ACM Awards 2015 Celebrate Country Music History, Milestones

Photo courtesy of Blake Shelton 

Country music history and musical performances were center stage of Sunday night’s 50^th anniversary Academy of Country Music Awards at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

The night was filled with mega-star performances to celebrate 50 years of country music achievements. Seven 50th Anniversary Milestone Awards were given out to country music greats Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire and Taylor Swift for various ACM achievements. The very awards show itself made history, garnering the largest audience for a live TV awards show ever.

Luke Bryan scored the night’s hallmark prize, Entertainer of the Year, for the second time in his career.

On top of the night's biggest award, Bryan also took home a trophy for Vocal Event of the Year with Florida Georgia Line for "This Is How We Roll" and co-hosted the supersized show with longtime pal Blake Shelton for the third time.

But Miranda Lambert claimed the limelight for the night, cleaning house with three honors including Song of the Year for “Automatic,” Album of the Year for Platinum and her sixth-consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year award.

Jason Aldean was crowned Male Vocalist of the Year.

Other winners included Florida Georgia Line for Vocal Duo and Musical Event of the Year, and Little Big Town for Vocal Group of the Year, who happily said they "just wanted to bring big hair back to country."

The awards show included several emotional moments, including heartfelt remarks from Taylor Swift’s mother, Andrea, recently diagnosed with cancer, who voiced her appreciation for fans before her daughter accepted a Milestone Award from the Academy.

"Someone once told me you truly see who a person is when you tell them something they don't want to hear," Taylor Swift said. "So to the country music community, when I told you I made a pop album and wanted to explore other genres, you showed me who you are with the grace you accepted that with. I'm so happy I learned to write songs in a town like Nashville, I'm so grateful I learned what hard work is from all my heroes who are sitting here, and I'm unbelievably proud I learned to treat people with kindness and respect from country music."

Martina McBride’s iconic “independence Day” and Alan Jackson’s moving post-9/11 performance of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” rounded the show out with a patriotic tone.

For a complete list of the evening's winners, visit the ACM winners list.

ACM Awards 2015 Celebrate Country Music History, Milestones

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Washington, D.C. Walking Tour

Washington, D.C., the capitol of the United States, houses some of the nation's greatest treasures. Explore this Google Map, Washington, D.C. Walking Tour, to discover and visit some of the district's must-see monuments, memorials and museums.


Trouble with the link above? Visit https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z-PjdhYmVEAM.k2kfUc-h5Joc

Millenials Make Up Bulk of Drug Arrests in City of Main

Data journalism reflects the increased role that numerical data plays in the production and distribution of information in the digital era. In the interest of sharpening this skill, the graphic above was produced from a data set released by the Main City Police Department.

To view the graphic online, visit https://infogr.am/millinials_are_bulk_of_drug_arrests

REPORT: State Of The Sunday Morning Political Talk Shows In 2014

Media Matters conducted a detailed study of guest appearances in 2014 on five Sunday morning political talk shows that often set the media and political agenda for the week: ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CBS' Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, NBC's Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, and CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley.

Large disparities in diversity were evident in the appearances on the shows last year.

Media Matters wrote, "White men were the largest proportion of all guests on all shows. The proportion of white men was prominent on all four broadcast network shows and CNN: 67 percent of guests on Face the Nation were white men, 65 percent on Fox News Sunday, 59 percent on Meet the Press and This Week, and 55 percent on State of the Union. By contrast, white men make up only 32 percent of the general population, according to data from the U.S. Census.

Compared to Census data, white women were underrepresented on all five Sunday shows. African-American women, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and Middle Eastern guests were hosted extremely infrequently. In fact, Fox News Sunday hosted a single African-American woman the entire year and not one Latina, Face the Nation hosted a single Latina all year, and Fox News Sunday was the only show to host any Middle Eastern women -- a single one at that."

Here's a few graphs listed from the study:

The Fix's 2015 List of Best State Political Reporters

Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Star.

Every two years, The Fix issues a list of the best state political reporters – a beat comprised of arguably the most under-appreciated reporters in the political world. They rarely get the attention of their colleagues at the national level but are often covering the very politicians and national trends that come to impact the broad political landscape. However, their coverage of state and local politics is central to a functioning democracy – and a select few are making waves nationally for their acclaimed writing.

Here’s a glimpse of the statehouse reporters who received praise from our Hoosier press corps:

• Ed Feigenbaum, Indiana Legislative Insight
• Katie Heinz, RTV6
• Brian Howey, Howey Politics Indiana
• Tom LoBianco, Indianapolis Star
• Rafael Sanchez, RTV-6
• Jim Shella, WISH-TV

For a complete list of each state's prized statehouse reporters, click here. 

Obama's New Media Promotion Raises Eyebrows with White House Press Corps

True to the digital pioneering of his campaign years, President Barack Obama has embarked on a new digital media tour in recent weeks to advance his talking points and policy proposals, often with minimal pushback from his interviewers. In many cases the media outlets have used their production tools to aid Obama in promoting his image, record and initiatives. But the interviews are raising eyebrows among the media press corps who questions whether these new media outlets are sacrificing their journalistic independence in making transactional exchanges with the administration.

Dylan Byers of Politico wrote on the issue late last week:

“The three interviews to date — with YouTube, BuzzFeed and Vox — have all put an emphasis on new methods of storytelling, from citizen interviews to .gifs to data visualization. In some cases, including the BuzzFeed Motion Pictures video in which Obama talks to himself and makes faces into a mirror while promoting HealthCare.gov, the engagements lack the critical approach often expected from political interviews….

“From the White House's perspective, sites like BuzzFeed and Vox provide a great opportunity to show off the "cool" Obama to millennials and hawk initiatives like HealthCare.gov. The new media companies don't lose out either: Through an interview with the commander in chief, they gain coveted clicks and political legitimacy…

“The videos have caused some veteran members of the White House press corps to scratch or shake their heads. Some are also questioning whether these new media outlets are making transactional exchanges with the administration, sacrificing their journalistic independence.”

Check out Obama's Buzzfeed video below.

Post by BuzzFeed Video.

Journalist Spotlight: Peggy Noonan

“Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics, it is everything.”

-Peggy Noonan

The Wall Street Journal

Peggy Noonan writes arguably the best op-ed column in America, in the prestigious Wall Street Journal. Both intelligent and masterfully artful in her words, Noonan sets a strong example for those wishing to pursue a career in high-stakes political journalism. The quote included above emulates Noonan’s belief in a political persuasion that values intelligence and integrity in order to reap success.

She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.  Before entering the Reagan White House, Noonan was a producer and writer at CBS News in New York, and an adjunct professor of Journalism at New York University.   Five of Noonan's books have been New York Times bestsellers. She has also been widely recognized for her regular appearances on ABC's This Week and NBC's Meet The Press.

The Daily Beast’s William B. Plowman doted on Noonan’s career in a piece that ran in The Daily Beast.

“Hers is a folksy conservatism that can appeal even to those who would not be caught dead reading the Journal’s editorial page,” said Plowman. “Inevitably, her non-doctrinaire methods antagonize the more ideological conservatives. A former Reagan speechwriter, she can turn a phrase as beautifully as Katarina Witt could pirouette on an ice rink.”

Below the Stage Lights: An Audio Slideshow