As a journalist, I sometimes write columns and blogs that people don’t agree with. Sometimes I feel so lambasted when people leave comments about what I’ve written that I literally can’t read them. I have a pretty tough skin, and I am aware that I’m not always right—but still, sometimes I get angry and hurt.

My goal in writing something controversial is to never regret writing it. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, and I try to be as explicative as I can when I know I’m writing about a touchy topic. I don’t have all the answers to everything, but I know that posing the question to readers is usually the most important thing.

I feel really good when something I have written gets a ton of comments and shares—even if most of them are from people who completely disagree with what I have said. That’s what blogging is all about! Creating a dialogue with my ideas is the ultimate goal, whether I am praised or shunned. It’s good to have strong opinions, and having an outlet to share them is a wonderful thing.

I bring this up because of the recent TIME magazine cover with the young mother breastfeeding her 3-year-old son. You’ve probably heard about it as bloggers and columnists and mothers around the world are speaking out about it. And most of the stuff I have read is not praise.

This is most definitely a case where a photo is worth 1,000 words. And from now on, photographer Martin Schoeller is going to be known as the photographer who took the controversial cover photo for TIME magazine where Jamie Lynne Grumet, a gorgeous California mom, is breastfeeding her son who is standing on a chair.

“When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of these older kids,” Schoeller said in an interview on TIME.com. “I liked the idea of having the kids standing up to underline the point that this was an uncommon situation.” —Time.com

Breastfeeding is a controversial topic in the United States. It’s much less so in other nations. Here’s the kicker—the article doesn’t even feature Jamie Lynne Grumet. It’s a piece written by Time staff writer Kate Pickert about Dr. William (Bill) Sears and his book about attachment parenting.

TIME knew exactly the effect this cover would have on the nation and it succeeded beautifully. News shows are all over it, Twitter is abuzz and it’s the top story in every paper. Mothers verses mothers, once again. Well played, TIME, this will surely be one of the best selling issues of the year. —TheHuffingtonPost.com

Here are some snippets from other news outlets about the cover photo:

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The Pew Research Center recently released their State of the News Media study for 2012, and, believe it or not, it’s not all bad news!

The annual study is an analysis of the health of journalism in America. This year’s study includes special reports on the impact of mobile technology and social media on news. Lets dig in and see what they say!

Evidence shows that the spread of mobile technology is adding to news consumption—that it’s actually boosting the reading of long-form journalism. Great news for you freelance writers out there who love storytelling.

People who use mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are getting  news on these devices, and appear to be getting it frequently. 34% of desktop or laptop computer users now also get news on their smartphones. 27% of smartphone news consumers also get news on their tablet.

But while online audiences grew, print circulation continued to decline. So did ad revenues. When circulation and advertising revenue are combined, the newspaper industry has shrunk 43% since 2000. Here are some of the major trends the study recognized. Continue Reading

Did you happen to see the Google logo on the search engine’s homepage yesterday? If not, here’s what it looked like:

Did you try to look something up on Wikipedia only to see a black screen? You can thank SOPA for both of those blackouts.

SOPA, which stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, is an anti-piracy bill that is working its way through congress. It was introduced into the House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, and, if made into a law, would allow U.S. law enforcement, as well as intellectual property holders, to sue foreign websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Think about how the Chinese government can order blocks on websites…that could be the right of the U.S. government if SOPA passes. Continue Reading

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone is rolling out new technology this time of year? Facebook has its Timeline, Twitter has a new interface, YouTube has bought a company to help license music, and LinkedIn has partnered with Cvlynk to simplify and accelerate profile sharing.

And we can’t forget Google+ Pages for businesses—one of the more talked about changes for one of the world’s most talked about businesses.

When Google+ was originally launched, it didn’t offer business pages, and people were hesitant to join. What could Google+ do that their Facebook business page couldn’t?

John Haydon, founder of Inbound Zombie, a social media strategy firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers these differences in his story for The Huffington Post.

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A recent New York Times article follows a handful of people who have left their high paying jobs (either by choice or by the recession) to start small businesses focused on their dream jobs. The spoiler? It’s really hard—but that hasn’t stopped anyone.

“Indeed, since the dawn of the Great Recession, more Americans have started businesses (565,000 of them a month in 2010) than at any period in the last decade and a half, according to the Kauffman Foundation, which tracks statistics on entrepreneurship in the United States.” —New York Times

The lures of quitting your day job to focus on freelancing are pretty much the same as starting a small business—no boss, working from home in your pajamas, fulfillment that you are doing what you want to do. The downside is the same, too—lack of security, pay fluxuation, and sheer exhaustion. Continue Reading

It’s been a big day at Envato, first with the launch of Webdesigntuts+ and now we’re pleased to announce the first ever AppStorm book is available to buy for just $19. iPhone App Entrepreneur brings together insight and ideas from experienced iPhone developers and users to help you understand how to approach the development of your own app.

Whether you’re an experienced developer or just starting to think about creating an iPhone app, this book will help you make your next release a real success. Read on to find out more, read a few testimonials, and grab a discount! Continue Reading

At the start of each month, we round up the best posts from the business network of blogs and directing you to them. Here’s the best of business in September, with articles from FreelanceSwitch and WorkAwesome. Continue Reading

It’s been a great three years and an excellent 45 episodes of Freelance Radio, but all good things must come to an end. Freelance Radio’s next episode is going to be its last. For a variety of reasons, we’re closing the curtains on the show and leaving it on a high, but the good news is that we’re giving it one big send-off.

John, Dickie, Von, Kristen and a special guest will be answering a big mailbag of your questions during the last show, and because of the importance of this episode we want to give you all the chance to get your questions in now. The deadline for questions is the 26th of July, and you can post your questions in the comments below for the panel to consider.

Finally, I’d like to take the opportunity to say that while one important chapter of FreelanceSwitch’s history is coming to a close, we’ve got exciting things planned for the rest of this year and beyond; don’t worry–FreelanceSwitch isn’t going anywhere, and you’ll continue to see your favorite podcast panelists here and on other Envato sites in the future!

Are you a great writer with great ideas who wants to join our team? FreelanceSwitch’s sister blogs, WorkAwesome and the Netsetter, are undergoing big and exciting changes and we need writers who can make great, engaging content happen. Continue Reading

The next release from Rockable Press is approaching, and we’re pretty excited about it! We wanted to let you know before it hits and make sure you’re prepared. Sometime next week, Rockstar Presentations: Tips, Techniques and Terrible Truths by author Joseph Lewis will be available to buy as an eBook or paperback.

Lewis is an experienced writer and veteran of presentations, and is one of our own WorkAwesome writers since launch who has posted regularly on the subject of delivering effective presentations.

There’s more about the book below the break, and instructions on getting a limited-time discount at launch. Continue Reading

Tuts+ has just released Photoshop to HTML: Slice Your Designs Like a Pro!

Within its pages, Nettuts+ editor Jeffrey Way takes you through the entire process of converting a design from Photoshop into a complete HTML/CSS website. If you can create gorgeous designs in Photoshop but don’t know how to convert them into solid, functioning website, this book will teach you how. With these skills in your arsenal you can begin working as a professional web designer, or increase the money you earn for every web design gig you do.

But this is NOT just an eBook. It also comes packed with extras, like a directory of Photoshop, HTML and CSS files for you to use as you work through the book AND a series of 14 screencasts (over 4 hours of training) taking you through the whole project from beginning to end. The eBook and training were created by Jeffrey Way, a superstar in front-end development and veteran editor of Nettuts+, one of the biggest web development learning sites on the internet.

More on your discount towards the end.

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We’re very passionate about teaching creative skills here at Tuts+, so over the last year we’ve been planning a new stream of educational content focused on the “Why?” instead of the “How”. Today we’re unveiling the newest addition to the Tuts+ family: Creative Sessions.

Every month we’ll be running a two week ‘Session’ on a creative topic. Our first Session, beginning today, is on Character Illustration, and future Sessions will be on varied topics like interface design, illustrative typography and creative freelancing. Unlike regular Tuts+ content, Sessions content is more theoretical, opinion based and will often cross many disciplines.

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