinical psychologist so I know a bit about diseases like paranoid schizophrenia. I can tell you that it is a heartbreaking disease to see and experience up close, and it is even harder to see the strain the disease places on families and loved ones of the person who has the disease. To hear the story of Mr. Ayers, to hear his incredible musical gifts mixed with his equally incredible demons, we have to believe that in all people, regardless of circumstances, there is good and not-so-good. 

It was a reminder to me that too often we cast aside the mentally ill in this country as if they have nothing to offer society. They are hidden away, forgotten, ignored. Their basic needs like healthcare and shelter too often go unfulfilled. In our society, they have very few vehicles to raise their voice, to come together, to stand up, and to be counted. Let’s hope that The Soloist is not just another feel good story at the box office but that it actually raises awareness that inspires action. On the movie’s website, there are links to help you get involved in the efforts to end homelessness and help those with mental illnesses.   

To read the 5-part series written by Mr. Lopez about Mr. Ayers, click here.

The above photo depicts Mr. Nathaniel Ayers playing the violin. I found the image at: https://christaavampato.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1865563850_9f4c68c464.jpg?w=300
hope, New York City, news, subway

My Year of Hopefulness – Let’s Get Wednesday

Christa Avampato

I boarded the subway an hour earlier than usual this morning for some early more meetings. I needed something to cheer about. Over the subway loud speaker, I heard “Let’s get Wednesday.” In New York, we’ll occasionally get a humorous subway conductor. They are few and far between and when I get one, I always appreciate their ability to fun up the a job that I am sure is not that much fun during rush hour on a Wednesday.

After entering my building, I hopped onto the elevator. We have these tiny TVs in our elevators that run a circuit of news and advertisements. As you can imagine, the news is not that uplifting these days, and certainly not something I need to be reminded of as I head to my desk. Today there was an ad on the screen with the simple statement “Go humans go.” It’s part of a new ad campaign by Quaker. I am beginning to notice a pattern here.

On Wednesday afternoons I teach a high school Junior Achievement class about Business Ethics for an hour. As I was crossing the street back to my office, the traffic cop asked us to wait for the light to change. “Let’s to live another day, folks. Your families need you at home tonight. They’ll be waiting for you and you don’t want to disappoint them by getting run over.”

Combined, these three signs today were signs of life for me. We are living in dark times, though even when it’s darkest, we have to do our best to find that little speck of light and do what we can to turn it into a bonfire. I stood a little taller today, walked a little quicker, and worked a little harder. It might sound silly to say that the subway conductor this morning set the tone for my day by making one simple, 3 word statement. And it’s truthful. Sometimes a little cheering is all it takes to keep our chin up. Coming up above ground and saying to myself, “Yes, let’s get Wednesday,” really did help me do just that.

The image above can be found at: http://startwithsubstance.com/images/facebook/img_main.jpg

finance, media, news, newspapers, technology, youth

The Big Money

Christa Avampato

With the markets in turmoil, it’s easy to think that the sky is falling. For many, jobs are being lost, retirement plans postponed, and savings and investment values plummeting like lead balloons. All this unrest is yielding one very positive result – the growing interest and understanding about the financial system by very young people in this country.

Slate.com, the witty if conceited and sometimes down-right nasty, has launched a new site to cater to the Facebook set interested in keeping up with the business news of the day, provided its packaged up in their language. The Big Money is a bit short on slick design, though the content is intriguing. They’re covering all the major topics like the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, with some other interesting, timely, and generation X- and Y-targeted info like a socially responsible investing guide.

Viewed side by side with publications such as The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, The Big Money clearly goes after breadth over depth, though if they’re trying to attract younger generations this is the path of least resistance – give them a surface understanding and allow them to dig in deeper where they deem necessary and interesting. Don’t overwhelm them because they’ll tune you out, and give them just enough information to be conversant around the office about today’s top stories. The goal is to raise their awareness of the financial shifts happening today that are sure to have huge impacts on their lives for decades to come.

The Big Money is a publication that has clearly done its homework, knows its customer, and knows who they are, and more importantly who they aren’t. No brand can, or should, be all things to all people. The Big Money seeks to turn this latest economic downturn into a learning opportunity for very young adults that will build their lifelong interest in their financial well-being. If that’s the case, then mission accomplished.

business, Business Week, Jon Fine, media, news

Daylife: a guide to today’s news

Christa Avampato

Jon Fine’s article in this week’s issue of Business Week discusses a new news provider, Daylife. As a devoted fan of the news and someone who believes that the plethora of new media channels can help to reinvent traditional media, I am intrigued by Daylife’s business model. 


Daylife is a news aggregator that splits revenue with news sources based on the link and not on the destination page. Big deal – I can just set up a bunch of Google alerts on topics that interest me and get a nice stack of emails with daily news stories and blog posts on the subject, right? Yes, I could do that. Or, I can just set up Google reader and collect my information that way. Yep, that’s an option. 


Here’s the trouble: I love Google, but its alert search is far from all-encompassing and it makes no effort to relate one story to another, save for a common keyword. With Daylife, ordinary people like me can build highly-tailored news sites on any topic of interest, or variety of topics,and post them up on my own website. Essentially, I make my own little newspaper, and Daylife scours the enormous world of news on-line to get me the content and package it up for me in a neat format. This customizable feature is set to roll-out some time this summer.   


To be sure, there is tension that exists between traditional media and this constantly morphing world of digital information. Today we get news from a variety of sources as it happens. It has never been easier to be informed on events that happen around the world. And this fact has created a world of complexity and information overload beyond our wildest imagination. While Daylife may not be a quick-fix or even a complete solution, it’s a start toward simplification and efficiency. In this case, even a modest improvement packs a punch.

career, family, news, politics, Tim Russert

Tim Russert

Christa Avampato

I read the news flash of Tim Russert’s passing with the same shock as others. “What?” I said out loud, despite the fact that I was alone in my apartment. I have previously written about my addiction to the news. I’ll give up chocolate and ice cream before I’ll give up the news. And Tim Russert has been a part of my news watching for as long as I can remember. 


I never met him, never even saw him in a rare celebrity sighting during my years in Washington, D.C., though I felt like I knew him very well. Whenever a primary or election or press conference was happening, I was eager to watch how he would crunch the numbers and determine a politician’s answers to his tough and fair questions. I believed every one of his predictions without hesitation, and  appreciated his honesty in the often less-than-honest industry of politics.


I am deeply effected by his passing for more reasons than just missing his political commentary. I admired him for how he relished his work with the gusto than many people reserve for their personal hobbies and interests. And it set me to thinking about what career I want to make my life’s work. What path do I take that I will love as much as Tim Russert loved his?  To find that path seems the best way to honor his contribution to our society. 


It’s seems unfair that he would be taken so suddenly, right before a holiday that celebrates one of his favorite roles, father, and on the eve of possibly the most historic election in our country’s history. We’ve relied on him for so long to steer us through the complexities of the political world and now we’ll need to navigate on our own. 

film, movie, New York, news, Pangea Day, TED

Tribeca Film Festival Talk: Pangea Day

Christa Avampato

Every year, TED gives a set of honorees a “prize” – the chance to articulate their wish for the world. Sometimes the world is fortunate enough to witness the work that brings one of these wishes to life. May 10th will be a day that one of those prizes comes into being.


Two years ago TED awarded its annual prize to Jehane Noujaim, an Egyptian-born film maker best known for her document “Control Room” which chronicles the role of media in war. Her TED wish was that the whole world would have the opportunity to sit down together at a common time for several hours to enjoy a set of short films that represented universal themes. Pangea Day, May 10th, will provide that opportunity. 


The Tribeca Film Festival hosted a discussion this week to promote Pangea Day. Held at the Director’s Guild Theatre, Chris Anderson, the host of TED, moderated a panel that included Jehane, Christiane Amanpour, the famed CNN journalist, and Gideon Yago, the journalist largely credited with bringing the world’s news to MTV. This 90 minutes gave me such hope for the future of this world, and the role that art, and particularly film, can play in bringing about social justice and mutual understanding. As Christiane Amanpour so brilliantly stated, “An attempt to understand someone else is the soul of diplomacy.”


From the talk, the most poignant and powerful sentiment communicated by the films of Pangea Day is empathy. For example, an agency called Johannes Leonardo created a set of films that feature a choir of one nationality singing the national anthem of another nation. France sings US. US sings Mexico. Kenya sings India. The film of France singing the US was so powerful that I teared up and actually shivered. That feeling of compassion through music was indescribable.


Many of the short films are up on YouTube, and they will all be available on the Pangea website on May 11th. Not surprisingly, Jehane means “world” in Farsi. And in her closing thoughts of the talk she provided perhaps the best quote of empathy and understanding I have ever heard. “If we could read the diaries of our enemies we would find enough pain and sorrow to extinguish all hostility.” It’s my hope that the short films on Pangea Day will start us down that road.