When I teach my students about "public domain" and the idea that there are resources and values that exist outside the confines of capitalism and traditional economic theory, one of the things we explore are reputation systems in things like public gardens. While the gardens exist in the physical world, there is the intriguing study of reputation and trust in online venues. Amazon and eBay are of course the examples that pop into mind. What about news online, though? How should young writers and publishers approach the reputation and ranking issues in their work? Here is a research starting place. More Companies Pay Heed to Their 'Word of Mouse' Reputation

"Word of mouth is still important because it reaches people who may not be e-commerce shoppers yet," said Bill Curry, a spokesman for Amazon. "Word of mouse is important because on the Web you can reach so many more people beyond your circle of friends."

Here is a continuatin of the MOB story. I agree that it will be the next big thing, followed by stupid legislative moves to outlaw it. I am going to include it in my work on collaboration. I don't know why it is so intimidating for those who don't "get" cooperation to encounter a group who will form on the spur of the moment, cooperate to play, and then disperse. Probably it is because the kind of people who "get" the MOB don't need to told what to do by an authoritarian leader. Pretty scary for some folks.... Look for an iverMOB in your neighborhood soon....

ONLINE CULTURE The Inexplicable Mob Project It would be a pretty good prank if somebody were to just organizes a random flash mob via e-mail and mobile phone, but the Mob Project's inexplicable mobs go further than that, incorporating an element of situational art into the experience. The Mob Project organizes a flash mob which descends on an unsuspecting store and mills around debating whether to buy some specific item. After ten minutes, the mob votes on the purchase and disperses before anybody can figure out what's going on. Meanwhile, the Japanese have their own take on weird mobs, filling the streets with swarms of Agents Smith from "The Matrix". Wired has an article on the Mob Project, and mob coolness is infiltrating the blogosphere courtesy of sites like Cheesebikini. We predict a huge rash of flash mobs all over the place, followed rapidly by hysterical legislation outlawing them. Wired: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59297,00.html Cheesebikini: http://www.cheesebikini.com/blog/archives/000261.html Matrix mob: http://www.cheesebikini.com/blog/archives/000267.html

Online NewsHour: Forum -- Copyright Conundrum Copyright, the RIAA, the esteemed Lawrence Lessig and an industry looking at the future through a rearview mirror. Might will not defeat a clever technology, nor the zeitgeist.

t r u t h o u t - White House Edits E.P.A. Report to Hide Dangers The actual projections about climate change are so devastating that the Bush/short-term thinking folks will of course gloss them over. In reality, within my lifetime (and I am already 50+) much of the southern USA, as in from the middle of Illinois and Indiana south, will become a desert. Why worry about Iraq and such things? Soon we will be worried about things at home. Go watch Mad Max and consider that though that is science fiction, there is no triggering apocalytic event such as an attack with WMD (weapons of mass destruction.) Instead, kind of gradually, things stop working. Global systems of energy and transporation breakdown and that causes a return to a sort of feudalism and regionalism. Oh well, that's just a movie, right?

The Herald Palladium ArchivesWhat an astounding report. From the explosive crowd scene in Benton Harbor to its speculation about what is in the hearts of the rioters, it takes us there and uses a point of view that is so like what most of us would have in the same situation. I recently heard Peter Turnley speak about being in Iraq and some close scrapes he had. This scene from what we often consider the gentle heartland makes it clear that injustice breeds violence and further injustice. Good writing, Kim Strode. The Herald-Palladium is a local paper from St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Wired News: E-Mail Mob Takes Manhattan The MOB is very cool. It is an interesting sidelight that Wired used the photos without permission, though they did say "courtesy of mike." You would think they would ask to use them, though I can understand that wouldn't directly link to his blog because that might drive too much traffic there. Tell me a story about a few years in the future, how this kind of event will part of the social fabric....

Windy City Media Group Look, a person who took initiative, had a good idea, and tried to help students is being replaced without very substantive reasons at Columbia College Chicago (CCC) and the credit for her work is being taken by other people. Oh, but that wouldn't be news, because it happens all the time at CCC. Vicki Shannon got some GLBT stuff going, and worked hard and professionally to do it. As soon as the GLBT office started to take off and get into the consciousness of the students and faculty, what a surprise, she is getting let go. Furthermore, now others are going to take credit for her work. If this wasn't the S.O.P. at Columbia, it might be news. If I was a GLBT student or faculty at Columbia, I would be worried. As an interested supporter of queers, I am. Why wouldn't she be invited to stay on as the female half of the soon to be created female/male team of faculty who will administer the GLBT office. Isn't it kind of regressive to appoint male and a female faculty rep for a group that is supposed to represent all of the rainbow varieties of queer life? Why would you use the hegemony of standard gender divisions to set up a representative and progressive program for GLTBs? Could it be that straight folks think that this is way to run a program about the range of genders? No comments:

I am always amused by the "buying up deckspace on the Titanic" allusion. Here it describes how local broadcast television is addressing the inexorable shift in viewer/audience attention from the television to Internet. As recent audience data indicated, even after a brief spike during the invasion of Iraq, audiences for local TV news continue to decline. The all important "eyeballs" are just gazing at the computer screen, more than the television screen. TVSPY.com

For the past 3 years, the UCLA Center for Communication Policy has conducted tracking research about the changing media landscape in the U.S. The findings are chilling, especially for television and television news. Here are the basic, irrefutable facts: * As Internet use grows, television viewing goes down. * Broadband is growing rapidly. * People with broadband spend even more time on the Internet and less watching TV. * These trends are more acute with children, young people and experienced Internet users. * And, among Internet users, the Net has become their most significant source of information.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage There probably won't be a big demand for this as the worst offenders won't be able to see that they are guilty of the jargonizing. Maybe corporate offenders ought to be forced to buy, use and demonstrate they understand this product....

Nextel arms cops with picture phones - 2003-06-12 - Washington Business JournalLest we forget that the original Polaroid color film was developed for South African law enforcement and government so as to differentiate between white, colored, and black, here comes a story about the picture phone being tailored for police. Obviously, using it to help find missing kids is laudatory, but what will its applications be in terms of "profiling".

On Video Games, the Jury Is Out and ConfusedThe news on Video games is good and bad. It seems obvious that kids would pick up skills from any actions they repeated and repeated. The adrenalin rush does follow participation in these games, even if you don't like playing. I have gone to online arcades with my students to study the games, and we play them. After a game or two, I felt as if I had just been in a fender-bender--nervous, exhausted, and snappish. The interesting studies will come when people look at something like Everquest, and the players who go into the game for social contact via the out of character side talks and the folks who enter the Everquest space, but don't engage in the main acquisitive activities. Oh, and my kid has learned to get "things" in the game, and sell them for real money to other players...there is a study for some curious social anthropologist and an economist.

mediabistro: Bulletin BoardNo jobs at the major papers

Wrapping up Find The Web Editor's Name And E-Mail Address Week | Holovaty.comA cautionary tale regarding those online newsites and other sites.

Vin Crosbie on "Bloggers blog blogging business conference"And what am I doing, but blogging about an item in a blog that was about blogging. Slog through and you will find some interesting reading in MediaDiet, where we come upon the new term "conflblogging" which is typing what you hear at conference really fast so it is like a transcript, and the suggestion that conferences have court reporters transcribe the proceedings, and charge for them. Whatever blogging is, it is in the mix for tools reporters need to use and follow... Add this item future newsies The decline of print newspapers worldwide to your deliberations about the future of news. Note the quote "...websites are becoming profitable businesses for newspapers..."

t r u t h o u t - Bill Moyers | A Call to Arms Someday, if you are lucky, talented and work your butt off, you might be able to write a bit like this. Here is a call to defend the "commons" and democracy against the slimy oligarchs and the delusional post-modern Straussians in power today and the mean spirited like Karl Rove.

Hard Times: Journalism's Credibility ProblemJimmy Breslin weighs in on journalistic standards and ethics issues.

What the left can learn from Bush It is time to pull together. Anyone in higher education can feel the chill and would be well-advised to consider the metaphorical quilt proposed by Jesse. After we ge the country back on track, then we can argue the fine points of our particular polemics.

Unbrand AmericaCheck this subversive idea. The meme of the black spot. Unbrand America. I downloaded my decals, how about you?

Wired News: Fotolog: Where Art Meets T&ABack to more typical interests. Here is a discussion about Fotolog and the battle between photographers and pornographers for eyeballs and attention.

Poynter Online - E-Media TidbitsWell, another great interest of mine emerges. Not Wifi, not the Army's use of computer gaming, not the FCC and regulation and this time, forget Jayson Blair. Here is the latest on Lance Armstrong and this year's Tour de France. Now if I can just find a nice bar or cafe where they link up with the cable TV that covers Le Tour....

Poynter Online - The Design Desk A good story is always visual as well as a print entity or a broadcast package. Here is a brief discussion that makes it clear what "cross-training" means for anyone who wants to work in journalism.

Focus on media content as well as consolidation Laura Washington's point is well-taken. Perhaps regulation on who owns what is far less important than restoring some of the requirements that the outlets provide community access and public service programming.

Reuters News Article Wireless as a communal resource in, of all places, New York City. Will the big corporations try and quash this phenom as they are doing with file sharing?

The news is out thereJournalists talk out on the Blair Witch Hunt...

OJR article: FCC Rule Change Could Be a Boon for Online MediaThe take on the FCC rule changes from the online perspective.

THE "DISGRACED" JOURNALIST'S CLUB.This is a different take on l'affaire Blair and the whole plagiarism/fabrication/non-attribution theme. The e-zine, Black Table, is new, too.

From Some Boardrooms, Nostalgia for RegulationTed Turner and other media moguls speak out against FCC deregulation. You may have to register, as this is from the NY Times.

Poynter Online - Convergence ChaserHow to follow the FCC hearings today, live.