I am a student with the Phoenix University and I am currently taking a Psychology course that deals with motivation. As part of our team assignment we are to research a large company to see what motivational practices they use. I have heard many times that Southwest Airline is the place to work. I personally love to fly Southwest. On some occasions the flight attendants have been very funny. I am wondering if any of you could comment on what are some of the reasons that makes Southwest such a good employer. What motivational insentives and polices do they have in place. For my research I have to find out what is their mission statement, organizational structure, and what are some decission making strategies. If any can help, I would be very greatful. Thanks.

There's a convergence, or perhaps a collision happening right now with the net and journalism. The old school of assign -> scoop -> write -> edit -> approve -> print is far too slow. Journalists, being professionally trained in both ethics and investigation, need to have means to provide news to the masses quickly.

As well, the Newspaper Industry is abandoning local news for efficiency and mergers/acquisitions are pushing more AP/national news into the paper. This is going to kill newspapers, who's resources and expertise are their only competitive advantage against the internet and bloggers.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but 'trusted sources' will continue to increase in demand on the Internet as every Joe and Nancy get a blog. I think Newspapers MUST provide freedom to their reporters.

A great example here in Indy is the blog of Ruth Holladay, once a journalist for The Indianapolis Star. Her blog was an instant hit after she retired and got to write what she really wanted to.

http://ruthholladay.com/

Regards,
Doug