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April 26 2012
Telling wannabe journos “Don’t work for free” doesn’t help
“Don’t work for free,” they were saying at the So You Want To Be A Journalist conference yesterday. “It’s fear, not freedom, that drives creators to succumb,” argued Jonathan Tasini in the Guardian.
The advice is understandable. But it’s also easy to say when you’re not an aspiring journalist competing against hundreds of others for entry level jobs.
The fact is that people do work for free to get a foot in the door, or experience, or both – and that many employers exploit that.
The fact is that this leads to a media industry which does not represent the diversity of its readers, viewers and users.
When opportunities are limited to those who can support themselves for months without a wage in an expensive city, to those who can fund degrees and postgraduate courses to boot, we end up with a journalism which is for the people but not of the people.
But telling people not to work for free won’t change that unless it offers an alternative opportunity.
“The only profession”?
Jonathan Tasini claimed that:
“We are the only profession I know of who work for free. No coal miner, nurse, shipyard worker, accountant, or any other person with bills to pay works for free.”
He’s not looking very far. Musicians work for free. Artists work for free. Designers work for free. Sadly or encouragingly, depending on your point of view, journalism is becoming more like those professions.
They work for free because it makes them better musicians, artists and designers. They work for free because they enjoy getting better at what they do. Sometimes they work for free because it makes the world a better place. Journalists (including many of the investigative journalists on the final panel yesterday who do work on their own time) share all of these motivations. But the key difference is this: when they work for free they typically choose who they work for.
And here’s where I add a big practical “unless” to the “Don’t work for free” argument:
Don’t work for free unless it’s adding to your value in the market
I agree with Tasini that I wouldn’t work for HuffPo for free, because the value to me would be negligible. But that doesn’t mean that all ‘free work’ doesn’t have value.
Aspiring journalists now need to make the same business decisions as publishers do – because we are all publishers now. They need to ask: will investing my resources in this piece of work make me more valuable in my market?
That includes the skills learned, contacts made, and experience gained. But it also includes the effect of working on the market itself: for instance, working for free for a publisher might contribute to depressing wage levels and reduce full time opportunities.
I considered this carefully when designing the work placement element of my MA in Online Journalism, ‘Labs’. This is explicitly not an experience where the student sits at a desk doing someone else’s work (most have already worked as journalists); it is designed as a consultancy relationship with an industry client, focused on an identified industry problem, so that the client benefits from the unique knowledge and experience of the student, and the student benefits from time, space, and access to develop much-needed knowledge.
If addressing that problem increases the client’s future capacity, that will lead to more work. Simply making more content for free wouldn’t help the industry employ more people.
Like so much else in the media industry, the internet has changed the market for internships and work experience, and as a result they should be considered carefully: for the first time, they are not the only options.
If you want to get into a journalism job you can add to your value by being your own publisher, and you can do so without having to spend your own money to work in someone else’s office doing the jobs that no one else wants to do. That is what one group of students did with Wannabehacks (currently on its second round of editors after the first round all landed jobs); that is what Josh Halliday and Dave Lee did before landing jobs straight out of university, at The Guardian and BBC.
When magazine publishers like Future and Reed Business Information are hiring from – and acquiring – specialist blogs and online communities, the canny move is not to spend your own money on months of fetching coffee, but on becoming your ideal employer’s competition.
It’s a big step to take: internships at least provide that tangible hope that you will strike lucky, and the illusion of working as a journalist. Doing it yourself means taking on more responsibility and initiative, and trusting more in your own ability to improve. But those are the qualities employers – or owners – are looking for.
This isn’t a post saying that blogs are going to solve everyone’s problems. Internships will still work for those with the resources and contacts to pursue them. But they shouldn’t be the only route – and encouraging people to think critically about the options open to them is better than shutting them off entirely.
Telling wannabe journos “Don’t work for free” doesn’t help
“Don’t work for free,” they were saying at the So You Want To Be A Journalist conference yesterday. “It’s fear, not freedom, that drives creators to succumb,” argued Jonathan Tasini in the Guardian.
The advice is understandable. But it’s also easy to give when you’re not an aspiring journalist competing against hundreds of others for entry level jobs.
The fact is that people do work for free to get a foot in the door, or experience, or both – and that many employers exploit that.
The fact is that this leads to a media industry which does not represent the diversity of its readers, viewers and users.
When opportunities are limited to those who can support themselves for months without a wage in an expensive city, to those who can fund degrees and postgraduate courses to boot, we end up with a journalism which is for the people but not of the people.
But telling people not to work for free won’t change that unless it offers an alternative opportunity.
Jonathan Tasini claimed that:
“We are the only profession I know of who work for free. No coal miner, nurse, shipyard worker, accountant, or any other person with bills to pay works for free.”
He’s not looking very far. Musicians work for free. Artists work for free. Designers work for free. Sadly or encouragingly, depending on your point of view, journalism is becoming more like those professions.
They work for free because it makes them better musicians, artists and designers. They work for free because they enjoy getting better. Sometimes they work for free because it makes the world a better place. Journalists (including many of the investigative journalists on the final panel yesterday who do work on their own time) share all of these motivations. But the key difference is this: when they work for free they typically choose who they work for.
And here’s where I add a big practical “unless” to the “Don’t work for free” argument:
Don’t work for free unless it’s adding to your value in the market
I agree with Tasini that I wouldn’t work for HuffPo for free, because the value to me would be negligible. But that doesn’t mean that all ‘free work’ doesn’t have value.
Aspiring journalists now need to make the same business decisions as publishers do – because we are all publishers now. They need to ask: will investing my resources in this piece of work make me more valuable in my market?
That includes the skills learned, contacts made, and experience gained. But it also includes the effect of working on the market itself: for instance, working for free for a publisher might contribute to depressing wage levels and reduce full time opportunities.
I considered this carefully when designing the work placement element of my MA in Online Journalism, ‘Labs’. This is explicitly not an experience where the student sits at a desk doing someone else’s work (most have already worked as journalists); it is designed as a consultancy relationship with an industry client, focused on an identified industry problem, so that the client benefits from the unique knowledge and experience of the student, and the student benefits from time, space, and access to develop much-needed knowledge.
If addressing that problem increases the client’s future capacity, that will lead to more work. Simply making more content for free wouldn’t help the industry employ more people.
Like so much else in the media industry, the internet has changed the market for internships and work experience, and as a result they should be considered carefully: for the first time, they are not the only options.
If you want to get into a journalism job you can add to your value by being your own publisher, and you can do so without having to spend your own money to work in someone else’s office doing the jobs that no one else wants to do. That is what one group of students did with Wannabehacks (currently on its second round of editors after the first round all landed jobs); that is what Josh Halliday and Dave Lee did before landing jobs straight out of university, at The Guardian and BBC.
When magazine publishers like Future and Reed Business Information are hiring from – and acquiring – specialist blogs and online communities, the canny move is not to spend your own money on months of fetching coffee, but on becoming your ideal employer’s competition.
It’s a big step to take: internships at least provide that tangible hope that you will strike lucky, and the illusion of working as a journalist. Doing it yourself means taking on more responsibility and initiative, and trusting more in your own ability to improve. But those are the qualities employers – or owners – are looking for.
This isn’t a post saying that blogs are going to solve everyone’s problems. Internships will still work for those with the resources and contacts to pursue them. But they shouldn’t be the only route – and encouraging people to think critically about the options open to them is better than shutting them off entirely.
April 20 2012
BBC regional sites to consider including links to hyperlocal blogs
Image from MHP The Ident Zone - click to see in context
The BBC’s social media lead for the English Regions Robin Morley has invited requests from “reputable hyperlocal websites” who want links to their stories included in the BBC’s regional news websites.
Andy Mabbett writes that:
“Interested hyperlocal bloggers (in England only, for now, as that’s the extent of Robin’s remit) are therefore invited to submit details of their blog, with links to a couple of their recent news stories, including original content (no churnalism, please) in a comment below, for consideration by Robin. I must emphasise that, while he’s kindly agreed to consider including such links, no promises have been made. The emphasis is on news stories, not lobbying or party-political pieces.”
In a follow-up comment Morley added:
“We link to a variety of external sources in various different ways from our local sites – so expanding the pool is definitely something we’re keen to explore.”
The comments on the post are worth reading too. Will Perrin says of a previous meeting with the Controller Regions in Birmingham David Holdsworth that he “was clear that they should have been linking to [the Bourneville Village blog's coverage of the Cadbury takeover], as well as/instead of the Express and Star.”
If you know of a hyperlocal blog which should be getting credit from regional BBC news websites, post in the comments on Andy’s post or email Robin at robin.morley[at]bbc.co.uk
BBC regional sites to consider including links to hyperlocal blogs
Image from MHP The Ident Zone - click to see in context
The BBC’s social media lead for the English Regions Robin Morley has invited requests from “reputable hyperlocal websites” who want links to their stories included in the BBC’s regional news websites.
Andy Mabbett writes that:
“Interested hyperlocal bloggers (in England only, for now, as that’s the extent of Robin’s remit) are therefore invited to submit details of their blog, with links to a couple of their recent news stories, including original content (no churnalism, please) in a comment below, for consideration by Robin. I must emphasise that, while he’s kindly agreed to consider including such links, no promises have been made. The emphasis is on news stories, not lobbying or party-political pieces.”
In a follow-up comment Morley added:
“We link to a variety of external sources in various different ways from our local sites – so expanding the pool is definitely something we’re keen to explore.”
The comments on the post are worth reading too. Will Perrin says of a previous meeting with the Controller Regions in Birmingham David Holdsworth that he “was clear that they should have been linking to [the Bourneville Village blog's coverage of the Cadbury takeover], as well as/instead of the Express and Star.”
If you know of a hyperlocal blog which should be getting credit from regional BBC news websites, post in the comments on Andy’s post or email Robin at robin.morley[at]bbc.co.uk
April 19 2012
NetSquared’s Blogger Manifesto To Drive Social Change
My name is Alicja and I became a blogger for NetSquared around a year ago. One of the reasons for that was that I want(ed) to change the world. The other one was my belief in words. As we are about to publish NetSquared content guidelines, I’d like to tell you why I think that blogging plays important role when it comes to social change.
NetSquared is an online space for people passionate about tech and social change; in other words, a community blog. We use it to share stories, inspire, and talk to each other – for the benefit of all possible readers. While certain amount of blog posts is written by staff, as a general rule we are all about the user generated content. Netsquared Local organizers and readers: this is your blog.
To make writing for our blog easier, we are currently working on a short list of content guidelines. We will publish them in May. For now I’d like to share a few things that I keep in mind while writing.
1) Make sure I have something to say
Write about things no one else wrote about. Shine light on the underrepresented or not widely outspoken.
2) Engage in the already existing conversations
Talk to people who already expressed their opinion on the topic. Curate content you came across elsewhere in an innovative way
3) Be honest
It is not only about the world as it is, but its perception. The perspective that shows through featured stories might be the one of an individual, or organization. Still: I am easier to understand if I have a point of view.
4) Make story impactful
If I want to drive change, I promote a cause. And if I want to make change, I should make it easy for people to help me.
To me writing (for) a blog is not easy. However, If you care, it can prove a powerful tool of change. It makes it social – easily available, and validated by community feedback. A good blog post can inspire, but might as well directly drive actions. What do you think? Let me know in the comments and share your own tips.
March 29 2012
4 hyperlocal things
A new community for hyperlocal bloggers has been launched: Hyperlocal Alliance is “intended for grass-roots hyperlocal site owners, [and] is invite only (at the moment)”.
The Journalism Foundation has published a resource aimed at hyperlocal publishers – How To Build a Local Site (PDF) – including a chapter taken from the Online Journalism Blog (a rather curious choice, but there you go) and a link to Help Me Investigate in the Further Reading section.
NESTA has published Here And Now, its report (PDF) into the UK hyperlocal scene (shown above).
And Birmingham City University (where I run the MA in Online Journalism) are recruiting a Research Assistant for a research project on hyperlocal publishing.
4 hyperlocal things
A new community for hyperlocal bloggers has been launched: Hyperlocal Alliance is “intended for grass-roots hyperlocal site owners, [and] is invite only (at the moment)”.
The Journalism Foundation has published a resource aimed at hyperlocal publishers – How To Build a Local Site (PDF) – including a chapter taken from the Online Journalism Blog (a rather curious choice, but there you go) and a link to Help Me Investigate in the Further Reading section.
NESTA has published Here And Now, its report (PDF) into the UK hyperlocal scene (shown above).
And Birmingham City University (where I run the MA in Online Journalism) are recruiting a Research Assistant for a research project on hyperlocal publishing.
February 28 2012
8 common mistakes when writing for the web – and what to do about them
Image by Anselm23 on Flickr
Here is a checklist covering 8 mistakes made repeatedly by first-time web writers, which I’ve put together for one of my classes. The idea is simple: if you answer ‘No’ to any of these, carry on to the accompanying guidance that follows underneath.
Checklist: are you doing the following?
- Getting straight to the most newsworthy, interesting piece of information in your first par?
- Linking to your source whenever you refer to a piece of information/fact?
- Linking phrases (e.g. “a report”) NOT putting in full URLs (e.g. “http://university.ac.uk/report”?
- Indenting quotes by using the blockquote option?
- Using brief pars – starting a new one for each new point?
- Using a literal headline that makes sense in search results and includes key words that people might be looking for, NOT general or punny headlines
- Splitting up your article with subheadings?
- Ending your post with a call to action and/or indication of what information is missing or what will happen next?
Solving it: 1. The first par
When you write the first draft of an article some people begin with a ‘warming up’ paragraph. Here’s a classic example:
“On Tuesday 14th February 2012, we went to the office of Bob Jones, for a brief discussion with a colleague…”
Ask yourself this: does your first par tell us anything new? Does it grab the reader and promise more? If it does neither then it needs rewriting.
Here are some examples of cutting to the key facts:
“A vice chancellor who sparked a political storm over his views on the social mix of degree students has been appointed England’s new university access tsar.”
Or, when your focus is an interview or guest post:
“Attempts to block the appointment of the new head of Offa, and changes to the tuition-fee regime, make higher education policy resemble an Alice-in-Wonderland world, says Mike Baker”
Or:
“A new London park, 70,000 volunteers, a home crowd spurring on British athletes… Sebastian Coe tells Emma Brockes why the 2012 Olympics are worth the money”
You can even start with the most colourful and attention-grabbing information gained in the interview, like so:
“If in February 1941 the commander of the German battlecruiser Gneisenau had decided to steam off and leave Peter Coe to his fate in an open lifeboat in the North Atlantic, the world might never have taken delivery of his son, Sebastian.”
In short, if your paragraph is warming up, chop it out entirely – and look at each paragraph to see which one is the best to start with. If your article is trying to cover more than one basic angle, consider splitting it into two separate, shorter, posts.
Don’t tell us how you got here
Another common mistake is to tell us about how you got to this point:
“At first I had this idea, and then X happened, and I realised Y, so I decided to write about what I’m about to write.”
Remember the reader doesn’t care how you got to this point – unless it’s a stunning story in itself. So cut to the chase instead:
“Here’s a list of some of the most informative and expert Twitter users in school sports”
Solving it: 2. and 3. Linking to your sources – and linking phrases, not URLs
Any mention of any information that you haven’t gathered in its raw form yourself should include a link to the source. For example:
“According to the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s official website, they define “non-completion” by…”
Should be linked to the source material as follows:
“According to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, they define “non-completion” by…”
Note that I’ve also removed “official website” – for two reasons:
- Never link to a general homepage – always deep-link to the specific page containing the information or report you’re referring to
- The link tells us it’s according to a webpage, you don’t need to repeat that
Here are some more examples:
- “In September 2011 The Telegraph reported that…”
- “John Smith told one blog that he…”
- “While almost half of students don’t know about the policy…”
- “Jane Jones said that”
- “The head of teaching and learning at HEFCE is Heather Fry”
- “Michael Gove voted in favour of”
The more links your work contains, the more value it holds for users – it’s just good online journalism.
Solving it: 4. Formatting text: blockquotes, bullet lists, and subheadings
Online text is easier to read the more that it is broken up. Get to know the formatting panel just above the space where you write your post (shown below).
- Use the quotation marks button to indent quotes.
- Use bullet lists and numbered lists to break up your post when your content suits a list.
- Select text and use the link button (the chain icon) to make it into a link
- Use the ‘Format’ drop-down to create subheadings (Heading 2 is best – Heading 1 is used for the headline already)
- If you’re pasting text from elsewhere (always put it in quotes!) use the ‘eraser’ icon to strip out formatting such as font, size, colour etc. (Or better still, paste it into the HTML view so no formatting is retained)
Solving it: 5. Splitting pars after every point is made
Compare the following:
“Firms and charities are to be invited to bid for a payment-by-results scheme to try to get “Neet” teenagers into work or training, in a project launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The £126m scheme is aimed at 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in education, employment or training. Mr Clegg says it is about “getting them out of the living room, away from the telly and into the world of work”. Labour says it won’t help the majority.”
And this:
“Firms and charities are to be invited to bid for a payment-by-results scheme to try to get “Neet” teenagers into work or training, in a project launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
“The £126m scheme is aimed at 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in education, employment or training.
“Mr Clegg says it is about “getting them out of the living room, away from the telly and into the world of work”.
“Labour says it won’t help the majority.”
That’s from the BBC, an exemplar of good web writing.
Try to keep pars short, and start new ones whenever a new point is being made.
Solving it: 6. and 7. Headlines and subheadings – keep them specific and literal
Imagine what your headline looks like in the middle of a bunch of search results, or on Twitter. Imagine what it looks like to someone who has never read your site before, doesn’t know you, or your culture, jokes and phrases.
Here’s an example of a bad headline:
Useful contacts for everyone
Again, imagine this in search engine results. Twitter contacts in what field? They’re clearly not for “everyone” but something specific – in this case, the Olympics, so this is much better:
20 essential Olympics Twitter contacts
Here’s one that’s even worse:
An Update
This tells us nothing unless we are already following the blog – and even then, it doesn’t tell us whether this is interesting or merely functional. Try this instead:
Update: unemployment up; Grayling’s 3 reasons; we want your questions!
Don’t be afraid of long headlines – look at how the Daily Mail use them (extremely successfully) on their website.
Try and use key words and phrases in your headline so that search engines understand what they’re about. This, for example, is bad:
Match report
This is much better:
Rooney scores 4 in Roma Champions League clash
…Because what will people be searching for? Rooney perhaps; Champions League; Roma. They might even be searching for “hat-trick” or “video”. Think of how people search, and write your headline to answer that (assuming your content does too).
Subheadings
The same rules apply to subheadings. These serve two purposes: to break up your text so people can find their place in them more easily; and to help search engines understand your content.
They should therefore be mini-headlines, with keywords relevant to the pars that follow.
Solving it: 8. Ending your post – online is interactive
One of the key ways in which online journalism differs from print or broadcast is that you are not dealing with an audience: you are dealing with potential collaborators and sources who can improve your journalism with a single comment.
The traditional way of ending articles, then – implying that the story is finished and the reader can move on to what’s on page 5 – does not apply.
Instead you should try to leave room for the user to contribute in some way. Here are some examples:
- “This is the latest in a series of interviews with Olympic sponsors. You can read the rest here, and follow future updates on our Facebook page, Twitter account, and mailing list.”
- “Next week we’ll be interviewing Graham Gordon on his role in the process. If you have any questions you’d like us to ask, please post a comment, or email us at…”
- “Have we missed anything? Please let us know in the comments”
- “What we still don’t know is how much of this money reached the clubs. If you can help us find out, get in touch at…”
- “We’ll be discussing this at our next meetup at … – sign up to attend on our Meetup page.”
- “We’re looking for people to contribute to the blog on this issue. If you’re interested, get in touch at…”
February 20 2012
“All that is required is an issue about which others are passionate and feel unheard”
Here’s a must-read for anyone interested in sports journalism that goes beyond the weekend’s player ratings. As one of the biggest names in European football goes into administration, The Guardian carries a piece by the author of Rangerstaxcase.com, a blogger who “pulled down the facade at Rangers”, including a scathing commentary on the Scottish press’s complicity in the club’s downfall:
“The Triangle of Trade to which I have referred is essentially an arrangement where Rangers FC and their owner provide each journalist who is “inside the tent” with a sufficient supply of transfer “exclusives” and player trivia to ensure that the hack does not have to work hard. Any Scottish journalist wishing to have a long career learns quickly not to bite the hands that feed. The rule that “demographics dictate editorial” applied regardless of original footballing sympathies.
“[...] Super-casino developments worth £700m complete with hover-pitches were still being touted to Rangers fans even after the first news of the tax case broke. Along with “Ronaldo To Sign For Rangers” nonsense, it is little wonder that the majority of the club’s fans were in a state of stupefaction in recent years. They were misled by those who ran their club. They were deceived by a media pack that had to know that the stories it peddled were false.”
Over at Rangerstaxcase.com, the site expands on this in its criticism of STV for uncritical reporting:
“There does not appear to be a point where the media learns its lessons. There is no capacity for improvement. No voice that says: we have been misled by people from this organisation so often in the past that we need to get corroboration before we publish anything more. Alastair Johnston, you will recall, artfully created the impression for Rangers’ supporters and shareholders that the payment of the tax bills that are now crushing their club would be the responsibility of the parent company. His words then were carefully chosen to avoid actually lying, but his intended audience seemed in little doubt at the time as to what they thought he meant. Either Mr. Johnston has been misrepresented by STV or he appears to be trying to gain an advantage in the battle to oust Whyte by misleading Rangers’ supporters.”
The piece also includes some interesting reflections on collaborative journalism and crowdsourcing:
“Rangerstaxcase.com has become a platform for some of the sharpest minds and most accomplished professionals to share information, debate, and form opinions based upon a rational interpretation of the facts rather than PR-firm fabrications. In all of the years when the mainstream media had a monopoly on opinion forming and agenda setting, the more sentient football fan had no outlet for his or her opinions. Blogs and other modern media, like Twitter, have democratised information distribution.
“Rangerstaxcase.com has gone far beyond its half-baked “I know a secret” origins to become a forum for citizen journalism. The power of the crowd‑sourced investigation initiated by anyone who is able to ignite the interest of others is a force that has the potential to move mountains in our society. All that is required is an issue about which others are passionate and feel unheard.”
Rangerstaxcase.com is not unique. Combine the passion of sports supporters with the lack of critical faculty in much sports journalism and you have potentially fertile ground.
For my own club, Bolton Wanderers, for example, I turn to Manny Road (site currently laid low by a malware attack).
For the Olympics there will be a regular and easy supply of good news stories to wade through, but also an extremely active network of local and international blogs from people scrutinising the foggier side of the Olympic spirit, which is why I set up Help Me Investigate the Olympics and am encouraging my students to connect with those communities.
January 19 2012
.@felixsalmon : the greatest triumph of the fact-checking movement will come when it puts itself out of work
Reuters :: Lucas Graves has by far the best and most sophisticated response to NYT ombudsman Arthur Brisbane’s silly question about “truth vigilantes”. Graves makes the important point that Brisbane’s “objective and fair” formulation is itself problematic: as one of Brisbane’s commenters wrote, if a certain politician is objectively less truthful, less forthcoming, and less believable than others, then objectivity demands that reporting on what that politician’s saying be truthful — even if that comes across as unfair.
[Felix Salmon:] ... the greatest triumph of the fact-checking movement will come when it puts itself out of work, because journalists are doing its job for it as a matter of course.
"Will fact-checking go the way of blogs?" - Continue to read Felix Salmon, blogs.reuters.com
January 17 2012
Fair use law & examples for business blogs - a summary
Compendium :: The fair use statute explains that “the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes of such criticism, comment, news, reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research is not an infringement of copyright.” Moreover, the statute provides factors to determine whether the “use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use”.
What is fair use? - Continue to read www.compendium.com
January 11 2012
The New York Times's first blogger Nick Kristof on journalism in a digital world and the age of activism
Fast Company :: Nicholas Kristof has been writing for The New York Times for more than a quarter century and has appeared on that paper's op-ed page since 2001, often penning articles about the struggles of people in distant parts of the world. He has even been dubbed the "moral conscience" of his generation of journalists. Less well known is his role as an innovator in journalism. In 2003, he became the first blogger for The New York Times website. Ever since then, Kristof has been a pioneer among journalists in the digital world. He's active on Twitter and Facebook. In 2012, he even plans to venture into online gaming.
[Nicholas Kristof:] During the Arab Spring I learned all sorts of things from Twitter. I wouldn't necessarily trust that information, but it gave me ideas about questions to ask.
The interview - Continue to read David D. Burstein, www.fastcompany.com
January 10 2012
The problem with defining ‘a journalist’
Cleland Thom writes in Press Gazette today about the list of requirements specified by an Oregon judge before a person could claim protection as a journalist in his court.
- Journalism education.
- Credentials or proof of any affiliation with any recognized news entity.
- Proof of adherence to journalistic standards such as editing, fact-checking, or disclosures of conflicts of interest.
- Keeping notes of conversations and interviews conducted.
- Mutual understanding or agreement of confidentiality between the defendant and his/her sources.
- Creation of an independent product rather than assembling writings and postings of others.
- Contacting “the other side” to get both sides of a story.
This seems a reasonable enough list of criteria – I’m interpreting the phrasing of the judge’s opinion as indicating that any single of these criteria would suit, rather than all 7 (as is the case in the Reynolds defence mentioned by Thom).
But I think there’s a broader problem (unrelated to the specific case in Oregon, which was about a protection from being sued for libel only afforded to journalists) with trying to certify individuals as journalists when more journalism is done collaboratively. If, for example, one person researches the regulations relating to an issue, another FOIs key documents; a third speaks to a victim; a fourth speaks to an expert; a fifth to the person resposible; and a sixth writes it all up into a coherent narrative – which one is the journalist?
January 04 2012
2011: the UK hyper-local year in review
In this guest post, Damian Radcliffe highlights some topline developments in the hyper-local space during 2011. He also asks for your suggestions of great hyper-local content from 2011. His more detailed slides looking at the previous year are cross-posted at the bottom of this article.
2011 was a busy year across the hyper-local sphere, with a flurry of activity online as well as more traditional platforms such as TV, Radio and newspapers.
The Government’s plans for Local TV have been considerably developed, following the Shott Review just over a year ago. We now have a clearer indication of the areas which will be first on the list for these new services and how Ofcom might award these licences. What we don’t know is who will apply for these licences, or what their business models will be. But, this should become clear in the second half of the year.
Whilst the Leveson Inquiry hasn’t directly been looking at local media, it has been a part of the debate. Claire Enders outlined some of the challenges facing the regional and local press in a presentation showing declining revenue, jobs and advertising over the past five years. Her research suggests that the impact of “the move to digital” has been greater at a local level than at the nationals.
Across the board, funding remains a challenge for many. But new models are emerging, with Daily Deals starting to form part of the revenue mix alongside money from foundations and franchising.
And on the content front, we saw Jeremy Hunt cite a number of hyper-local examples at the Oxford Media Convention, as well as record coverage for regional press and many hyper-local outlets as a result of the summer riots.
I’ve included more on all of these stories in my personal retrospective for the past year.
One area where I’d really welcome feedback is examples of hyper-local content you produced – or read – in 2011. I’m conscious that a lot of great material may not necessarily reach a wider audience, so do post your suggestions below and hopefully we can begin to redress that.
Iowa Caucus 2012: Political reporters caught in their own media crush
Huffington Post :: It's unclear how much journalists in Iowa, while constantly churning out their own copy across platforms and commenting on cable news, are consuming it either. Reporters unplugging for just an hour while driving past cornfields will inevitably arrive at the next campaign stop to find a huge new backlog of unread articles, blog posts, round-up emails and -- in the most striking change since 2008 -- hundreds, if not thousands, of reporter tweets from events across the state.
[Michael Calderone:] Four years ago, Twitter wasn't a major factor in Iowa caucus coverage. Now it's ubiquitous, with everyone from cub bloggers to seasoned veterans chiming in with stump speech quotes, camera-phone photos and knee-jerk analysis.
[Alex Castellanos, CNN:] We first thought that maybe this perma-tweet culture would kill content. I think what it's doing is making analysis and thought valuable again.
Continue to read Michael Calderone, www.huffingtonpost.com
January 02 2012
China - First Sina Weibo, now Tencent Weibo to join in real-name requirement for microblogs
The end of anonymity.
Penn Olson :: After the announcement that Beijing authorities had mandated real-name registration for Beijing microblogs, there was some speculation that Guangzhou-based Tencent might receive a flood of users defecting from Beijing-based Sina Weibo, as Beijing municipal regulations apply only to companies based in Beijing and thus didn’t apply to Tencent. Unfortunately for those who prefer anonymity, though, Tencent and six other Guangzhou and Shenzhou-based microblogging services have now also implemented real-name registration systems.
Continue to read C. Custer, www.penn-olson.com
January 01 2012
From Tahrir Square to the scene of John Galliano's racist rants, citizen media enters mainstream
Guardian :: In 2011, cameraphones entered the mainstream of photojournalism due to a combination of the Arab uprisings, the Occupy protests and improved technology. The Guardian, wire agencies and major broadcasters used many more cameraphone and video images. The New York Times said its use has increased a hundredfold. "That's largely because of the Arab spring", said Michele McNally, assistant managing editor for photography at the New York Times.
Citizen media and amateur footage - Continue to read David Batty, www.guardian.co.uk
December 30 2011
Economic blogs have not cheapened but enriched the global conversation
Economist :: In an era when a blog can be set up with a few clicks, not everyone agrees that more voices and more choices improve the quality of debate. Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor, has argued that by allowing people to retreat into “information cocoons” or “echo chambers” in which they hear only views they agree with, the blogosphere fosters polarisation—a fear widely shared by politicians. Forbes once called blogs “the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective”.
Previous publishing revolutions, such as the advent of printing, prompted similar concerns about trivialisation and extremism. But whatever you think about the impact of blogging on political, scientific or religious debate, it is hard to argue that the internet has cheapened the global conversation about economics. On the contrary, it has improved it.
Continue to read www.economist.com
December 21 2011
Blogs, SMS and mobile networks during natural disasters and emergencies
What is and can be the role of mobile networks and the web in times of uncertainty: disaster and emergencies? - This report by GSM Association was already published in 2005 but is still valid in most of its statements and worth to read. It also helps to understand how modern communication technology already has altered communication habits in 2005.
GSMA :: A spate of natural disasters and other emergencies during the past two years has prompted new interest in how technology can help enhance our security. This report assesses the impact that the widespread availability of mobile phones has had on the recovery from specific disasters and atrocities, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the summer floods in central Europe, and terrorist attacks in Istanbul and London.
[GSM Association, Report, p. 10 - disaster: Indian Ocean tsunami, Dec 26, 2004: ] Members of the public in many countries used their blogs to publish and publicise photographs, reports, lists of people and lists of and needed resources, deriving their information from mobile voice and text messages, directly from the many scenes of the disaster. SMS messages were particularly useful as messages can often get through even when the network can not meet demand for voice calls. For example, a Sri Lankan television employee was one of the first following the disaster to send out text messages about the latest news and on-the-ground assessments of what was needed and where. His messages were posted on the weblog Dogs without Borders. Both SMS messages and blogs are an extremely dispersed and informal form of communications, and although vulnerable to confusion and rumour, were clearly accessible and valuable to many of those caught up in the disaster in some way
Download the report (PDF) directly - GSM Association: The Role of Mobiles in Disasters and Emergencies (PDF), Dec. 2005
VIDEO from the Global Investigative Journalism Conference
At the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Kiev earlier this year I interviewed four individuals whose work I admire: Stephen Grey (talking about internet security for journalists), Luuk Sengers and Mark Lee Hunter (on organising your investigation), and Bo Elkjaer (on investigating networks).
I’ve been publishing these videos individually on the Help Me Investigate blog, but thought I would cross-publish them as a group here.
Here’s Mark Lee Hunter with his tips on gathering information before speaking to sources:
Stephen Grey on internet security considerations for journalists:
Luuk Sengers on organising your investigation:
And Bo Elkjaer on how he used computer technology to follow the money through network analysis:
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