My goal in starting PROpenMic, the social network for students & faculty, was to provide a resource that would help all of us.

I’m happy to report one particular success story from that site. I’m looking for others, too. So, if you have such a story, please share it in the comments or write to me. See the post and video below.

PROpenMic is not even three months old. Its third month anniversary is Tuesday. The social network will become what the members make of it. So far, we have a large group – over 1,300 faculty, students and practitioners. They are adding content on a daily basis, from blog posts to videos – and more. The success of the site is very heart warming, to me. I thank all of you that have joined and I look forward to Fall semester when I believe the site’s student population will really increase.

Now, the post: Allie Osmar :: PROpenMic Success Story

I had the pleasure of meeting Allie Osmar in person at the Edelman Academic Summit in Chicago. She stopped me between sessions and said, in effect, she owed a bit of praise to PROpenMic. Well, that certainly got my attention, so I asked her for an interview to find out why. Here ya’ go!

Find more videos like this on PROpenMic

Allie is a truly smart, lovely and kind lady. PROpenMic offered Allie a network that helped her find the job that makes her happy. Whether it be a job, internship or contact with that special person that enlightens you on a PR topic of interest, that’s what we hope PROpenMic does for all of you.

Are there any other success stories out there? If so, please visit my page in PROpenMic and send me a message. I’d love to hear from you!

As you can tell by the video’s opening graphics, I’m trying out ideas to create a PROpenMic theme for all the videos I’ll be posting.

More Videos Are Coming Almost Every Day

I have another 10 or so videos I’ll share from the Edelman Academic Summit. Also, our great members have been sharing videos, too. I’ve embedded two of the most recent on the PROpenMic front page. And you may go to the main video page and check out all the videos!

I brought my laptop with webcam, as well as my Flip camera and cell phone for Utterz. I’m going to try and use the Summit main page for more information.

OK, I admit this attempt at using CoverItLive was sad. ( Sorry. I found out, upon arrival at the event, that the Northwestern University Law School folks were not giving us access to their wifi. So, bummer.

I do have videos galore and will begin posting them tonight (Sunday, June 28).

It was a great conference and I thank Edelman and PRWeek for putting it on. Hope this has a long running life. We need more of these for edcuators. Edelman & PRWeek are, truly, leading the way in outreach to higher education.

They’ve been cross-posted at PR Prospects, the site I started to promote our wonderful Auburn University PR majors.

Please check out the most recent group from Spring semester. They are a fun group and quite bright. OK, I’m biased.

Below you’ll find a group of students with a wide variety of PR interests. Some of them have graduated, or will soon, and you may be able to grab them for a job. So, please check out their offerings.

This semester, we’re stepping up the digital resume/portfolio project. More on that, later.

Allison Anderson

Amelia Denson

Angela Langley

Anna Hatcher

Ashley Bond

Ashley Brown

Brett Pohlman

Callie Curry

Caroline Ratcliff

Ciara Culverhouse

Elizabeth Richards

Elon Evora

Emily Ann Tatum

Emily Provow

Holly Stalvey

Jackie Holmes

Jazmine Maddox

Kacy Eoff

Katie Thornton

Kelli Degnan

Kelly McDevitt

Kylee Patrick

Laura Murray

Lindsey George

Lois Krolikowski

Amanda Walters

Megan Dixon

Meredith Heffner

Rebecca Rush

Shereen Kashani

Stephanie Ace

Whitney Cowart

Whitney Ray

The occasion was Dimitri Glazkov and Jeff Keeton‘s session Post-Conference Workshop 2.0. Thanks for inviting me, guys. I joined, among others, “Web 2.0′s uncle Chris FactoryJoe Messina” for the approximately 20 minute Skype conference portion of their presentation.

During the questions, I was asked the always difficult question, “So, what’s next? What is the next thing on the horizon?” Well, if I knew (if any of us knew), we’d invest in it and reap the rewards. I did not have the answer, because I don’t know what is next. I’ll post some more thoughts on that, next.

The opportunity was fun. I’ve spoken to the Internet Professionals Society of Alabama (IPSA) in Birmingham for these guys. They are always very nice and really smart. So, I appreciate any opportunity to interact.

You may remember that I have written about their work before – My Opinion: UAB Is A Leader In Online Higher Ed Creative Marketing and PR. Their work is quite remarkable.

Now, I’m off to the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications Connect Public Relations & Social Media Conference in Athens, GA. This will be fun. Evyan Mischke, an Auburn alum, will attend along with Jackie, one of the students from my classes this semester. Also, Dr. Margaret Fitch-Hauser, the director of AU’s PR program, is also attending. They will beat me to the conference. I have a previous engagement Friday, so I’ll join the fun on Saturday morning.

Among the large list of presenters are some we have interacted with during our class blogging experiences. So, we will get to see Josh Hallett of Hyku and Voce along with Paull Young from Converseon. We’ve met both of these fine gentlemen before. But, this will be a first time face-to-face meeting for me with Constantin Basturea, Converseon; Kaye Sweetser, University of Georgia; and Walter Carl, Northeastern University (Walter’s blog). Katie Delahaye Paine, of KD Paine & Partners, I did meet – briefly – when I spoke at the PRSA Counselors Academy conference in Savannah. That meeting was so brief (at the very end of the conference), however, so I’m hoping this will be my first real chance to perhaps get to say hi and really meet KD Paine.

Congrats to Karen Russell for putting together this conference. They have already started their conference blog: UGA Connect. So, follow along as folks will be live-blogging the proceedings. Visit Karen’s blog at Teaching PR, too.

Well, despite the flurry of activity all packed into five weeks, we will still be blogging. In fact, we will be video blogging. Yeppers! More on that later.

This is the complete list. Students began blogging today, so please check in and comment. They will appreciate your support.

• Amanda
• Drew
• Sara
• Rachel
• Leslie
• Katherine
• Becky
• Blair
• Sarah
• Brett
• Emily
• Sherry
• Justin
• Keri

I believe the answer is now a resounding Yes!

I realize this example is from a Governor’s Office, but the technology required to accomplish it – and the ease of doing it – now proves, to me, that this is doable for others to begin considering video delivery to TV stations.

A camera capable of producing this video is now available for approximately $1,000 and the rest of the requirements – like hosting – are now available for as little as $25 per month. So, why not try it?

Here’s the latest example I’ve learned of, from a former student.

Most recently the Alabama Governor’s Office has offered up two videos and had pickup from state TV stations.

• Alabama Homeland Security Director Discusses State Efforts Before Congressional Committee
• Governor Riley Opens State Motor Pool’s E-85 Pump

Why do I mention this now? Well, it is being done by a former student, Todd Stacy. How cool.

Todd has been providing a password protected FTP download for the stations, and some have been taking him up on the offer. The downloads are not all that big. Certainly the file sizes are several gigabytes, but that has not stopped stations from taking the release and using it.

I think this is much more likely for the future than we think it is. I believe that Alabama, through Todd’s efforts, is way ahead of other states in doing this. Can anyone tell me of other such efforts?

Congrats to Todd for the great work, by the way. We love to tell you about our graduates!

However, having watched and read the comments and posts made by some re: StoryCrafter, this post seems more appropriate now. Perhaps I’ll post that long review, of sorts, later on. It is ready in drafts.

I don’t know, I’m funny in that I like to keep all things in perspective whenever possible. So, a little perspective.

First, and foremost, the problems with releases today has little, if anything, to do with how they are delivered, nor how they are formatted. Period.

The problem with releases today is, first of all, the writing of said releases. Next, the problem with releases is that way too many are being released. They don’t contain actual news.

So, with that covered, we turn to another reality of social media releases.

Take a pie. A big pie. Cut a sliver, oh … say angel hair width. Got it? Well, that sliver drastically over represents the people in the world today that likely have any desire to receive such a release. In fact, you could likely cut that sliver into 1,000,000 parts and 1/1,000,000th would represent the journalists, alone, that would likely want to receive such a release. Truth is, no one knows. There has been no research into the question – that I know of, to date. And, actually, I’m probably over estimating the percentage in each case.

The social media release is just one of many issues being discussed and tinkered with in public relations today. We want to know about it. It is interesting. That is all.

So, with a bit of perspective established, here are my thoughts … if you care. It is long. I’m really just writing for my students (I can make them read it) and for myself as a note taking process.

First, some of the comments left on the first Edelman StoryCrafter SMNR are ridiculous. Seriously. Others actually give ridiculous a bad name. Then, some are fair observations and suggestions. Go look for yourself. I don’t think you’ll need any guide from as to which ones are goofy.

For our part, we enjoyed playing a small role in this project. I believe my students enjoyed participating in, and learning from, the creation of SMNRs using this process. We realize that this is a small part of what is happening in public relations, let alone in social media. What we do realize is that it might be appropriate in certain instances, with certain clients, and with certain interested audiences (bloggers, journalists, and others).

• My students worked with Edelman to test out the new social media release publishing CMS called StoryCrafter. The CMS allows you to write and format and publish a SMNR. It was a good learning experience. The people at Edelman – Ming Yee, Phil Gomes and Rick Murray – were all very generous, kind and helpful.
• StoryCrafter is the latest, in what will likely be a long line of, CMS platforms that will enable people to easily format, write and publish a SMNR. So far, only the major release services offer the distribution – via the wire – these releases. Publishing and distribution are two very different things.

The impetus for creating such a CMS tool was driven by discussions about the possible viability of a new format for news releases. No sane person I know of believes that SMNRs will replace the traditional news release. At best, for the forseeable future, SMNRs will offer a complementary version that some journalists and others may find useful. I think it might be wise to start sending out both versions, just to see if there is actually any interest.

Wouldn’t it just be sad if all of this was solely to please Tom Foremski? Has anyone seen one other journalist clamoring for such a tool? Just asking.

Foremski’s article, Die! Press release! Die! Die! Die!, was at least a tiny bit of hype to draw in readers, after all. Gotta hand it to him, though. He wrote a headline that dragged ‘em in. It worked in this instance. And, he did spur on discussion and development of these new tools and templates.

The small group of PR practitioners and IT developers involved in this process are participating in an informal collaboration to devise new ways to accomplish the feat – publish a SMNR.

• This is how these things work, you see. People suggest things. Other people take those suggestions and create something following those suggestions. Sometimes they even add to those suggestions with their own ideas. Then they share them back with the community. This is what happened here. If the complaining goobers had done a little reading and research before writing, they would have known that.

What is a SMNR?

• SMNR is a social media news release. It has also been called a social media news release, social media release, SMPR, social media press release, hRelease and much more.
• Todd Defren offered up the first template suggestion for a SMNR: smprtemplate.pdf
• SMNRs. PRNewswire can do it. PRX Builder has a platform that does it.
• People with WordPress blogs can do it.
• Others, I’m sure, can do it in various forms. But, the companies that have the capability to create and distribute the releases all charge. Really? Yes. Well, I am shocked. Businesses trying to develop products and services that might generate revenue. Alert the media! Use a SMNR.
• Edelman never declared that this was an earth shattering revolution / innovation. They simply stated that this is their first offering of an example of how to do it. This is their contribution to the dialog and may well be an offering of a service to their customers.

What transpired in the development of StoryCrafter?

• The Todd Defren SHIFT SMNR template was used as a guide. Gee, imagine that. A template used as a guide.
• Phil Gomes referenced Todd Defren in the intial post announcing the release: Yes, I’ve Been Working On The Social Media News Release, Too.
• Phil Gomes then further credited Todd Defren in his follow up post: Pt. II: Yes, I’ve Been Working On The Social Media News Release, Too.
  • Made no sense to completely reinvent something for the sake of doing so, though we do think that the hosted approach and the comments element (not included in the spec) adds a lot.

Now, there has been some truly foolish sniping going on from the uninformed fringes.

• So, for those that want to wail that this is some form of ripoff, you really should go away and read and become familiar with the small group of loosely joined people that are collaborating (in some ways) to further the idea of SMNRs. Todd doesn’t call it a ripoff. Todd calls it open source.
• “SHIFT’s template was “open source” – anyone and everyone, including Edelman, was welcome to use, modify, re-arrange, etc., with no strings attached (and no credit necessary – though, yeah, sure, it’s nice!)” (Source)
• And, he got credit … and continues to get credit for his ideas.

What does StoryCrafter do?

• The following slideshow is what StoryCrafter claims to do.
  
• And, it does that. Is there a little “selling” going on there? Is there PR-speak / social media jargon involved? Yes and yes. Am I surprised? No. And you shouldn’t be either.
• Some of the other discussion about StoryCrafter strays off subject and turns into … well, childish nonsense. So, I’ll leave those out of the discussion here.

So, may we return to reality? May we return to the discussion of various ways individuals, organizationis and businesses may create SMNRs? I thought that was the purpose here. I knew there would be some petty nonsense, if only because Edelman was involved. You see, there are those that just can’t separate the name from the topic under discussion. Those people would do everyone a favor by just remaining silent. They add nothing to the discussion. But, children often lack discipline. So, it is best to just ignore them.

Key points to remember and/or discuss.

• The real problem with news releases are (a) writing and (b) too many are released without real news in them.
• Standards in language (i.e., XBRL, XPRL, etc.) need to be decided.
• APIs from PRNewswire, et. al., would help in offering a way to integrate the publication of SMNRs into their systems. They could retain control over what is published and by whom to protect their business interests. If they were willing to release APIs, this whole process would likely leap forward. Think of all the open source developers that might take up the challenge.
• That being said, release of zipped downloads of these CMS packages (a la OpensourceCMS.com) that allow anyone to host such a platform may not be a good thing. Just think of all the spam that will be generated. So, if the source code is going to be shared, I’d suggest only sharing it with reasonable people.
• I still think that, for the masses – those individuals, organizations and businesses – the best possibility for this kind of open source platform is likely WordPress. An update and adaptation of the Structured Blogging plugin, use of the PodPress plugin and/or Viper’s Video Quicktags – with a few other plugins, perhaps – and we have a viable alternative for creation and publication. But, without defined standards, the distribution is still a problem.
• Very key points … Choose an existing CMS platform. Stay away from the core code of said CMS platform. Accomplish the SMNR process via plugins. Develop standards. Stay true to standards. That will be the most fruitful and simplest method.
• The major release services seem uninterested in participating in an open process of developing such a platform. I believe this is a missed opportunity. They could, with the right API and process, retain their business interests and drive more users to their services. Think Google and Flickr, for example.

We are likely a long way from this being settled. But, I truly wish the discussions would stay on topic and not devolve into name calling and other such foolish activities.

A few asides …

Back to comments, the reality that one may comment on a release is refreshing. Although, I doubt everyone is going to want that. And, StoryCrafter allows trackbacks. This is new! PRX Builder does not have a tackback link, even in their aggregator blog.

The only other version, I know of, that allows comments – in a service – is PRX Builder. The large distribution services offer “mail to” links, I believe. PRX Builder does aggregate their releases into a WordPress blog, I’m sure that trackbacks there can be remedied. But, that isn’t the same as having it built into the CMS that generates the release. Further, comments on the Edelman StoryCrafter site do not require that you login to comment. PRX Builder does.

Speaking of PRX Builder … This release, for instance, PRX Releases » The New Standard for Comics and Gaming also has emoticons. (See QUOTES:). Is this the first known “emoticon release?” Oh, boy. Sorry, I digress. Hey, it is social media. These things (emoticons in releases) are to be expected. Aren’t they?

Shannon Whitley of PRX Builder has kindly asked that we work with his CMS package, too. If he is still interested, we’ll try to do that next semester. I have recently had a bit of time to look at it and I think it is a good tool, too. PRX Builder is still in beta, so they are allowing people to post releases for free. For my student efforts, I would not want our releases to actually be posted – go live – unless they were for a real event. So, that will have to be explored before we proceed. Edelman’s StoryCrafter offered that option. I don’t want my students contributing to the noise out there by producing indexed information that has no use beyond the educational exercise aspect of using the tool.

I made my own list at Top 10 Sources, too. And, I did make it onto that list – PR Marcom Higher Ed, but … um, you’ll see the only way I could do it.

1. PR Studies
2. PR BOOKS (Wiki)
3. Mass Communications
4. LeverWealth
5. Teaching PR
6. mediations
7. mediations (Wiki)
8. collegewebeditor.com
9. EducationPR
10. higher ed marketing
11. infOpinions?
12. and one I’ve been trying to add, Dr. Walter Carl’s Word-of-Mouth Communication Study, but the RSS URL won’t get picked up, for some reason. Hmm?

Yep, that’s right. Eleven Twelve sources on the Top 10 Sources list. Hope they don’t boot me because of it. I must admit that I was surprised to be able to add eleven sources. However, after signing up – I did a remarkable thing. I read the instructions. I know, it is kind of amazing.

Actually, I doubt they will boot me (at least for the 11 sites listed) because the 11th blog (mine) will never show up in the list feed. From their “Tutorial” section, here is the tipoff:

We recommend ten feeds for a “complete” page. You may enter as many feeds as you wish. The first ten are displayed on your Top 10. You can reorder feeds within the list.

So, the link to my blog in the lefthand column is apparently just a link to my site and will not show up in the feed. It won’t be aggregated like the first ten sites listed. Update: Well, it seems that indeed all the links you enter in your list are picked up and displayed after all. I had not checked the process until my post today (Oct. 9th). So, I guess you can have 11+ top sources.
The good news is that Top 10 Sources offers yet another way for us to point recent adopters in academia to resources so they may begin utilizing social media in their classes. Further, it is one more way to guide business leaders and PR / Marcom practitioners to all of our sites. We need their input to enhance our classroom efforts, IMO. The down side? There are actually more than 10 PR academic blogs, so please do not be offended if I did not include yours. Perhaps I’ll add all of the blogs to the list and then reorder them from time to time.

Here is the introduction I’ve placed on the list:

Public relations from the academic point of view. These links represent some of the people teaching the future PR practitioners of our world and those practicing PR for their universities. What do they have in common? They are blogging. Their views are important to the wider public relations conversation occurring online. To the PR practitioners of the world, your concerns are important to these bloggers. Without active involvement from practitioners, how else may future PR practitioners be prepared for post-graduate life? To recent adopters, or those just exploring social media for their classes, may this list serve as a jumping off point for your efforts. Please engage these educators in conversations.

I like the Top 10 Sources site. It is clean and simple. They seem to be still working on tricking out the site with additional tools, so this one will be fun to watch. Appreciation and kudos going to the site’s team: Halley Suitt, CEO and Publisher and Indigo Tabor, Technical Editor. Thanks to Warren Allan Johnson for the inspiration, too. Good work and an interesting concept that everyone will likely enjoy. Hey, bloggers love lists.

On a side note, Karine Joly tips us off to the Relaunching bsu.edu redesign blog. Those of you that have read this blog for awhile will remember my infatuation with the Cornell Redesign blog. BSU’s effort, led by Nancy Prater, promises to be equally as enjoyable to watch. Their PDF of the CMS requirements issued in their request for proposals is must reading, alone. So, check out the site and consider all that must go into a site’s redesign. It is no small task. The open involvement of stakeholders, to me, is the best aspect of this and I wonder why more universities don’t do it on many other projects they undertake annually.

Now, I have it. Simple, yet functional.

For our fall classes, we have created a new site: The Loveliest Village Newsroom. This is part of a larger site where students will be posting news and feature stories they will write and produce (audio and video) during the semester. The Loveliest Village utilizes blogs, a wiki, Flickr, del.icio.us and is intended to provide experiential learning.

I am looking for some help with this project, if any of you are interested. A skilled coder/developer willing to help adapt the structured blogging plugin will be particularly useful. The version I have modified will work, but it can be more fully developed.

Our newsroom will utilize WordPress and various plugins, including: Structured Blogging, podPress, WP Notable, WP Print, WP Lightbox JS 2 and Ultimate Tag Warrior. All of those will combine to allow posting releases featuring the major elements of a social media release (PDF) similar to the one suggested by Todd Defren.

Using this WordPress implementation, the posting will still require the use of code. This file of HTML/CSS code is one example of how we will accomplish the format.

This zip file is the adaptation I made to the showcase-person.xml file within the structured blogging plugin.

Overall, this is a simple modification, but it allows us to practice (a) HTML, (b) CSS, (c) writing skills, and (d) creating social media releases.

I have two primary reasons for doing this. First, I want to have a process by which my students may practice the various principles we are studying – writing and production (HTML, CSS, graphics, layout). Second, I would like for them to have a leg up on understanding the social media release upon graduation. We are still blogging and commenting, by the way.

I’ll write more later. I hope to have some very exciting news to share later this week.

Update: After doing all of this, I went over to listen to the latest (Sept. 4) edition of Social Media Club’s Social Media Cast 0.2 with Shel Holtz (FIR), Chris Heuer and Brian Solis. In that podcast, the group discusses how some corporations are considering doing their releases through a blog due to the high costs associated with doing it at one of the major press release distribution services. So, this is quite interesting. I believe that a modified WordPress or MT site can accomplish this process. Of course, the blogs won’t have the reach that one gains from services like PRNewsire or Business Wire, but it does reach the search engines.

Given the Social Media Club’s work on developing standards for such releases, we will be watching their work with interest.

For students wishing to become PR practitioners, a keen interest in news and information is required. How important is it? Well, Harold Burson thought it important enough to make his information consumption habits the topic of his second post, when he started his blog back in February.

Some of the best advice my father (Burson’s) gave me when I was growing up was “always be in the know.” His way of “being in the know” was reading omnivorously.

I heeded his advice and it has served me well. Reading is as much a part of my daily regimen as breakfast, lunch and dinner — an hour on the way to the office, an hour going home, at least an hour before falling asleep.

Read more about Harold Burson at SourceWatch.

Burson’s suggested readings range from books to magazines. Electronic media? He watches TV and listens to the radio. So, how can you mimic Burson’s habits using your mediums of choice – iPods, cellphones and computers? Check out these resources and find the sources that capture your interest. Remember to be open to new ideas. The presentation styles of these programs aren’t MTV-like. That’s a good thing, by the way.

Here we go:

NPR: You can get the following shows online, on the radio or in your iPod, for the most part. I do. Visit the NPR Web site and find the station near you carrying the programs. Listen to them. All Things Considered is, by far, the best radio news program on earth. Not even the BBC’s great offerings can touch it. So, go listen. Also check out: Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, Fresh Air, News & Notes with Ed Gordon and the Weekend Editions on Saturday and Sunday.

BBC: OK, they have all the other great radio news programs on earth. Like the NPR offerings, many (if not all) of BBC’s programs are available online and in podcast form. Visit the BBC Web site and look for all their programs. Their News offerings are the most valuable. Many are available in podcast form and others can be played on your computer in a time-shifting extravaganza. Don’t believe me? Look at the BBC podcasts available. This link at the BBC will show you all the different channels and what is available in podcast form, too. Hey, they are a great listen – if only for the accents.

I must include one more BBC podcast, if only for your own personal growth and understanding of disabilities. Listen to Ouch!, easily the most irreverent program about disabilities on earth. Ouch! is hosted by two disabled personalities that you will never forget – actor Mat Fraser and comedian Liz Carr. Honestly, this is a terrific program and you will never, I promise – NEVER, think about disabilities the same after listening just once.

In print, let us start with the PR trade publications. O’Dwyer’s PR/Marcom is a terrific site. The subscription rate for online viewing alone is only $25 for a month, $150 for a year. Sorry, no student pricing available.

PR Week is also a great publication. Their subscription price is about the same and well worth the investment. You cannot get a monthly subscription, but they offer a $128 annual rate for “50 issues and access to PRWeek.com.” Sorry, again. No student pricing I’m aware of at PRWeek, either. Also, you can read Keith O’Brien’s blog, for free. Keith is Editor of PRWeek.com and a very nice guy. Writes very well, too. Interesting stuff and you’ll benefit from reading each – PRWeek and Ubiquitous Marketing.

Bulldog Reporter is another terrififc resource. They have print and online publications, too. However, they seem to have priced themselves out for PR firms/agencies to foot the bill. A year’s worth of their newsletter, for instance, will likely set you back $449. You can sign up for a free trial here, though. And, you can always read some of their free columns, like Jeremy Pepper’s Blog Run.

PR News is another publication you can check out. It is also known as PR News and Marketing. They, too, have priced themselves out of the student market. They offer 1 year, 48 issues, for $697.

I deeply wish that these publications would offer student pricing. Not sure why they don’t, but it could help them gain future readers – brand them and hold them down the road.

Traditional daily newspaper fare is easier to find and more affordable. You should be reading The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Both have fairly affordable online subscription rates. The WSJ offers a $49 online subscription if you already get the print version. It is $99 for a year, if you don’t get the print edition. The New York Times is available for home delivery at $5.95 a week. You get Times Select online access for free, too. These two, by the way, do offer student pricing.

Finally, if reading isn’t your cup-o-tea (which would be sad, but…) you may want to check out the veritable plethora of podcasts from news organizations and PR practitioners at iTunes. Also, XMRadio and Sirius satellite radio offer an inexpensive way to listen to CNN, MSNBC and numerous other news sources anytime. I’m hooked on iTunes and XMRadio. Seriously, it has become an addiction.