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April 2005
Newspaper's sites turn high profit; attract local advertisers
2005-04-01By Sarah Colombo: From Editor and Publisher Online: Newspaper Web sites operate at a high profit margin of 68%, according to a report released by the media research company, Borrell Associates. Newspaper's online components also represent 45% of their advertising growth, turning the product into a $1.19 billion industry. More than 700 dailies and weeklies were surveyed for the study, which was conducted earlier this year. Borrell Associates also predicts local advertisers will expand budgets to infiltrate the online market even more by the end of 2005.
Injustice Libyan Style
2005-04-01By Karl-Erik Stromsta: Reporters Without Borders decried the arrest of 52-year-old Libyan cyber-dissident Abdel Razak Al Mansouri on Jan. 12 for criticizing the Libyan government on a British-based Web site, akhbar-libya. Mansouri, a bookseller by trade, wrote about social issues and human rights. He is reportedly being held in a Tripoli prison, though his family has received no official word of the arrest. "The authorities already control all the traditional media and now they are trying to gag the Internet, the last window on the outside world still accessible to Libyan citizens," said Reporters Without Borders in a press statement.
The Google Times?
2005-04-01By Sogole Honarvar: Via I Want Media: Google has announced plans to expand its business, reports the Washington Post. In its latest SEC filing, the company described its business model as that of a newspaper, with clear seperation between free search results and paid-for advertising. "We began as a technology company and have evolved into a software, technology, Internet, advertising and media company all rolled into one," the company said. Google hopes that its expansion, including global operations, hiring of new employees and technological advancements, will help the company not only compete with Yahoo and Microsoft's media and search engine capabilities, but surpass these offerings as well.
Flickr: More than just an online photo album
2005-04-01By Sogole Honarvar: A year after its launch, photo sharing site Flickr has taken the online journalism world by storm, reports the Guardian Online. The company's owner, Stewart Butterfield, cites three main reasons for the company's success: advanced Web technology, widespread use of digital cameras or cameraphones and a general comfort level of interacting with people online. Butterfield's wife and former Salon.com art director Caterina Fake, says that photo-sharing has become just as much of a networking tool as blogging or networking sites such as Friendster. "Blogging has had a big impact, and people are a lot less frightened of being themselves online," she says. Flickr's policies regarding hotlinking have enabled bloggers to include photojournalism as a part of their repertoire. Flickr has grown tremendously in popularity, and now boasts more than 3.5 million photos online--82% of which are publicly available.
Journalists first to hear of Pope's passing: Online
2005-04-04By Janine Kahn: Though arcane Roman Catholic tradition has for centuries dictated that a pope's passing be marked by the closing of the enormous Bronze Door off St Peter's Square, John Paul II's death was set apart from his predecessors, having been marked by an e-mail. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls made sure acredited journalists were the first to know, by emailing the death notice--"a stark departure from the centuries-old traditions of one of the world's most enduring institutions, the Roman Catholic Church," reports the AP via Yahoo News. The message read: "The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' ('Of the Lord's Whole Flock') that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion." This document details how the Vatican is to handle the pope's death and go about choosing a successor.
Malayisan news site under fire from attorney general for joke
2005-04-04By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the New Straits Times: As many Web sites had their share of fun with April Fool's jokes, one site took it too far - and earned the wrath of the Malaysian attorney general. Malaysiakini, an online news site, ran an article Apr. 1, reporting that four top politicians were going to be charged with corruption and that arrest warrants were to be handed out soon. The article resulted in numerous calls to various parties seeking verification on the claims. The news also spread via the short-messaging service. A second article that appeared shortly after the first one did little to diffuse the situation. "The objective of the prank was to stir debate on the issue of corruption and to remind the Government that no action has been taken on the 18," Malaysiakini Editor-In-Chief Steven Gan said. Even as several people dismissed it as a tasteless joke, the attorney general, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, said serious action would be taken.
McClatchy to use new online user tracking system
2005-04-04By Sogole Honarvar: McClatchy Interactive has signed up with TACODA's Audience Management Services software to provide more sophisticated tracking of its readers for marketers. Editor and Publisher Online reports the first Web sites to use the software will be SacBee.com and StarTribune.com. The tracking system will create profiles of site visitors based upon their navigation habits to provide advertisers with narrowly-segmented information.
The power of blogging
2005-04-04By Sogole Honarvar: The BBC News reports on the role of blogging in today's world, citing instances across the globe in support for and against blogging. In countries such as China and Iran, where authoritarian governments dictate what bloggers can and cannot write, the issue, according to Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), is a matter of rights. Julien Pain of RSF says, "Blogging is a very, very important tool in terms of freedom of expression ... It is a kind of revolution now." Blogging also continues to make waves in the U.K. and United States, especially between liberals and the conservatives. "There is a political agenda: right-wing bloggers saying that all media are liberal, that they have to attack The New York Times and Washington Post, even if there are differences between the two newspapers," says Bertrand Pecquerie of the World Editors Forum. Then comes the big issue of mainstream media, or MSM, vs. the bloggers. Many point to the 'outing' of notable journalists, such as Dan Rather, as the fault of bloggers--both a good and a bad thing. But the one area that both bloggers and journalists alike still have to watch for: the law.
San Francisco to induct bloggers into traditional media
2005-04-05By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the Silicon Valley Watcher: Apr. 5 in San Francisco will be the first declaration of its kind that bloggers are to enjoy the same privileges as traditional reporters. A city ordinance, which exempts all news sources, features and commentaries by any news source except those owned by a political party or individual, is expected to be revised in this connection. Blogs will also be deemed part of recognized news media. The debate over the legitimacy of blogs as credible and mainstream news sources peaked with the Apple case, which asked bloggers to reveal sources who provided inside information about unreleased products. Even though the announcement is one of its kind, online audiences are still asked to look into the rules recently proposed by the FEC about when blogs can be considered press, volunteers, or paid consultants.
Online video news from the Cayman Islands
2005-04-05By Danielle Datu: From: Cayman Net News: Cayman Net News will broadcast daily video reports from the Cayman Islands starting April 4 with CiNTV Headline Report, its first online news program. “CiNTV Headline Report is a living, moving version of the online newspaper,” said Judy Singh, video producer for Cayman Net News. It is the latest online venture for Cayman Net Media Group, which already boasts two news sites, Cayman Net News and Caribbean Net News, and online radio, Caribbean Net Radio. The launch of CiNTV Headline Report coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Cayman news site.
The next step in blogging: Video?
2005-04-05By Eric Lindberg: From Contractor UK: Google is taking blogging to the next level with an announcement by co-founder Larry Page that he will upload movie clips to the search engine’s servers. So-called video blogging, or "vlogging" for short, allows people to display personal video clips on the Web. Page admits there is an issue with video content, but doesn’t forsee being a "big issue." Google began looking into visual entertainment after acquiring Blogger.com in 2003, and plans to test a new service, Google Movies, in the "vlogging" market. "Vlogs are weird," said Jeff Jarvis, founder of Buzzmachine, a political and media related blog. "It has the potential to be the farm team for new talent used by big mainstream media." Although Google hasn’t officially publicized a move into video blogging, the announcement is expected soon.
Online advertising grows in the U.K.
2005-04-05By Sogole Honarvar: Online advertising spending grew 60% in 2003 from the previous year in the U.K. According to the BBC News, a new report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) shows online ad spending in the country topped that of radio ad spending for the first time ever. Experts trace the rapid growth of online advertising in the U.K. to the increasing number of residential broadband connections appearing around the country. "There's a massive cultural shift going on forcing a change in consumer and advertiser behaviors," said IAB chief executive Guy Phillipson. The IAB predicts that online advertising will continue to grow in the coming years, soon surpassing dollars spent on outdoor ads.
Blogs as journalism's future called 'preposterous'
2005-04-05By Sogole Honarvar: From the Bangor Daily News: Writer Katherine Heidinger doesn't think blogs are the mainstay of journalism's future, and she claims that news sites will never replace the feel of a hard copy newspaper. Heidinger also notes that while online news is an important source of information, it will never replace the need for the physical version. "It's just ridiculous to think the reading public will ever discard its hands-on, intimate, physical connection with newsprint. It's preposterous to think blogs are the future of journalism," she said.
Malaysian government checks blogger freedom
2005-04-06By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the Asia Times Online: Following a string of clampdowns on bloggers in various countries is the latest scrutiny of Malaysian bloggers. Mack Zulkifli, who runs a blog called brandmalaysia, was questioned by government authorities on the site's content. Ali Bukhari Amir of the Science University of Malaysia was also questioned by a university investigative committee in Penang about his blog, which included links to the Federal Public Students Movement. News portal malaysinki reported that Amir was urged to use his writing skills to aid the government. "Without the mainstream media offering space for ordinary Malaysians, of course they'll turn to Web logs. It offers them complete freedom of expression," said SEAPA's Kulachada Chaipipat.
Is online news taking it too far?
2005-04-06By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the Richmond Times Dispatch: Blogging and online news has redefined reporting on deaths of celebrities. Alongside politics and sports, news makers who are nearing death are the focus of all media attention, especially online. Be it the Terri Schaivo case or that of the Pope, it was the blogs and TV that ran the news first. But as technology aids such rapid update of news, is the online media taking it too far? The article asks, "Does the zeal to 'get it first' in this instant-information age rob the dying not only of their privacy, but of their dignity? And what exactly are we competing for when the outcome is less a scoop than an inevitability?"
News aggregator site relaunched with special NYT focus
2005-04-06By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the Internet Daily: BlogRunner, a news aggregator site that was introduced in 2003 and faded away last year, has been relaunched. Replete with news stories and links to related blogs, the site's highlight is a special link to New York Times related blogs at New York Times Annotated. BlogRunner also features blogs of news links in six categories including media, politics and the economy.
Internet gastronomists: Blogging about food
2005-04-07By Eric Lindberg: From The Beacon Journal: Foodlovers can now find hundreds of Web logs on cooking, recipes and virtually any subject related to food as blogging enters the world of comestibles. Ranging from topics such as what someone had for lunch at Arthur Hungry to last meal choices on death row at Dead Man Eating, Weblogs about food continue to grow at an incredible rate. "Every single genre of blogs has increased at an almost alarming rate over the past several years," said Biz Stone, Google blog specialist. The number of English-language food blogs is estimated to be around 600. "How many high-quality food blogs does the world need?" asked Hillel Cooperman of Tasting Menu. "It turns out, a lot."
Internet important tool for civic engagement
2005-04-07By Leilani Wertens: The Commonwealth Club of California, The League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and USC’s Annenberg School of Communication recently sponsored a program entitled "How Emerging Digital Technologies are Influencing Civic Engagement" at the USC Davidson Conference Center, which discussed the growing importance of the Internet and blogs in engaging the public in civic affairs.
The panel featured Jonathan Taplin, a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication; Jemhu Greene, president of Rock the Vote; and Farai Chideya, founder of popandpolitics.com. Tracey Western, chief executive officer for the Center for Governmental Studies, moderated the hour-long discussion that included questions from the audience.
The panelists highlighted the importance of the Internet in the 2004 presidential election in reaching out to young voters that might not otherwise have participated in the electoral process. Greene cited a great jump in online registration, from 100,000 in 2000 to more than a million in 2004.
Greene said the Internet is important because she believes young people are doing "70 to 90 percent of their daily transactions online already," so the political process has to be part of the tool they use to "run their daily lives."
While television remains the top means of obtaining news for most Americans, the Internet is increasingly being used as a more interactive way to engage the public in civic affairs.
"You’re driving people to the Web. You’re driving them to that online voter registration form and that’s why the Internet plays such a big role," Greene said.
Taplin agreed that the Web is important because it is "actually getting people to feel that they have some kind of voice."
He cited the history of recent "revolutions" in countries such as Spain and the Ukraine, where the governments suppressed or falsified information in the mainstream news media.
"Usually governments in third world countries control the television networks and so in some ways civic engagement in other parts of the country than SMS and Internet are the only ways," Taplin said.
Chideya also touched on some drawbacks of blogs and use of the Internet to decimate news and information. She warned that people can only make sound decisions if they are receiving high quality news, otherwise it will be "garbage in, garbage out."
Her site, popandpolitics.com, features a group blog that allows people to feed off each other’s opinions and to comment on issues of the day.
"We have conservatives and liberals going at it in the same space," Chideya said, but added, "I’m not under the delusion that any kind of technology will solve what is fundamentally an emotional disconnect from American politics where people don’t view politicians as paying attention to the consensus."
The Internet also presents the problem of confirmation bias. Instead of using the Internet to compare various sources of news and to challenge the status quo, Western said "you’ll never be confronted with any information that doesn’t fit your world," and that users will be able to "select those things that tell you what you already want to hear."
MTV Network launches MTV Overdrive
2005-04-07By Christine Huang: Via Reuters: MTV Networks, which has produced hits such as "The Osbournes" and "Punk’d," has joined of group of companies using the Internet to deliver high-quality video to consumers. The free Web-based channel, "MTV Overdrive," will allow viewers to watch full-length music videos on demand, extended versions of programs that have aired on MTV’s television network, such as "TRL," and original video updates from its MTV News operation, according to Reuters.
"With an incredibly high percentage of young people using broadband, it seemed essential to create a new hybrid screen with its own content," said Jason Hirschhorn, senior vice president of Digital Music & Media at MTV Networks.
Van Toffler, President of MTV Networks, said he is not at all concerned that creating "MTV Overdrive" will detract existing MTV television viewers.
"The TV experience is still great. Our ratings are moving higher and we don’t fear that (losing viewers). (Also) we are capturing money that is going to new media," said Toffler.
Online journalism symposium webcast today
2005-04-08By Robert Niles: Couldn't get to Austin, Texas for this weekend's Sixth International Symposium on Online Journalism? The University of Texas is providing a live webcast of the proceedings for interested journalists who could not attend. Speakers at the conference include Dan Gillmor, New York Times on the Web editor-in-chief Len Apcar and the University of Minnesota's Nora Paul, who recently wrote on the past 10 years of online journalism for OJR.
The Schiavo memo: Grassroots journalism or partisan astroturf?
2005-04-08By Robert Niles: Grassroots journalism online ought to reflect the original reporting of readers informing other readers of news they would not be able to find elsewhere. Unfortunately, some of what passes for grassroots journalism is really “astroturf,” fake grassroots made to look like the real thing.
Salon's Eric Boehlert dissects the recent uproar in the right-wing blogosphere over a Republican-authored political strategy memo regarding the Terri Schiavo case. (For an example of real grassroots reporting on this case, read Staci Kramer's recent article on OJR.) Boehlert cites several blogs, include the Time magazine-lauded Power Line, which rushed to declare the memo a fraud, some insinuating that Democrats penned the memo to embarrass Republicans by making it look like the GOP was playing the Schiavo tragedy for political gain.
But the incident did not become “Rathergate 2.” And Wednesday the Washington Post reported that an aide to Republican U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida admitted writing the memo.
Boehlert writes: “These 'citizen journalists' obviously aren't interested in documenting facts. They're ideological bullies masquerading as media critics who want the press to stay away from stories (and images) that they deem unacceptable.”
Another blogger breaches White House wards
2005-04-08
By Janine Kahn:
Following Garret Graff's monumental foray into the White House briefing room is scientist Eric Brewer, who contributes to a small blog called BTC News. Though he is the second blogger to breach White House wards, (thanks to the fancy footwork of BTC News founder Weldon Berger) Brewer became the first to ask press secretary Scott McClellan a question just last week.
Raising a somewhat self-professed shaky voice, Brewer asked this question: "Back to the report on the botched WMD intelligence, have the massive intelligence failures documented in the report caused the President to rethink his policy of preventive war?"
Though a good question of notable interest, "it's also precisely the kind of question your typical full-time White House correspondent doesn't ask anymore -- because there's simply no point. You're not going to get an answer," reports the Washington Post.
And true enough, McClellan’s "classic" response "could literally have been stitched together" from previous responses to a similar breed of questions. WashintonPost.com illustrated this point by presenting his answer in this Google News-studded format:
“You know, September 11th taught us a very important lesson, and that lesson was that we must confront threats before it is too late. If we had known of those attacks ahead of time, we would have moved heaven and earth to prevent them from happening. This President will not hesitate when it comes to protecting the American people. And in the post-September 11th world that we live in, the consequences of underestimating the threat we face is too high. It's tens of -- possibly tens of thousands of lives.”
The entire transcript can be found here.
Houston Chronicle online promotes two execs
2005-04-08By Sogole Honarvar: From Editor and Publisher Online: The Houston Chronicle's Web site, Chron.com, promoted two of its news executives this week. Scott Clark has been named editor of the site and will oversee all content-related issues, including a Chron.com redesign scheduled for launch early this summer. Stephen Weis, formerly the site's director of online sales, has been promoted to vice president and general manager, where he will oversee all online operations.
Traditional media: give up blogging debate
2005-04-11By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via the LA Times: Debate as much as we may about whether bloggers enjoy the same privileges as journalists, they are here to stay, so get on with it, said Rory O'Connor, president of Globalvision, an independent international media company. "No one owns journalism," Jeff Jarvis wrote on BuzzMachine. "It is not an official act, a certified act, an expert act, a proprietary act. Anyone can do journalism. Everyone does. Some do it better than others, of course. But everyone does it." O'Connor also noted that even though bloggers in some cases can be irresponsible and misleading, it was the possible lowering of journalistic standards and more Dan Rather-like discoveries that mainstream journalists are worried about. Blogging is clearly not going anywhere so traditional media are being urged to give up the rather worn-out debate and focus more on "how the newly transformed news environment can best function."
Online news network gears up to pay for citizen contribution
2005-04-11By Aarthi Sivaraman: From ZDNet via CNet News: For all bloggers who contribute valuable material to Web sites and get nothing for it - things are changing. GetLocalNews.com, a nationwide network of 6,000 local news sites, is poised to share its advertising revenue with its freelance writers. The amount generated in ad revenue, which is determined by each story's page views, is to be shared in equally by the company and its writers, working out to 2 dollars to 5 dollars per 1,000 page views. All writers who earn 25 dollars or more will be sent quarterly checks. The move is expected to motivate more contributions, increase traffic and improve the quality of writing. Steve Outing of the Poynter Institute journalism school said it was a trend that could be the next big wave in the sea change that online news is experiencing. The news site posts around 4000 stories everyday, mostly submitted by volunteers around the country.
Bloggers outraged over Pulitzer-winning photograph
2005-04-11By Sogole Honarvar: Some conservative bloggers voiced their outrage at the Pulitzer Prize awarding of the Associated Press's photograph, which depicts the killing of an Iraqi election worker. The New York Times reports that bloggers felt that the AP photographer was in cahoots with the Iraqi insurgents, therefore enabling him/her to snap the shot as it occurred. The AP called the accusations "outrageous and implausible." Power Line blog contributor Scott W. Johnson accepted the AP's explanation and said he planned to update his original criticism, but some bloggers wonder why the Pulitzer organization didn't look to blogs and the opinions online before bestowing the honor upon the AP.
RSS slowly makes its way into the mainstream
2005-04-11By Sogole Honarvar: RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, has been around for a while--but is just now starting to come out of its niche into the mass public, reports the BBC News. Especially relevant in today's blogging world, RSS can enable smaller content providers to alert their readers when new items are posted. "The information we expect today is much greater than what we had in the past. RSS makes it possible for information to flow to you," says RSS co-founder Dave Winer. But what's changing now is that portals, such as Yahoo, are beginning to integrate RSS into the way they conduct their content management, encouraging readers to 'add content' by the click of a single button. Other news providers, such as the LA Times and the Guardian, are now providing their own RSS feeds. But Winer doubts RSS will explode onto the mainstream Net market anytime soon. He notes that the "killer app" needed to draw millions of users is still unavailable.
Arizona news site to offer online streaming Web cast
2005-04-11By Sogole Honarvar: AZCentral.com, home of the Arizona Republic and the most popular Web site in the state, has just launched an online video Web cast feature, reports Editor and Publisher Online. The newscast will start every weekday at 6 a.m. and will be updated six times throughout the day until 6 p.m. The Web cast, titled 12 News I-CAST, is produced by the site's television partner, NBC affiliate KPNK-12. "Now that most of our users can fully experience online video, the time is right for the 12 News I-CAST," said AZCentral.com Digital Media Director Mike Coleman.
Of Reporters and Bloggers: perks and pitfalls
2005-04-12By Janine Kahn: Watching bloggers triumph with the Rathergate episode, and then swallow their tongues with the Schiavo blunder suggests to Slate media critic Jack Shafer that blog keepers have reached "a sort of parity" with their mainstream media pals. For starts, thanks to the blogosphere, the media isn't all by its lonesome in fumbling up the facts. In line with this, Shafer asks this question: "What can the mainstream media do that the blogs can't? and vice versa."
Answering his own question, Shafer goes on to note the following:
1. "When it comes to opinion pieces, bloggers have an edge over the pros." Though not necessarily better writers, they produce "more immediate and succinct copy than their mainstream colleagues."
2. "Professional journalists have it all over bloggers when it comes to reporting." Several things work in favor of the pros in this department: experience and professional news organizations willing to foot the bill for airfare, libel insurance, editing and so on.
3."Writer for writer, mainstream journalists possess more talent than bloggers, and talent matters when you're competing for an audience." Shafer says it's no surprise that most of the better bloggers had prior experience working with the mainstream media.
4. "Professional journalists enjoy better reputations than bloggers, but that's mostly a function of the propaganda put out by some pros that bloggers fill every sentence with mistakes."
5. Bloggers answer to no one, and their independence "gives them a subversive strength, one that undermines the cozy relationship the press has with its corporate cousins and government. The unmediated nature of blogs, which frightens so many professional journalists, is really a plus."
OhmyNews opens up for international contributions
2005-04-12By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via dotJournalism: Korean news site OhmyNews has opened the site to citizen contributions from around the world. The five-year-old news aggregator site currently has around 37,000 reporters from all over Korea and recently shot to fame with its work with electing the country’s reformist president. An English version of the site, OhmyNews International, was launched last year and is expected to attract online news contributions from all over the world. The updated plan includes a new login system that can monitor the number of hits and also enable readers to send money to reporters for good stories. Contributors who want to visit Korea are asked to watch out for a planned conference for global citizen reporters to be held in Seoul in early July.
University introduces e-learning for journalists
2005-04-12By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via AScribe: After 18 months of design and development and 2000 experimental users, News University launched a Web site formulated to help journalists improve their skills. The site is to be the answer to the urgent need for more training for journalists, after a study revealed that eight out of 10 journalists are inadequately equipped with basic skills. Course topics range from basic reporting and writing skills such as interviewing and lead writing to visual journalism and lessons for newsroom managers. The site is managed by a team from The Poynter Institute. "E-learning is new. But because of the wonder of the World Wide Web, we all can watch it unfold together," said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation's director of Journalism Initiatives. "NewsU is a place where journalists and teachers will get to try new ways of learning and teaching."
Media buying agency to focus on blogs
2005-04-12By Sogole Honarvar: Via I Want Media: Carat Interactive, a media buying company, is turning its focus to blogs. ClickZ News reports that the company will start tracking blogs in three areas: blog advertising, blog creation and blog monitoring. "We see it as the fastest growing area of the Internet," said John Cate, vice president and national media director. "We're interested in it, our clients are interested in it. We see it as a great opportunity for two-way communication between our clients and their consumers." The new practice will lend blog knowledge to the entire agency, hoping to utilize it for all clients.
News organizations support sued bloggers
2005-04-12By Sogole Honarvar: From the BBC News: News organizations are supporting the three bloggers sued by Apple in March, claiming that the court's decision that forces the bloggers to reveal their sources is dangerous for journalism. "For us, this case is about whether the First Amendment protects journalists from being turned into informants for the government, the courts or anybody else who wants to use them that way," said Dave Tomlin, assistant general counsel for the AP. The three bloggers, each respectively writing for Apple enthusiast Web sites PowerPage, Apple Insider and Think Secret, allegedly revealed information about an upcoming Apple music product that the company feels violates its strict trade secret policies. The court decision requires the bloggers' ISPs to reveal their e-mails records. If executed, the entire journalistic community fears for the damaging effect of free speech rights.
Nominee listings in for the Webby Awards
2005-04-13By Janine Kahn: The nominee list is in for the 9th Annual Webby Awards, the leading international award that honors the best of the best in Web design, creativity, usability and functionality in over 60 categories. This year’s best of the Web in News include: American RadioWorks, BBC News, PBS FRONTLINE/World, weather.com, and Wired News. The best newspaper site will be picked from amongst the Guardian Unlimited, The New York Times on the Web, The Wall Street Journal Online, Variety.com, and washingtonpost.com. As for the blogs, Boing Boing, Flicker, and hicksdesign lead the pack alongside The Snowsuit Effort and WorldChanging. Winners will be revealed by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences on May 3, 2005, and honored at a gala celebration on June 6 at Gotham Hall in New York City. Cast your vote for your favorites here.
Boeing to facilitate Internet access on board aircrafts
2005-04-13By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via Sify.com: Online news has really taken off with its audience, quite literally. Now passengers aboard one of nine global airlines that use Boeing aircrafts may be able to access the Internet for news and other information via the Connexion in-cabin service. The company has roaming agreements signed with 11 leading telecom and wireless service providers, allowing passengers to use their existing user name and password for service access and receive a single consolidated bill through their existing service provider. The availability of Internet access seems to be vital in improving the future of airlines. "Nearly 85 per cent of passengers surveyed recently indicated that availability of high-speed Internet access will affect their future choice of airlines," said Kala Iyer of Connexion. The move might take instant delivery of news via the Internet to a whole new dimension with even people 40,000 feet in air able to access information as quickly as those on ground.
Malaysian cabinet gets serious with news site joke
2005-04-13By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via New Strait Times: This time, no joke. The Malaysian cabinet has asked the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry to enforce the Multimedia and Communications Act of 1998 against the Web site, Malaysiakini, for their practical joke of Apr. 1. The news site published a story claiming that three ministers and a chief minister were being investigated for corruption. An explanatory article ran three minutes later, but the powers that be had already been irked. "You cannot just relay news which is not accurate," said minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz. "It is irresponsible and tantamount to slandering the Government."
BBC to offer audio, video in online archive
2005-04-13By Eric Lindberg: From Net Imperative: Millions of hours of radio, TV and film records will be available online for free download after the BBC announced the launch of its Creative Archive License scheme. "The Creative Archive License provides a unique solution to one of the key challenges of rights in the digital age, allowing us to increase the public value of our archives by giving people the chance to use video and audio material for their own non-commercial purposes," said Mark Thompson, BBC general director. The BBC also developed a Creative Archive site that will inform users when new material is added to the archive. Natural history and educational programs will be the first items to be made available, starting this summer. The BBC hopes the archive will "fuel creativity" by allowing people to use the audio and video in their personal projects and creations.
Stop fearing the Web, says Murdoch to newspaper editors
2005-04-14By Christine Huang: Via Editor & Publisher: The digital revolution is becoming more important as young news consumers turn away from newspapers and embrace the Web, according to media mogul Rupert Murdoch at the American Society of Newspaper Editors conference Wednesday. These young news consumers, dubbed "digital natives" by Murdoch, "have a different set of expectations of the kind of news they will get ... including when and how they will get it, and who they will get it from." Of the digital natives between the ages of 18 and 34, 44 percent use the Internet once a day for news, but only 19 percent use printed newspapers, Murdoch said. "In the face of this revolution, we have been slow to react. We have sat by and watched while our newspapers have lost circulation," said Murdoch.
Survey: Americans skeptical about bloggers' rights
2005-04-14By Karl-Erik Stromsta: Via CNET: Eighty percent of Americans believe that bloggers should not have the right to publish personal information about other people, according to a survey conducted by Hostway. Moreover, 72 percent of those polled felt that such censorship should extend to information about celebrities, and 68 percent to elected and appointed government officials. Just over half of the 2,500 people surveyed said bloggers should be given the same free speech protections as journalists, and nearly 40 percent said they found blogs "less credible" than newspaper articles. Aside from pervasive skepticism about blogging, the survey also revealed that most Americans still aren’t citizens of the blogosphere. More than two-thirds of those polled had either never visited a blog or never heard of them before the survey.
Yahoo News: Online news leader
2005-04-14By Danielle Datu: From The Wall Street Journal: Yahoo News, which relies on both “human oversight [and] automation,” now ranks as the leader of online news. The news aggregator (see related OJR story) attracts most of its visitors from other Yahoo sites while redirecting very few of them to rival news sites. Its pacts with multiple news sources, including French news service Agence France Presse, give Yahoo News access to their news items as well as an edge over its competitors. In contrast, AFP sued Google News in March for offering its content without its consent. Yahoo News has been redesigned as a one-stop source to many sources, which will allow “consumers to flip quickly among headlines from different news organizations without waiting for Web pages to reload, and to place text feeds from Web blogs and other sites alongside news headlines.”
Popular Red Sox online discussion thread becomes a book
2005-04-15By Diana Day: Via ESPN.com: The hugely popular "Win it for ... " fan discussion thread at Sons of Sam Horn.com is now a book. The thread was about the 2004 Red Sox wins in the American League playoffs and the World Series. The book is called "Win It For ... ," and much of the its proceeds will benefit different charities.
Wall Street Journal online out-earns print version
2005-04-15By Karl-Erik Stromsta: Last quarter, the online version of The Wall Street Journal for the first time earned more money than the flagship print version, reports the New York Post. Financial problems, including drops in advertising revenue, have plagued the WSJ’s parent Dow Jones & Co. lately. "Print publishing is not a profitable business for Dow Jones anymore," said Matrix USA analyst Seth Feinseth. As such, Wall Street Journal CEO Peter Kann has locked his gaze on the online version – which boasts 731,000 subscribers – as the way toward future growth. A year’s subscription to the Wall Street Journal Online is $84, compared with around $356 for the print version.
Bogus blogs pose dangerous threat
2005-04-15By Sogole Honarvar: A number of 'bogus blogs' are starting to pop up online, posing virus threats and identity theft issues for readers. The BBC News reports that these blogs use keylogging software and viruses to infect visitors' computers and allow for the stealing of sensitive information, such as bank account numbers and social security digits. The blogs are not easy to stumble upon accidentally, as a perpetrator must e-mail or instant message a link to the blog in order for any damage to occur. Still, roughly 200 of these bogus blogs are floating around on the Web, circumventing traditional virus protection software because of their ability to evade filtering systems.
Yahoo HotJobs partners with MediaNews
2005-04-15By Sogole Honarvar: From Editor and Publisher Online: MediaNews, owner and operator of 50 newspapers and sites such as The Daily News of Los Angeles and The Denver Post, has partnered with Yahoo HotJobs in an effort to provide more targeted job advertising online. The deal synchronizes job ads on MediaNews Web sites with those of HotJobs, which allows for the targeting of a wider range of jobs at a localized level. "Our breadth of job seekers coupled with our searching and matching capabilities creates a more valuable experience for advertisers," said Yahoo HotJobs executive vice president and general manager Dan Finnigan.
Jewish site hosts articles by college journalists
2005-04-18By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via The Commentator: CampusJ.com, a Web site for college-level Jewish students that hosts articles about Jewish events in college campuses in the country, has been witnessing an increasing number of readers since its launch a month ago. Steven I. Weiss, editor and publisher of the site, said such a publication was needed in campuses where the newspaper catered to the general university community. "We've got a highly-specified beat that can't survive as its own publication at most schools," Weiss said.
News providers look to online assets for revenue
2005-04-18By Eric Lindberg: From Times Online: The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are beginning to look to online advertising revenues as print revenues start to falter. Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, reported a drop from $17.8 million in the first quarter last year to $8.2 million in income this quarter. Excluding property sales, The New York Times earnings were down more than 20 percent compared to last year. Both news providers are prioritizing their online efforts. Dow Jones is focusing on MarketWatch as well as The Wall Street Journal Online, which has seen a 5 percent growth in subscribers. The New York Times is hoping for good results from its recent acquisition, About.com. "This thing called the digital revolution…is a fast developing reality we should grasp as a huge opportunity to improve our journalism and expand our reach," said Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, which owns The New York Times.
Daily Kos founder hits home run with baseball blogs
2005-04-18By Sogole Honarvar: Via I Want Media: Niche blogging is becoming more popular than ever, as series of blogs surrounding one issue are beginning to pop up online. The New York Times reports that Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of popular political blog Daily Kos, has taken his love for sports and blogging to a new level. Moulitsas has built SportsBlogs, a series of blogs about specific baseball teams throughout the nation. "I realized that blogs were really effective for partisan audiences. One of them is sports. Sports is huge..." said Moulitsas. While the project is still in its infancy, each SportsBlogs site sees an average of $3000 a month in revenues, and just about as many visitors--a welcome shock for Moulitsas. The blogger says he has plans to venture into other areas of sports as well, such as tennis and cycling. But he warns about the nature of these sports blogs: "I never claimed to be anything more than a fan. Anybody who comes [to the blog] to read an unbiased opinion, they're at the wrong site."
AP announces plans to charge for online content
2005-04-18By Sogole Honarvar: The Associated Press announced plans Monday to begin charging for access to its online content beginning Jan. 1, 2006. Editor and Publisher Online reports that AP president and CEO, Tom Curley, announced at a Newspaper Association of America conference that the news service has no choice but to begin charging for the re-purposing of their content, given the growing and prominent nature of the Internet and online news consumption today. "We must be able to preserve the value and enforce the rights of our intellectual property across the media spectrum," said Curley. The shift in policy has not yet been detailed, but Curley suggested temporarily cutting back on some membership fee increases in order to offset the cost for newspapers and broadcasters who access AP content. The policy will include all AP products, such as stories, photographs and audio/video.
Craigslist owner ponders improvements to newspapers
2005-04-19By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via Globe and Mail: Craig Newmark, of the famed Craigslist, is pondering ways to improve upon newspapers. Some news publishers are thinking about those issues, as well, despite resistance from some. "There are pockets of people within every [newspaper] who think we should be doing more on the Internet ... [and] other pockets of people who wish it would just all go away," said Ian Murdock, senior vice-president of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The article also noted recent online acquisitions by major news publishers as "old media" and "new media" companies continue to compete for reader attention -- and advertisers' dollars -- online.
[This item has been edited from its original version due to a mischaracterization of Newmark's comments. OJR apologies for the error. -- Ed.]
Adobe Systems to acquire Macromedia
2005-04-19By Sogole Honarvar: Adobe Systems announced Monday its $3.4 billion deal to acquire competitor Macromedia, The Mercury News reports. The deal will provide Adobe Systems, maker of Acrobat and Photoshop, with more digital publishing tools, such as Flash and FreeHand. Some graphic artists and online publishers worry, however, about the effect the merger will have on their favorite Macromedia programs. Still, the merger boosts Adobe's strength in areas such as mobile devices markets and the lucrative and growing Flash market.
In online news, time is of the essence
2005-04-19By Sogole Honarvar: Immediately following today's Papal election, Google News posted two stories regarding the event: One true and one inaccurate. According to CNET News, the top story on the news aggregator site from The New York Times read: "Cardinals Continue Conclave After Second Inconclusive Ballot." Underneath this headline followed a correct one from The Guardian, reading: "Cardinals Elect New Pope." This sort of snafu highlights attention to the ever-changing nature of online news that must continually strive for currency and clarity. Wikipedia, the well-known online encyclopedia where users can update information, also posted news about the Papal election. However, the site carried the disclaimer: "This article or section contains references to a current or ongoing event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses."
Newspaper companies investing in Topix
2005-04-19By Christine Huang: Via Sign On San Diego: The rising number of readership and advertising spending online has drawn three major newspaper companies to invest in Topix.net, a startup technology company that collects and sorts news stories from various sources on the Internet. Gannett Co., Knight Ridder Inc. and Tribune Co. will each take a 25 percent stake in the California based company, while the founders will retain the remaining share. Although Topix has launched its site more than a year ago, it has only reached around 1.4 million users monthly, which is still well behind the 5.9 million users of Google News, according to comScore Media Metrix. Topix, a small company consisting of nine employees, is profitable. It earns around $1 million in annual revenues, mostly from advertising, according to CEO and co-founder Rich Skrenta.
Yahoo dominates online news sites
2005-04-19By Christine Huang: Via Editors Weblog: Yahoo News has topped every online news site by producing the most visitor traffic during the past six months. It sources approximately 100 news organizations and 7,000 online news sites. It also allows the user to jump through headlines without having to wait for source pages to reload, and accompanies headlines with content from blogs and other sites. Yahoo News uses a "hybrid" editing strategy, in which computers scan sources while human editors decide what is page-worthy.
Study: Internet as feeder for mainstream media
2005-04-20By Janine Kahn: From Variety.com: Amidst a choppy sea of concern about assigning the Web the 'awesome power' to make most other forms of media obsolete comes a study that says otherwise. The broadband Internet has become a place where consumers delve "for deeper content and entertainment info without forsaking other media," according to a Yahoo and communications firm Mediaedge:cia-funded study conducted by Forrester Research and Headlight Vision. The report illustrated that 64% of broadband Internet users watch TV or read the paper while clicking away online, and that 71% of wireless broadband users do the same. Mediaedge managing partner Meridith Jamin notes that, taking this information into account, advertisers should integrate their messages across mediums. "For us, the big 'ah ha' is that people are meshing together their use of media. We are no longer in the situation that we need to worry that the Internet is going to cause the death of television," Jamin said.
NBC contemplates blogs for news anchors
2005-04-20By Aarthi Sivaraman: Via CNet News: NBC may create blogs for its top news anchors and celebrity interviewers, according to NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker. Embracing the online media will be an attempt to maintain the appeal of U.S. network news, he said. Cable, online news sites and blogs are changing the face of media culture as competitive news sites and cable shows replace popular network TV shows. Around 74% of high-speed Internet users access the Internet to get news from different standpoints, according to a survey conducted by Yahoo and Mediaedge, which is why "we should be looking for a more interactive component ... and be experimenting more," Zucker said.
The 'stand-alone' journalist defined
2005-04-21By Sarah Colombo: "The newsroom has left the building," observes journalist and Politics from Left to Right author Chris Nolan, who expands on her definition of a "stand alone" journalist in an article for PressThink:
"For me, the stand alone journalist succeeds in getting stories told in an honest and forthright manner without benefit of working for a larger news outlet," she writes. "That doesn't mean they're objective or impartial; it means they're honest about their points of view or assumptions."
She likens a Weblog to "our own printing press," and RSS to "delivery trucks or satellite feeds." She predicts that stand alone’s are more likely to supplement "cash-strapped established news outlets" than replace them all together, and also forecasts that stand alone’s will be hired to contribute editorial content and moderate debates on larger news sites.
Study: Youth trashing the throwaway newspaper
2005-04-22By Danielle Datu: From Editor and Publisher: Young people prefer online news over news displayed in the traditional context, according to a Carnegie Corporation of New York study called "Abandoning the News." Merrill Brown, founding editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com, wrote the study, which surveyed the 18-year-old to 34-year-old age group. Less than 20% of the participants reported reading the newspaper at all while almost half of the respondents turned to online news daily. Respondents also trust what they read on the Web. Respondents 25 years of age to 34 years of age said news from the Internet was just as trustworthy as what you would find in the newspaper. Brown attributed the results of the study to the failure of traditional news outlets to connect with the new generation of technology-savvy youth the way the Internet does. "There's not enough risk-taking in the newspaper industry," he said.
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy goes mobile
2005-04-25By Sogole Honarvar: From Reuters: In conjunction with this month's theatrical release of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the BBC has launched H2G2, a wi-fi mobile service that allows users access to information about the anything, including the galaxy. The service is updated by users, in a similar way to Wikipedia, although H2G2 predates the popular online encyclopedia, as it was launched in 1999 by author Douglas Adams. The BBC took over the service in 2001 and is now making the mobile capability available to anyone with a mobile wireless device.
Celebrity collective takes to the blogosphere
2005-04-26By Janine Kahn: On May 9, ex-governor candidate Arianna Huffington will launch the Huffington Post: a group blog wherein 250 of "the most creative minds" in the country will come together to write about politics, entertainment, sports and religion, amidst a wide spectrum of subject matter. It will be a "nonstop virtual talk show," reports The New York Times, adding that breaking news would be served around the clock alongside the spectacle.
CBS one-time household name Walter Cronkite has signed up to contribute, saying "I thought I'd have some fun." Others lined up to blog are David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman.
The site is, in part, a direct challenge to the right-leaning Drudge Report, given that it will probably start out as a "watering hole for liberals." While proponent Matt Drudge said he was "excited" for Huffington, he suspects that "hollywood players will find it harder to maintain a compelling webspot" than to open big at the box office. Along this same train of thought runs pressthink.org blogkeeper Jay Rosen, who "doubted that celebrities would be driven by the same passion that drives many regular bloggers."
Files on President Bush released to blogger
2005-04-26By Eric Lindberg: From The Raw Story: The FBI released 20 pages of records on President George W. Bush to a blogger after he requested the information last year. The files include letters between the Secret Service and the FBI forensic laboratory concerning two threats against the president in 2001 and 2003. The activist blogger, Michael Petrelis, believes the FBI is still protecting most of their files on President Bush. "A slim, meager, puny portion of the FBI files that they’ve released on Bush is not the full picture," Petrelis said. "It’s not the full file…I just don’t think 20 pages are all they have." Most of the information on the president is protected by privacy provisions in the Freedom of Information Act, FBI officials said. "There’s some information that can be divulged about a sitting president," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said. "There’s a lot of sensitivities and then you have his privacy rights as a citizen are the same as anybody else."
Startup to offer legit online media for free
2005-04-26By Sogole Honarvar: Via I Want Media: SFGate.com reports that a new startup, Open Media Network(OMN), will be offering free video blogs, TV shows, podcasts and radio broadcasts online. The OMN will focus on content that is authorized for online distribution, therefore circumventing illegal piracy issues. Current offerings include "Spark," a weekly San Francisco arts TV show, podcasts from WNYC and Northwest Public Radio and independent, short films from underground Web sites.
New Yahoo News design
2005-04-29By Sogole Honarvar: Via I Want Media: Reuters reports that Yahoo News has changed its Web site, adding more features such as advanced search technology and RSS personalization capabilities. The redesign has also added a "cleaner" design to the site and increased accessibility options throughout. New features of note include the ability to instant message stories, search for key phrases or terms within a story without leaving the site and receive personalized RSS feeds to both Yahoo-partnered and non-partnered Web sites. The site's biggest competitor is Google News, who, in contrast to Yahoo, does not advertise on their site.
Popular NBA blogger returns
2005-04-29By Robert Niles: Paul Shirley is back.
If you haven't been introduced to the NBA's most irreverent blogger, check out the notes about him from ESPN.com's Bill Simmons and, most recently, the Wall Street Journal. Shirley, a player for the Phoenix Suns, is blogging his teammates' playoff run from his usual spot at the end of the team's bench. As Simmons noted when Shirley's blog first appeared in March, “NBA player speaking his mind, making fun of other teams, even cracking some decent jokes? Does [league Commissioner] David Stern even know about this? If Shirley's body doesn't turn up frozen in a meat truck three weeks from now, I'll be astounded.”
Quality, not quantity, will dictate new Google news
2005-04-29By Karl-Erik Stromsta: Google has filed patents for a new system of compiling the day’s news, reports New Scientist. Currently the search-engine giant selects news stories based solely on their date and relevance to search terms. Under the new system, Google will keep tabs on the track record and credibility of all news sources around the globe, including the number of stories filed by each source, their average story lengths and even how long they have been in business. Thus, reputable sources such as CNN or the BBC will normally be included on the first page of results, even if they have not posted the newest story on a topic.
Newspapers: digital over physical
2005-04-29By Eric Lindberg: From Editors Weblog: Newspaper journalism isn’t suffering, it’s the medium itself that is hurting, journalism experts suggest. "People haven’t been abandoning newspapers," said Adam Penenberg, NYU professor and Wired News contributor. "They have been abandoning the print medium … More people read traditional news outlets today than ever before. But they are doing it on a screen." Instead of buying newspapers, people are finding it more convenient to visit media and newspaper sites online. Poynter statistics show that one-third of 18-24 year-olds prefer online news to other sources. Young readers are more attracted to the new technology, namely the Internet and cellphones. "New media has replaced the core attribute of newspapers, which is the ability to analyze and to provide much deeper insight," said Mike Game, COO of Fairfax Digital.