Stealth fighter gets fueled. (Photo by The Associated Press)

The Chicago Police Department believe the other two muggings are related. The victims were all walking alone and were men in their early to mid-20s.

The victims were attacked by men in their early 20s. The victims were attacked by at least four attackers on foot. All victims were asked for their wallets and then were beaten in their face and head. Two of the victims were hospitalized.

The victim of the North Cleveland Avenue attack identified a suspect in the muggings, but the suspect was later released due to lack of evidence. As of Sept. 1st, 2010 no arrests had been made.

The map below identifies the locations and information of the Lincoln Park muggings in 2009 according to the Chicago Police Department Records.

Andrew Huff speaks to DePaul students on April 4th. (Photo by Mike Reilley)

Gapers Block, a Chicago Internet publication, is redesigning their website since its beginning in 2003.

Andrew Huff, Gapers Block founder, will have the latest news streaming down the middle of the page rather than just the traditional three columns he has today. Redesigning of the this Chicago hyperlocal website isn’t the only challenge Huff faces in the future of his website.

The rise of hyperlocal blogs and major newspapers in the city are a few of Gapers Block’s challenges. TheChicagoist is one of their main competitors because of their easy to read layout and larger network behind them. Major newspapers in Chicago have covered a few of Gapers Block’s stories as well, including a breaking story on Hot Doug’s unknown delivery story.

Huff also juggles multiple jobs while being the editor, publisher, and business guru of Gapers Block.

“It is full-time job but not my only job,” Huff said.

Huff has written for blogs about multiple platforms such as credit cars, paranormal activity, and food. His new job is teaching at “Writing for the Web” at Loyola University. Huff constantly updates and writes on Gapers Block and has at any given time 14 short updates he posts on the site. He also runs his own website called me3dia.

Another challenge Huff faces is funding for Gapers Block. Huff has been successful in landing grants and used the grant money to fund local feature reporting with emphasis on under reported stories. That does not mean that Gapers Block does not have any money coming to the site. In 2009, The Chicago Community Trust gave Gapers Block a $35,000 grant for communities that are under reported.

Huff does however offer a competitive price for feature stories, the same price as most of the local newspapers. Huff also publishes college student stories on Gapers Block.

Gapers Block was immediately a dominant presence on the Internet when it was introduced by word of mouth by bloggers around Chicago. Today, it gets 250,000 regular visitors and 90,000 unique visitors daily. Huff launched with 14-15 writers and now as up to 90. There have been 300 writers over the course of eight years. Huff is the only full-time employee.

Another move for Huff might be an expansion of Gapers Block to multiple cities. He believes it might be hard because the writers need to be in the city and know what is going on in the city at all times.

“It is difficult to cover another city from afar,” said Huff.

A Gapers Block in every city could be what is next for this Chicago Internet publication.

In the article “The Mashable Article 8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow’s Journalist”, it describes what journalists need for the future. The most important traits for journalists is they have to be multi-skilled in just about everything.  I believe the most important trait you can have is the core skills of journalism because just like the author explains, they can never be replaced.

Journalists today don’t  just have to know how to write a good article, but they are going to have to know business skills, multimedia skills, social media, editing, and also the core skills of journalism. Journalists need to be able to find, report, edit, and post the story. They also need to know how to put their story online. However, the author from Mashable doesn’t mention how much time this takes, so another trait journalists need is time management.

Journalists have more competition than ever for the latest and greatest story. A new trend that has recently come to challenge journalism at its core is citizen journalism. An article discussing the topic of citizen journalism is “Citizen Journalism: Will Entrepreneurs Rule Yet Again?” By Steve Outing.

Journalists also need to know how to use social media to promote their stories as well as talking to their followers. Blogging and social media let’s journalists engage with their followers and get to know the person behind the stories. Traditional media outlets are interacting with Twitter. An example is the New York Times.

It is important to be business savvy as well, in the EmediaVitals article the hyperlocal blogs founders were entrepreneurial savvy and created something new. The author gives advice on how hyperlocal blogs and newspaper can work together, which is perhaps the most important piece of advice. Journalists should be willing to work together, it doesn’t always have to be a one- man show.

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Roaring fans sit at the front while cheering on the Blackhawks as they sip their Carlsberg beer surrounded by the sound of five other televisions playing a soccer game from half way across the world. This is a typical scenario at The Globe Pub, a soccer bar located at 1934 W. Irving Park Road.

The Globe Pub can have people that live two blocks away and someone who lives 1,000 miles away sitting at its bar.

The Globe Pub regulars are both American and from various countries, according to Aubrey Miller, The Globe Pub manager.

“You can see the whole crowd speaking different languages,” Patrick Stanton said, a Globe Pub employee.

While the pub caters to soccer fans, it also televises American sports. The Globe Pub makes sure it plays most, if not all, soccer games from around the world.

It was the only bar to play the African Cup Nations, according to Stuart Johnston, The Globe Pub owner. The bar not only supports global soccer, but it also is the official bar of the Chicago Fire.

When The Globe Pub opened its doors in September 2004, it was a one-room bar with four televisions that had only one window that measured 3 ft. by 6 ft. Stuart Johnston, The Globe Pub’s owner, recalled the night before opening the bar before a major a soccer game, the kick-off of the English league.

“We were up all night wiring the TVs and finished a half-hour before kick-off,” Johnston said. “People were coming in and there were still ladders up.”

Johnston, a former accountant born in the west coast of Scotland, always knew he wanted to open a bar or a dive shop.
“So the retirement plan is a bar or a dive shop in the Caribbean somewhere,” Johnston said.

1934 Irving Park Rd. soccer Pub By Cassandra Bowman

Johnston wanted a neighborhood bar feel and wanted his employees to make people feel at home. He looked for happy bartenders and waitresses to fill his pub. Johnston also knew the bar’s niche was going to be a soccer bar.

“Although soccer is niche, you can’t survive on one thing alone,” Johnston said.

It was tough the first year for Johnston to create new ideas for the pub, Johnston explained, but he learned and experimented with new ideas.

Johnston experimented with different theme nights for the week. The first experiment was doing a quiz night that was run by one of its regulars. It was voted best pub quiz in the city in 2007 and 2008 by Chicago Magazine.

Today, The Globe Pub has theme nights every week that include Comedy Night, open-mic acoustic night, live bands on Fridays, and a DJ on Saturday. “Stinky Fingers”, Rolling Stones cover band plays there most often.

Chris Costello, a Globe regular, hosts Wednesday’s acoustic night. Costello lives just two blocks away from The Globe Pub and hosted his 40th birthday there.

The pub is separated into two sections. The front part of the bar has windows that open up to a patio. The Globe Pub added a back bar, new booths, and 25 new televisions. It added a new martini list as well that is all Globe Pub themed. The pub also offers 20 beers on draft and at least 200 bottled beers from around the world. The Globe Pub was the #1 seller of Carlsberg beer in the world.

The Globe Pub has generated fans from across the world including, David Beckham and Rod Stewart. It was voted best Soccer bar in 2008 by USSoccer.com according to Johnston.

Fans donated the scarves that cover the wall from front to back over the years Johnston recalled. Before the scarves there were mirrors and beer signs.

Since The Globe Pub is the official bar to the Chicago Fire, it makes sure its fans can get to the game. For every home game, the Globe has at least one bus that takes Fire fans to the games there and back for $20 a ride that includes free beer. The Globe had the owner in last month for a live Q&A session.

Patrick Stanton, a recent DePaul graduate, hasn’t missed a Chicago Fire game in five years. After Stanton lost his job, Stuart offered him a job at The Globe in October 2009 and he still works there today.

Stanton believes The Globe Pub has been instrumental in helping fill the Chicago Fire’s Toyota Park stadium. When Toyota Park opened, there was that big question on how they were going to get there he recalled.

The Globe Pub started off using school buses to the games, and now it has upgraded to coach buses. At least half the fans that started going on the bus four years ago still go to every game recalled Stanton. The rides are boisterous, loud, and passionate he recalled. The Chicago Fire fans who can’t make it to the game often go to The Globe.

“Gets just as passionate as if you were there,” Stanton said.

The main event at The Globe Pub this summer is the World Cup. The Globe staff was very excited about the World cup that goes on for one month starting June 11. This year will be RSVP only because The Globe Pub wants to be able to have all their regulars here. Aubrey Miller, The Globe Pub for four years, expects the bar to be over capacity at 11 a.m., the first game starts at 1:45 p.m. the first day.

The Globe Pub staff created a special food menu so it will be easy for people to eat standing up because of the large crowd. The pub will be airing every single game on its 25 screens throughout the bar.

“The World Cup is going to be a zoo,” Johnston said.

The Globe Pub has a book launch that will kickoff the night before the World Cup on June 10. It is a coffee table book of photographs of different soccer fans from The Globe Pub.

Stuart Johnston, The Globe Pub's owner (middle), with regulars at his bar By Cassandra Bowman

Most of The Globe Pub’s patrons are its regular customers, or “the regulars”. There are a lot of very loyal customers according to Miller.

“It’s the regulars that make this place,” Johnston said.

There are people that come to The Globe three to five times a week.
“They are like The Globe family, like our extended family,” Miller said, “They are the heart of the bar.”

The Globe Pub Website

“Employers still want the basics: people who can report the facts accurately and quickly and who can tell a clear story”, according to the authors of Principles of Convergent Journalism.

Not only does new media allow journalists to use other resources besides a pen and paper but it creates new jobs for journalists. Journalists can paid to write a blog. Pay per post blog and get paid.

The public has many options of where to get their news, so journalists need to keep their audience’s attention.

“Therefore, a key to keeping and building your audience reflects the age-old formula: Give them what they want, when they want it”, according to the authors of Principles of Convergent Journalism.

Journalists should prepare themselves before they go to an interview because of the competition. Being a multi-skilled journalist will give you a shove past some of the competition.

Your skills and qualities are not the only thing the employer will look at. It is important to look presentable as well. In this job climate we are in it is important to cover all aspects of a good interview.

A part of getting a job offer is to keep yourself up to date.

“Your work doesn’t end once you get the job offer- as the field evolves, you must keep up with the latest techniques, trends, and technologies in journalism”, according to the authors Principles of Convergent Journalism.

Being in various well respected journalist organizations will also help you connect with other journalists and learn new techniques.

The most important thing is to do what makes you happy, good luck!