Blogging, its about communication. Poynter Online - An Editor Blogs For Readers

Blogs in Iran pose a threat to the regime. Interesting social networking kind of phenomena. Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

More households have access to Internet than to cable TV. That is a trend suggesting factoid. The writer's suggestion that Internet adopt schemes so it could "talk" to people who aren't right in front of the screen and imitate ever-on TV is interesting. Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Independent reporting outlets. OJR article: Center for Public Integrity Leading the Way for%uFFFDSerious Online Journalism

Blogging entering mainstream consciousness. Dan Farber's ZDnet commentary summarizes the current state of blogging. Blogging is simply self-publishing on the Web with software that dates, organizes, and archives the entries automatically. Throw in the RSS feature, and you are publishing content systematically and as Farber says,

"Combine blogs with social networks and presence services (such as instant messaging and global positioning), and you have a new person-to-person, information-sharing connection fabric."

What's up with blogging, and why should you care? - TechUpdate - ZDNet

Is photoblogging good for photography?

Not a camphone, but a camera that can transmit photos via Wi-Fi. This will be in the journalist backpack for sure.Nikon D2H WiFi Digital Camera : Digital Imaging : MobileMag

It has been a big week for blog and blogging. Here is an article on the design of blogsPoynter Online - The Design Desk and here is Steve Outing's note on reporter's blogs and the reaction to his Editor and Publisher article about the friction between editors and reporters who blog. "Objectivity" and the quality of journalism is always just beneath the surface when reporters write, especially when they write on their own.

The newsroom bosses may be missing the meaning of interactive, and also how connected folks now get their news. When Journalists Blog, Editors Get Nervous

The nature of evidence in a "postmodern" world. What did Bush do during his years in the National Guard? The witness who says Bush was in Alabama, has the date wrong. When does a statement by the President that can't be backed up become a lie?HoustonChronicle.com - Hundreds of files shed light on Bush Guard service

Social networking. This is going to be the interesting story to watch over the next year or so. What jumped out at me was Trippi's indictment of the news media. Right now, the news media tends be techno-lagging. Each presidential campaign does serve to bring new technology and new ways of communicating to the otherwise "late adopter" news corp. What Dean was singled out and taken to task for, his e-networking and virtual community of supporters will be mainstream in 4 years. Then the press corps will attack candidates that aren't using social software and Internet to build constituencies. Wired News: Trippi: Net Politics Here to Stay: " Today's Top 5 Stories"

Broadcasting wirelessly.This isn't widespread now as the writer notes, but the economics and flexibility argue that it will be in the next few years. Are the students getting practice in this kind of reporting? If only we had "backpack tech kits" for our students...sounds like it is time to go for funding. Read the story to see how a wireless card, laptop, and a tech saavy reporter file stories from the field in minutes. TV team files story wirelessly

Webcams as news devices. Webcams are deployed around the world, aimed at subjects from coffee pots to big city streets to locks and dams to porn (look up those links for yourself.) Here is the first that I have seen of a news event, in this case a fire, being captured by webcam and used in the news coverage of the event. The Poynter item has the short lead-in, and the second link shows the image and the story. I have been wondering why it has taken so long for webcam images to be percieved as "information" and not just written off as a silly geeky novelty. Steve Outing's weblog Webcam news photo and story about factory fire.

Vodephone, wrist computers, wearables and the future of News... This stuff is not "in the future" it is out there now and will soon be on everyone's wrist.

Social Networking Software & the News This is a reminder to me to try and get access to social networking software to experiment with in classes and in our department. An outgrowth of my FIPSE work on integrating technology into teaching was an interest in collaborative technologies, which are now called "social networking software." We know that the most effective learning is social, and isn't news a form of learning?

Reuters Takes Outsourcing to a New Level With Journalists Trend spotting Outsourcing data entry is old-hat, but the announcement that the Reuters news service will outsource editing and financial reporting is news. Bangalore, India has educated, English-speaking people who understand journalism, and they work for less than European or United States journalists.

OJR article: Redefining the News Online : "'Instead of being primarily journalist-centered, the news online appears increasingly to be also user-centered,' writes Boczkowski. 'In the online environment, users have a much greater direct effect on the news.'" This man got the support to do the king of project I would like to do. Study not what news pro say, but what is happening in the business. A redefinition of news because of user feedback is not news to anyone paying attention to reading habits and audience trends across mass media, but that doesn't always include news "experts" who get stuck in what they "know" not what the facts are.

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits Here is a follow-up about how the Newsplex experiment went. The teachers critique the student work throughout the day, and one fellow used a blog to talk about what he was getting from his student reporters covering the So. Carolina primary. This must have been an exciting day for all. Note the use of "storybuilder" as one of the new roles in a converged newsroom. The storybuilder is a bit like an editor, but must be able to think across media.

Geekzone, mobile forums Who was the first person to have a wireless phonecam at Newsplex? It was yours truly. I think using my phone to cover our workshop spurred both the College of Mass Comm and Info Studies and Newsplex to incorporate them into the primary coverage, though Newsplex was explaining WAP and wireless news narrowcasts to its members and to us at the workshop. They have a great set up there. I made extensive notes on the Newsplex setup during my visit. In the Archives section for July 10th and back a couple days (remember the blog archives from most recent to earliest) you can read more about Newsplex and its vision for the future.

Hispanic Business:

"La Opinion considered its community-oriented vision 'incompatible' with its former partner's goals: 'We are in deep disagreement with the idea that a newspaper be principally a vehicle for marketing or that we be forced to abandon the principles that are close to our hearts.'"

Trouble in the expanding Spanish language media as the corporate consumer values clash with community-centered values. Will Hispanics be any better able to fight off this homogenizing and dumbing down any more effectively than other demographic groups? The power of money may overcome the power of community.

News For the Next Generation: Imagine: "

“In a culture that values commerce above all other things,” he continued, “the imaginative potential of illustration has become irrelevant . . . . Illustration is now too idiosyncratic.” One might go a step further. Idiosyncrasy takes time to unravel. It takes an act of interpretation. There is danger implicit in interpretation. It gives the audience time to think, time to get upset, and, perhaps, to get offended."

Here is a sort of representation through specific examples of how the corporate mentality that accompanies the conglomeration of media outlets into business oligarchies and monopolies is paralyzing thought and becoming more powerful than the overt censorship of supposedly fascist states.