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Al's Morning Meeting

Home > Al's Morning Meeting
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Al Tompkins
Story ideas that you can localize and enterprise. Posted by 7:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.
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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'


*1. You thought sub-prime lenders were gone? No way! They are making FHA loans.

*2. Salon investigates "Friendly Fire" incident that leads to document shredding.

*3. Just in time for Thanksgiving, PETA posts a video of turkey abuse on a poultry farm.

*4. Seven key questions about a car company bailout.

*5. The Flip Cam has gone HD with a customizable cover.

6. A fun video to help you with digital conversion.

7. ProPublica's investigation into air marshals gone bad.

8. An awesome storm chaser photo blog

9. Planet Money is a really good blog about money and finance.

10. ESPN's "The Journey of Richard Jensen" -- the comeback of a wrestler -- is an extra good video.

11. You can lay subtitles or text bubbles on video -- any video. I will be using this to teach about storytelling.

12. I now use Utterz to file audio reports. You can use your computer's mic or any phone. It's simple and would be a great reporter's tool.

All of my Diggin' sites are saved on Poynter's del.icio.us page.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.


Weak Dollar Cramps College Study Abroad
Lots of universities have foreign studies programs through which American students go abroad and study for months at a time. But the weak U.S. dollar is making that very expensive. The Wall Street Journal says:

Many other college students, hit by sticker shock, also are steering clear of Western Europe, especially the United Kingdom, and opting for study-abroad programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many of those destinations are cheaper to begin with and have currencies that haven't been as rough on the dollar.

Over the past two years, the dollar, while up a bit from recent lows, has lost more than 20 percent of its value against the euro and about 6 percent against the pound. The result: While programs in places like Rome, Paris, Barcelona and London are still at the top of students' lists, enrollment there is slowing. And interest in alternative destinations is surging.

Check with local universities to find out where students from your area are going to study.

Posted by Al Tompkins 11:47 AM
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