After class today I launched a, what I thought would be, quick look into the life and work of Spike Lee. I figured I would find movie titles he directed and then head over to the library to grab a few before the weekend set in. My search was not close to quick, as Spike Lee's name elicits almost 5 million hits on google. The articles I was viewing started out addressing his career. There was imdb.com, which is a movie site that lists all the works of a specific actor, director or producer, and the standard wikipedia page. Below all those sites were news results addressing Spike Lee's entrance onto the committee that is working to host the World Cup in the U.S.A. in 2018, 2022. Other news stories from USA Today displayed titles such as "Iowa football players chat up Spike Lee in Miami" and "Michael Jackson's "This Is It" by Spike Lee." Lee is truly a monumental figure in our country, and paralleling his influence on the American public is his influence on the media. Media sources of all kind appear to be lapping up information about the director. He's involved in sports, politics, and entertainment. One google hit was an article complaining that Spike Lee is inhibiting the advancement of the American black community in his work. Other hits praised him for his response to Katrina and the way he dealt with portraying the story in the documentary, When the Levees Broke. Another suprising aspect of the Spike Lee google search is that the news on him is constantly being updated. One of the "news results" was from eight hours ago. It is amazing how newspapers and websites that deliver the news are able to act so quickly. I'm a chronic googler and am also constantly surprised by the breadth of material google presents and the way it couples advertising with providing information. Spike Lee brought a link to the lavin agency (thelavinagency.com) which is a group that provides speakers to companies or schools such as Andover and helps them track down and book the speaker. There was a bio on Lee advertising his many cinema achievements and also a look into his life and the way he has lived in the spotlight. The website advertised his articulacy and worked to sell him as a speaker. It is amazing how searching a name can bring one to so many different results. I know so much more about Spike Lee now, and have received this information from many different news sources working from different angles. Spike Lee, director, producer, actor, avid soccer fan, mourner of Michael Jackson, sparker of controversy, and his many other personas are available through typing two words into google. The many media sources of the world come together on the web to deliver information. There were reporters behind my google search, writers, and editors. By searching one name on google I was reaching out all over the world, and receiving a host of information. Without meaning to I was being exposed to information well outside the realm of my search, while acting as a target for advertising. It is an amazing, albeit daunting thing, how accessible the world is. In the future I hope to learn more about the way google receives links to websites and in what categories it sorts these sites. What does google consider newsworthy?