Who is the highest paid QB in the NFL?

That could be construed as a loaded question as professional athlete contracts are complex. Even with that said, take a look at the ranking. Would it surprise you that arguably the best NFL quarterback, Tom Brady, is nowhere to be found? For this list, he ranks #20.

What is the justification for these astronomical salaries, if clearly being the best at the game doesn't necessarily warrant the top salary? The answer to that may lie in the fact that team owners and managers work differently. Some will pay top dollar for their quarterback because they feel that by doing so  he will have incentive to stay with the team and play at his highest level. He will be financially motivated to stay in top shape and lead the team to a winning season.
Apparently for some athletes, money is the motivation for playing for a team. All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman who signed a five-year, $70 million extension with the Seahawks in 2014 said, "It's all about respect in this game and the only way people show respect is the dollars."
That said, it seems that the owners of the best quarterback in the NFL see things differently, as does the quarterback, Tom Brady. Not only is Brady's salary notably lower than most quarterbacks, despite his record-setting, winning career, but Brady has consistently renegotiated his contract and passed on opportunities to up his salary. The reasoning?
The money the Patriots save on Brady can be used to sign and/or keep other key players on their roster, thus building a winning team and spreading the wealth among the players. Is this a smart move on Brady's part? While I can understand Sherman's point of view, it seems that if you look at winning records, Brady has earned respect on the field, if not at the negotiating table.
His ability to negotiate his personal contract with the team in mind has enabled the Patriots to enter the 2017 trading season with $60,553,678 in spending money and 5 Super Bowl wins under Brady's belt. Clearly, the motivation to play for the Patriots is to play on a championship team, even if it means a "modest" salary. Would you sacrifice millions of dollars to be on a winning team? Perhaps that's easier said than done.

Sources: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-what-you-should-know-about-tom-bradys-unique-contract/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2016/03/10/tom-brady-contract-extension/81575884/
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/the_blitz/2017/03/patriots_salary_cap_is_set_for_2017

What is Your Personal Locus?

Chapter 9 of Introduction to Media Literacy, introduces the term, "personal locus." There personal locus is defined as "a combination of an awareness of your goals along with the drive energy to search out information and experiences to attain those goals."
As I've thought about my personal locus, first and foremost I have a goal of returning home to my Father in Heaven with confidence and love for Him and my Savior Jesus Christ. I want to live with integrity according to my faith in Jesus Christ by keeping covenants I've made with God, by keeping His commandments and living His principles. These all are a protection and and a light for my life.
This week for my blog post I'm posting about an article I found that strengthens this goal I have of returning to my Heavenly Father. The article is by Russell M. Ballard, and it's entitled, "The Chapel: Our Sabbath Sanctuary." In this article, Elder Ballard, an apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shares insight on how keeping the Sabbath Day holy can bless our lives. He said, "Sacrament meeting is a wonderful and glorious time. When we step into the chapel and prepare to receive the sacrament, we should think of ourselves as being in a sanctuary, a sacred and special place where we can contemplate Christ and His great and glorious mission. We put aside the things of the world and think instead of what is eternal. We need to put aside our cell phones and ponder about Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. We have just 70 minutes each week to focus on our love for the Savior. If we can start thinking of the chapel as a sanctuary of faith and devotion for sacrament meeting, we all will be blessed." This short article helped me understand the importance of that relatively short 70 minutes referred to as sacrament meeting. What a gift to have that block of time as a sanctuary. It truly is a time I can contemplate the atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace in my life. Media content like this helps me consider steps I can take in my life to more fully appreciate opportunities to strengthen my personal locus. Choosing to ponder this type of media content helps me reach for these goals that are intertwined with my faith.

What is your personal locus and where have you found media content to help you strengthen you r personal locus?
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Myth Busters: Fatherhood Edition

I was born and raised in a home where my father was present and involved. I knew I was loved. I knew my father wanted great things for me. I knew he cheered me on everyday. He took the time to hear my fears and he put up with all of my teenage angst. It was important to me to marry someone who at least seemed to have the potential to be an involved and caring parent. There's always hope, but there's no guarantee! I'm happy to say that my children have such a dad.
The media often represents fathers in an out of touch, bumbling stereotype. Think George Banks in Father of the Bride, Homer Simpson, and Ray Romano from Everybody Loves Raymond. Is the media's portrayal of fatherhood accurate, or is it just entertaining and something we as viewers buy into? Common sense would say that there are as many different personas of dads as there are dads. In fact it's important to note that fatherhood does not always look like the dads portrayed on TV or in movies. Furthermore, the media doesn't do society any favors by preaching a construct of fatherhood that is rarely in the home, out of touch with their children's lives, who may be the sole financial provider, but fails to provide his children with love and affection.
The Washington Post published this interesting article, "5 Myths about Fatherhood," and with it being Father's Day and with our study of the effects of media, I thought this article was a great piece to discuss. According to this article fathers are just as capable of nurturing their children as mothers are. They are crucial to the family unit, not dispensable influences as the media portrays. As men age it is actually harder to be an effective father. Health deteriorates which effects energy levels, and the ability to work and play.  What if the media took the research that has been done on fatherhood and its essential, valuable role in the family unit and portrayed fathers who were fallible, but effect and nurturing fathers? What effect might this have on society's belief and value of fatherhood? I would love to see this as a mass media experiment!
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The Social Media Bubble

What did you think when social media giants went public and stock began to show signs of legitimacy? May 18, 2012 was opening day of Facebook's IPO and stocks closed at $38. Nearly a two years later, stocks were up to $68 per share. This seems impossible given the reason that Facebook chose the IPO route was because of slowing membership and usage.
So, what is the Facebook appeal? Facebook started out a place where networks of family, friends, et could communicate, post pictures, and stay connected. People could share their views on this platform that reached far more people than their immediate sphere of influence. People could give instant gratification by "liking" others' photos and/or thoughts. Initially millions of people joined Facebook and it was a novel idea. While it still has it's appeal, younger crowds have left Facebook for less public forums like Snapchat and Instagram.
So, where does Facebook stand today? It seems that Facebook, as well as many of its competitors are struggling to maintain the upward trajectory. On June 13, 2017, Facebook closed at $150.68. The article I found for this week, " Tech sell-off continues with Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook suffering, " discusses the idea that we may be existing in a social media bubble. According to this article, the recent stock price drop wiped out approximately 2 billion dollars from Mark Zuckerberg's net worth. Considering the recent stock price drop, do you think this is true or just a blip in the upward trajectory? Have you invested in Facebook? If so, how long did you hold on to that stock? What makes Facebook stock valuable? Have many of the tech companies lost their mojo now that competition continues to even out with similar features across the board? If you haven't bought Facebook stock, would you today? Why or why not?

I'll Have a Scoop of the Paris Climate Agreement in a Sarcastic Sugar Cone

It is common knowledge that the makers of Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream are outspoken environmentalists. So when they posted an article titled,

"6 Reasons Pulling Out of the Paris Climate Agreement Was Totally, Definitely the Right Move,"

you can rest assured the article is not seriously supporting this recent shift in US policy.
Their reasons for supporting Trump's exit from the Paris Climate Agreement? The lack of clean energy jobs (then noting that China has a plethora of clean energy jobs), rising seawaters from climate change mean more beachfront property, it's cool to be a "loner" country while the 194 other countries are pulling together to tackle climate change, etc...
The sarcasm is thick, but is it an effective way to make an argument? Their article caught my attention, I took the time to read it, think about the issue of climate change, and even post this for my weekly blog assignment, so there's that. If the intent is to bring light to the issue of climate change, their verbiage was effective. Rather than take their argument as proof that the US belongs in the Paris Climate Agreement, Ben & Jerry made me realize I have no idea what the details of the Paris Climate Agreement are. I have no idea how the agreement is enforced or funded. I have no idea how we have benefited as a global population as a result of the Paris Climate Agreement. I need to be more informed. I do believe that we all are stewards of this beautiful earth and working together to take care of our planet has the potential to be far more effective than a fractured approach.
Thank you, Ben & Jerry, for lending your voice to this important issue. What do you think about Ben & Jerry's article? How did they affect your view of the US pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement?

Do You Fidget?

What is the latest gadget trend that has reached global proportions? If you guessed the Fidget Spinner, you got it! Love them or hate them, they are everywhere. My husband saw them being sold on the streets of Kosovo a couple weeks ago.
Fidget Spinners have been marketed with a focus on developmental benefits. A retailer on Amazon states that their fidget spinners are "A Good Choice for Killing Time, Having Fun, Helping Relieve Stress, Keep Focusing." They are "Great for Anxiety, ADHD, Autism, Quit Smoking, Staying Awake On Long Car Drives, Etc." At my kids' middle school if a child has a note from their doctor, they can bring them to school to help a child focus. My daughter has complained to me that they are distracting, and some schools have banned them for this very reason.

They have been noted as a choking hazard, but they are the gadget every young school age kid wants. They can be found for $2, so they don't break the bank. They come in all sorts of designs, including a cookie!

 

If you are looking to purchase a fidget spinner, I think I found the best article reviewing different styles of fidget spinners. This "Best Fidget Spinners 2017 - Buyer's Guide" includes product pros and cons, prices, age suggestions, spinning times, and some have videos of the spinners in action. In my opinion this is a great media marketing tool for selling a product. I just might be sold on the VICOTREM copper and brass spinner.  

Happy Spinning!

Group Snaps

Once again there has been a development and marketing maneuver in the social media world to keep competition on its toes. Various media outlets, including Bloomberg, recently reported that the social media app, Snapchat has updated its Story feature in an effort to stay competitive in the social media business. After recent lackluster earnings, Snapchat hopes this update will bring back previous users, new users who want to contribute to friends' group stories, and increase use among current users.

So, what is the Story update? Story now has a custom feature which allows people to collaborate on video Stories and share them with their followers. Instead of having just a single user share video from an event, groups of Snapchat users can post video of the same event. Friends can thus share a more broad perspective of an group event such as a vacation, holiday party, prom, wedding, family reunion, etc.

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If you are a control freak who prefers controlling the storyline and content then this might not sound appealing, but if you are open to different perspectives being combined in one place, this might be something that interests you. What do you think? Is this feature enough to sell or resell you on Snapchat? After watching the promo video below, I realize I'm not as camera happy at events as these users are, so I doubt that I'll jump on board, but I have to admit, the marketing for this feature makes it look like a fun way to connect...

 

Things to do in New England

One of my favorite uses of Mass Media is the ability to be informed about local events. I have lived in New England for about 20 years and there are still plenty of things I haven't seen or done that I would love to see and do. Mass media channels such as websites like boston.com and newengland.com regularly give insight into what New England has to offer. They share information about Patriots Day activities, apple picking season, fun runs/marathons, local events like the ice cream event in Boston, 4th of July events, ski season conditions, etc.

Today, Boston.com posted an article, "You Can Peek into 10 Historic Homes and Gardens for Free this Weekend." These properties are preserved by The Trustees of Reservations which manages scores of historical sites and natural trails throughout New England. This type of advertising campaign is so smart because they will attract many people who may not otherwise have gone to one of these sites. Assuming visitors are impressed with whichever property they choose to visit, the visitor will most likely come to the conclusion that other sites are as worthwhile to visit, thus increasing membership in the preservation organization, and more revenue through increased visitors.

I'm still trying to decide which site to visit. I'm leaning toward Crane Beach. Where would you visit?



Article Link: https://www.boston.com/culture/events/2017/05/16/you-can-peek-into-10-historic-homes-and-gardens-for-free-this-weekend

Messages from Jimmy Kimmel's Personal Story of His Son's Birth

As I listened to Jimmy Kimmel's story, I was reminded of a nearly identical experience I had with my daughter 14 years ago. My daughter was born with pulmonary atresia, one of the same congenital heart defects that Kimmel's son had. She also had a belly infection and so she ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks- about a week for the heart defect (repaired by cardiac catheterization and Children's Hospital in Boston), and the rest of her hospital stay was due to her IV antibiotic regiment. She has lived 14 healthy years.
Last summer her MRI showed that her valve had weakened and would need to be repaired. She had her first open heart surgery last October and has a new pulmonary valve. She was home after 6 days of excellent care at CHB. We gratefully had health insurance for both hospitalizations, and every annual check up in between. Granted our plan last year had a $1000 deductible, so we used that to pay for the MRI she had in July, and her surgery in October was covered by insurance. We felt fortunate. That said, like Kimmel shared of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, children are not turned away from Children's Hospital Boston. In the waiting room during my daughter's surgery we met a family from South Carolina who had exhausted the resources for their daughter there, and were told when they reached out to CHB that if they brought their daughter, she could be treated. She had a successful open heart surgery and they were well cared for at CHB. Even in the small medical group I work for, patients who struggle to afford their medical bills can set up any payment plan that works for them.
Kimmel included in his story, some of his perspectives on healthcare policy issues, namely funding for healthcare research, and his view on Obamacare (ACA). I 100% agree that funding for medical research should continue and even grow. It's been amazing to see how cardiac care has progressed since our daughter was born. Now, instead of having a follow up open heart surgery to replace her current valve when it because ineffective, she will most likely have it replaced through cardiac catheterization. That's minimally invasive, same day surgery for a new heart valve! So, yes, keep the research and development funding flowing!
Regarding Obamacare, I think there is more to the debate than Kimmel expressed. I, too, am grateful the ACA covered pre-existing conditions. That is sound, fair healthcare policy in my opinion. I do, however think that the ACA can be replaced with health care policy that retains the pre-existing condition policy and that is overall more affordable than the current ACA. I know too many people who as it stands today with the ACA, their premiums are uncomfortably high and continue to increase year after year. They are self-employed or just beyond minimum wage employees who are struggling to afford healthcare. Health insurance is costing more and covering less. We have come a long way with healthcare, but we can and ought to continue to improve on health care policy. We ought to never be complacent or satisfied with past policies that clearly have room for improvement. I don't pretend to have the answers, mostly because I believe their is no easy answer to the healthcare debate. Yet, it's an important discussion worth having.

• If you were to sit in with congressmen who are crafting healthcare policy, what would you most like to see included in a healthcare bill? 
• What about Obamacare is working for you? What is not? 
• Do you think it is possible to please everyone with a healthcare bill? If not, who should benefit most from a healthcare bill? The people paying? The sick? The poverty-stricken?
• What can be done beyond government policy to make healthcare more affordable?

What Can and Should be Done about Prescription Drug Prices?

For decades the price of healthcare has been a major issue, and one of the most controversial culprits in the rising cost of healthcare has been, and still is the cost of prescription drugs. Even though the cost of prescription drugs is one of the main reasons for the high cost of healthcare in America, beyond the frequent complaining about whether or not our elected officials can pass healthcare legislation or not, there is a lack of informative media coverage about the specific issue of prescription drug pricing. Recently I came across an article compiled by the editorial board at bloomberg.com titled, "Take the Mystery Out of Drug Pricing."  The article does a good job of pointed out current legislation at state and federal levels addressing the cost of prescription drugs. Legislation aims to require pricing transparency from drug companies. The article goes a step further and questions what would be accomplished by understanding when and why drug companies are raising prices on their prescriptions. What is the point of transparency? Will this lead to price regulation? Is this the best way to curb the cost of prescription drugs? The writers of this article close by suggesting that perhaps "the transparency that’s most needed in the U.S. involves how well individual drugs work in comparison with other treatments. The U.S. should support comparative studies, as several other countries do, to get a clearer picture of each medicine’s cost-effectiveness. This information could guide all efforts by government -- and by doctors and hospitals, as well -- to lower spending on prescription drugs."

Informative, insightful articles like this help readers understand this aspect of healthcare. There is power in understanding what ideas are being thrown around in the debate of how best to curb the cost of prescription drugs. Media can empower the public with sound information that enables the public who vote to confidently contribute to the political and public policy process.