Practicing journalism in the Galapagos, where “hyper-local” meets “hyper-sensitive”

Gina Andrade at Radio Encantada, which broadcasts from Galapagos Islands.

Gina Andrade at Radio Encantada, which broadcasts from Galapagos Islands. (Photo courtesy of Judy Muller)

When most people think of Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, they think of exotic species, from giant tortoises to blue-footed boobies. There are more than a hundred volcanic islands in this archipelago, a living laboratory for scientists and a “bucket list” destination for tourists from all over the world. [Read more…]

With Aggregation Becoming Big Business, Some Publishers Are Playing Along…For Now

Flipboard has become hugely popular by focusing on a smart, simple reading experience, letting the users decide what content to fill it with. (Credit: Shardayyy/Flickr/Creative Commons License)

Flipboard has become hugely popular by focusing on a smart, simple reading experience, letting the users decide what content to fill it with. (Credit: Shardayyy/Flickr/Creative Commons License)

Tech startups big and small are fighting for dominance in a new market offering personalized, curated or DIY magazines that aggregate what can be an overwhelming roar of online news content into something more manageable and meaningful. Judging from the popularity of apps like Flipboard, they have a captive audience. [Read more…]

InformaCam App Will Help Verify Citizen Journalism Content

A supposedly real shot of Hurricane Sandy water. (Wikimedia Commons)

Many viral shots of the first 24 hours of Hurricane Sandy turned out to be fake.  Somehow we missed detecting that one right away.  Citizen journalism yields a lot of incredible stuff, but kinks still exist (only human, right?).  According to the Nieman Lab, the human rights organization Witness is creating an app that hopes to make it easier to nab the fake videos, photos, and audio people share from mobile devices.  The InformaCam app “would bring metadata to the forefront, allowing journalists, human rights organizations, and others to better identify the origins of a photo or video.”