I'm not sure if many blog readers have noticed, but there is a link on the sidebar of this blog, and many other blogs throughout the blogosphere, that says 'Feed (RSS)', 'Syndicate this site (XML)' or something similar. What exactly does this mean?
RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" - for allowing people to view, via a 'newsreader' updates of information (usually news or updated blog information, for our purposes). For more history and information concerning RSS, read XML.com's article, "What is RSS?"
So, what does this mean for you and I? This means you don't have to visit a blog or news website to find out if it has updated news or a new blog entry; you can simply open up your newsreader program (list of a few at end of this entry), and it will tell you if there are new blog entries! Some websites even give you some or all of the blog entry or news article, so you can see if you're interested in reading the whole entry by going to the site.
I recently read an article in the Our Sunday Visitor (January 2, 2005 edition) concerning the media and it's strong anti-Catholic bias. Not to say I was completely taken aback by what the studies from the Parents Television Found... it was just surprising how anti-Catholic, and ultimately anti-God and religion the media is! To put it bluntly (as the article states), "Anti-Catholic bigotry is 'rampant' on network television."
"NBC was by far the worst network, leading the dishonor holl with a negative-to-positive ratio [derogative-to-respectful remarks] of 9.5 to 1. Fox was a distant runner-up at 2.4 to 1, followed by the WB, ABC, UPN and CBS."
"Specifically Catholic references fared worst o all. 'Catholicism is the bull's-eye of the the entertainment media... In the past, the fundamentalists were. It's a sign of the times."
"Catholics should take notice and not be afraid to complain about how religion -- particularly our Catholic Church, its members and leaders, its teachings and practices -- is treated in the media today. A simple phone call or brief letter to network executives and program producers should be sufficient to effect some change -- provided enough of us care enough to actually take that step."
After reading the last paragraph above, I have decided to post information on how to contact each of the above-mentioned networks to let them know what you think:
NBC - Contact Us Fox - Ask Fox (scroll down to bottom of page, after FAQs) ABC - FAQs UPN - Home (click "Contact Us" on the bottom right of the page) CBS - Home (click "Feedback" on the bottom of the page) WB (couldn't find anything - let me know if you do)
