Online Brand for Women - Assignment Example

Cover Letter Articles ESPN Slowly Introducing Online Brand for Women – Katie Thomas Supreme Court Roundup; Court to Review Suits on H.M.O. Policies – Linda Greenhouse Thousands in China, Japan Rally Over Island Claims -- Eric Talmadge & Henry Hou Obama: End Tax Breaks to Stop Overseas Hiring – Associated Press 1. ESPN Slowly Introducing Online Brand for Women ESPN -- the sports channel has been catering to wider American audiences but off late it has paid attention to one neglected group – women – by introducing espnW, a site aimed at sports women by registering the digital presence to be expanded later on starting a television channel. Top-notch women sports personalities the like of Stacey Allaster of the Women’s Tennis Association and star athletes like the softball player Jennie Finch and the snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler have been courted on the A-list of ESPN. A commitment has been realized. The very idea of espnW has been both acclaimed and criticized (Thomas, 2010). The USA Today quoted Laura Gentile, the vice president of espnW, stating the use of the new platform “where we talk about women finding self-esteem in sports and about getting a pedicure.” Although Gentile has been quite professional in her views on showing no patronage towards women as sports is at the core of everything but sail won’t be smooth. Sponsors have come forward to cater to the women in the age group of 18 to 34. In the past, air-coverage to women’s sports programs has been on the decline. Women watchers of sports programs on ESPN form a good percentage and such an initiative would create a brand value for ESPN keeping in view the growing fan following in future of espnW (Thomas, 2010). Fears have been expressed that like the past failures of sports magazines for women athletes, this website initiative would also boomerang in sidetracking its role by discussing things like how leggings are an athlete’s “little black dress” and how to stop skin breakouts. The vice president of espnW has strived to convince the audiences about the story-telling way of sharing knowledge about Olympic athletes that women like to watch so much, ensuring the success of the new initiative that could result into the launching pad for a television channel particularly for women audiences. Good thing about it is that critics like Kane have shown optimism over the positive role the website would play for its women sports fraternity (Thomas, 2010). The very idea of starting a website specifically for women sports through the ESPN medium seems novel and innovative. Special feature of this concept is the digital presence that could flourish into another sports channel on the television by the brand name of espnW in future. Whenever a new innovative initiative is taken, doubts over its success emerge. There is need to remain on the main track and not side-track the aim of the website by providing all relevant information to those whose interests and stakes are associated with this project. Projection of pink sparkles needs to be reined in to give a professional feel and look to the website. These days the average spending time on computer has increased than what people used to spend on reading a newspaper while traveling in a bus. Being forced to read such articles as part of an assignment changes the meaning positively. You don’t read such articles cursorily but pay minute attention to all the details. Your thinking powers develop. You form an opinion based on the given facts. Definitely, the process of reading changes keeping in mind the logics behind. Although a unitary opinion cannot be formed but one can elaborate with the help of current knowledge base as everybody watches television and ESPN in particular for taking sides in favor or against such an initiative of starting a website named espnW. This article promotes critical thinking on transforming the way women enjoy news online by viewing articles on women sports stars and related content through a website. This article encourages the reader to form an opinion either in favor or against the initiative. I agree that such a website should exist for women sports figures and fraternity and later on after its success a channel particularly on women sports should be dedicated for providing individual attention to the cause of women sports for the promotion and encouragement to make sports a part of their lives through ESPN-W. 2. Thousands in China, Japan Rally Over Island Claims The Associated Press has reported in an article that the Chinese protesters have come out in large numbers showing their dissent over the Japanese claim to the disputed islands. The storyline behind such provocations has been the rights over the islands called by different names in both the countries. Japan has laid its claim on Senkaku islands known by the name of Diaoyu islands in China. Two Chinese cities have been the scenes of protest – the southwestern city of Chengdu and the central city of Zhengzhou. According to the Chinese News Agency Xinhua, the number of protesters has been more than 2000 in Chengdu and northern city of Xian. Further, there was no reporting of the news in Chinese state-governed media (Talmadge and Hou, 2010). The distinct feature of the report has been the grant of permission by the Chinese government for holding a protest march by people in China. No idea is formed whether such permission was granted or not, as protests are not a common happening in China because of the limitations put on such outbursts. Such a demonstration was also held against China in Japanese city Tokyo where 2,500 people flag-marched near the Chinese embassy to show their dissent over the claims laid by China on the disputed islands. Some demonstrators demanded the release of Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Chinese opponent put behind bars for 11-years over his involvement in subversive activities. Police in the Chinese cities where protest marches were held had not reported in any way that could be taken as a proof of such demonstrations but the news of protests has been privately confirmed by some employee, stating that March was peaceful and no law and order problem was reported. Earlier also protests had been held outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai over a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese coast guard ships near the islands in the East China Sea. Chinese government’s behavior has been aggressive in demanding an apology even after Japan released the captain of the Chinese boat that collided with Japanese ships. Things improved for the better through a by-chance meeting between prime ministers of both the nations in the corridor of Asia-Europe summit. Online reports indicated towards some planning in advance to hold demonstration (Talmadge and Hou, 2010). When forced reading a topic like this, a person having keen interest in the political and diplomatic behavior of governments would create more interest in such matters and read further the history of these countries but it depends from person to person. One cannot help thinking the deeper meaning of fences on the borders dividing humanity and becoming a perennial cause of quarrels and wars between countries. Although having no prior information on the conduct of people and governments on such issues, things get described by the reactions of people around observing and behavior of diplomats when meeting and discussing such issues. Each small confrontation made by any country can spoil the relations between two countries as it happened in the case of a collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese Coast Guard ships. This article points towards the aggression in the attitude of China over a small incident like collision demanding not only the return of the boat captain but an apology as well. Interest develops for gaining more knowledge of world politics. References Talmadge, Eric and Hou, Henry. (2010, October 16). Thousands in China, Japan rally over Island claims. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/16/world/asia/AP-AS-China-Japan.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt Thomas, Katie. (2010, October 15). ESPN slowly introducing online brand for women. The New York Times, p. D1. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/sports/16espnw.html?_r=2&hp Read More