phxsoul.com

Goodwill of Central Arizona Doing Good Things for Job Seekers, Community

Times are tough these days - especially if you are searching for a job!

And times are even tougher for people who lack the basic education, work experience or skills to find a good job! Moreover, it's really for people who don't know where to turn for help.

Have you heard about Goodwill of Central Arizona?

I'm sure many of you have seen or even shopped at the Goodwill stores. But do you know what happens to the money earned in the Goodwill stores?

The funds help people find jobs, earn a high school education, get scholarships for college and much more!

If you (or someone you know) are searching for a job, you should seriously consider visiting one of the Goodwill Career Centers in the Valley of the Sun. There's also a Goodwill Career Center in Yuma.

The Goodwill Career Centers offer a wide range of free services and employment information, such as current job openings, market information, resume and interview help, computer use and weekly job fairs.

I've personally witnessed how Goodwill positively impacts peoples' lives. The career advisors go above and beyond the call of duty to provide assistance to job seekers and individuals in need. 

Click HERE for more information on the Goodwill Career Centers!

ASU Black Alumni Chapter Encourages Sun Devils to Get Involved

The ASU Black Alumni Chapter (ASUBA) is a comprised group of dedicated individuals responsible for serving and reconnecting former Arizona State University graduates and students of African American and African descent.

The sole concentration of the counsel is to increase the recruitment and retention rate of this demographic within the University, while simultaneously achieving positive results in mentoring the black student community in academia.

ASUBA brings a network of individuals united for one purpose: to participate in acts of volunteerism and kindness, recognize achievements from alumni and other African Americans in the community, and promote retention and recruitment of Arizona State University.

The ASU Black Alumni Chapter is also committed and dedicated to creating a new idealism of progress and create a necessary and positive awareness of leadership within the Black community and among African Americans within the student body at Arizona State University. In addition, The ASUBA will formulate and manage fundraising plans to assist towards Black Alumni scholarships, programs, networking activities, and opportunities for advancement.

Click HERE to learn more about the ASU Black Alumni Chapter!

East Valley Tribune Goin' Down in Flames! What's the Future of Journalism?

Sad news from the East Valley Tribune ... it appears that the newspaper will lay off 142 people (almost 40 percent of its staff) by January 2009 and will stop delivering to Scottsdale and Tempe homes.

Also, the East Valley Tribune will go from a seven-day-per-week publishing cycle to only four days per week!

As a journalism professional and former employee of the East Valley Tribune, this truly breaks my heart. It is a true testament to the fact that newspapers are becoming dinosaurs and the U.S. economy is in SERIOUS trouble! I wish nothing but the best for my former colleagues who will be affected by the reduction in force.

Here's the article from the East Valley Tribune:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/127527

As a result of this major shake-up, the Arizona Republic will surely become the 400-pound gorilla of the Valley! However, I'm concerned that the future of the Republic may not be totally secure.

It appears that more and more people are turning to television and the Internet for their immediate news fix. This is great for PhxSoul.com but not-so-good for printed publications that publish their news one day later. By the time, we get our newspapers, we are reading OLD news!

So, how do newspapers stop the bleeding?

My former journalism professors at the University of Arizona would probably take me out to the woodshed for saying this, but I think newspapers need to throw objectivity out of the window!

This may sound ridiculous to some people, but I think daily news organizations need to start encouraging their reporters to become paper shock jocks! Everything they write needs to tap into peoples' emotions while telling the facts!

Readers love controversy, they love to argue with someone and they love to be influenced!

Why don't newspapers take a cue from Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus and Howard Stern? These guys are making a boatload of money and have a great deal of fame because they don't hold back! They don't have any strict rules about using "confirmed sources" for their stories! They just spit fire and collect big paychecks!

Newspaper reporters need to quit being so soft! They need to make readers laugh, cry, scream and cheer! If a reporter thinks that a murderer is scumbag, he or she should write that in the story! If a reporter thinks that an athlete is a spoiled brat who doesn't deserve the millions that he is getting paid, he or she should write that in the story! Quit dancing around the real truths - tell us what you think instead of being fair and unbiased!

If newspaper reporters can change the game, I think more readers would be more interested and buy more subscriptions! 

If the newspapers want to hold onto tradition and report the straight-forward, unbiased, objective facts, they can publish those stories on their Websites! This way, you'll still be able to restore true journalism.

However, I think it's time to put the real juicy, hard-hitting, opinionated pieces for the printed publications so you can save the newspaper industry!!