New York SBDC Research Network

From MarketingProfs : The other day, a friend of mine put her job and professional reputation at risk. Sadly, it wasn't for anything as significant as standing up for human rights or even bunny rights. No, it was a Facebook post: a shared image that was intended to be a funny political meme but, instead, offended many of the people who saw it. Should she have shared that post? Could she have lost her job? Might the issue have been avoided? Were people just being overly sensitive? Let's explore those questions—and others. So that we're all on the same page, let's start with what I mean by "political post." To my mind, there are two kinds: implicit and explicit.

Despite the Court’s overtures to small corporations, the biggest beneficiaries of the Citizens United ruling have surely not been the small business owners who fuel much of the nation’s economic growth and job creation, but rather some of the world’s largest companies... Most small business owners don’t have the time or money to spend on politics and are increasingly worried about their growing exclusion from the political process. A poll conducted by Small Business Majority found 66 percent of small business owners agreed the Citizens United ruling was bad for small business because it gives big business unlimited political spending power – this on top of 88 percent who negatively view the role money plays in politics. With the Citizens United decision, the political system has become even more stacked against the interests of small firms. Small businesses end up paying the price for big money politics that allow large firms to secure special perks and advantages over their smalle

IRE and the Sunlight Foundation launched EconoCheck , a resource for journalists who want to fact-check the economic claims made by politicians. This will make it easier for folks to understand key economic indicators and how they are created. Also, there are links to the source data so journalists can download the files themselves. Bill Allison, Sunlight’s editorial director, blogged about how journalists can use the data to report on the things politicians say about the economy .

Since primary voting will begin less than a month (Iowa, January 3), and New Yorkers will be voting on February 5, I thought I'd share The 51st State: The State of Online from Searcher magazine. The info was compiled a couple months ago, and a few of the candidates have already dropped out of the race. Here's a list of the current contenders. "As Laura Gordon-Murnane illustrates in this in-depth article , the Internet is no longer like a third-party candidate, but is breathing down the proverbial necks of the mainstream media, threatening to usurp broadcast and print sources as the primary way people follow the election. Five extensive tables look at the Web sites of each of the 17 presidential candidates, as well as mainstream media sites, blogs, and aggregator tools, and show just how much the Internet is impacting the 2008 election. This is a key reference tool for anyone following the election or helping voters."