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July 2005
Links to Web coverage of London blasts
2005-07-07
By Robert Niles:
In addition to coverage from the BBC and the usual news websites, Web readers can find additional, grassroots perspectives on this morning's London attacks from bloggers (via Technorati) and wiki writers (via Wikipedia).
Registration open for J-Lab workshop on 'citizens media'
2005-07-07By Robert Niles: J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism is hosting a one-day "citizens media summit" on October 24. The workshop will offer panels featuring citizen media editors from sites including Backfence.com, the Rocky Mountain News' YourHub.com and NorthwestVoice.com. Registration for the conference, which will be held at the University of Maryland, is $100 and is limited to 60 participants.
More information, as well as a registration form, is available on the New Voices website.
Citizen reporters come of age after London attacks
2005-07-08By Diana Day: "Citizen journalism passed the breaking-news test," wrote Robert MacMillan of the Washington Post.
Citizen journalism showed its real potential yesterday after the bomb attacks in London, MacMillan explained. Also notable was the way the British MSM encouraged and integrated amateur participation, he said.
MacMillan rounded up several American media stories about "the technology that allowed amateur reporters to shine" and concluded: "With any luck, the performance of Great Britain's daily papers and their Web sites will take us beyond the blogging-versus-journalism debate. They showed us regular people keeping their wits about them in a traumatic situation, and sharing what they experienced with the rest of us. The news staffs showed that they could blend that with their professional operations."
Internet news in South Korea edging out print newspapers
2005-07-11By Diana Day: The Taipei Times reports that rising use of Internet news is undermining the ad revenue of daily newspapers in South Korea. Sites like Naver.com, Yahoo! Korea and Daum.net are gaining popularity as primary news sources, particularly among young people, "who would not otherwise even try to read newspapers at all," wrote the Taipei Times.
Up until 2000, newspapers in South Korea were the "guardians of the country's pursuit of democracy in its fight against the military authoritarian regimes," according to the Taipei Times. Now, newspapers sell their articles to the major news Internet portals for a flat monthly fee and are "no longer on the frontline of moulding the right sense for participant democracy," according to Choi Young-jae, a Hallym University professor.
British blogs became go-to news resource after bombings
2005-07-11By Diana Day: Blogs were the "ideal news resource" after the recent bomb attacks in London, wrote the BBC: "Every feature of blogging found a new use. Comments sections became "Are You Alive?" sections. PayPal accounts became donations to buy beer for the emergency services. And long before politicians had a chance to make a statement, Londoners' own reactions were being quoted as the voice of Britain around the world."
The BBC article also contains a sampling of the blogs, a "taster of how online writers have cheered themselves up, shaken a fist, or simply shouted that they're alive."
BBC releases open source online video projects
2005-07-12By Robert Niles: The BBC has introduced a section on its website for a variety of open source software projects.
The projects include Media Lounge, a C++ application which "displays an interactive, shared virtual world, in which the content author can embed audio and video sequences," a video codec and modules for Apache and Comprehensive Perl Archive Network.
Together, the projects, for which source code is freely available, provide building blocks that could help tech-savvy online video journalists develop more robust online video productions and distribution channels.
CBS News announces new Web strategy
2005-07-12By Robert Niles: CBS News has announced plans to relaunch its website as a 24-hour, on-demand broadband video news channel.
The new CBSNews.com, to debut later this summer, will include
(Of course, a few Web cynics might note that the announcement linked to off the CBS News homepage is in... PDF.)
Opera to support BitTorrent
2005-07-14By Robert Niles: From AP: Web browser Opera will support file downloads under the BitTorrent peer-to-peer distribution tool in its next version. Unlike traditional downloads, where clients retrieve files directly from a central server, BitTorrent shares the load. It breaks files into chunks, allowing clients to pass the bits among themselves, resulting in greater reliability, lower bandwidth costs to the originating server and often faster downloads.
Peer-to-peer distribution networks got a bad rap in traditional media as much of the traffic on them is in copyrighted music and video. But BitTorrent is often used for legitimate distrubution of software programs. Indeed, Opera reps told the AP that the Norwegian company decided to incorporate BitTorrent after Opera's servers were jammed with users trying to download the previous version of the Web browser.
Screeners sought for 2005 Online Journalism Awards
2005-07-14By Robert Niles: The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California (publisher of OJR) and the Online News Association are recruiting screeners for the 2005 Online Journalism Awards.
USC and the ONA are looking for accomplished online journalists from a wide variety of backgrounds to do first-round judging in this year's awards. Screeners will rate and review entries, passing their collective recommendations along to the OJA jury, which will select the winners in late September. Online journalists interested in screening may apply on the ONA website.
The deadline to enter the contest is next Wednesday, July 20, at midnight Pacific Time. Online News Association members can enter the contest, which honors the best in English language online journalism worldwide, for as little as $25. The entry form, along with rules and category descriptions, is available online at https://www.journalistawards.org/submit/category.html.
The winners of the 2005 Online Journalism Awards will be announced at the 2005 Online News Association Annual Conference and Online Journalism Awards Banquet, Oct. 28-29 at the Hilton New York, in New York City.
Teens are citizens too: An experiment in online citizen journalism
2005-07-18By Diana Day: Washingtonpost.com reports that graduate students at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism came up with the idea for the teen Web site Your Mom while brainstorming for a new media product.
The students presented their idea to Davenport, Iowa's Quad-City Times, which invested $80,000 in the project in the spring of 2004. The site lost money its first year but predicts a profit in the next fiscal year.
Hillary Rhodes, 25, edits the site and is the only professional journalist on staff. She is also the only adult among the 40 or so teens who work for free on the site. Only the two interns get paid.
Articles come from a variety of sources: the local newspaper or national news services, unsolicited submissions and assignments from editor Rhodes. The staff generates possible topics in brainstorming sessions.
The site also has a free 16-page companion newspaper that is distributed throughout the area.
"'The most interesting thing is diversity of voices because everyone gets a chance to say what they believe in. You don't have to be hired. You can just write. And it'll get published -- as long as it's grammatically correct,'" said regular contributor Zach Sapato, 18.
Journalist launches site for American Indian youth
2005-07-18By Diana Day: Indian Country Today reports that television news reporter Mary Kim Titla, in response to a dearth of inspiring online material for Indian youth, created Native Youth Magazine.
"'The youths needed a place in cyberspace that they could call their own. This is a place where everyone can be a star,'" Titla said to Indian Country Today.
Titla hopes the site "will not only inspire, but provide role models and give a lift to the downhearted."
The site launched on July 1 and got 42,000 hits that day, said Indian Country Today. As of July 11, Native Youth Magazine had over 329,000, according to the magazine's Web site.
Registration opens for Mexico News Seminar
2005-07-19By Ron Mader: DETAILS: http://www.planeta.com/seminars/mns.html
Registration is now open for the Mexico News Seminar which examines the evolution of the Mexican press and how topical issues are covered in national and foreign press today.
Conducted online, the seminar will be led by Tom Buckley, the former managing editor of Mexico City-based "Business Mexico" and "The News." He is completing a monograph whose working title is "Interpreting Contemporary Mexico: How the Media Cover Mexico."
The September 5-16th seminar will appeal to English-speaking reporters and editors who need a better understanding of the often-murky Mexico news scene. Its aim is to enlighten those who are not familiar with the rise and fall of El Independiente or need to know the difference between the editorial stance of Reforma and La Jornada.
Mexico has a grand tradition of journalism that dates back to the scribes of the 16th Century. Today, as that important emerging country continues a transition toward democracy, its free press looks to evolve into a reliable source of objective reporting, analysis and commentary.
REGISTRATION
Registration fee: US$100 per participant. Group rates available.
>> http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=738071149228
THE SMALL PRINT
- The seminar is conducted in English
- This course is targeted toward professionals
- Provides daily analysis of issues covered by a cross-section of Mexico City newspapers and magazines
- Includes excerpts from "Interpreting Contemporary Mexico: How the Media Cover Mexico"
- Participant comments are incorporated into discussion
- Participants will spend 1 to 2 hours daily on reading and assignments
- Registration closes 10 days before the start date so participants have time to read reading materials sent in advance.
The Nation hires MSNBC editor for Website
2005-07-19By Robert Niles: The Nation, one of the U.S.'s leading liberal news magazines has hired Joan Connell as the magazine's new Web editor.
Connell has worked as Executive Producer for Opinions at MSNBC.com from 1997 to last year, developing the network's first weblogs. As senior editor at MSNBC.com for the past two years, she also worked on developing citizen journalism initiatives for the site. According to a Nation press release, she also was a Pulitzer Prize nominee in 1994.
The magazine announced Connell's hiring as part of a general expansion of the magazine's online presence, including RSS and podcast feeds and as well as greater interactivity among Nation writers and readers.
Today is the deadline for 2005 Online Journalism Awards
2005-07-20By Robert Niles: Today, Wednesday, July 20, 2005, is the deadline for entering the 2005 Online Journalism Awards. Entries close tonight at midnight, Pacific Time.
No extensions. No exceptions.
The Online Journalism Awards are presented by the Online News Association and the USC Annenberg School of Communication, the publisher of OJR.
Gillmor responds to Kinsley in latest old/new media skirmish
2005-07-24By Robert Niles: In his Bayosphere blog, Dan Gillmor today smacks down Michael Kinsley's smack down on Internet culture from this morning's L.A. Times.
"Why is the tone of conversation on the Internet, especially about politics, so much lower than in the material world?" Kinsley asks in his column. The Times opinion editor and former Slate.com editor takes Web users to task on topics from e-mail ettiquette, the economics of online content and even for the treatment of the Times' botched wikitorials.
"It's not surprising that cyberians make lousy communitarians," Kinsley concludes. "Libertarian instincts are a more natural political fit with the silicon lifestyle."
Gillmor responds with a shrug, pointing the finger instead at Kinsley and the Times for not taking steps many other online writers and publishers have to ward off anonymous nags.
"Kinsley is a brilliant but old-school journalist who genuinely seems intent on stretching boundaries. He's do better if he stopped scolding the cyberworld and started truly working with it."
Survey says new Internet terms take a while to catch on
2005-07-25By Diana Day: A recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that many Internet users are not familiar with newer terms like "podcasting" and "RSS feed." And many are also not familiar with older terms like "phishing."
People surveyed were most unfamiliar with the term RSS feed: Only 9 percent felt familiar with the term, while 65 percent weren't sure and 26 percent hadn't heard of it at all.
"The findings are another reminder that new and exciting technology developments that seize the interest of industry officials and journalists such as podcasting and RSS feeds usually take a while to register in the wider public. In addition, it is also clear that public awareness of emerging online threats like those posed by phishing scams takes a while to emerge," wrote PIP director Lee Rainie.
Associated Press votes not to charge for Internet republishing after all
2005-07-25By Diana Day: Editor & Publisher reports that The Associated Press board of directors has decided not to charge an extra fee for repurposing its content on the Internet. The organization had announced in April that it was planning to charge an extra fee for allowing its content to be republished on the Internet. [See related OJR story.] Editor & Publisher reported that Tom Curley, AP's president and CEO, said the board decided a separate fee structure would be too complicated. Instead, the AP will increase its overall membership fee by 2.2 percent.
Additionally, the board decided on a new licensing policy for using its material online, according to Editor & Publisher.
The AP also plans to offer an online video news service.
J-Lab announces Batten Awards finalists
2005-07-27By Diana Day: J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland has announced five finalists for the 2005 Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. The awards honor creative and innovative methods for sharing information and involving the community in public issues.
The dominant themes in this year's entries were the "'increasing transparency, accessibility and democratization of news,'" according to the chairman of the Batten Awards Advisory Board Bryan Monroe. There was a wide range of ideas in the finalists' sites -- "'from a collaboration of former broadcast professionals from Europe to the transformation of a newsroom in North Carolina to the wild idea of a lone innovator in Chicago,'" Monroe said.
The Batten awards are sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in honor of a former Knight Ridder CEO, the late James K. Batten.
Links to finalists' sites and additional notable entries, along with information about the Sept. 12 Batten Symposium where the winners will be announced, are available at J-Lab.
Frontline makes news: Web story makes it to broadcast
2005-07-28By Diana Day: A story that was completely developed on the FRONTLINE/World Web site made it to broadcast news, according to editor Stephen Talbot.
"Last night we made a little history," Talbot wrote, since this is not traditionally how stories make it to TV news.
Reporter Mark Schapiro collaborated with the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and Mother Jones magazine to produce the four-part FRONTLINE/World Web series called "Nuclear Underground," which eventually became a NewsHour story.
U.S. officials are calling it "one of the biggest cases of nuclear smuggling they've ever uncovered," Talbot wrote.
"We have always tried to provide visitors with a dynamic online experience, offering high-quality streaming video of all our broadcast stories. What's exciting now is that with this nuclear blackmarket story -- and with our new Rough Cut series of weekly Web videos -- we are originating stories online. Our Web site is rapidly becoming the place where we develop and shape our broadcast stories. ... we like this track we're on ... We will continue to breakdown the barriers between broadcast and online media."