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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.