Great post, Shonali. Not to pile on, but I'd like to add another thought on the "upper left to lower right" bias. I read several publications each week, magazines and newspapers, but haven't touched nearly any of them in paper form since getting my first iPad about a year ago. I'm not alone — millions of people consume media that is available in a variety of forms, and the "layout" varies in each form. I have no idea if the articles I read in my NY Times iPad app this morning were on the upper left or lower right of the printed page, and I really don't care. If the article appelled primarily to readers consuming online, how can anyone say a paper page position influences the "value" of that story?

Thanks for taking the time to write, and kudos to Ragan for reaching out. I feel better about our industry already!

Excellent point, Katie, and one that I wanted to make. Media — especially forums such as this — is clearly now two-way (yes, I'm stating the obvious). It's OK to disagree, but if a conversation develops, join in, don't just "post and hide."

I'm actually looking forward to the reaction to the posts here from Jessica, and hope that we get something soon.

Brad, I just re-gifted my 15" MacBook Pro to a new employee. I now have a 27" iMac—which is wonderful to work on, especially for graphics and presentations—and carry my iPad everywhere else. A program like Log Me In allows me to grab things I may have forgotten (or didn't know I needed) and I can leave behind things like second batteries.

I've not looked back!

I hate to see PR firms misuse tools like Cision. In the end, Cision is a database that can be helpful in compiling a target list for a story. However, once the list is built, that's where the work STARTS for true PR professionals. Each contact on such a list should be vetted and researched before any contact is made. In my opinion, any PR person that sends an email (or pitch of any kind) to anyone without first looking at and understanding their work—blog, newspaper, TV story, etc.—is lazy, plain and simple.

While we don't use Cision, we use a similar database. However, we do not use the feature that allows us to send mass emails through the tool. That is strictly forbidden at Metzger. In fact, I've told Cision and others that I recommend that feature be removed. It's not bad in and of itself, but it does make it far too easy for far too many to be far too stupid.

PR people that do things like this give the industry a black eye. Pitches should be well-researched and individualized. Anything short of that—you called it—is spam. Such laziness strains the relationships between reporters/bloggers and PR pros and ultimately makes my job more difficult. Thanks for calling this out.

Here's my problem: I love my iPhone. It's my alarm clock, the radio in my car, my email delivery, the device the delivers dozens of cool applications and more — but thanks to AT&T, it's the crappiest phone I've ever owned. I'd like to switch, but changing the device would be amazingly disruptive to my workflow. Maybe that's what AT&T banks on — if so, then shame on Apple. Either way, it's the best handheld device I've ever had tethered to the worst service I've ever had. Given that AT&T had the largest subscriber bump of all cell carriers last quarter, it's pretty damn pitiful.

Kim: Thanks for weighing in. While I tend to agree with you that a lawsuit is the wrong answer in general, as I've stated here, none of us know all the facts of the case. And while the expression of opinions in most cases is protected (there are, I believe, some exceptions), in this case an accusation was made (that Horizon thinks it's OK to sleep in a moldy apartment). That's different than saying "there's mold in my apartment" or "I think Horizon is doing a bad job with this situation" etc. To extend your example, while it may well be OK to say "I despise Jane Doe," that protection doesn't necessarily extend to "Jane Doe thinks it's OK to do a lousy job at work."

As I said, I believe this is a very important conversation. While I personally believe Horizon's reaction was heavy-handed and, depending on the decision, could very well have a chilling outcome, I think it's also important for people to take responsibility for their online comments. Too many comment threads devolve into speech that may not be illegal, but it is often low-minded, insulting and often offensive. From there, it's easy to cross the line into libel.

To me, the most chilling thing would be for social media outlets to limit comments just to avoid lawsuits. To avoid that, both those who wish to sue and those who wish to comment need to exercise some common sense.

Again, Kim, thanks for the comment. Hope to see you here again!

I agree. I'd like to think there was conversation before the suit, but we don't know. From a social media perspective, my recommendation continues to be to converse via Twitter in a positive way first. Organizations must remember there's winning in court, and winning in the court of public opinion. Both are important, and it's easy to win the battle but lose the war, especially online.

Careful... the "account transfers" are part of some of the scams, as emails can be faked. When it comes to Craigslist, my recommendation is local and cash.

I just hope this clown (or ring of clowns... wait, is a group of clowns called a posse?) is finding far fewer iPods and far more grief in his future. Let's keep telling the tale!

If it's wrong to post a comment on my own blog, I guess I don't care. Thank you so much, Lisa, for this post. When you asked me today if you could blog about the Rocky or if I wanted to, there was no hesitation: you do it. I knew the piece would be good, but this is truly special. I only hope the rest of our posts don't pale too far in comparison. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.