What do the troops think about the war in Iraq? Here are some voices from the frontlines, who speak out at risk to their careers and freedom. So, we caught Saddam, what are we losing and who is getting hurt by our imperialistic actions now? t r u t h o u t - Michael Moore | Letters the Troops Have Sent Me

A look back at the year 2003 and where Online News is going for 2004.OJR article: A Look Back at 2003, and What's on the Horizon for the Online News Universe

Earth to democrats--it is Bush we need to beat....Dean critics lash out behind spots

OJR article: Online News Scores Coup on Hussein's Capture as%uFFFDPapers%uFFFDAre Caught Napping

Year end review of picture phones from picturephoning.com lists ways people are suing the phones in innovative ways. picturephoning.com: How people are using camera phones Madan Rao checks in with opportunities and tensions in the news industry, also related to the disruption that picture phones and other tech is causing. News Industry tensions

Does the current administration know much about our system of government, much less the relationship of the press and state? What is happening in Iraq suggests a hypocrisy between our ideals and actions. Free press is not allowed in Iraq by the military.TelevisionWeek -- Television and Media News

What are newspapers doing for their readers lately? Less of the coverage that we need to govern ourselves....http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=54&aid=57209

The election cycle, especially the presidential elections drive new technology adoptions and use in the media. Already reporters who are following the campaign are being referred to as "embedded reporters" and folks are talking about how election coverage will fall out for the upcoming 2004 elections.OJR article: Best Coverage of the U.S. Elections

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Poynter Online - Case Study: Orlando Station Investigates Wal-Mart Incident This is interesting. A reporter working the usually slack time after Thanksgiving took an anonymous e-mail and followed up. The result was that the news about a woman "injured" in a stampede to buy things on Buy Nothing Day (the day after Thanksgiving)who turned out to have a documented past of filing injury claims at work or business. Al Thompkins interviews the astute reporter, Jeff Fuller, and urges reporters and newsrooms to listen up.

CJR - Vernacular Video This is a bit more personal, but similar to the Documiniteries project in the Journalism department.

High school papers are taking up "convergence" so what does it mean for our curriculum? Daily Press: Student newspapers turn to the Web

Readership Institute

Well, as I have held for several years, online content and the ease with which it is accessed changes people's media preferences and information gathering behavior. By setting new expectations in the audience, new media transforms older media formats. So we find in a massive study of newspaper readers that readers want organization (e.g. information design) and better content. The day of the importance of breaking a story first is fading as the Internet makes that easy to do. The time of content that relates to readers' interests and links to action steps is now here. Read it for yourself.AJR - What They Like

Poynter Online - The Design Desk

Web Journalism - saila.com

Astoundingly cool idea. What about a "daily paper" like this?Wired News: Gizmo Puts Cards on the Table

Can you "work with online?" Time has come to converge.OJR article: Moving Online Into the Newsroom: "Annual performance reviews -- and raises -- are based partly on how well reporters work with online." OJR article: Moving Online Into the Newsroom: "And there's more reporting across platforms: The online staff writes stories for the print product, the newspaper's photographers often carry tape recorders into the field to grab audio for the Web site. Editors hope that cooperation will increase as more online staffers move into the paper's newsroom." That is why my students do some audio, video and photography for stories in our online publication, In the Loop--which will soon be ready for viewing.

Have you noted that Jack Fuller of the Chicago Tribune and other corporate media people have begun to talk about how it is time to charge for content? Below is a press release about the migration of the ink and paper U.S. News & World Report, complete with ads, to the Internet in a "print verbatim" version. While better than nothing, it still misses the essence of the media revolution that interactivity is bringing on. As the content online actually begins to be as complete as paper versions, and when it surpasses what is offered in print, this will certainly be the case. Here is one version of how this will work. US News and World Report is going online as "shovelware" with its format, ads, and content simply going digital. I think this will change as it is silly to believe that presenting onscreen information exactly as it looks on paper is really a step forward. The lack of interactivity and adaptation of content to the media is crude at best. What is happening here is that older folks with an almost insurmontable bias toward print cannot "SEE" or rather do not "use" the Internet. They are still "looking" at things. While looking at a magazine online fulfills reader expectations of what a magazine should look like, it will be cumbersome to navigate, and most will print it. If one has the money for a nice color printer, this is a very good solution. However, this is one of those McLuhan "rearview mirror" uses of technology. Eventually, the Internet version of the magazine will be something you "do" rather than "look at" and the need to present what works in print in an interactive media will pass. The first television programs were radio shows presented with a visual track. The first movies were books brought to the screen, and so it goes. I think there is money to be made with this methodology for a few years, but as the ink on paper biased boomers retire, the audience for publications like US News & World Report will want to "do" the content, or they will move to other content where the creators realize more of the potential of interactive media.

November 20, 2003 09:04 AM US Eastern Timezone U.S. News & World Report and Zinio Systems Partner to Create First Digital News Weekly BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2003--U.S. News & World Report and Zinio Systems, Inc., worldwide leader in digital magazine production, distribution and circulation, today announced an agreement to digitally produce and deliver the leading news magazine globally. The partnership represents the 80th digital title available from Zinio and the first digital weekly news magazine. On newsstands Nov. 24, the Dec. 1 issue of U.S. News & World Report will be available and distributed digitally on Nov. 22 at 12 p.m. EST. Digital subscriptions and single copies of U.S. News & World Report will be available at www.zinio.com. "U.S. News & World Report provides in-depth news coverage rich in editorial content, graphics and photos to 11.7 million readers weekly. By creating a digital edition, U.S. News will leverage its valuable print assets in a way that allows readers to conveniently receive their magazine and interact with the content," said Mike Edelhart, president and chief executive officer of Zinio Systems, Inc. Zinio's digital edition of U.S. News & World Report offers readers a user-friendly electronic edition of the magazine, instantly delivered to the desktop before it hits newsstands. The electronic version of the magazine offers the ability to zoom, search, hyperlink, highlight and make electronic notations in the magazine. Digital issues may include rich media in both editorial and advertising, allowing full audio, video and animation capabilities in a compelling environment where readers already are engaged with the content. "U.S. News & World Report is pleased to offer the first-ever news weekly available in a digital format," said William Holiber, publisher of U.S. News & World Report. "By partnering with Zinio, we are able to take part in a new publishing model that includes Zinio's extensive marketing support and digital circulation services. With unique circulation opportunities, U.S. News' digital edition offers readers new ways of interacting with our content." Since March 2002, Zinio has delivered more than 10 million digital magazines from popular titles, such as Business Week, MotorTrend, PC Magazine and Technology Review to nearly one million customers in more than 200 countries. The addition of U.S. News & World Report brings Zinio's stable of magazines to 80 titles from 30 leading publishers. Major partners include IDG, McGraw-Hill, Primedia, Reed Business Information, Technology Review Inc., U.S. News, VNU and Ziff-Davis.

It might be that some of journalists' concerns about blogs and blogging arise out of fear of competition...good observations from Mark Glaser at OJR OJR article: Media Critics Rave (and Kvetch) About the Internet's Impact: "Weblogs not only give critics more to review, they also are a new form of competition: Thousands of opinionated observers spend their days examining and writing about every move made by newsmakers and the media that cover them."

Read these interviews. Here is a vision. Replace the "applauseometer" with an SMS link to television programming...and more on how digital is working to amplify the television programming in ways that new audiences demand. Club of Amsterdam - Shaping Your Future in the Knowledge Society

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Here is a report from the "BEEB" (BBC) about media diversity, media promise and the failure of the free market to meet the promise, and why a public sector/funded media outlet is event more important in the world of broadband and thousands of channels. MediaGuardian.co.uk | Broadcast | Purposes and principles in public broadcasting: "we face a genuine disappointment. The brilliance of the technology of the digital age is not matched by the content which it spreads. "

Its time to update your thinking on how to cover an election. Those bloggers are in the mainstream now. Create an interactive "candidate selector" for viewer/users, and more.Prepare Now for Better Online Election Coverage Here is the example of the candidate selector

How indy media cover a breaking news event, in this case a conference. Be the Media! at the National Conference on Media Reform in Madison

My reviews are not the only ones that are noting how interesting the "Tell us the Truth" tour is. Don't miss it. And don't forget to think about the message, that authentic voice is being restricted by the consolidation of media ownership. Poynter Online - Convergence Chaser

Here is a note about the Media Reform conference I attended over the weekend. The reporter got most of the details correct, but there is going to be more to this story. Chicago Tribune | Panels see FCC as lax The "Tell us the Truth" musical tour is going to use good music to make a fairly political point. You can check out Billy Bragg and Tom Morello, Nightwatchman, of Audioslave and the whole Tell us the Truth concert line up and schedule online. The important questions about why Media Reform is crucial to democracy (and I will tell you to jobs for students in the future, as consolidation results in fewer media jobs in all the media formats) are addressed at the Media Reform network site.

Here is how the current administration undercuts programs that work to make bridges between the USA and the world. Just as Voice of America (which is not without its critics) became a model for the world with 24 hour broadcasts, it is facing cost-cutting that will reduce its impact. Is the saving in dollars going to be worth the loss of voice across the globe? The Voice of America, Muffled (washingtonpost.com)In the new American Empire, I guess some policy wonks don't think talk is important. Just send guns....

Here are some of the facts of the Media Reform conference held in Madison Nov. 7-8, 2003. Chicago Tribune: Panels see FCC as lax

Online radio comes of age, I guess, as advertising pros decide to apply their skills from Clear Channel to online radio marketing. PR Newswire for Journalists :: Printable Version

Columbia Spectator Online - HarlemLive Puts Student Voices Online

This is timely and interesting especially because its Ramadan. 100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans

What are Illinoisians worried about? It isn't Osama and terrorism. And the "economic upturn" hasn't gotten through to average folks in Illinois who still worry about taxes and health care...How worried are we? It's off the charts

Dean's use of Internet as a campaign tool is attracting interest, but pols are waiting to see if it translates into votes.Howard Dean%u2019s Internet Push: Where Will It Lead?

Social software with open source beginnings. Looks great for academe.Socialtext -- Enterprise Social Software

Lessig weighs in on the political importance of blog (self-publishing technology.) The idea of many to many communication is the new thing. Has broadcast created a kind of "sense fatigue" that is making people tune out? Keep reading my blog to find out. Wired 11.11: VIEW

The AP goes electronic to better serve its clients. OJC brief

This is useful when you are talking or thinking about working collaboratively. Poynter Online - Principles of Collaborative Story Planning

Here is a critique of reporting rigor that is well-written and hits the mark. How long will the administration be able to substitute appearances on Oprah for actual interchanges with reporters who ask real questions? Do we hear the echoes of dark nights in Southeast Asia?Why Are We Back in Vietnam?

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Why aren't the coveted 18-24 year olds watching TV this fall? Perhaps TV execs should consider how radio moguls felt in the late 1940s. When sense ratios (see McLuhan if you aren't sure what sense ratios have to do with viewing) shift because of new media, it isn't about the content, but the "media is the message." Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

NPR : The Ombudsman at National Public Radio

Mobile Firms Develop Scholastic Test-Prep for Cell Phones Two wireless tech firms have built a suite of wireless test preparation applications for use on cellular phones. By downloading the programs onto their cell phones, students can prep themselves on vocabulary, take quizzes, and work tutorials with practice questions, customized feedback, and exam hints. The programs -- for the Graduate Record Exams and the SATs -- were developed by Mobile-Mind Inc. and Xap Corp. based on their success with educational programs for Verizon Wireless. Those apps, as well as XapMath and XapVerbal, will now be offered to all wireless carriers.

Here is an example of how working globally but thinking locally can backfire. The "No va" or "doesnt' go" was another example of a car name that worked in English, but didn't make the translation to Spanish. Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

Wire-free down under

Uh oh, now we won't be hurt by voting fraud, if we don't know the machines are open to it?Wired News: Students Fight E-Vote Firm

Phone cam news from Poynter....Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

It may take you minute to figure out who the "characters" are in this Australian news editorial about Geo. Bush's visit to Australia. "Little Johnny" Howard is the Australian Prime Minister. How ugly can Americans become to the rest of the world? This puts up a mirror that doesn't show a pretty picture. Stifling democracy at home is bad. It doesn't seem to come across any better when Bush tries it abroad, either. "Journos" in Australia might try and ask the questions our own journos have self-censored themselves from asking, but will there be an opportunity? Howard cancels democracy for Bush and beyond: Can we stop him? - www.smh.com.au

Blog on | CNET News.com: "What effect is blogging having on traditional journalism? Would it ever replace or dilute the value of traditional journalism? It's certainly having an impact. From a blog reader's perspective, it certainly affects where I go and where I get and read my news. It is a more complex ecosystem now, so for the most part, I think they're complementary; blogs tend to be more about filtering and adding commentary and perspective--but there is some original reporting that's going on there. And the journalists who take advantage of blogs, I think, can do a better job of reporting on their areas. "

Emerging Alternatives: A Brief History of Weblogs

Can Wi-FI be dangerous? Good discussion fo the possible health risks.Daily Yomiuri On-Line

Wired 11.11: Open Source Everywhere: "Not to mention that, as with any term newly in vogue, open source is often invoked on tenuous grounds. So think of it as a spectrum or - better still - a rising diagonal line on a graph, where openness lies on one axis and collaboration on the other. The higher an effort registers both concepts, the more fully it can be considered open source."

Non-linear narratives and effective redesigns of content in print. Very interesting ideas and it includes graphic examples. I would like this in my newspaper. What about you?Poynter Online - Nonlinear Narratives

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

For Techies, School Bells Mean 'Let the Games Begin': "'I'm not going to say what chemistry teacher it was, but I sat in his class yesterday and played a game on my friend's calculator.' Jeremy recounted. 'The teacher didn't much care so long as I listened to the information and produced on the test.'" Obviously a generation thing is going on. The current school organizational structure grew out the Industrial Revolution, and held the teaching "silence, punctuality, and order" were top goals of school. The organization of the day into discrete modules of a set time with bells to signal the orderly progression from one "station" to another reinforced and reified the social structure that was moving rural people to urban environments. What this article suggests is that the kids already understand that the structure of the school day is outmoded in an age of always on connectivity and 24/7 consciousness. Bluetooth, infared, Wi-Fi all make it clear that bringing a bunch of bodies together everyday at the same time, whether it serves the intellectual, social, and learning needs of the members of the group is a funny artifact. Let the teachers go on in their anachronistic dreamworld, the youth know that time is not a constant in an electronic world, and that distance is only how far you are from your connection....

Media Chain Keeps It in the Family

Citizen journalists, blog "umpires", some very cool publishing and journalism ideas here. Advancing Citizen Blogs on News Sites

New Papers Hope Free and Brief Will Attract Younger Readers

t r u t h o u t - Halliburton Fingered For Alleged Corruption

Bill Moyers on Big Media and regulation.t r u t h o u t - Bill Moyers | "FCC Rule Reversal Dead in the Water"

Wired News: Shift-Key Case Rouses DMCA Foes

Poynter Online - The Design Desk

Web designers, please note a shift in the terra virtualfirma of internet design. No more left side nav bar....Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Retailers in the music industry catch on, very slowly, but at last.Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

Try this out. What an interesting take on news in our world today. APT means approximate reading time, and this article even has a built in clock to so you can time yourself. Can you write with your reader's time in mind, as well as their need to know? Poynter Online - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Wired News: Military Training Is Just a Game

News professionals and students, notice how Internet use is resulting in decreases of time spent with other media. This study tracked business executives usage of various media. For them, the web has become number 1.Professional: Biz Leaders Prefer Web

Here is a way to be able to archive and edit what is on your website with METADATA. Guardian Unlimited | Online | Inside IT: Seeing is believing

Boston.com / Sports / Columnists / Eric Wilbur / Comments from the Coliseum

I'm not the only dreamer...why can't all my wireless devices be connected to the net and just transmit my data, voice or pixels, seamlessly? Web Technology / Net transparency on the way says Sprint. But is it enough? - Tech Update - ZDNet

OJR article: The Third Wave of Online Journalism

Poynter Online - Read All About It!

TheFeature :: Flash Mobs: Just An Early Form Of Self-Organized Entertainment

Wireless fidelity - all the way

NOW: Politics & Economy - Big Media - Regulations Timeline | PBS

m e m e f e s t 2 0 0 3 | communication center

Phlog - scoops of life

Technical difficulties

Chicago Bloggers

Wired News: Senate Votes to Block Media Rules

Wired News: Clark's Run: Net Made Him Do ItMore on the role of Internet as a communication tool of importance in the political process.

This is another report about the air quality at Ground Zero right after 9-11. On this day of tribute, is there an ironic twinge to reports about how the Bush administration covered up risks?

Cahill's comments echo a report issued in August by the EPA inspector general, an internal watchdog on the agency. The inspector general concluded that under White House influence, the EPA issued misleading assurances that there was no health risk from air pollution after the attack.

t r u t h o u t - Ground Zero Air Quality Was 'Brutal' For Months To properly train and outfit workers with protective gear would have cost money. It seems to me that this was a case of penny-pinching that will come back to haunt the Bush administration.

OJR article: The Guardian of the Web:

"I think that now is the time to accept that, if you're in the game of online publishing, you have to be much more open-minded. I saw a comment that wouldn't it be great if a newspaper bloggerized all their content? Or if you could attract comments on every single piece you wrote? Supposing your leading columnists had blogs rather than columns?"

The Guardian online Editor in Chief, Emily Bell, is interviewed about online news in the OJR. The Guardian operation does not currently charge, and is increasing viewership. Bell sees the online version of the paper as another department of the existing Guardian, but pegs future growth and viability of the news operation to its online presence. Also, the term "micropayments" comes up again. Read Clay Shirky, on the failure of micropayments to see what is happening in online publishing and payment for online content. Clay writes on the economics of networks and other and notes that he writes about “[S]ystems where vested interests lose out to innovation.”

As I have posted previously about the value and use of RFIDchips (Radio frequency display devices), I thought it fair to present the views of a group of activists who plan to protest the use RFID tags in clothing and consumer goods on Sept.16th at McCormick Place in Chicago. Stop RFID Moblog At Newsplex, we discussed how RFID tags on hardware could cut down on losses in newsrooms and in school settings. The tags could allow cordless devices or laptops to "call home" if a worker or student "inadvertently" walked off with them. The devices can broadcast their current location. In Celebration, FL, grade schoolers wear cool dog tags or rings with their info in them. It allows them to enter the school building, but also to move from room to room, class to class, but keep connected to their individualized computer-related lessons and assignments. These uses presume that the information flow is being managed with the knowledge of the user of the device. However, Bennetton wants to put the tags in clothes that could broadcast information back to them, as a retailer, in a "spy" fashion. That is, you the consumer wouldn't have a clue that Benneton was learning where you hung out when you put on the snappy clothing you purchased. Some retailers claim they will deactivate the tags when the consumer leaves the store and has purchased the item. But there are no safeguards about this. Stay tuned to this issue. It is going to come increasingly into the public consciousness.

A cautionary tale coming from a website journalists might want to bookmark (Computer Crime Research Center) What if your bank's online site wasn't really being run by your bank? Fake websites on the Increase

Current buzz has been doing field research on news technologies and social networking patterns. This involved joining up electronically with flash mobbers in Chicago, and going to a flashmob. In my enthusiasm, I set up a mob log for the flashmobs, and I am hoping somebody beside me will post images to it. Have a look.Chicago Flash Mob Gazette Are flashmobs "important?" For now, they seem social and fun. I think for people who are from the "Bowling Alone" generation however, this may represent a first step in an process that could move toward concerted and purposeful action. I see them as subversive insofar as one "apes" the rational processes of corporate life for no "rational" purpose. Using high tech "office" gadgets (computers, cellphones, PDAs) the MOBers organize a mass activity that requires some discipline and adherence to rather arbitrary rules (e.g. the MOB script.) Then a group of people who are often meeting for the first time go through the same actions that corporate employees go through daily, without any expectation of economic reward, thus subverting the rational through a parody that is engaged in for non-economic rewards. Will it evolve into anything beside a pleasant, artistic, kind of "be-in?" Stay-tuned. I bet advertisers are thinking about it already... What is a flashmob?

Here is a note about the "Howard Dean" of the California governor's race, from a world view (BBC story.) Why haven't we heard of her as well as some of the other candidates? Georgy's story is interesting and indicates she is able to fund-raise via the Internet. I am not personally endorsing the thong underwear sales, but I would buy from here before I would get a pair of "Ahnold's" shorts....

Well, it could just be my provider, but I think the Internet is very slow today. I also have gotten scads of virus emails. I think we may be experiencing a "relapse" of the sobig virus thing. Anyone else notice this?

A good review of what sounds like an interesting book. It touches on our reckless abandonment of the public good, e.g. "commons" to the for-profit sector, but we are cautioned that this expert is basing his book on goverment reports, not his own journalistic efforts in any of the places he claims terrorists are working. Mercury News | 08/31/2003 | Two-pronged terror: "This is a weird turning point in national security. In the old days, the government controlled the important borders of sea, air and land. But now, folks like Merrill Lynch and Verizon -- and, for that matter, you, sitting there at your computer -- control the data borders. For the first time, a big part of national security is at the mercy of a rather indifferent free market."

More information is now coming out about the EPA cover up of environmental hazards in the wake of the terrorist attacks and the destruction of the World Trade Towers. Government assurances that it was safe were just public relations lies. Read more I have a personal interest in this story. My daughter was a student in NYC on 9-11-01. Our first reaction as parents was to bring her home until the cleanup was completed. These false assurances that there was no danger were the deciding factor in whether we would bring her home or not. Now we are faced with fears and doubts because we were lied to. How many more of these lies are we facing? How many people will be exposed to potential health risks like this? Doesn't it make you wonder about drilling in the Artic? What about security at airports? I trust my students and I will construct some inquiries about the veracity of information about public safety matters this semester.

Reporters beware. Here is a challenge to the special priveleges that newsies have had regarding subpenas. Chicago's own Judge Posner is the one issuing the decision. Some of this seems to be a result of 9/11 and fears after it.Chicago Magazine

Here is one of my "phlogs" and the picture of well-respected reporter Christiane Amanpour and I. I posted this from my phonecam while the event was in full swing. scoops-of-life project 1

Video gamers' demographics do not fit many of the common stereotypes that we have. Some are over 50, and they are not all males about 17 years old. See the press release

Here it is. The first news photo and story printed in a Swedish paper from a reporter's phonecam. They noted that the photo was not quite as high quality as the photographer's photo taken 20 minutes later, however the news value of the phonecam picture (the news incident was an accident) was much greater. See phonecamnews.com for more information and some 'how to's".Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

I am talking to my new colleague.

Here is a history of online publishing over the past 10 years. OJR article: Online News Pioneers See Lots of Changes in the First 10 Years

At Newsplex we had some discussions and presentations about the way SMS messaging would be sent to readers via WAP and cellphones. Here is a major media outlet in South Africa which has introduced the service and is making money that way. Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits: "'To some extent, cell phones have succeeded in an area where the web has found success difficult to come by -- the ability for a content publisher to derive revenue from a reader who is interacting purely with content,' according to Buckland. The service costs 19 Rand (US$2.62) per month to subscribe and readers can pay for the service over the Internet via credit card. If the reader is an M-Web subscriber, the cost can be added to his/her monthly bill. "

A call for journalists to keep up with communication technology. So what? This one comes from Malaysia. Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia -- News Headlines

Here is another RSS piece. In this one, a user who a programmer tells how he uses a RSSlet to track his Fed Ex package. How does this have anything to do with reporting? It is going to put your audience in the position of being able to ask for specific information and get it back from your content site. I'm not sure I can write an RSSlet yet, but the idea will certainly be put into a news reader in the future.Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Al-Jazeera is relaunching its English site according to Business Week BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com You can view the Al-Jazeera site at http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage We will check back with them and see how balanced their coverage is, over time.

This interview with an Indian broadcaster provides a global perspective for journalism educators and students. What is important in broadcast reporting? What are the "constants" of good broadcast reporting that transcend the boundaries of your country (or station, for that matter.) Indiantelevision dot com's Interview with media education consultant Shashidhar Nanjundaiah When Mr. Nanjundaiah says "Overemphasis on short-term profitability [in news organizations] and constant pressure to reduce the turnaround period can be very dangerous for the society and for the profession. " in this interview, he could be speaking for any good reporter.

The New Sunday Express - News Items:

'Thanks to the web, newspapers could tailor their topics to a worldwide (web-wide) audience, plus put the reader in control. Rather than pick up a newspaper first, you pick a topic that interests you and find out what newspapers worldwide have to say about it. You can either search by topic say, 'India' or choose from topics our computers automatically list for you. "

I used to tell my students in an introductory course that they would be able to do this, and they thought I was kidding them (circa 1985.) I am just surprised it took so long to come about. Think "bathing suits."Wired News: 3-D Eyes Turn to Fashion World

Christie Todd Whitman, then head of EPA on Sept. 21, 2001 about Ground Zero area air and water quality said this :

"We are very encouraged that the results from our monitoring of air quality and drinking water conditions in both New York and near the Pentagon show that the public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances," Whitman said. "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breath and their water is safe to drink," she added.

Now the truth comes out, and Hillary Clinton is calling for a reckoning. EPA was told to lie about the environmental dangers by the Bush Administration. Workers and citizens were exposed to hazards without their knowledge and without any kind of education about the hazards. t r u t h o u t - Hillary Clinton: 'Now They Should Come To New York To Face Us' In this report from November 2001, the NIH cites possible toxic hazards and sets out a program to train and protect workers. I guess we just didn't have money for that program, or else the White House thought if people don't know, it won't hurt them. What a terrible course of action to take, even in the name of "security" and public safety. Report from Natl Institutes of Health (NIH) from Nov. 2001

Wired News: Today's Tech-Dependent Activists I found this via Smart Mob and I agree with Howard Rheingold that it should be "tech-enabled" not "tech-dependent." I have been working for several days on my new website phonecamnews but took a break to go to a Howard Dean rally. One of the things I found as I was putting together the website was a monthly meeting of bloggers. According to Meetup, there are over 5000 bloggers who will meet on Sept. 17th. Virtual communities....

This is a very accurate indictment of corporate news as it is produced in print and broadcast today. No real questions, jingoism and ethnocentrism. My Intro to Mass Media students heard from embedded and independent journalists and though news neophytes, they could discern how embedding would result in bias and could cause important stories to be missed by accident, or because the press' handlers would keep them away from stories. This is shameful, and this J teacher is going to develop a lesson plan to help students come up with ways of avoiding becoming puppets of corporations as they work for mass media outlets today which are increasingly owned and operated by and for corporations, not for real news. The perfect storm? The American media and Iraq Lance Bennett - openDemocracy

My own college gets a nice story in the New York Times. Maybe my students can do some news feeds over this network. A Television Network With a PC at Its Heart

MagInkHere is the link for the company that is making the electronic paper that they call "full color digital ink display." During the power blackout in NYC, the only billboard still working was the digital ink one....

Mail and Guardian Online :: Whassup with Wsis?WSIS a conference you may not know about, but it will have an impact on your life.

"The WSSD may be fading from memory, now get ready for the WSIS. It's another UN mega-gathering, this time designated as the World Summit on the Information Society.

Oh no, just when we thought it was safe to go into the hair salon...Whet Moser, Chicago Tribune, files this horrifying report from the fashion trenches. Not just a "fauxhawk" but the dread "mullet" is observed locally. Drain the pond, kill the fish....

Lanham also picked the Bowie cut as the new new thing in his neighborhood, one "derived from the David Bowie "Aladdin" album cover." It's a more radical variation of a trend that Lanham describes as the "urban mullet . . . business up front, party in the back." Could it be that Chicago has caught up to the hipper parts of Brooklyn erhaps not. Lanham disavows the Bowie mullet trend. "Hopefully the plague hasn't hit Chicago," he says.

View living, walking mullets

Digital shoplifting with camphones Copyright issues that seem to go beyond the scale of current laws.

Have you considered how to deal with Blackouts at your college? I don't think we have. Here is a piece about how businesses are reacting to the recent blackout. Take note: 82% believe there will be another blackout within the next 12 months! Professional: U.S. Biz Lacked Blackout Plans

Interactive Narratives

Well, Poynter did not beat Iverson to the scoop this time. Check out my experiments in reporting from my phone cam at Scoops of life1 and Scoops of life2. Here is the Poynter story Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Richard Notebaert, CEO of Qwest Communications phone company, is having technical issues. He isn't so sure about "portability" of phone numbers Chicago Tribune: New twist to phone number portability I have noted the trend to "cut the cord" and replace a landline phone with a cellphone. This makes sense for those 24-34s who move frequently, stay overnight frequently at a current love interest's home, and just aren't home much. But it is starting to sound good to business customers and others, especially if the phone numbers become portable. Mr. Notebaert and other telco-types who are tied to particular hardware systems in their thinking as much as in reality, can't imagine this coming. I expect that telcos, like news organizations, are going to either learn that they are in the information transfer (or information business), not the telephone wire/handset/hardware (or newsprint business) or they will go belly-up and be replaced by new companies that managed to hop on the Cluetrain. Think "common carrier" for telcos, and "content provider" for news organizations. Talking WIFI , Notebaert says "The challenge some of us have with Wi-Fi is to do it in a metropolitan area it's still hard for us to see the economic model. If customers want it, we'll do it." according to Staci Kramer in an article in Wired News . I think WiFi will be just part of the "carrier" that folks will pay for to be "connected". Its not about charging customers for each piece of electronic hardware or gear. Its about coming up with a charge for sending info around on the "highway" you provide. The user doesn't care or want to know, and I don't think will ultimately pay for wireless and for landlines, and for cell lines, and for whatever. The user wants to do what they want to do--they want to transfer their info, be it photos, their conversation, their spreadsheets, their money--when they want to, and they are looking for a seamless connection.

3 Women and 3 Paths, 10 Years Later

This is going to be a cataloguing of stories about PowerPoint. We have David Byrne in one corner, and one my personal idols, Edward Tufte in the other. Is PowerPoint an artistic step closer to our creator or is it the anti-christ? David Byrne does Art, including "recombinant phrenology" in this article. Wired 11.09: Learning to Love PowerPoint Edward Tufte condemns the rigidity and stupidity of PowerPoint Wired 11.09: PowerPoint is Evil

"When information is stacked in time, it is difficult to understand context and evaluate relationships. Visual reasoning usually works more effectively when relevant information is shown side by side. Often, the more intense the detail, the greater the clarity and understanding. This is especially so for statistical data, where the fundamental analytical act is to make comparisons."

Boston Globe Online: Print it!The imperialistic policy and ruthless disregard of human life goes on in Iraq as US troops continue to kill journalists with seeming impunity by saying it is part of a "justifiable response." What does the Army need to hide?

Students-- Now a sportswriter does a "Jayson Blair" and files a story that he claimed was live reporting, but he had simply watched the game on TV. Also, guilty of a "word crime" -- lifting quotes and not giving attribution. Be safe in your reporting, not sorry. Check out our e-learning module on avoiding plagiarism and other word crimes. Sports -- An apology to our readers from the Sac Bee

Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday, August 20, 2003 On Aug. 7, a story on the cover of the Sports section about the Giants game at Pacific Bell Park was filed by a Bee reporter who was not at the game. The reporter watched the game on television at a location away from the stadium. He filed his story without telling editors at The Bee his true location, leaving the impression he covered the game from the ballpark. In addition, it was discovered later that the story included quotes from other media outlets that were unattributed and old, made to reporters on a previous occasion before the day of the game. The story violated basic journalistic values and ethics as practiced by The Bee. The reporter involved, Jim Van Vliet, no longer works at the newspaper. The Bee regrets the situation and apologizes to its readers.

Armando Acuna Sports editor

The Bits Are Willing, but the Batteries Are WeakHere is a look at the darkside of digital. A reporter tracked down some Internet addicts during the New York blackout, to see how batteries and tempers where holding up. Bloggers were bedeviled as they rushed to post about their blackout experiences, only to find laptop batteries low, no DSL or dial-up available. It brings to my mind McLuhan's discussion of Figure and Ground. The fish never notices the water until its gone. The blogger doesn't notice the electricity behind the technology until it is unreliable....

OJR article: L.A. Times Hoping Time Is Right in Move to Monetize Niche ContentI think this a model dreamed up by people who don't really use or understand the Internet. I could see getting an itemized statement each month a listing of charges for info I browsed, and providing items were billed via micropayments, paying for content like we pay for phone calls. Time will tell. I used to get the NYTimes updates, but since they started charging about $20 per year for them, I use google's free alerts or just take the time to search and find by myself. They had 500,000 users when it was free. Now they have 20,000 in the paid model.

Well, my advice as a "doctor" is "get a Mac..."Story: My trip to Windows hell...and back - ZDNet

So what does this have to do with reporting and news? The content of the movie is unimportant as far as this item's "news technology" value. However, here is a solidly funded, artistically important, government supported media organization which is moving a major part of the work of advertising a product (an independent film) to the Internet. This speaks to the acceptance and importance of broadband as a mainstream media output medium. It illustrates the principle that media organizations are in the content business, not the TV or film or radio or newsprint business. It demonstrates why students and faculty need to be comfortable across media. What will stop breaking stories from migrating to Internet from Television? How many more audience members are near a computer or other wired device during business hours, than near a television? How did you get your news about the recent blackout on the East Coast?

Aug 14, 2003 World's first ever 'e-premiere' to be available with audio description and subtitles London, August 14/PRNewswire/ -- - New UK feature film "This is not a Love Song" gets globally ground-breaking premiere on Friday 5 September In a globally groundbreaking move, on Friday 5 September new UK feature film This is not a Love Song, written by Simon Beaufoy of The Full Monty fame and directed by Bille Eltringham (The Darkest Light) will receive the first-ever 'e' premiere in the world, when it is made available for streaming and download on the web and simultaneously streamed and digitally projected in selected cinemas across the UK. The film will be available for streaming and download in various size files with audio description and subtitling options available for the disabled. http://www.thisisnotalovesong.com/ This is not a Love Song, written by Beaufoy in under two weeks and shot in just 12 days on DV cameras (similar to the technology used on US smash hit 28 Days Later), is a tightly wound cat and mouse thriller set on desolate moors. After an accidental killing on a remote farm, the local police remain distanced as a group of farm vigilantes set out in search of two ex-cons who flee the scene in horror. Notes to editors: The UK Film Council is the key strategic body for advancing the film industry and film culture in the UK and receives £55 million from the Government through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund has £15 million over three years to invest in films that illustrate unique ideas and innovative approaches. It has an especially strong commitment to supporting work from the nations and regions and from black, Asian and other ethnic minorities. The fund also encourages digital technology in the production, distribution and exhibition of films. To date the New Cinema Fund has co-funded The Magdalene Sisters (winner Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival), Bloody Sunday (winner Golden Bear - Berlin Film Festival, winner Sundance Audience Award, Audience Award - Rio Film Festival), Revengers Tragedy, Anita & Me, Bille Eltringham's digital feature This is not a Love Song, written by Simon Beaufoy, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, Tomorrow La Scala! (Un Certain Regard - Cannes Film Festival), Hoover Street Revival, Bodysong, and upcoming projects including Kevin Macdonald's Touching the Void, Sarah Gavron's This Little Llife, Don Letts's One Love, John Downer's Live Forever, John Crowley's Intermission, Dagur K?ri's Noi the Albino, Duncan Roy's A.K.A, Chris Cooke's One for the Road, John Furse's Blind Flight, Emily Young's Kiss of Life and Rory Bresnihan's comedy animation Ape. New Cinema Fund short film schemes include a partnership with FilmFour Lab investing £250,000 a year into four major schemes encouraging directors, producers and other creative talent. The New Cinema Fund together with 11 appointed regional partners invests £1 million into digital short films and most recently partnered with France's CNC on the Short Channel/Manche Court (including Alicia Duffy's The Most Beautiful Man in the World officially selected for Cannes 2003). Source: UK Film Council

m-pulse / a cooltown magazine / Blogging Goes MobileHere is a piece about "phlogs" which are blogs that allow you to upload images from your camera phones. This one will be every reporter's "pocket knife" in a few years. Watch how quickly reporters gain "thumb proficiency" so they can file from their cell phones. By the way, the Nokia 3650 has a camera and gets good user ratings for its interface and keys. Here is my new "phlog."

Lafayette Square a 'hot spot' for wireless Internet - 2003-08-13 - Business First of BuffaloWireless comes to Buffalo. Increasingly, when you travel, you can just carry your WiFi device and turn it on and use it pubically. I will begin a map of places I can vouch for, but so far, Columbia SC airport, Columbia College Chicago library...and Buffalo. More to come.

washingtonpost.com: A Private Windfall For Public PropertyA wrinkle in the future of WiFi, thanks to the FCC.

OJR article: CBSNews.com Trying to Win as Tortoise in Online News Race:

"One of the conscious decisions we made a couple years ago was to produce interactive boxes that could be used on a variety of subjects -- whether it's about West Nile, or AIDS, or transplants, or the war, or whatever. We build them fairly non-dated, so when something breaks, we have instant assets to put into a story. We publish every five minutes so we call ourselves 'all-news radio meets Time magazine.'

CBS news online has technology designed for them, and has adopted an approach that shows they understand that online is part of the presentation tools that any news organization needs and uses.

Scientific American: E-mail Study Corroborates Six Degrees of Separation

The Village Voice: Nation: Press Clips: Truth and Consequences by Cynthia CottsNikki Finke claims she was fired because she wrote a series of stories critical of Disney, which complained to her employer (owned by Murdoch.) Here is a quote from the Village Voice about the matter. This can form the basis of a good case study on Media ethics in the coming year. It provides a concrete example of why conglomerate ownership of news outlets can be problematic.

In February 2002, Walt Disney Company president Robert Iger wrote a letter to New York Post editor Col Allan alleging errors in the work of media and entertainment reporter Nikki Finke. Allan fired Finke without ever investigating the alleged errors, and a Post spokesperson later trashed the writer to the Voice, saying, "We had a number of problems with the accuracy of her reporting." Then, when Finke sued Disney and the Post for libel, both companies countersued, guaranteeing that the case would drag out in court.

t r u t h o u t - Techies, Politics Now ClickInteresting summary of various groups which have begun to mobilize via Internet around a variety of political/social issues.

IEEE 802This new standard will be out in the form of adapters for existing TVs and PCs and will be a standard feature of new equipment come next year. Called "WiMedia" it represents what is called an "ad hoc" network because it negotiates what bandwidth it operates on as it plays. Radio or news from around the world streamed through your computer to your television...Get ready for Max Headroom....on a screen near you soon.

Wired News: Streaming Video, Cheap and Easy Now, stream movies from the Internet to your TV. This is the easy bridge where you can get the application "served" via your PC and network, but sit on the couch and watch it .

OJR article: Personal Broadcasting Opens Yet Another Front for Journalists Well, I can see what my next project is going to revolve around. Online from Columbia college, coming this fall.....

Poynter Online - Converging to Fix the Commute This is the future of news in my view, and according to the folks at Newsplex and elsewhere. Several news organizations combined resources to produce a project that allows viewers to get involved with something that everybody thinks about -- traffic. The tie-in to what the transportation agencies are doing and what legislators are doing about traffic is very forward thinking and represents community journalism at its most innovative. By allowing readers to see how much different improvements will cost, and then letting voters talk back to the pols about which ones they are willing to vote to pay, the media organizations are breaking new ground. I heard the developer of the previous project, Waterfront Renaissance speak and was shocked at how many of the older newspeople in the audience discounted what he said because he told them he didn't read newspapers. He meant newsprint versions of the news. The audience just couldn't fathom that there is lots of news on the Web. The young man contended he didn't trust the mass news corps and would rather be his own gatekeeper, and evaluate some stories by reading about them in several different forms. I think that is the way things are going. Television news has just overtaken news in print as the main way Americans get their news, but with the demassifcation of broadcast, the Internet and wireless will be grabbing bigger shares of the news consumers. Interactive features like the "Fix the Commute" that are local, provide meaningful interaction and will have an impact on the real world will draw viewers who are as used to clicking as they are to couch potatoing.

IO2 Technology Revolutionary Interactive Heliospace Free-Space Display Look ma, no screen. Projection into thin air. Who hasn't seen holograms? Johnny Mnemonic and Tom Cruise in Minority Report use screenless projection, but who realized we would have that technology in our own lives?

O2 Technology today announced that it has completed a working prototype of the Heliodisplay(TM) display, which can project TV, video and computer images into free space -- thin air. You can walk around, or even through, the floating image; something possible only in science fiction until now. The unit, now about the size of a bread box, currently projects images as large as 27 inches (diagonal) with a capability to expand to 150 inches.

When we envision the future of news, good reporting and the ability to write a clear story are the foundations, but the output medium will change how news is produced and will cause it to have a different impact on its audience, or viewer/user, than the flat, stationary screens we have now. To think that the technology isn't part of journalism is to completely mistake what "the medium is the message" gets at. When your newscaster is in your living room and you can reach out and not only touch, but manipulate their "presence" (a hologramatic image will seem less image than presence) its going to be a new kind of news.

I have been talking about .Dave Matthews

Poynter Online - Convergence Chaser Research presented at AEJMC confirms that writing skills are number one in what news managers look for in hiring, followed by "multimedia production." One the other side of the desk, reporters put "technology, CAR (computer-assisted writing) and visual production" on their skill wish lists. I see a way for Columbia's J Dept. to help its faculty, help reporters and bring in some much needed revenue-- Workshops on CAR and Visual production and Journalist Multimedia Skillset. Look for formal proposals for workshops based on "what I learned at Newsplex" plus what I have been teaching. We can link up with other departments to add some high end tech tips. Got to go cogitate and propose....

IHT: Flash mobs: summer silliness spread worldwide The MOBS which I first was thinking had to do with "mobs" as in disoderly crowds, is probably more a tongue in cheek punning of mob and mobile because they are one of Rheingolds' Smart Mobs. I liked this comment from the article

Howard Rheingold, who has published a book entitled "Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution," thinks flash mobs are part of a larger trend. "Right now, it's just people wanting to do something silly and it's not hurting anybody, so what's the harm?" he says on smartmobs.com, a Web site that is dedicated to his book. "But it shouldn't come as a surprise when this becomes a major outlet of political activism soon as well," he says, perhaps hopefully.

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits A camera phone saves a kid and helps nab a bad actor. This is the good side of ubiquitous surveillance or whatever we would call our new world where we will all be connected with "eyes' and "ears" and "mouths" and "text" at least. This is one of a series of stories I have been following lately. See July 16th entry, for example. That is the one where the teacher was "phonecamed" tearing up a student's paper.

Wired News: One ISP Refuses to Yield I did not envision the day that I would be supporting my telephone company, especially as I am old enough to remember "Ma Bell", best depicted for all of you Gen Xers in The President's Analyst as the terrible power that is working to take over America. But now we find SBC as the first ISP to say "hold on" to the RIAA and the recording industry with its onslaught against all of our civil rights in the form of thousands of possibly illegal subpeonas to get copies of individual's Internet activity. Music downloading or file-sharing is supposed to be the problem. Actually, there may be more of a problem with the corporate structure of the music business, and the incredible economic structure which provides small reward to most artists, and over-charges the consumer. The RIAA for the recording industry has been riding roughshod over everyone's civil rights and getting the courts to just smile and say, "ok." So thank goodness for my TPC, the SBC, who say

The action taken by SBC Internet Services is intended to protect the privacy of our customers," said an SBC spokesman. "Misapplication of DMCA subpoena power raises serious constitutional questions that need to be decided by the courts, not by private companies which operate without duty of due diligence or judicial oversight."

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits A multilingual blogger produces news roundups of European news in English. Cool.

Poynter Online - Wednesday Edition: Kids' Home Internet UseInteresting research results that kinds who use Internet at home outperform those who don't in school. The Web for all its glamour is essentially text-based, and it turns out that kids who spend more time reading (even if it is online) become better readers. There appear to be no negative social impacts, either. As my kid heads off on his first "roadtrip" as an adult (he is now 18) to cyberathlete professional league summer 2003 championships in Dallas, TX. He will be one of the 1000 folks who "BYOC" or bring their own computer. He is an avid reader, a good writer, he got into college , has dates and a social life, but I wish he would spend more time outdoors.

Advice to avoid copyright litigation / Experts sharing tips to help defend against file-sharing lawsuits Boy, it sounds like a challenge for consumers to boycott all kinds of "legal" music, MTV, CDs, etc. that come from labels that are represented by the RIAA. If the RIAA wants to go after money, I'd sure think that a consumer boycott would be a logical response. I am only surprised I haven't heard of such an effort yet. College students, teenagers, parents of techno-geeks, college IT people, could you go without buying music or watching Televsion programs that are made by corporations that have affiliates represented by the RIAA for 2 weeks to show a sense of solidarity and clout?

Poynter Online - Writing with Your Nose Being an olfactory person, I like this "how to" article from Poynter. I remember riding my moped from the suburbs to the city, and being slammed by the shifting odors. I always imagined it would be a good exercise to write about the trip as if I were riding on the back of the moped with my eyes closed just describing the passing neighborhoods and zones based on smell. Here are a few I recall:

• Pulling away from my house the damp grass smell of a lawn that is dew-sprinkled and clean
• Passing the little woods in Evanston, cooler by degrees, and with the smell of air that hasn't sat behind idling engines for hours
• the sudden turn onto McCormick with its earthy sewage smell redolent of still water, muck, and dead fish
• accelerating past the dumpster of lard grease behind the Mexican restaurant, replaced by the sweeter but still cloying odor of the Greek's dumpster

Sit back, take a whiff, scratch and sniff. add some "sense" to your writing. Smell-O-Vision

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage This update about Jayson Blair's next writing assignment sounds like something out of a Thomas Pynchon novel, but unless Reuters got scammed, it is true. Having a fabricator review the movie about a fabricator? So "pomo" it drips irony like honey off baklava.

Applications: Blogging By The Numbers Notice they don't talk directly about the J curve distribution that Clay Shirky described also as power relations and argues is common in social phenomena (e.g. word use.)

Posted from Pratt, checking out Miroslaw Rogala's preparations for Siggraph this coming week. Poynter Journalists discover the MOBing phenomena as Rogala and I work it into our collaboration on collaboration.

OJR article: Are Online Search Tools Lulling Journalists Into Laziness? This is a good example of the kind of reporting he is talking about. I am off to NYC for a couple days--current buzz is "on assignment" until then.

Wired News: Spy Kids' Director Goes Digital It is film today, and news tomorrow... http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59682,00.html

"but in some sense he's been eclipsed by digital technology. With the right tools and techniques, amateurs can do equal or better work."

Photojournalists aren't the only ones who are having their fields transformed by technology, and in need of new models for how their work relates to the work of talented, tech saavy amateurs. This is the visual analogy to blogging in the world of print.

Acting on my own suggestion in the previous post, here is what a "news resourcer" might come up with to put some perspective around the report about G.I.s who have been "busted" for talking to reporters about morale in Iraq. This kind of background can be compiled easily, and while mine only includes Internet sources, can contain other links (both free and paid), and can complement a story that runs in any media that includes a web link.

NEWSEUM: WAR STORIES

Newseum War Stories: An Essay by Harry Evans

Poynter Online - War Correspondents: A Book Bibliography

BBC War Reporting Equipment 1944/5 - Into Action

Amazon.ca: Books: Ambushed: A War Reporter's Life on the Line

Reporters sans frontières - International

A Dreadful Masterpiece-Ernie Pyle

Listen to MP3s of Edward R. Murrow in WWII

The videophone-enabled war

War reporters push tech limits

Tom Brokaw: David Bloom, journalist of warriors

Should war correspondants save lives?

Discussion of embedded reporter

t r u t h o u t - Pentagon May Punish GIs who Spoke out on TV So, how do you make sense of this as a reporter. Think about the strategies you will need to employ to get at the truth. The direct interview strategy probably won't work. A clever reporter might be able to use e-mail to tease out some details. I think doing the story with context, as bit like here where they include the reminder about Douglas MacArthur are useful, but I'd like to see an interactive piece on war reporters and top brass to help those who weren't born during the Viet Nam War, much less the Korean War or WWII to develop an idea of the realities of working with the military as a reporter.

CBC News: Soldiers stealing weapons I wonder if this happens in the USA armed forces?

t r u t h o u t - Report: Tens of Thousands Will Lose College Aid I think it is short-sighted to cut costs on education which pays off later on. Less education, more folks going to prison. It is a pathetic form of compassionate anything that willing sacrifices the brain trust of the future for material gain of the richest in society. Shame on the Bush administration and on democrats who go along with this stupid method of balancing individual interests with the social good.

CBC News: Canadian reporter 'smeared' over Iraq coverage Let's talk about the the Fourth Estate and its rocky relationship with governments, in this case the USA government and the Bush administration. Being "outed" as a Canadian makes me think of the South Park song, "Blame Canada." That was a funny parody, but this story discloses a dangerous bent in the current administration toward xenophobia and homophobia.

Wired News: Blogging for Bucks Some day my own "current buzz" will be where Ali's PaidContent is, at least in my dreams and aspirations. For now, I have to try and convince skeptical journalism educators of a certain age that this is the future of journalism, at least for some of students. Note, he is working sans editor. That is one of the big issues that comes up over and over when blogging and journalism are discussed. What is the role of an editor? Do you need one? I tend to think that the copy editing function would be helpful, though like Ali notes, that would slow down his reporting. The gatekeeping and story budgeting function of editors is not clear online where the viewer/users might be helping with a story, defining what you report, and where space isn't really an issue. If you can demonstrate you are drawing the "eyeballs" the advertisers will come to you. Interesting, interesting, interesting.

Chicago Tribune: A whole lot of soul-searching and self-examination going on Don writes as an ombudsman, so his style is pedantic, but he brings up some good points. The re-examination of news management and newsroom problems is something that we academics need to track. I agree with his comment about the central and important role for an editor, however, I think media outlets must also be a lot more open to allowing viewer/users to access the raw information sources. Control is now in the viwer/user hands or more rightly, mind. The V/user will want to see what the Editor brings into the info pipeline, but will also want to triangulate on occasion and get the "raw feed."

Movies on the Run Though it is movies today, as broadband and wireless become ubiquitous, it will be news "on the run." Don't think about the place where you are reading this now (probably a desktop machine in your office, or at home) but envision where you would like to read it. On the train, while stopped on the highway (I don't personally endorse this one...), while waiting anywhere, at lunch, in a bar, just sitting somewhere in your house where the chair is comfy--any of these options are possible right now, and certainly will be customary within a few short years. Think content, not output device.

picturephoning.com: Students films teacher berating classmate Read about this episode. Read what the Singapore educators are saying. Think hard about this one. It means a disturbance in the newsroom, perhaps as disturbing as the journalist job that is being sold on eBay by Rupert Murdoch's organization. The winning bidder is going to paying to write, not getting paid. Add blogging and the phonecams into the mix and the world of the reporter circa 2010 may look like Spider Jerusalem's Transmetropolitan life story....

On Thursday, June 19, 2003 I put up a post about "MOBs" which I was thinking referred only to the group of unorganized fun-seekers, but clearly the "MOB" in moblog means mobile, as well as a bunch of folks. Now there is even an international conference about it....International Moblogging Conference

International Moblogging Conference Well, I told you about moblogging (the cute prank at Macy's with the "Love Rug" but now moblogging already has an international conference...better get my phonecam working....

More good stuff from Newsplex today: Moving the new roles into practice. How does change take place?

Specific courses
Curricula
Student Media
• Make sure that these are converged so they can cover the stories they are interested in expressively in the student media.

What will we take back as chance agents? Mistakes to avoid-- don't just throw bcast and print together, don't just lard onto old classes, at some point you need to bring in new curricula, syllabii that are built around the new roles. Not everybody can be trained as a multiskill journalist--it is better to teach basics to all, and then specialize in one of the concentrations. What barriers will we encounter? 1. Student resistance. "Want to be an anchor" this attitude will change as the projects go on and become routine. 2. Prof environment studies show that throw print & bcast together you need to settle the vocab issues, # of sources, etc--same as we discussed either. 3. Make sure the first work that goes out is good. For sure, copy edit postings before going online (as a big bad example) 4. By using the new roles, then you can make changes in curriculum and "save time" or make room in the curricula.

One of the sessions I have been waiting for: Research in the Converged Newsroom Ran Wei, Prof of Advertising Inform us about research themes and methodologies today. Flashlight evaluation tool. Flashlight from University of Danger of convergence with too much corporate: same story on all media outlets. I notice the journalist and newsroom managers confine their descriptions of convergence to what they are going to do or for audiences--they haven't considered how the user/audience is going to come into the news process. Will convergence actually create larger audiences? Or will it foster targeted niche audiences? How do different output media contribute to appealing stories? Does convergence lead to more factual errors because of rush in workplace? Research the perceptions of the players--managers, TV News directors, journalists, users, etc.-- is valuable research right now. Good territory for survey research right now. Where to share research with aim to publish: Conferences: AEJMC ICAespecially the Digital Divide division BEA

Continued posting.

• Univ of Kansas has the Lawrence World as its model for the world or work, and that is a critical influence on the j school curricula. Why is the Lawrence World better than Tampa -- smaller operation which is figuring it out on a real budget, not like Tampa where they had lots of $$ to underwrite their efforts.
• smaller markets are using canned web programs, like the Knight-Ridder or Media General, so students web expy with more creative tools will be constrained because students will have to cut and paste their stories into the canned template kind of interface.
• The faculty who want to converge may need to work harder, because some of the faculty may not do anything. It takes extra work on the part of the interested people. Should be able to backlog stuff as we go, so we can start to re-use material after the hectic start-up time.
• We don't know how things will work out. The "formula" of the print newspaper and the tv news are just that-- formula-- and that can change easily. No more newscasts, for example, instead, periodic updates.
• What have they learned? 1. Start early in their education e.g. web pages in Intro classes 2. Pair up faculty to facilitate the intro of multimedia into different existing classes 3. Get over the fear that the students will know more than I do as a faculty 4. Each fac work from their own vision of what the future of the newsroom will be in 10 years -- the kids will be the managers.

Good morning from Newsplex, on the last day. Discussion of how they are bringing convergence into the curriculum at USC.

• bring broadcast and print classes together to do stories. This is like what is happening at Media General in the world of work.
• What is convergence? Answering this question is key to teaching. There is not agreement on this, and it needs to be answered for the particular faculty.
• How are faculty members in bcast taking to the introduction of convergence? Currently, they do a newscast like Newsbeat, but daily as the capstone--modeled on local TV. Faculty ask--why bother as they don't see the local workplaces doing this. Question may involve are you a tech school or are you academe? Are you training the students or educating them for the future? The "evidence" is that students are increasingly getting jobs because they are well-versed in one of the concentrations, but have expy with the other media. Might not be necessary in first job, but will help them succeed in second or third job.
• USC is adding convergent components into the already existing classes, as in adding webpages to Intro classes. Or having the print and bcast students work together during the semester. Often focus on "awareness" that there are various ways to tell the story, not necessarily on tech mastery or excellence in the multi-skill media.
• Design of newsplex like lab--must have a TV area, must have a newsroom, must have a classroom or teaching facility, too.
• Define it for your institution, and then how will you teach it at the facility you have. A "fixed" definition of convergence is not useful. Keep it flexible because the tech and its implementations are changing so quickly. Future projection--what will job be like in 10 years? Each teacher needs to think abou this and teach this. Vision of big news agencies 'shedding' staff and re-hiring them as freelancers. Also, looking toward robot writer to process news releases and documents and an editor to look at the copy. The robotic writer could let a reporter be out in the field. Though this is a dilemma as the corporate mentality might replace the reporter with the robot and sacrifice quality in news wiriting.
• Is student news media converging? Paper has website. Radio station is webcasting. They have a little TV network with an hour or two of bcasting per week. They are not working together now. J dept students provide the news for the radio station. They report that their connection with their student media is tenuous--they have a faculty advisor, but they don't get involved with them in production things.
• Freelance camera crews to go and do TV packages that will sold to stations--it is happpening on the national level and will filter down to midscale markets. This is a bit like news services. There might be a market for reporters to go and out cover stories they think are important and then market them to audience without corporate or editorial layer.
What will students be a part of?
• could do it in capstone classes to do convergence
• Must work the skills in gradually and over time, so that when the students get a story idea they will have the awareness and basic skills to carry out the story. "Open gym" nights--have the convergence facility open for drop-ins to let students experiment. The big newsplex "unfreezes" the habits, but the ongoing use and practice can take place in any lab. Want to bring down the friction betw print and bcast students before a single capstone course. Need to get students past the idea they being a journalist means doing one single thing e.g. I want to be a on-air talent, etc. Once you start doing the convergence projects, the resistance falls back. The combination of classes that write for one medium in a class, and then submit the stories to another class (e.g. writing for bcast sends scripts to copy-editing class) for editing, this improves everyone's work. In some cases, putting things in print for bcasters transforms their thinking, as will putting a print student up on a stand-up or online.

Good morning from Newsplex, day 4. Extremely interesing site about "cybergeography" which is mapping of information in visual typographic forms. Web shells. Microsites--a story on a subject goes into a microsite which stays live while there is interest. Then it gets archived. This is counter to newspaper thinking because in typical news media a section or feature is created and then stays for years. Here is where the Internet assumptions will conflict with news biz, as Internet would put info out and maintain links over time, not just feature that is transient. Photogalleries are most attractive feature on the web according to stats.

Keith Kenney on photography. On phone cameras and their coming ubiquity by the year 2005.

XML for journalists This is very cool. The session is heating up now--the tech is getting everybody excited. Northrup says there is software themescape that does a textual analysis and then produces a topo map -- IRONY, the software isn't on the market anymore. Capshare by HP--obsolete technology that was a hand scanner to .pdf that had corrected the problems of hand held scanners. Showed us this--whoa, not enough bought by consumers, and they never thought to market the thing to media outlets. Control Tower software from one of Ifra's European partners. Very cool dynamic pages asp database to keep track of all the info about stories that are going to be covered in a multimedia way. DAT recorders--small portable, can swap the smart cards in the newsroom for convergence uses, and also to post online. Recommends this to replace casette players. Lots of the DATs use voice recognition software, like Dragon. The ones with smart cards are the most effective because they keep the content separate from the recording device. See the ojr.org site for a journalist in a suitcase equipment overview that includes some DAT devices. Hey, and if you look at the article "Behind the Gear", there's a piece on Ifra and Kerry Northrup Sony Mavica that records to CD-ROM and will do audio. ARCOS multimedia jukebox--digital microphone, MP3 player, records the audio as an MP3, also includes a small webcam attachment--MPeg4 video, or still photos. Has a 20MB memory, LCD for review of files.

An interesting dynamic from Newsplex session this morning. The students, who are all university faculty & I think by their action of registering, early adopters, have been confronted with an instructional style that is pedestrian, pedantic, and too much talking. We teachers have been talking about this, as the session is very costly, and then we have begun to try and get the instructor(s) to respond to us as "live audience" rather than passive receptacles. The response by "trainers" has been less than spectacular. Instead of trying to pitch the message to the client or teach the individuals in front of him, the poor trainer has become defensive. In trying to teach "subject matter" and stay on the subject, he has lost touch with teaching people. I hope we can resolve this, but now there is lots of angst and emotion that is clouding any postive learning process. For me, the emotional human storyline always overrides any "message" someone is trying to get across. We will see what happens later....

Newsplex con't. from Columbia S.C. Washington Post discussion of its web spinning and what it calls the dept. of continuous work. Discussion of the fact that "not everyone who is a journalist today will be able to be a journalist in the future." Kerry Northrup has written about this. He says that the problem Gil Phelen finds at Tampa in the converged newsroom are not "old fogies" but "young fogies" who come into the job but don't want to work across media. Whew, haven't we all had students like that. SWOT in lieu of SWAT where assets is replaced by opportunities. The change from assets to oppty's is an interesting twist on this old strategic planning approach. In a moment of inattention, I found this very cool wireless story--polar bear cam and beyond.

Good morning from Columbia S.C. in the Newsplex. Fine weather again. Sessions begin. Newsroom "virtual newsroom" or network as newsroom. The "there is no there, there" newsroom: Kuala Lampur example. Northrup says that they may be going too far in the virtual direction.

Geoff LoCicero, on News Resourcer The News resourcer is a description of things that have to be done, but not necessarily is one person, or one job. The idea is that a variety of roles will adopt the processes and integrated into the newsroom. Some of this is of course, triangulation, and setting up processes to make sure that triangulation stays. Northrup describing how news resourcing means capturing experiential knowledge collected during a story-- this is very like Roger Shank's cognitive science ideas Newsroom's Chief Info Officer--

• First and foremost, a journalist--good at sources, searching. Other areas of expertise like library info skills to newsroom, tech leader in multimedia, facilitator (btween librarians, techs, news), familar w/multimedia formats, files. "Like a page designer" in print
• Knows how news operation works, has news judgement, be proactive & drive the story, reporting/writing/editing, trad sources
Skill details:
• Catalog, index, archive, preservation, research & retrieval, pay dbases, archives, authoritative web sites & "invisible" web
• Info management makes collab and teamwork more productive. Can do advanced, effective searches (boolean, advanced google) & teaches the j's to do this
• Info sci strengths that are needed: info architecture, intranets, create/manage knowledgebase, understand/leverage tech, do training
• This person leads the change from "lone wolf" to "team" by working to unify the info tracking, dbase, operations processes.
• Benefits: digitizing info creates knowledgebase and saves time. Document repetitive procedures and add to database.
News Resourcer in action Story breaks: searches archives/web for content across media; feed content to other reporters or to audience; edit or pull content from one format to another (with storybuilder); finding "links" to new story ideas or angles. In news operations, there is not enough time and thought given to professional development and training. This brings morale down.

I had to take a publishing break. This is a continuation of the previous posting. The four points of the convergence compass-- print, video, online & mobile New roles in Newsrooms-- the jobs/titles Newsflow coordination

Newsflow editor

News editor

Multimedia editor. Different meanings, e.g. Chicago Trib vs. Tampa Trib. In Tampa, they expected this job to be temporary and the job would migrate to everyone, but this is not happening in practice.

Convergence editor

Multiskilled journalist. Knows characteristics of media to use content and formats for most effective use to tell story. Understands tech to enable newsgathering, distrib via print, video, online & mobile

Story builder. An evolved copy/sub-editor is a lynchpin of the multimedia storybuilding process, fashioning stories across media bundaries and packaging stories for multimedia. Not just putting liner text in line, is building story elements--probably you would only do this for 5 or 6 stories per edition. Copy editor now acts like quality control--brought in at last step. Story builder moves this job to front-end to add quality to build story, create story, not just making sure the final thing is readable.

Newsroom Editor. The cross-media manager orchestrates the multiple media newsroom process and assigns multimedia stories from desk.

News resourcer. The informatic journalist wields all of the tools of the information landscape by accessing info thru dbases, computer-assisted reporting, story contextualization and deep researching, and functions as the newsroom's chief info officer.

New Roles in the Full-Media Newsroom

This multiple media convergence is much more complex than just an additive model, and it demands collaboration and coordination that were not necessary previously.
• Newsflow coordination. 1. Directing news coverage across all appropriate content formats and all required delivery services. 2. Ensuring service to variety of news consumer profiles in the marketplace 3. Integrating multiple products to generate a unified editorial brand
• Story building (no longer story telling) Provides content at a bunch of different levels of coverage and kinds of content for users to customize and get at the particular level they want. Local news is where he sees this thing being the value added. Increasingly the info must be deliverable by mobile.
• News resourcing. Spectrum of activities that this kind of person will engage in. The person is rooted in journalism, but with expertise in graphics, database, etc. Like the idea of a "CIO" to capture and use information.
• Multiskilled journalism. This can be a bone of contention in some union contexts. It really means the idea of a writer who has ideas for photos, rather than actually shooting the photos. I personally see that pressures of ubiquitous and cheap tech and cost of labor make the multiskilled person very desireable, and increasingly the multiskill will replace the monoskill. There may be issues with quality, such as using photos from phonecams taken by writers or bcasters, not photogs.
Mindsets that need to change
• Current training to be a "lone wolf" who has his/her own news sources and can't work in a team, or leave sources for others to use must be altered. Young J's need to learn to work as a team, and view resources as belonging to the team, not to an individual.
• Story budget or agenda is often created in Word and cut & pasted. There are better software tools for group collaboration and idea sharing to make news production work better--leverage the intell of all the people in the newsroom instead of just a few folks. This is more the case in bcast than in print because there are fewer reporters, and they have to share info more effectively.
• Service biz now, not in production biz. Must change mindset of privacy of newsroom, even making it hard to find newsroom numbers, to "call me, I am at your service" The client/news org relationship will become more like a personal relationship--e.g. personalization of info both in geography, etc. rather than a product relationship.
• The source sharing is a big issue for the print folks--"poisoning a source" fears promote the secrecy, but Northrup argues that a reporter who won't share, wouldn't be hired in his newsroom. This appears to generational as well as be diff for bcast vs. print. I think online will be more like bcast. "you're on the same team" mentality