Comments on: The sweet (and sour) smell of success at YourHub

By: Natalie Carr

Natalie Carr — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:09:11 +0000

“Another example of online transparency is Allison Hefner, a public relations specialist for Adventist Hospital. Hefner is the author of five articles, all about her employer. Her YourHub profile: “Allison Hefner serves as Littleton Adventist Hospital’s Public Relations specialist.” Of course, you’d have to click through to Hefner’s profile page to find that out.”

Real PR is that which hits the mainstream without any semblance of its creative roots. Perhaps these are tenets Colorado PR specialists never learned. Great article!

By: Howard Rothman

Howard Rothman — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 08:50:08 +0000

Excellent, well-researched extension of the dialogue that sprouted from my initial 2/24 post.

Incidentally, there has been some behind-the-scenes action on the central complaint about authors not being identified as connected to the stories they posted (to me, a particularly galling oversight in the printed versions of YourHub where there was

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:23:40 +0000

Ok, that now makes three references to this article.

It’s also clear that the online revolution has come full circle now– a newspaper publisher has made a post on his blog complaining about being a victim of criticism from “the mainstream media” Savor the irony!

Like Tom, I’m a skeptic– and that’s because I’m a software developer and I’ve chronicled many of the mistakes that “citizen journalism” has made.

re: “what free speech might mean in the digital” We’re not starving for lack of speech in this country. There is still a function for journalistic institutions to organize and prioritize the information that is out there.

ps. I finally updated by bio beyond one sentence.

By: John Temple

John Temple — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:17:01 +0000

Tom Grubisich finds a sour smell in the success of YourHub.com because, in his view, it

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:26:19 +0000

Great article-- excellent analytical work that is often missing in media criticism journalism. This clearly goes much further than Rothman's piece in exposing the mating game between blogs and publicists. That is, if we call the fast-track email-to-publication pathway an extension of blogging. It's just funny how when YourHub launched, it drew accolades like "Another Big Media Company Starts to Get It." Just to show you what the blogosphere thinks of its dirty little secret, this OJR article got only two blog links via technorati. One via an an aggregator. And one from OJR contributor K. Paul Mallasch.

By: philippe boucher

philippe boucher — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 13:25:06 +0000

Very interesting article
I see the same issues arising in the Seattle area. The much smaller Kitsap Sun (also a Scripps newspaper) is also looking for ways to enter Web2.0
I am not sure they understand how to reach out and include local bloggers. As for covering city council meetings I wonder why citizens don’t require/request the city to operate blogs. Of course any bureaucracy is reluctant to transparency and in the case of Bainbridge Island (where I live) they have -until now- refused to do it. I still believe it is only a question of time for the opening of blogs dedicated to city hall meetings and city hall communication.
Thank you again for this article and the links.
Ph
http://www.voiceofbainbridge.org