The President's Message to the Iranian People

From the White House - [with Persian captions] President Obama's special video message for all those celebrating Nowruz, or "New Day." This year, the President wanted to send a special message to the people and government of Iran, acknowledging the strain in our relations over the last few decades. After committing his administration to a future of honest and respectful diplomacy, he addresses Iran's leaders directly. (this video is public domain)

President Obama offers new start with Iran

france24english - IN THE FIELD: Iran has welcomed US President Barack Obama's offer for a fresh start, while calling for concrete action. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana voiced hope that Obama's video message will mark a "new chapter" in relations with Tehran.

Newspaper Managers Don't Understand New Media

Newspaper Managers don't understand New Media at all. It's the key reason why papers all over America are failing. As more media outlets - webs, blogs, video - have been established, there's less money to go around per outlet. That coupled with the credit crunch and newspaper manager's failure to understand New Media is what contributed to this problem, and it's a big one.

I remember 2006, when I approached my friend Oakland Tribune Columnist Monte Poole with an idea of something called "The Monte Poole Show" -- http://themontepooleshow.blogspot.com/ -- which combined the sports columnist's columns with video presentations and then took that video and used it for television. So Monte would be on TV, in print, and in online video, expanding sponsor exposure. But Tribune Editor Martin Reynolds was having none of the idea, even as the head of KOFY TV 20 San Francisco was interested in it. Martin claimed "Monte's under contract with the Tribune" which had nothing to do with the issue at hand.

That is but one example of how the Mainstream Media does not "get" New Media and is at a loss to work effectively in it. Newspapers will continue to fail if this happens again and again.

The Financial Times Launches Newssift

More at TC: “The Financial Times Group, which is owned by the British publisher Pearson, is not exactly the place you’d expect to find the latest search engine. But a startup deep within the bowels of the organization called FT Search is launching one at 8PM ET tonight called Newssift. It is a semantic search engine that sifts through business news, and it is not half bad, especially for bigger companies and broader topics.”

Natasha Richardson Accident - Richardson Passed Away Tonight

From CBS: Actress Natasha Richardson and wife of Liam Neeson is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident at a Canadian ski resort. Randall Pinkston reports.

I later learned that the actress passed away this evening at the age of 45 years old.

Natasha Richardson Accident - Richardson Passed Away Tonight

From CBS: Actress Natasha Richardson and wife of Liam Neeson is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident at a Canadian ski resort. Randall Pinkston reports.

I later learned that the actress passed away this evening at the age of 45 years old.

Obama Angered By 'Excess' In AIG Bailout Matter

President Barack Obama says "The buck stops with me" in discussing the AIG matter. You've got to credit him for immediately getting out in front of the issue with the press statement right as the news of the $165 million in bonuses was paid by AIG using Troubled Assets Recovery Program (TARP) funds.