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Newsroom (Index)
1. Working Writers, 2. Fast Cash Freelance, 3. Screenwriting News, 4. Writers Write, 5. Writers in the Sky, 6. Study Student News,7. Copyblogger, 8. Photography News, 9. Graphic Design News, 10. E-Media Tidbits, 11. Bloggers Blog,
12. Creative Freelancing, 13. Copyright Law, 14. Book Deals,
15. Book Publishing News,16. Readers Read, 17. Literacy News,
18. Write Better, 19. Horror Fiction News |
 E-Media Tidbits
• Fort Hood Shooting Shows How Twitter, Lists Can be Used for Breaking News
by Craig Kanalley
6 Nov 2009 at 11:22am
  RELATED
 "Covering the Fort Hood Shootings, A Day Later," Al Tompkins Days after Twitter Lists were introduced to the public, the shootings at Fort Hood on Thursday showed the power of this feature to cover a major news event in real-time.
News organizations quickly created a trusted set of Twitter Lists to follow developments out of Texas. Lists from The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times were among the first. Others were not far behind curating their own lists, like CNN, the Dallas Morning News and The Washington Post.
Lists proved a new way to follow breaking news on Twitter, with filtered groupings of local news outlets, military accounts, and local citizens. But perhaps lost in the shuffle was an honorable journalistic effort on Twitter not involving lists at all, though it quickly made its way onto lists -- an account called @FtHoodShootings. The local feed was established by The Austin American-Statesman and chronicled developments of this event in real-time through various sources.
"Single Account" Coverage
The Austin American-Statesman was quick to react to the news as it unfolded about 60 miles nort... ( cont'd )
• New Hampshire Suit Challenges Mortgage Blogger's Use of Anonymous Sources
by Damon Kiesow
5 Nov 2009 at 9:30am
The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that calls into question the legal protections available to independent Web sites that cover news.
The case involves mortgage lender Implode-Explode, a Las Vegas-based site launched in 2007 that publishes stories about the meltdown of the mortgage industry. The court did not make a final decision on the case Wednesday, but one of its options could be to send the case back to the lower court for further review and litigation on specific points of law.
RELATED "Scrappy Mortgage Blogger Fights Bad Court Ruling," Columbia Journalism Review
"The Mortgage Specialists, Inc., v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries," Citizen Media Law Project
The dispute began in November 2008 when The Mortgage Specialists Inc (MSI) won a temporary injunction requesting that a confidential document, "2007 Loan Chart," be removed from Implode-Explode's site, ml-implode.com. MSI also requested the identity of the source and of a commenter, "Brianbattersby," who they allege made defamatory comments about the company and its president.
Implode-Explode removed both the loan chart and the... ( cont'd )
• How The New York Times, Others Are Experimenting with Augmented Reality
by Dorian Benkoil
4 Nov 2009 at 10:15am
Journalists and publishers are exploring ways to use the emerging technology known as Augmented Reality in their work.
Augmented Reality, or AR, is "layering digital information onto the physical world," in the words of New York Times Creative Technologist Michael Young. The most common AR apps today live on "smart" handheld devices like the iPhone or ones using Google's Android platform.
Someone will, say, point their smartphone's camera toward a big office building and see what restaurants and shops are available in the lobby, or point down a street to see what subway stations are available in that direction and how far away they are. The apps rely on the phones' built-in GPS locators and compasses, as well as their ability to layer graphics and text onto what the camera is showing on the devices' screens, while receiving data that changes and updates the graphics.
Young and his team of technologists at the Times have been looking into AR to help with such location-based journalism as restaurant reviews (point your phone at the restaurant and get its details and ratings), real estate (see how many apartments are available and what floor they're on in a g... ( cont'd )
• New Google Analytics Tools Make it Easier for News Orgs to Track Metrics
by Damon Kiesow
2 Nov 2009 at 2:05pm
Just in time for the holidays, Google has announced some potentially valuable new additions to its free Web metrics suite, Google Analytics.
Among the highlights: better metrics from mobile devices, more flexible goal setting and tracking, automated and custom metric alerts and more precise tracking of individual visitor behavior.
The new tools build on what the company describes as its "enterprise-class" features that were first introduced late last year and include: advanced segmentation, custom reports, site search analytics and motion charts.
Google Customer Solutions Engineer, Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, led a Webinar on Oct. 29 explaining the basics of the new tools. The Google Analytics blog, meanwhile, is featuring a series of posts to discuss the features in more depth.
One thing to remember before you log into your Google Analytics (GA) account is that these features will be rolled out gradually over the next month or two. You may or may not find them in your profiles immediately, but Google said it expects the full launch to be completed before the end of 2009.
Engagement goals
Previously, goal tracking was reliant on visits to specific pages on your sit... ( cont'd )
• How Journalists Can Use Twitter Lists to Customize, Discover and Curate
by Craig Kanalley
29 Oct 2009 at 7:07am
Journalists, take note: Twitter is about to introduce a highly anticipated feature that will add a whole new experience to the social networking service. As early as this week, Twitter Lists will be introduced to the general public. They're now available only to a select group of beta users. [UPDATE: TechCrunch reports that a full rollout is underway and all users could have access by Friday.]
HOW TO MAKE TWITTER LISTS
Creating lists is simple.
Start with any user's Twitter page, click the "Lists" button above the timeline and choose "New list."
Give the list a name and decide whether it will be public or private.
A link to the list will appear on the right side of your profile page, under the search bar and above trending topics. It also appears on your public profile page and under your Lists page.
You can add to the list in a few ways. Look for the "Lists" button next to each user on follower/following pages and on users' profile pages.
Like "groups" in other clients, Twitter Lists enable users to follow collections of breaking news feeds, news outlets, specific journalists, niche sources, or any group of related Twitter users --... ( cont'd )
• Online Publishers Should Watch Looming Battle over Online Privacy
by Dorian Benkoil
23 Oct 2009 at 1:43pm
There's a freight train in Congress heading toward the Web that isn't getting a lot of attention in newsrooms, though it could have a huge effect on their ability to support themselves online.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher (a Democrat from Virginia) is proposing legislation that could be introduced in the House next month to protect privacy on the Web. If enacted, the new law could drastically change the way information can be collected through browsers' cookies, and it could have a serious impact on the billions of dollars spent every year on display advertising on the Web. It could even change how we use the Web itself.
"How many consumers want to pay $1,000 a month to have access to the Internet?" Matthew Wise, president and CEO of Q Interactive asked Wednesday during a debate on privacy at The Economist's Media Convergence Forum in New York. "The reason they don't have to is because of advertising."
The crux of Boucher's bill for the advertising industry is a plan to prevent Web sites from sharing information with "unrelated third parties." It is just this type of third-party data collection that allows large-scale ad targeting and accounts for billions of do... ( cont'd )
• Pew Survey on Twitter Users Suggests News Strategies
by Howard Finberg
21 Oct 2009 at 3:20pm
As news organizations develop social media strategies, there's some interesting news from the Pew Internet & American Life Project with the release of a new report on Twitter and similar sites. The report shows a significant increase in status-update services among younger and mobile Internet users. It also provides updated demographic information about who is using Twitter.
PewInternet.org
Three groups lead the growth of Twitter and status updates: younger Internet users, mobile users, and those who are already using social network Web sites. These groups are more likely to share and, since they are mobile, have the means to share. Twitter makes it easier.
About 19 percent of people who are online report using Twitter or a similar service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others. Less than a year ago, in December 2008, 11 percent of Internet users said they used Twitter.
RELATEDTwitter Yields Uneven ROI for News Organizations Using Automation, Curation, Interaction Experimenting with Twitter: How Newsrooms Are Using It to Reach More Users
Building a Twitter Strategy for Your News Organization (NewsU Webinar Replay)
Twitter f... ( cont'd )
• High Cost, Low Quality Plague Newspaper Video Efforts
by Ken Sands
20 Oct 2009 at 8:44pm
Last week's demise of 702.tv in Las Vegas generated a lot of discussion about the quality and cost of newspaper Web site video. The jury's still out, but the verdict is not looking good. "I've never seen a newspaper-produced TV show on the Web that has ever been successful," writes spokesman.com video journalist Colin Mulvany, in an e-mail. "That said, I think the future is in the convergence of the Web and TV. When calling up the RSS video feeds from newspapers to view on a large HDTV becomes mainstream (and it will) then programs like 702.tv will have a better chance at success." In discussions with a handful of video journalists, these themes have emerged: There's a market for good video, especially in big cities, but good video is too labor-intensive to be cost-effective.It's very easy to produce amateurish video, but difficult to sell advertising into it.As a result, video often is the first thing cut from downsizing newsrooms.Large sites like washingtonpost.com are awash in high-dollar, pre-roll ads from companies such as Liberty Mutual, The UPS store, and Northrop Grumman. And the Post has been an industry leader in producing high-quality, Emmy Awar... ( cont'd )
• News Orgs Make Gradual Progress in Site Navigation, Use of Social Networks
by Ken Sands
16 Oct 2009 at 8:30am
Ask any news Web site manager about their site's current design (and state of continual redesign) and the desire to "simplify" is likely high on the wish list. Also near the top: making better use of social networking tools.
Several recently unveiled redesigns show progress in both areas. First, though, a look at two of the more vexing problems.
Even the best designed newspaper Web site home pages suffer from what I call "linkorrhea." With so many newsroom constituencies to serve, designers typically end up linking to several stories from every section of the printed paper, as well as linking to Web-original content such as blogs, slideshows and videos. Add in multiple ad spots and the home page looks more like Times Square than, say, Google, the epitome of simplicity.
"We know search is where it's at both in terms of user experience and search advertising," David Johnson, fellow Tidbitter and professor at American University, wrote in a recent e-mail to E-Media Tidbits contributors. "In our 'front page world' we have a hard time accepting the SERP (search engine results page) is actually the most important page on any site."
Another problem is that new... ( cont'd )
• What Journalists Can Learn from Gawker Network's "Dark Facebook"
by Dorian Benkoil
16 Oct 2009 at 6:41am
Nick Denton on Thursday revealed that his Gawker network of blogs is going to allow people to tag their comments so that related ones can be automatically sorted and appear together.
Let's say you want to say something about Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour. You simply write it, tag it with a little hashtag and her name (#AnnaWintour) and voila, everything you and everyone else writes with that tag goes onto the Anna Wintour page on the site, with all the text and photos the Web site's editors have posted about her, as well.
Denton says he doesn't know what will happen with the new system and that he expects "anarchy." But he did tell Nieman Labs' Zach Seward that he kind of hopes it becomes a dark Facebook, where "your friends and your enemies fight over" what's written your "wall." It presumably would be the same for companies, brand names, and, really, any category of stuff.
But even with the new public tagging, Denton's editors are maintaining some control through the tiered commenting system we wrote about earlier, in which a select few get to decide whose comments are elevated to top status, and therefore viewed by all who come to those pages. Othe... ( cont'd )
• Vegas Newspaper Pulls Plug on 702.tv After Four Months
by Ken Sands
15 Oct 2009 at 6:46am
In late June, Greenspun Interactive, the new media division of the company that publishes the Las Vegas Sun, launched a video Web site named 702.tv after the Las Vegas area code. The project, described as "a Las Vegas-based news and entertainment video Web site and television program," has been canceled after only four months, and a number of staff members either laid off or reassigned. Norm Clarke, a columnist for the competing Las Vegas Review-Journal, first reported that half a dozen videographers were laid off on Tuesday. Clarke gleaned at least some of his information from postings on Facebook and Twitter. Late Wednesday, Greenspun released the following statement by e-mail: "Greenspun Media Group canceled its weekly "702.tv" program on Oct. 13, 2009. This situation is yet another reflection of events taking place nationally in both the media and the economy. We remain committed to long-term objectives." Greenspun Interactive's Rob Curley pulled together an experienced team for 702.tv. One former 702.tv staffer, when reached for comment, would not speak for attribution. (It's common for severance packages to include a confidentiality clause. In oth... ( cont'd )
• The Unheralded, Beneficial Effects of Selling Online Content
by Dorian Benkoil
13 Oct 2009 at 12:01pm
The debate over whether to charge for content is sometimes portrayed as an "either-or" discussion. Either you provide your content for free or you charge for it.
Others talk of a "freemium" model in which 90-95 percent of users consume what you provide without paying for the privilege, but the most avid 5-10 percent pay for a premium level of access or service. But even those discussions leave off some important ways charging for content can affect the bottom line.
It's a given, for example, that any content you charge for will have far fewer page views than if you provide it openly for free and make sure search engines can index it. But on the pages for which you charge for access, you can also charge more for advertising than on the free pages.
Awhile back, I did a calculation that roughly jibed with one by industry analyst Doug Anmuth, then of Lehman Brothers. The calculation figured The Wall Street Journal, were it to go free, would see its ad rates drop 60 percent. By charging, the Journal (and other publications) can say to an advertiser that the audience is committed, consistent and not comprised of fleeting visitors who come to the site just thro... ( cont'd )
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Newsroom (Index)
1. Working Writers, 2. Fast Cash Freelance, 3. Screenwriting News, 4. Writers Write, 5. Writers in the Sky, 6. Study Student News,7. Copyblogger, 8. Photography News, 9. Graphic Design News, 10. E-Media Tidbits, 11. Bloggers Blog,
12. Creative Freelancing, 13. Copyright Law, 14. Book Deals,
15. Book Publishing News,16. Readers Read, 17. Literacy News,
18. Write Better, 19. Horror Fiction News |
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