(iverson's) old currentbuzz

A must-read on net neutrality-- the common carrier theme

PBS | I, Cringely . June 29, 2006 - If we build it they will come: "The effect of this move would be beyond amazing. It would be astounding. No more arguments about Net Neutrality, for one thing, because we'd effectively be extending our ownership and control of the wires all the way to the ISP interconnect. Of course you'd still have to buy Internet service, but at NerdTV rates the amount of bandwidth used by a median U.S. broadband customer would be less than $2.00 per month. Though with that GREAT BIG PIPE most of us would be tempted to use a lot more bandwidth, which is exactly the point. There would be a community-financed Internet revolution and this time, because it would be locally funded and managed, very little money would be stolen. Dark fibers would be lighting up all over America, telco capital costs would plummet, and a truly competitive market for Internet services would emerge. In 2-3 years whatever bandwidth advantage countries like Korea have would be erased and we'd be back on track building even more innovative online industries. "

Internet Calling Pressures Bells to Lower Rates - New York Times

I am biverson at Skype. It works for me. Internet Calling Pressures Bells to Lower Rates - New York Times

COPYCATTY COULTER PILFERS PROSE: PRO By PHILIP RECCHIA - New York Post Online Edition: News

Cheater, cheater. Ann Coulter seems to write from that neo-con nirvana where belief trumps evidence, and where plagiarism is okay if it helps get her point across. Who ever believed she was a journalist was foolish, anyhow. Remember what they said about John Dean of Watergate noteriety? "Don't buy books by crooks." I guess that would apply to word thief Coulter now. COPYCATTY COULTER PILFERS PROSE: PRO By PHILIP RECCHIA - New York Post Online Edition: News

A Blog Mogul Turns Bearish on Blogs - New York Times

Nick Denton, blog publisher of note, discusses the growing competition for eyeballs in blogs as in other media. He opines there is a 1 to 1 ratio of bloggers to readers. He is making money on this blog publishing enterprise, and so are some of his stable of bloggers. A Blog Mogul Turns Bearish on Blogs - New York Times

Empowering readers: where "civic journalism" and "citizen journalism" merge

Amy Gahran writes about citj for Poynter and on her own blog. The question she brings up in this post is why MSM sites don't link to the actual bill and/or relevant passages in proposed legislation, when they do a story about a bill or a issue that involves legislation. She notes

The reason we report on the legislative process is to empower citizens to more easily follow what their government is doing. That makes it easier for citizens to get involved in the legislative process ... In legislative circles, having correct reference numbers goes a long way toward helping you find the right people to deal with and knowing where to get involved in the process. This makes civic involvement more effective, efficient, and rewarding. Little links and citations in news stories can help make all that happen.

As a journalism teacher I am constantly challenged by my students lack of understanding of how to write for an online audience. It seems so obvious to me, that once you put your words online, there is an obligation to the reader to "back up" what you say with links. That is making your work transparent. If I mention a story, a bill, an organization, a person, a concept or jargon word (and this is not an exhaustive list of what items call out for links) I need to link to it for the sake of my own credibility if for no other reason. If I don't do the link, then my reader may try and find the site I refer to, but might get misdirected and that is one kind of easily averted misunderstanding. If I don't link, my viewer/user might question whether I am talking without having done the research or located the site, etc. And if I have written skillfully enough to engage my reader so that they want to act as a result of my writing, I am cheating them by not putting the links into my story. It's obvious, but I think it is one of those things that you need to learn by writing online and reading online frequently. If you aren't engaging in interactive online reading and writing, the links may seem superfluous to you.