Microformats, semantic web, tagging. Microformats could describe online news intelligently | Holovaty.com

Partisan-ization of the press in perspective. Journal Gazette | 03/25/2005 | Beware the siren’s song

Here is an important story. What is the real value in a newspaper today? Philip Meyer says it is its reputation, not its physical assets that count. Is Anschutz creating an empire of reputation in newsprint that will morph into a hot "brand" online? Years ago when I heard Michael Crichton say he paid more per month for information than for food for his family I realized that would be more and more true for everyone. That's what information age is about. It follows that whoever has a reputation or a "brand" that is associated with quality is going to be the money-maker. For my students, success will come to those who can create quality stories without a lot of infrastructure. A unique, reliable P.O.V. should be bankable. Blogging is a good way to gain some of the skills needed by a reporter in the 21st century. The Billionaire Newsboy - Making sense of Philip Anschutz's Examiners. By Jack Shafer

Tools like customized search engines are a good idea. This one searches Creative Commons files. Yahoo! Search

Blogs, blogging and how some politicians are starting to use them beyond the campaign to communicate with constituencies. One might refer to this as unmediating the mediators and who they mediate. Simply put, getting rid of the middleman and going out to the people. Very interesting range of pols who are blogging. From Jerry Brown (noted his blog in my blog months ago) to Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese Prime Minister. More politicians write blogs to bypass mainstream media | csmonitor.com

Covering people who are different than you are is always an interesting experience. This is about the way the Red Lake school shooting has been covered, not covered or mis-covered. It is a good read. The shallowness of a reporter who would use "trail of tears" in the lead is sad but typical of those who are not taught to put things in context, read widely, and think about what you are saying from the perspective of "other." The News from Red Lake

News aggregators and whether what they do is "stealing content" is in the blogosphere news since AFP filed suit against Google. This story from WSJ summarizes the issues, but look at the quote from Mr. Landon of Tribune Interactive. WSJ.com - A Mixed Blessing: "Tribune Interactive's Mr. Landon said he understands why newspaper editors would be frustrated by a site like Topix. 'The whole essence of newspapers is to edit the news, decide what's important and arrange the news in that way,' he said." I think the most profound question facing any news business today is whether the essence of their business is the editing and framing of news. For a newsPAPER, that might be true. For a modern news user, the editing of individual news is important but the gatekeeping isn't. AP gets this, and the British TV station I posted about. People often want stories they can trust when they want them. Did people ever really care about the way stories made their mosaic form or were the necessities of form mistaken for the interest in content?

It's about the user these days. Here a TV broadcaster is selling segments of a program about autos. V/users pay a couple of dollars to download DVD quality snippets of the program. I would do that with Entertainment Tonight shows. Just let me get Antonio Banderas or one of the actors I like. I'd pay a couple of bucks for that. Has MSM considered unbundling their content? Not very seriously. TV station puts downloads up for sale | CNET News.com

P2P gets its day in court, and consumer groups have joined in the discussion. I haven't looked at the 80 page pdf yet, but it sounds like something to put on your watchlist. Consumer groups challenge Hollywood, labels | CNET News.com

Blogs at MSM sites are looking for CMEs, or Citizen Media Editors. Will herding bloggers work any better than herding cats? Probably it will as long as the CMEs don't become "cluetrainless." How to succeed as a citizen media editor: "The CME wants to keep typical spelling and grammar errors out of copy, while also giving citizen reporters the freedom to tell their story and the motivation to continue to do the work for little or no pay."

New. This outfit, Zoominfo.com. wants to corner the search market on people searching, also called "ego surfing." For now, you can "google yourself" and then go to Zoom and find yourself there. When you sign up, for free, though they want your credit card number, they will let you create a profile that will come up on "ego searches" by you or anyone else. I'm not sure if this will become a big thing or not, but it piqued my interest. I was pleased with the results it found for me even without self-tweaking. But then, I have spent time fooling with key words on pages I create. Zoominfo

Geek speak is not one of my favorite forms of communication. As my 19 year old reaches 20, even he is dropping LOL and ROTFLMAO from his lexicons. For those of you like myself, who have to look up what LOL and such techisms mean, here is a link to theFOLDOC - Computing Dictionary Note to Media Bloggers: I didn't join up to get juvenile. Can we dispense with emoticons and geekspeak?

Hyperlocal and community news developments. What about using the cellphone idea to create a news community (see previous post.) Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits

Text to aural shift in our culture becoming evident. Cellphone soaps and horror stories that are a form of community in Japan Wired News: Cell Phones Put to Novel Use and as always, the interesting links to the Electronic Literature Organization and its projects.

Sex and abstinence education isn't working like it is supposed to work. Kids are not getting the message that "sex" means anything "with the word sex in it" and are engaging in risky behaviors without protection. The ones who have taken the abstainer pledges, are getting STDs at the same rate as the non-abstainers. Teens who pledge virginity try risky acts: study

LPFM and the FCC. This is good news for now. Billboard Radio Monitor

Geek talk/tech item. Why did it take me this long to get find out about "mososos?" I guess it was because I was working on a grant to wrap a community news service in social networking features, and wasn't keeping up with my mobile e-lerts. The idea behind the "mososo" or mobile social network was one that I contributed to my team in the ONA Webmasters of the Universe contest, so I had thought about. Actually, I read about last year and how it was being used in Finland. I just didn't know it was called "mososo" I also hadn't imagined it in terms of sex, either, but what the heck, sex is probably a big part of why anyone wants to hook up.Wired News: MoSoSos Not So So-So

Geek talk/tech item. Why did it take me this long to get find out about "mososos?" I guess it was because I was working on a grant to wrap a community news service in social networking features, and wasn't keeping up with my mobile e-lerts. The idea behind the "mososo" or mobile social network was one that I contributed to my team in the ONA Webmasters of the Universe contest, so I had thought about. Actually, I read about last year and how it was being used in Finland. I just didn't know it was called "mososo" I also hadn't imagined it in terms of sex, either, but what the heck, sex is probably a big part of why anyone wants to hook up.Wired News: MoSoSos Not So So-So

Academic timeversus web time is an issue. I have had professionals who wanted to teach or get involved with college activities finally give up in disgust at the medieval pace at which change occurs on campus. Here is an interesting tease about what might happen as profs get more and more connected in the 24/7 world. Chicago Tribune | Academic weekly gets Web-based rival

Fake news and media ethics are news these days. Here is a fairly long but interesting look at the VNR (video news release) and how these are used in today's news rooms. I think the comments on this story are interesting, too. The exploration of VNR's by the Ma href="http://www.rtndf.org/">RTNDA are revealing of how even those who should know better about transparency can be swayed by their own interests. We are all awash in a sea of commercialism and it can seem normal to provide a little spin in everything we do. Poynter Online - Falling for Fake News

Media regulation and the FCC. Chicago Tribune | Bush taps FCC's Martin as chairman

News about news today is from the State of the News Media, 2005report. Before going to the original, you might try reading these analyses by various publications. I use the study in my classes. Its interactive charts and tables are wonderful for teaching about how economic issues can influence content and public attitudes. Editor & Publisher says "New Study Finds Newspapers Slipping" USA TODAY says Non-traditional media gain ground, consumers. where they note that Tom Rosenstiel says the media have to carve out a new role for themselves. Instead of being so-called gatekeepers of information — deciding what the public needs or does not need to know — traditional media may have to evolve into "authenticators, to tell people: 'What here in this increasingly crazy world can I trust?' It's easier said than done." eMediawire headlines Study on News Media Finds Blogs, Other Forms of News Competing with Traditional Journalism Poynter is running a report in its Journalism & Business Values section about the State of the News Media, 2005 survey that is just out on journalism.org.

Blogs, blogging face to face with other bloggers in Nashville sounds like fun. There's information about what they are going to offer, but no registration yet. I better get some fancy pajamas, and maybe new slippers. I plan to go to this interesting event at Belmont University where the dynamic Executive Director of the New Century Journalism program, Sybril Bennett is making things happen.

blognashville

Thanks to Jon Dube for this list of links to public broadcasters who are putting out their shows as podcasts. CyberJournalist.net: Podcasting by public broadcasters

Comics discussed as an important tool in a world that reads with a post-modern sensibility. Fits with Columbia College Chicago's upcoming Fischetti Awards and the idea of recognizing the best of editiorial comics each year. CJR March/April 2005: Essay: "All of this suggests, simply, that comics open possibilities for journalists that are less available in other media. And perhaps more importantly, they add to the options available to readers, who have lately demonstrated a hunger for voice and meaning in news coverage."

Blogs, blogging in the Army can be problematic for writers who are ordered to stop blogging. This piece from ArmyTimes is quite comprehensive and presents lots of information that those of us not in the service might miss. It includes links to several soldier blogs. How can we understand this ware in Iraq? How about giving the issue a bit of time. Contrast what the MSM is saying, what you see on TV and what the news from the front is. That might help you separate the spin from the truth.Army Times - News - This Week's Army Times

Blogs, blogging and the question "who is a journalist?" as answered by Slate's J. Weisberg. I like this response. Journalism as a basic right...Who Is a Journalist? - Anybody who wants to be. By Jacob Weisberg: "must accept that anyone who thinks he's a journalist is a journalist, and figure out how to protect the activity rather than a defined group of people. Properly understood, journalism has never been simply a trade or a profession. In a democracy like ours, it's a basic right."

Blogs, blogging and the question "who is a journalist?" as answered by Slate's J. Weisberg. I like this response. Journalism as a basic right...Who Is a Journalist? - Anybody who wants to be. By Jacob Weisberg: "must accept that anyone who thinks he's a journalist is a journalist, and figure out how to protect the activity rather than a defined group of people. Properly understood, journalism has never been simply a trade or a profession. In a democracy like ours, it's a basic right."

Print Article-American Prospect Online: "But unlike traditional news outlets, right-wing blogs openly shill, fund raise, plot, and organize massive activist campaigns on behalf of partisan institutions and constituencies; they also increasingly provide cover for professional operatives to conduct traditional politics by other means -- including campaigning against the established media. And instead of taking these bloggers for the political activists they are, all too often the established press has accepted their claims of being a new form of journalism. This will have to change -- or it will prove serious journalism’s undoing."

Blogs and the law. I am trying to wait out the swarm in the blogosphere around Apple's suit against a blog. This is a detailed descriptive story that puts the issues at stake in perspective.Legal status of bloggers debated / Journalists' shield claimed in response to Apple's lawsuit

Blog standards are a hot topic in the blogosphere. Jon Dube wrote about how helpful RSS feeds from Yahoo and MSN could be to journalists. He also owned up to working for MSNBC.com in this story onPoynter Online - Build Your Own News Site. Viewer/userRichard Silverstein takes Dube to task despite his disclaimer about working for MSNBC.com, pointing out that "...the features you were touting are easily available to anyone who knows anything about rss feeds & how to use them. You don't really need MyMSN or MyYahoo to get you to the same place." I have met Jon (my disclaimer) and he is a very sincere and nice person it seems, maybe kind of young, but that's not actionable. But I have to say, I had the same reaction to the "recommendation" about the Yahoo and MSN feeds that commentor Silverstein had. "Touting" and "shilling" were words that came to mind. Anybody that is already using a news aggregator can get the feeds directly that do anything that Yahoo or MSN services do, so the column did seem to veer dangerously close to shilling. My students and I will discuss it as an ethical issue case study. It will be interesting to see what members of the bzzz/WOM generation think of it. What do you think?

Blogs, blogging and the journalism gets headlines but I think it is a sloppy argument. A blog is a general kind of noun, like publication, and denotes nothing about its content, describing its method of publication. Blogging is an activity, but why try and make it synonomous with journalism? I stick with the blog as conversation metaphor. A blog or blogger might be journalist or journalism, but it isn't necessary. The attack of the courts on free speech is another matter and I am increasingly struck by parallels between the dreaded Nixon administration's relations with the press, and the current administration's. The urge to substitute P.R. for reporting might be a natural one for autocrats, but it must be seen for the attempt to dominate that it is, and resisted.Are Bloggers Journalists?

WiFi makes communication seamless, but Texas Rep Phil King (R-Weatherford) wants to make free WiFi illegal so that the ether of wireless communication will be a profitable place for private enterprise. And he is not the only shill for industry that is working against the public interest. Read my lips: No free WiFi - Engadget - www.engadget.com

New journalism is "like f#@king in the 70s" and some of us even vaguely recall what fun that was. Here is a how-to video from the Daily Showby "Dino Ironbody" aka Rob Corddroy and Jay Rosen. So learn now how to transform yourself into a New Journalist.

I think this issue might be overblown. There are indications the FEC has tried this before and it can't really regulate blogs. There are questions whether blogs are periodicals, and such. Rebecca Fairley Raney writes

"A couple of stories, notably about the Bush campaign trying to shut down a Web critic under FEC rules, are linked under "Breaking news," and the day-to-day coverage is linked near the bottom of the page, under "Regulating political expression." The FEC has established fairly strong precedents to protect political speech on the Internet. Looking ahead, it appears that the biggest threats to speech could come not from the FEC, but from the political campaigns that want to hustle FEC rules to shut down critics."

Blogs could be muzzled if they address political issues. I haven't had time to check the FEC's own site about this, but it is alarming enough to take some time to read and think about what this kind of FCC regulation would mean to our basic freedom of speech. More later on this topic. Tapscott's Copy Desk: FEC Commissioner Says Court Decision Means Uncle Sam May Have to Regulate Political Speech on the Internet's Blogs

Media ethics and the law in real life, as Frank Rich reminds us that during the last all Republican government, we got Watergate. I am showing "All the President's Men" to my Introduction to Mass Media class, and the echoes of an era where the 4th Estate was slow to pick up on the critical issues are getting louder.

Today you can't tell the phonies without a scorecard. Besides the six "journalists" we know to have been paid by the administration or its backers, bloggers were on the campaign payrolls of both a Republican office-seeker (South Dakota's Senator John Thune) and a Democrat (Howard Dean) during last year's campaign. This week The Los Angeles Times reported that Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration, "taking a cue from President Bush's administration," had distributed fake news videos starring a former TV reporter to extol the governor's slant on a legislative proposal. Back in Washington, the Social Security Administration is refusing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests for information about its use of public relations firms - such as those that funneled taxpayers' money to the likes of Armstrong Williams. Don't expect news organizations dedicated to easy-listening news to get to the bottom of it.

The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: Gonzo Gone, Rather Going, Watergate Still Here Here is a Christian Science Monitor story about the Miller/Plame Case story where the law seems to be going further awry and depriving journalists of more than their 1st Amendment Rights. The "secret evidence" stuff just gives me chills and make me think of Arthur Miller's other important play, The Crucible, and Torquemada.

Blogs and more about blogging. Here is an interview with 5 journalist/bloggers about what they do. Enter.com.co - Internet -> Re-blog-lution

Good examples of combining the web and simple animation to make something complex -- the Federal Budget -- seem comprehensible. And this year, the cartoon includes a version where the v/user --that's you -- can stack up the "cookies" and send your elected representative a copy of your budget priorities. Whatever your political orientation, this is interesting. Link to the explanation: TrueMajority Link to the "build your own" budget application: Budget maker

Blogs and fact-checking suggest some irregular ethics by Hiawatha Bray writing in the Boston Globe. Boston Globe reporter used blogs to attack Kerr ... [Media Matters for America]

Cool is the best description of 10x10. This little app uses the minimalist conceptions of grid art and search algorithms to create "pictures' of the Infosphere every hour. The program identifies words that used most frequently out there (meaning in online news sites) and images that go with them, according to the programmer "10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time." According to Jonathon Harris, the programmer and artist behind 10x10, this view of the news without human intervention in the form of editors "makes on comment on news media bias." But of course, by reflecting back to the v/user the faces and places that are in the news the most at a given moment, the grid often presents juxtapositions that we interpret as ironic or cruel, as when Michael Jackson's face appears as often as the face of the kidnapped French reporter Florence Aubenas. The news the program searches comes from BBC, Reuters, and NY Times news services for 100 words that appear most frequently during that hour. When you click on a small grid image, the image enlarges and shows a list of headlines that contain a word that has been linked to the image. Some of the word-image links are obvious, others are not. Sometimes the word is a vital part of the information conveyed in the story, and other times it might be mentioned only tangentially. While media types argue about whether editors help make sense of the news and whether unedited bloggers can be reporters, this program shows us that the information grid we have created envelopes us, with or without editors. This brings to mind McLuhan's discussion of figure and ground and the environment humans create through technology but often fail to "see" like the goldfish who are last to know they exist in water. Before I talk the thing to death, check it out for yourself. It is open source in some ways, too, because the files it collects are available to researchers or artists to use as they see fit. One last point, is that it surely brings some of the questions of culture and copyright to the fore, because it represents a mining of our collective space which should by rights be ours to critique and use in art and scholarship. But will there be use-related and copyright issues about these slices of our Infosphere time/space? Anyway, its got me thinking. Thanks to Eric Gwinn (Tribune staff reporter) for his story about this in the Chicago Tribune today. 10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time / by Jonathan J. Harris