Sarah Pulliam Bailey

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Faith in a homeless man's 'golden voice'

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Earlier this week, my husband sent me a random YouTube video because it was from the Columbus Dispatch where I interned once upon a time. It only had a few thousand hits, but I bet at the time that the YouTube video would probably get the homeless man a job. Little did I know that the man with a “golden voice” would explode into the viral video of the week, leading to a film offer with Jack Nicholson, a job offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers and a reunion with his mother on the NBC’s Today show. Now Ted Williams is dealing with the “choking” publicity and says that he feels like Susan Boyle or Justin Bieber.


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Haiti = Snore?

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The anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti comes next week, and you can probably guess what will tend to lead the coverage: [Insert politician or celebrity] [insert "visited Haiti" or rehearsed statement].


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Quick glance back at 2010

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It’s that time of year when we tend to reflect on the good, bad or ugly in 2010 and resolve to do something better in the next 12 months. Earlier I wondered whether sites like Facebook downplay the value of reflection as it feeds us update after update about our friends’ birthdays and such. Through RSS feeds, Twitter and other mediums, I find stories after stories after stories worth reading, and one of my friends and I sometimes joke: “the Internet had a really good day today.”


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2011: King James Version anniversary

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Several publications recently published lists of their top stories of 2010, but The Economist tries to predict next year’s trends with its “The World in 2011″ edition. You can already see this trend coming from upcoming books: marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. Here’s The Economist‘s prediction: “Prepare for a celebration of biblical proportions.”


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Goodbye Christmas cards?

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Slate published a piece this week that I’ve wondered for a while now: Did Facebook Kill the Christmas Card? Many people reveal their most significant moments of the year through a Facebook status or photo, perhaps eliminating the need for the annual letter or photo card. It seems like even e-cards are disappearing.


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Sex abuse, religion and forgiveness

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Between budget cuts, layoffs and diminishing page counts, it’s rare to see newspapers publish long-form stories of several thousand words or so. The Wichita Eagle puts its readers to the test by publishing a 3-part series of about 7,000 words. Its readers appeared to respond with hits, since the series “Promise Not to Tell” is the most-read story on the newspaper’s website this week.


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The rising web ordinations

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After our engagement, my husband suggested we put on a Google wedding: send out Google invitations through Gmail connected through Google Calendar, plan the wedding through Google Documents and then post wedding photos on Google’s Picasa and video on Google’s YouTube. I quickly nixed the idea, but I briefly wondered if we could’ve hired a Google pastor to perform the ceremony.


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Predicting '12 presidential picks

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When reporters talk about the 2012 presidential election this early, it can generate the same feeling as when stores start putting up Christmas decorations before Halloween: too soon. It’s as if there aren’t any other major events going on in the world to report on, right?


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