Ted Darid Mauro, education and training director, ED101, Inc, discusses the future of education in America. Mauro says policymakers, educators, parents, business and community leaders should refocus their energy on educational and technological goals and objectives.

Read the Ted Darid Mauro Interview

Charles Palmer, the executive director of the Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies and associate professor of new media at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, PA, discusses how digital storytelling and new media are being used to mentor and educate. He also mentions that although digital storytelling is not new, it is more accessible than it used to be.

Watch the Charles Palmer Interview

Matt Hinckley, assistant dean for journalism & student media at Richland College in Dallas, talks about the good and the bad of social media in journalism. He says blogging can help sharpen critical thinking skills and improve the reporting and writing process and Twittering can help reporters recognize ledes.

Read the Matt Hinckley Interview

Terri Thornton, owner of Thornton Communications, talks about the important role social media play in journalism. She says the speed and ability to transmit emotion is a large part of what makes social media so effective, but warns against issues with privacy, rumors, hoaxes and viruses.

Read the Terri Thornton Interview

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes have been revealed and instead of providing inspiration they have generated controversy about how fair-minded the judging process is ... or isn't.

This time it was because the Wall Street Journal didn't win anything despite numerous terrific articles it has presented, and the National Enquirer was rebuffed without even an honorable mention despite its painstaking and exclusive coverage of the John Edwards scandal. Also, though this didn't get much attention, USA Today was shut out for, oh, about the 28th year in a row even though it has been the nation's largest or second largest paper. Wouldn't there have been at least one prizeworthy effort during all that time?

The Pulitzers have long been kind of a plaything of the interchangeable New York Times-Washington Post crowd ... and the NYT-Wapo mindset has long mocked USAT (too inane) and the Enquirer (scandal sheet). The Journal used to be regarded as OK in this view until Rupert Murdoch (too reactionary) took over.

The Pulitzers are supposed to be the best the journalistic profession has to offer, but instead they have become symbolic of the gulf between the mainstream media and the public.

On the Media Game blog is written by Gerry Storch.

What a change ... more than three quarters of America's newspaper executives now say they are working on paywalls for their news websites or considering it.

This signals a big turnaround from the "news must be free" mantra that prevailed not too long ago.

What might account for the new attitude? According to a survey just released from the Pew Research Center, and as reported by Breitbart, about half believe they'll go out of business within 10 years unless new revenue streams are found.

Sounds like a pretty good reason to me. While paywalls might bring in only a portion of the money needed to survive, every bit will help.

On the Media Game blog is written by Gerry Storch.

Rich DeMuro, broadcast journalist and editor for Techmeme, discusses the benefits of digital delivery, such as real time updates and savings on distribution costs. DeMuro says that products such as the iPad and the Kindle have different benefits and downfalls, but “everyone who is reading on a digital device right now is a guinea pig and founding father of the revolution.”

Read the Rich DeMuro Interview

Interview with James V. O'Connor, author of "CUSS CONTROL, the Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing," discusses how curse words are used in modern society. He says that because the lazy language is habit forming and the F–word and S-word are versatile, people replace better, more appropriate descriptive words with profanity.

Read the James V. O’Connor Interview

Edward Jay Friedlander, professor and director of the School of Mass Communications at the University of South Florida, talks about the future of journalism and why his department has merged “journalism” and “telecommunications” sequences into “multimedia journalism and production.” He expresses his concern with the industry as a whole and describes how the changes in technology have required him to rewrite 75 percent of his textbook, “Feature Writing: The Pursuit of Excellence.”

Read the Edward Jay Friedlander Interview

Michael Ray Smith, professor at Campbell University, Buies Creek, offers web site suggestions including Animoto, WordPress, Twitter and TwitPic, to help boost online newspaper readership. Smith says these no-charge sites not only enhance content, but they are quick and easy to use.

Read the Michael Ray Smith Interview

The Washington Post is taking a step toward lessening online hostility ... one of the focus topics of our site ... by establishing a two-tier system for comments beneath online stories.

According to the paper's ombudsman, Andy Alexander, "those who sign their real names or who have a track record of engaging in civil discourse will be assigned to a tier of 'trusted commenters' that will appear when readers click to see comments on a story, column or blog. But those who have repeatedly offered inflammatory or off-topic comments will be grouped in a second tier.”

While this is undoubtedly an improvement, and the Post is to be commended for it, the set-up still isn't right. There's one tier too many. Those who make inflammatory or irrelevant comments shouldn't be on the site at all.

On the Media Game blog is written by Gerry Storch.

Margaret Kirwin, dean of the Thelma P. Lally School of Education, College of Saint Rose, discusses the future of education in America and explains why she feels the state of education is in crisis. She also talks about the impact of reform efforts, such as the No Child Left Behind act and how the system fares when compared to other countries.

Read the Margaret Kirwin Interview