Many local southern California newspapers will now have a pay wall. Are pay walls now necessary for newspapers to survive? Then, San Francisco lawmakers push for amendments to the states' 'no-fault' evictions. What changes do the lawmakers want to make? Next, we give you a preview of the upcoming LA Auto Show. What cars are you excited to see? Then, military suicide prevention programs seem to be working. What are the programs implementing? Lastly, what happens when someone live tweets a breakup? Can anyone have an expectation of privacy?
SoCal newspapers going behind pay wall
Readers who need their daily dose of the Los Angeles Daily News will soon have to pay up. That goes for frequent readers of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Pasadena Star News and six other local Southern California papers owned by Digital First Media. The company said the newspapers will transition to paid subscriptions starting Wednesday.
The transition comes at a time when newspapers are struggling to increase revenues and many have gone the route of putting up paywalls on their websites. Almost half of newspapers in the U.S. now have paywalls, which according to Businessweek helped to raise circulation revenue by 5% last year.
Have paywalls become a necessity for the survival of newspapers? If you’re a reader of one of these papers, do you see yourself paying for a subscription?
Guest:
Ken Doctor, media analyst for newsonomics.com and the author of “Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get” (St Martin Press, 2010)
San Francisco lawmakers push for amendments to state law on ‘no-fault’ evictions
Anyone looking for affordable rentals in the Bay Area knows, they’re very hard to come by these days. The booming tech economy and sky high rents have turned San Francisco into the second-least affordable rental market in the United States.
Sales prices have shot up 22 percent over the last few years and the median monthly rent is $3400. Evictions, under the state’s Ellis Act, are also on the rise. According to a recent report from the San Francisco budget analyst, they’re up 170 percent since 2010.
The Ellis Act, which was enacted in 1986, allows landlords to evict even long-term tenants in order to take units off the market – either to sell them or move in. Now, a coalition of lawmakers is pushing for changes to the state law driving many of the evictions.
What proposals are on the table? Would amending the Ellis Act help alleviate San Francisco’s housing crisis?
Guests:
David Campos, Supervisor representing San Francisco’s District 9.
Debra Carlton, Senior Vice President Public Affairs, California Apartment Association
LA Auto Show previews cars of the future
The 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show opens to the public this Friday at the LA Convention Center. Big debuts at this year’s event include a revamped MINI Cooper, Chevrolet Colorado and Subaru WRX—and Porsche’s new Macan compact crossover.
What will you be on the lookout for at this year’s Auto Show? If you’re like most Los Angeles car buyers, you prefer smaller vehicles and foreign brands. L.A. also boasts double the share of hybrids and electric vehicles nationally.
Today, the Auto Show will focus entirely on technology, as carmakers look to offer an array of conveniences in the Smartphone era.
There’s also sure to be some green vehicles on display at the Convention Center—including the hydrogen-powered Honda FCEV.
Will you check out this year’s show?
The show runs November 22 - December 1. More information and tickets can be found here
Guests:
Jessica Caldwell, Senior Analyst, Edmunds.com
Ron Montoya, Consumer Advice Editor, Edmunds.com
Military suicide prevention techniques seem to be working
Military suicides have dropped significantly—more than 22 percent this year. That’s great news, but what has puzzled military officials is why. The Defense Department has launched a series of new suicide prevention programs, but whether those efforts have had any real impact on the reduced rates remains unclear, officials admit.
Furthermore, given that many of the soldiers that ended their lives in recent years were not engaged directly in combat, the drop also cannot be attributed to the end of the Iraq war or the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
What is known, however, is that military life takes an emotional toll not just on service members, but their families as well. A new study conducted by USC shows that adolescents from military families are more likely to experience depression and contemplate suicide than their non-military counterparts. The study was published online this week by the Journal of Adolescent Health.
For more information on veteran assistance--The Soldiers Project, The Mission Continues, Give An Hour
Guests:
Kristina Kaufmann, Executive Director, Code of Support Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between civilian and military America
Ian Smith, former Marine; USC social work student
Julie Cederbaum, Associate Professor, USC School of Social Work; lead author of new study showing teens in military families are at higher risk of poor mental health outcomes
Susan Lindau, clinician and associate professor of military social work at USC; Licensed by the Department of Defense to work with active-duty soldiers
When private moments go public: Comic live tweets breakup
New York comedian
was relaxing on the rooftop of his Brooklyn apartment building when he heard a couple in the midst of a break up. Instead of leaving or trying to ignore them, Ayers live tweeted the breakup.
A couple is breaking up on my roof right now. I was just trying to enjoy the view. Now I will live tweet the breakup.
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers)
A couple is breaking up on my roof right now. I was just trying to enjoy the view. Now I will live tweet the breakup. #roofbreakup
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers) November 17, 2013
Using the hashtag ‘#roofbreakup,’ Ayers details the couple's argument. The whole saga includes accusations from the couple and direct quotes.
"I'm not looking for marriage, just what's right below marriage" -girl
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers)
"I'm not looking for marriage, just what's right below marriage" -girl #roofbreakup
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers) November 17, 2013
"Everyone told me New York wasn't for me." -guy
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers)
"Everyone told me New York wasn't for me." -guy #roofbreakup
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers) November 17, 2013
At one point the couple even notices Ayers listening.
"I don't think we need to talk about this up here with some random guy over there." -guy (uh oh, I'm that guy over here)
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers)
"I don't think we need to talk about this up here with some random guy over there." -guy (uh oh, I'm that guy over here) #roofbreak
— Kyle Ayers (@kyleayers) November 17, 2013
The tweets became a hit on Twitter, and most people found it funny, and congratulated Ayers on sharing the event.
I want
to live tweet my next break up.
— Liz Criswell (@CriswellLiz)
I want @kyleayers to live tweet my next break up. #roofbreakup
— Liz Downing (@CriswellLiz) November 17, 2013
Why do you think people were so interested?With so many reality television shows, why did people care about strangers breaking up? Was there any violation of the couple's privacy?
Guests:
Kyle Ayers, Brooklyn-based comedian who live-tweeted the rooftop fight between an unsuspecting couple
David Ryan Polgar, lawyer, writer and tech ethicist based in Connecticut