Poynter Online - E-Media TidbitsNow its camera phones, readers or what we call viewer/users, and a new way of producing hard copy for MAGAZINES...what will these people so with technology? Use it to communicate about everything seems to be the response.

t r u t h o u t - White House Insider Cleans Up Bush's Image On Film Strange echoes of "Wag the Dog" but will the young people bother to watch it? They don't bother to vote, though, so I guess it doesn't matter.

t r u t h o u t - US Finds Evidence of WMD At Last - Buried In a Field Near MarylandOops, look who doesn't have documentation about chemical weapons programs....

Wired News: Blogs Opening Iranian Society? My blog is a tool for my teaching, in that it operates like a friendly database, and I enjoy keeping up with threads or memes that will percolate into the mainstream. I never considered how it would be if a blog were my only form of expression. How interesting this idea is for the Iranians, and yet how fragile given that their government can monitor and repress their blogs. Our government can obviously monitor blogs in the USA, but unless it invokes the Patriot Act, it can't censor ours, or arrest us. What kind of free press might emerge in Iran based on this rise of blogs and interactive, one to one communication?

Wired News: Anatomy of FCC Media-Rules Change Get ready for the future...

Wired News: Trailer Parks Convert to Wi-Fi Wi-fi takes to the road. This makes sense because on the roaders need connections so they can get maps, stay in touch, and generally do some business from their mobile homes.

Microdoc News: Dynamics of a Blogosphere StoryI would SO like to be able to do research like this...want your news to be used? Study the "arcs" and development curves of this kind of memic story...

Japan Media Review -- Asahi's Wireless Magic Act Future of news, and its in small downloads to cellphone users, especially sports news, comics, and even ring-tones. Will they want more hardcore news when they get into their 20s and 30s?

CalPundit: Micro Journalism Update This item and suggestion for a model of journalism where reporters put their ideas out on a "story e-Bay" and so the story when enough readers pay makes you think. It is related to what I tagged on Sat. May 17th, about the OhMyNews service that is operating in Korea using the citizen as journalist model. I think we will incorporate this into our Online Publishing and Production class this fall....

Wired 11.06: 'If We Run Out of Batteries, This War is Screwed.' Equiping the army at Office depot and more. It used to be that the "commons" included research for the military. After its use in the service of protecting our armed forces, the technologies developed at public expense, would be leased or sold to private enterprise for development as consumer products. Now it seems the government funds private enterprise indirectly through tax breaks, and when the technology is developed privately, it is sold to the government by the corporations...

Are you getting your students (or yourself) ready for the world of work? Cross training is a buzz word, but what does it mean in practice?

What is Backpack Journalism & Advanced Multimedia Newsgathering ? according to the newsplex team, "The backpack journalist is a cross-media multi-tasker capable of operating a video camera, performing TV standup, telling a print story, writing a broadcast script, creating a Flash animation, compiling a photo gallery, grabbing an audio clip and maintaining top priority as a journalist." Some of the skills needed include: > Video news creation > Digital video camera operation. > A- and B-roll theory and techniques. > Stand-up, video producer and director skills. > Video editing software techniques. > Video telephone operation. > Posting video packages and mpeg4 files online. > Planning and building interactive content such as polls, games, graphics. > Storyboarding, Web shells and contextualization.

Welcome to Newsplex News with views of the future. This is where I am going to take a study break this summer....

Prospecting for Gold Among the Photo Blogs Photos are coming to the SPJ and other blogs...

Wired News: Don't Need No Stinkin' Wires Wireless is now driving home purchases. Also an item on digital cameras in phones, and those seemlingly stupid text messages, which are catching on in the USA at last.

A timely and scary joke:

Attorney General Ashcroft is visiting an elementary school. After the typical civics presentation to the class, he says, "All right, boys and girls, you can all ask me questions now." Young Bobby raises his hand and says, "I have three questions: 1) How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore? 2) Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit Americans' civil liberties? 3) Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama Bin Laden yet?" Just then the recess bell sounds and all the kids run out to the playground. Fifteen minutes later, the kids come back into class and Ashcroft says, "I'm sorry we were interrupted by the bell. Now, you can all ask me questions." Charlene raises her hand and says, "I have five questions: 1) How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore? 2) Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit Americans' civil liberties? 3) Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama Bin Laden yet? 4) Why did the bell go off 20 minutes early? 5) Where's Bobby?"

Knock, Knock -- Yahooligans! ThereThe article is about marketing, but for the kids, Internet is the medium they would choose to have on a desert island. Where do you think they will be getting news from? Let know what you think.

Do readers really care about mistakes in the news? Here are some interesting comments on the topic of whether people notice, care, or try to correct errors of fact in reporting they encounter.

MotherJones.com | News More on embedded reporters and what kind of news we get from embedded vs. free-ranging journalists. Thoughtful words from somebody who was there.

An Auteur Packs His Bags to Venture Onto the WebAt first you will think this is about film. Read more carefully. It is about expression of ideas through interaction and has implications for educators (a game where the players must cooperate and communicate to figure out the results....) and reporters who ultimately want to be connected to their v/users in a viseral way.

You may need to register for the NY Times. Its is free. Dating a Blogger, Reading All About ItWell, you know I have been telling you blogs were a key to communications in the networked world, be it work or play. Now blogs are even getting covered in comic strips. There are tell-all blogs and blog collectives. This form of communication, without editors, or perhaps evolving into an edited form, can't be ignored by writers of any bent.

Wired News: Citizen Reporters Make the NewsOhmygosh, OhmyNews shows one direction news will take because of new communication channels and how being connected in "smart mobs" is going to change the power relationships that have been established between mass media and politicians and citizens. OhmyDemocracy might be in the offing....

"L'affaire Jayson Blair: How the Fourth Estate Really Deals with Ethics" This is a worksheet with questions about the Jayson Blair case. It includes links to allow students to get connected to the facts of the stories, and then goes on the investigate some of the important issues. There is a separate page of organized URLs that students use to answer the questions. I am interested in getting feedback about how to make this a better learning tool. E-me with your comments. Thanks.

Dispatches and War Stories - The Digital JournalistWar coverage, war images, embedded or not. Be sure to check out these war photos and what the photojournalists say about them.

Couldn't avoid posting this interesting finding that blogs are often found by google and get higher ratings than commercial listings in search engines. It seems to be because the bloggers post often and perhaps because they talk about topical issues and thus generate hits, which in turn generates higher search engine placements. Anyway, I'm going to post a link to my "L'affaire Jayson Blair" media ethics learning page and see what happens.

Poynter Online - Care and Handling of the Savage News Consumer Never forget the audience. This is an interesting look at the relationship of press and public from someone on the frontlines.

No comments:

Graham Alleges a 9/11 'Coverup'

"I think the American people should be informed about what kind of capability terrorists have inside the United States. They should be informed about the prospect that foreign governments have been aiding the terrorists in the United States. They should be informed of why we are not using that information to do a more effective job of dealing with terrorists where they live, and when they've been placed in the United States," Graham said. He added that such information remains "currently classified for the American people, unnecessarily so."

Isn't it the Bush ruling elite that believes "the truth will set you free?" Go Graham, go....

Reuters News Article Hot spots for WIFI are spreading globally. Why rely on wires? Let's get connected.

t r u t h o u t - John Rose: The White House LiedWhat if conservative loud mouths like Rush Limbaugh did an analysis and commentary about White House lies to parallel their criticisms of the New York Times, which is at least airing its dirty laundry.

Poynter Online - E-Media TidbitsJournalists, folks in mass media, pay heed to trends. Imagine your news on everyone's "point video" that is so small and flexible, that it can be painted on a soda can....get digital or lose audience share....

Verizon Broadband Anytime - LocationsVerizon does New York City--maps of where hotspots are. You need a Verizon SSID, or so it says. The navigation sidebar has links to descriptions of what WIFI is, and a handy WIFI FAQ. I can hardly wait until I next hit New York to see if I can get connected. Young Journalists, isn't it obvious that if it is New York today, in a few years it will be nationwide? Are you ready to report, write, and file your stories from the field?

I am busy developing an instructional unit around the New York Times' problems with the promising, young, black reporter, Jayson Blair, who turned out to perpetrating media ethics blunders at every turn -- lack of attribution, plagiarism, filing stories with false datelines -- but I think that William Safire's editorial about this issue makes some important points. It will be the most effective way to teach about media ethics and what a journalist must (and mustn't) do. In the meantime, I present this comment from William Safire.

Safire says "As for news coverage being influenced by editorial policy, I evoke the name of my predecessor: that's a Krock. On occasion, a leftist slant on a story slips through the backfield, but with conservatives boring from within and fulminating from without, the news side soon straightens itself out. What is "fit to print" is the truth as straight as we can tell it, which is why Times people are so furious at this galling breach. Now about the supposed cost of diversity: A newspaper is free to come down on the side of giving black journalists a break if its owners and editors so choose. What's more, this media world would also benefit from more Hispanics and Asians coming up faster. To the 375 Times reporters who make up the greatest assemblage of talent and enterprise in the field of gathering and writing the news, I submit this hard line: Self-examination is healthy but self-absorption is not; self-correction is a winner but self-flagellation is a sure loser. Let us slap a metaphoric cold steak over our huge black eye and learn from this dismaying example ? so that other journalists in the nation and around the world can continue to learn from ours. " Read Safire's complete editorial.

The NYTimes picks up on a theme presented in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday-- reporters writing versus reporters talking....

This is from the New York Times (might require registration) and it picks up on the news writer's tension in the world of sports reporting where being on television or the radio is becoming a critical part of the business. A must-read for those interested in sports reporting. Writers See Peril in Live Television

This is a discussion of sports print journalists who go the air (radio or television) and it makes the reasons why we need to redo our concentrations to include what J educators call "cross-training." We can use Internet webcasts to allow our print folks to see themselves on the air, and accompany that with an online publication where bcast students can file print versions of their stories and packages.Chicago Tribune: Word problem: Talking a good game

I have collected some of the coverage of the FCC's impending decision regarding media ownership for my students in the May 11th posting in this blog. Introduction to Mass Media

This is something to think about, even if it refers to the other Columbia...Poynter Online - The Bollinger Thesis

The current blogger has been busy at Columbia College's Art, Media and Human Rights Conference. I will have some updates on Peter Turnley's work and his comments on the "embed/in bed" issue. In the meantime, this is an astounding little quicktime...Honda's New Accord

Alternate publishing schema uses color, shape and "feelings" as descriptors.NPR : Library for Kids Goes Online

Women whose society constrains their expression find an outet in blogging. BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Web gives a voice to Iranian women

Global protest about a blogger from the Middle Each who is being detained in Iran. BBC NEWS | Technology | Bloggers unite to fight

You could write your congressman and ask them to get behind Rep. Waxman's request. Let's get the crooks out of the mix before we build an evil empire instead of a new democratic Iraq. t r u t h o u t - Halliburton’s Work for Terrorist Sponsors Challenged

Peace-keeping while waiting for a visitation from the Angel of Democracy frays the nerves of American soldiers who shot into crowd, killing two. Mirror.co.uk - TWO KILLED IN NEW IRAQ DEMO SHOOTING