Tag Archives: Barack Obama

The power of Bieber: a case study

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This is the story of a lovely, simple story by Postmedia’s Misty Harris about a 71-year-old grandfather suffering from advanced prostate cancer.

Peter Johngren,  found a YouTube video of Justin Bieber performing for U.S. President Barack Obama during his chemotherapy treatments.

In her piece Bieber beats the blues: Grandfather finds hope in cancer fight as a Belieber, Misty writes:

In the years since, Bieber’s music has become a soundtrack of hope for the retired medical doctor and grandfather, whose collection of fan paraphernalia is as impressive as his spirit.

This is also a story about how this lovely, simple story exploded today – a day after  it was originally posted – when the Biebs himself thrust it into the spotlight.

Continue reading The power of Bieber: a case study →

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Politicians, social media, and why journalists should pay attention

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If you were living under a rock and missed it, U.S. President Barack Obama held a town hall ‘with the people’ via a Google+ hangout this week.

“Hunh,” said a colleague in the newsroom, “That’s neat.”

It’s more than neat – it’s a big shift we need to pay attention to.

As journalists, we have often functioned as ‘middle men’, the only way the public can access politicians.

Continue reading Politicians, social media, and why journalists should pay attention →