The Blogging Journalist

Will Wire Services' Deals With Google Backfire?

"I understand why the Associated Press and three other wire services negotiated to get money out of Google — money’s money and the wire-service model is challenging when links supersede syndication," writes BuzzMachine editor Jeff Jarvis in a September 1, 2007, post. See "Link v. read."

"But," Jarvis adds, "I wonder whether this could backfire on the newspaper industry. Now — by forcing full wire-service stories to be on display at GoogleNews and with the addition of comments as content there — it’s likely that people will stay longer at Google and link less to news sites."

Jarvis said, "This includes the wire services’ own clients, where readers used to have to go from Google News to read wire stories. So even though it could sound like good news that Google is paying for content, this could reduce traffic to newspapers."

If it does, what will the wire services do then? Just asking.

Technorati tags: Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Canada News, Google News, BuzzMachine, Jeff Jarvis

How Google Plans to Offer 'Many Different Perspectives' on News Stories

Google Product Manager Josh Cohen announced in an August 31, 2007, post at Google News, the official blog from the team at Google News:

Today we’re launching a new feature on Google News that will help you quickly and easily find original stories from news publishers -- including stories from some of the top news agencies in the world, such as the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association and the Canadian Press -- and go directly to the original source to read more.

Our goal has always been to offer users as many different perspectives on a story from as many different sources as possible, which is why we include thousands of sources from around the world in Google News. However, if many of those stories are actually the exact same article, it can end up burying those different perspectives. Enter “duplicate detection.”

Cohen said, "Duplicate detection means we’ll be able to display a better variety of sources with less duplication. Instead of 20 “different” articles (which actually used the exact same content), we'll show the definitive original copy and give credit to the original journalist," he wrote. "(We launched a similar feature in Sort-by-Date and got great feedback about it.) Of course, if you want to see all the duplicates on other publisher Websites with additional analysis and context, they’re only a click away."

Now, why didn't the wire services themselves think of offering this service? Is it because they still think people are incline to buy their content? News content is a commodity in the online world. It's something you have to virtually give away, except in the case of very specialized publications serving a well-heeled niche audiences. The Wall Street Journal online comes to mind. But now that Dow Jones, the company that owns WSJ, will be part of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire even WSJ's news content may be given away to attract more readers for advertisers. 

Technorati tags: Google News, Joshn Cohen, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association, Canadian Press

What Is a Telemag?

Are "the so called 'magazines on line' ...really magazines?" asks Dr. Samir Husni, Chair of the Journalism Department at the University of Mississippi, in a July 4, 2007, post at Samir Husni's Mr. Magazine.com

"Do they meet the real definition of a magazine? Or are they a new medium?" the Professor and Hederman Lecturer of Journalism also asked readers.

Dr. Husni, known in some media and academic circles as "Mr. Magazine"™, added:

The more I watch and read (note the word watch) these magazines on line (Watch Monkey or People test issue of its on line and judge for yourself) the more I feel that I am watching a television program with captions. It is a hybrid between the two media: magazines and television. So why don’t we call a spade a spade. It is a Telemag short and simple.

The often-quoted authority on magazines is "author of the annual Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines, which is now in its 22nd year."

To read more, please see "Telemags should be the name of magazines on line…" It's one long paragraph but it's an interesting perspective.

Technorati tags: Dr. Samir Husni, Mr. Magazine, Telemag, Samir Husni's Guide to New Magazines

Muhammad Saleem: Facebook May Put an End to Twitter

Muhammad Saleem. a student at The University of Chicago, who writes at 901am and NewAssignment.net, contends sin an April 22, 2007, post at Pronet Advertising that, "While it is hard to argue that Twitter is merely a fad and will soon blow over, we are beginning to see signs that opinion-polarizing micro-blogging service's traffic may have peaked."

"As if that news wasn't bad enough," Saleem asserts, "now it appears that the 19 million member strong social networking site Facebook may put an end to Twitter."

I think Robert Scoble over at Scobleizer, a staunch Twitter promoter, might disagree with this assessment. What about it, Robert? Will Facebook demolish twitter?

To read Saleem's entire post, please see "Facebook is Gunning for Twitter."

Technorati tags: Muhammad Saleem, Pronet Advertising, 901am, NewAssignment.net, Twitter, Facebook, Robert Scoble.

Blogging Stocks: 'Is Collaborative Journalism The Future?'

Zac Bissonnette at AOL's Blogging Stocks, notes that, "With Assignment Zero, NewAssignment.net and Wired Magazine are embarking on what they call "An Experiment in Pro-Am Journalism."

"According to the New York Times," Bissonnette writes in a March 25, 2007, post, "The idea is to apply to journalism the same open-source model of Web-enabled collaboration that produced the operating system Linux, the Web browser Mozilla and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia."

He said, "With the site, the lines will be blurred between journalist and audience, as people collaborate to write the news.

To read more, please see "Is collaborative journalism the future?"

Note: Only the Assignment Zero and New York Times links were in the excerpt above.

Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz Looks At 'The New Trend Of Free Magazines'

Paris-based blogger, "Internet entrepreneur, consultant and venture capital professional"  Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz contends in a February 28, 2007 post at Sepulveda.net that it is "amazing what technology is doing for distribution costs."

"New media are being born almost everyday," he noted, "and I can barely count how many new FREE daily newspapers we get in Paris now every day: morning papers, evening papers; sports papers, news papers, financial papers... Of course since they are fully ad-supported it made sense to make them available fully on the net."

To read more, please see "The new trend of free magazines."

Professor Aaron Barlow On 'The Rise Of ePluribus Media'

Aaron Barlow, "assistant professor of English at New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, New York," USA,  has a February 27, 2007, post at newassignment.net headlined "The Rise ePluribus Media -- A Horizontal Network of Journalists. Notes Barlow:

"There’s a certain efficiency in vertical organizations. Decisions can be made quickly. Channels of responsibility can be clearly defined—”the buck stops here.” If you want to get something done, and quickly, a vertical model will generally prove more useful than any other we humans have yet to develop."

Barlow, whose book “Rise of the Blogosphere” will be published in April 2007, adds:

At the other extreme is the completely horizontal organization, with no command structure — all decisions come through the group as a whole. Town-meeting governance, for example, works this way. The most obvious drawback of a horizontal structure is that its very nature can impede resolution.

According to Barlow, ePluribus Media is an example of an organization "that tries to use the horizontal possibilities of the Web to create a different type of news organization."

While Barlow's piece is thought=provoking and worthy of consideration, it's not surprising that he thinks highly of ePluribus Media. If he didn't see it as organization with possibilities I doubt he'd still be on its board of directors. I recommend his article.

Apple's 'Video Profile On The New-Media Work At The Washington Post'

I stopped by Rob Curley.com tonight and learned that "Apple recently did a video profile on the new-media work at The Washington Post."

I saw the video and was impressed. At first, I thought it was an ad for Apple. But as the video progressed, it was definitely about the The Post's new-media work. Come to think of it, it could be both.

Meanwhile, what struck me is how much the setting looked liked a TV production room rather than a traditional newspaper newsroom.

By the way, Rob Curley works at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and is vice president of product development. He's in the video.

CanWest Buys The New Republic

Eat The Press reported February 23, 2007, that "Rumors have been swirling for a while, and now it's official–The New Republic [link added], venerable weekly magazine of the left, has been bought by Canadian media conglomerate CanWest (previously a minority share holder) which will take it bi-weekly starting mid-March."

Eat The Press, a Huffington Post blog, said, " At that time it will become thicker (doubling up its page count) and glossier, with more photos and cartoons."

Editor Franklin Foer [link added] said the magazine's goal is to "transcend ideology...to be the New Yorker of politics and to exude that sense of quality in literary terms, and also in reported terms," according to Eat The Press.

To read more, please see "The Newer Republic: TNR Changes Ownership, Goes Biweekly and Web-Crazy."

John McQuaid Looks At 'The Blurring Lines Between Media And Politics'

"The lines between traditional media, new media, and politics continue to blur. Bloggers are covering the MSM  reporters testifying at the Scooter Libby trial. After the Edwards blogging dispute, bloggers thinking about careers in politics are now scanning their archives, wondering what hidden time bombs they may contain," contends John McQuaid in a February 9, 2007, post at newassignment.net. 

McQuaid added: "We’re on the cusp of something new, especially with a presidential campaign getting underway that will produce unprecedented amounts of online coverage and chatter. With the formerly clear dividing line between “media” and the rest of us rapidly disappearing."

To read more, see his reality-based article headlined "The Blurring Lines Between Media and Politics."

The Changing Media Landscape

Mark Briggs, editor of the The News Tribune newspaper in Tacoma, Washington, USA, has a post at "Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive in the Digital Age" headlined "Food for thought: Thinking about the future."

It's about "The latest issue of Nieman Reports' focus "on the changing media landscape, especially as it relates to news."

By the way, Briggs' "blog is a live draft of a book" he's "writing (with the same name as the blog)."

Corriere della Sera's Interview With Rob Curley

On January 18, 2007, Rob Curley', vice president for production at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, told his readers at robcurley.com:

This morning, I’ve been receiving e-mail from folks in Italy, which I think means that Corriere della Sera has now ran a story about the new-media strategies used by some U.S. newspapers. (At least that’s what I think the story is about. I haven’t seen it, but even if I had, I can’t read Italian.)

Since I did the interview with Alessandra Farkas, a New York-based correspondent for the Italian newspaper, I’ve been told by a couple of my colleagues and friends that Corriere della Sera is a really great European newspaper. In the reporter’s note to me, Farkas said Corriere della Sera is the oldest and most widely read Italian daily newspaper with a circulation throughout the world that exceeds 6 million.

Curley said, "The interview was conducted via e-mail during the recent holiday. The questions were definitely not what I expected, or what I’m typically asked," he wrote.

I've read Curley's version of the interview. If the Corriere della Sera piece reflects what he told Farkas, the paper's readers and editors will see a starting point for revolutionizing any newspaper.

To read the entire interview, please see "Interview with Italian newspaper posted January 18, 2007 at robcurley.com

By the way, Corriere della Sera,  means "Evening Courier," according to Wikipedia. It was founded March 5, 1876, in Milan, Italy.

Technorati tags: Rob Curley, robcurley.com, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, Corriere della Sera, Alessandra Farkas

Introducing 'The Innovation in College Media' Blog

Innovation in College Media is a must-read for anyone involved in college media. I'm not in college media but consider it a personal must-read.

The blog is produced by the Center for Innovation in College Media, "a non-profit think-tank that was created to help college student media adapt and flourish in the new media environment."

WorldNetDaily.com Will Mark Its First Decade in 2007

The proprietors of WorldNetDaily.com, which made its debut May 4, 1997, want you to help them celebrate the publication's 10th anniversary. For details, see "Help us mark WND's 1st decade."

Jarvis: Size Doesn't Matter Anymore In Media

BuzzMachine editor Jeff Jarvis continues his argument that, "No, size does not matter, not in media, not anymore."

"I know that’s counterintuitive and counter everything we’ve assumed about mass media," he contends in a December 27, 2006, post. "But today what matters is reaching the right people by the right means. That has always been the case. Only now, thanks to connected, collaborative media, it’s finally possible."

His argument makes sense to me. To read more, please see "Size doesn’t matter: The distributed media economy."

Representative Jack Kingston: Congress' Pied Piper For New Media'?

"Although U.S. Representative Jack Kingston ( of Georgia) is no longer a member of the House GOP leadership, he's still a Pied Piper of sorts for high-tech communication," Larry Peterson reported December 10, 2006, in the Savannah (Georgia) Morning News.

Peterson said Kingston "has transformed himself into a sort of Pied Piper for new media over the past year or so."

To read how and why, see "Kingston: Let's go blogging now. Everybody's learning how. Come and ride the YouTube with me." As Peterson notes, "Kingston's blog is at http://kingston.house.gov/blog/."

Harris & VandeHei's New Journalism Venture Debuts In January 2007

Former Washington Post  political editor John Harris reveals in a December 6, 2006, Q & A at Jay Rosen's always informative Press Think blog that he and Jim VandeHei, a former post "star" correspondent, "are going to launch late next month"  the new “multi-platform” political news operation" that caused a stir in journalism and the blogosphere when it was announced November 20, 2006.

According to Allbritton Communications, the operation "will combine Allbritton’s new Capitol Hill newspaper, The Capitol Leader, which Harris and VandeHei will lead and the Washington media resources of Allbritton’s ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV, and its 24-hour cable news service, NewsChannel 8, along with national exposure on the CBS Television Network." Harris told Rosen: 

We will come out of the gates with an interesting publication, in print and on-line. I do not believe that we will create something revolutionary on the first day or the first month.

We will, however, put experimenting with different ways of storytelling on the Web at the center of our thinking and daily routines. Jim and I are hardly Web experts, and know enough about what we don’t know that we won’t even try to sound avante-garde. But we will be working with people who know a lot. Over time, these people will help take us into interesting and I hope even uncharted territory.

The interview sheds considerable light on a venture that had some journalist wondering what the hell was going on. Why would established journalists get involved with such a risky venture? some observers wanted to know.

Harris explains it fairly well in "A Collection of Journalists Who Have Distinctive Signatures." That's What John Harris Has in Mind."

By the way, the article has elicited thought-provoking comments from journalists, bloggers and folks just interested in the disruptive transformation of journalism.

Technorati tags: Jay Rosen, PressThink, John Harris, Jim VandeHei, The Washington Post, Allbritton Communications, The Capitol Leader

The Arizona Republic: 'NYC-Phoenix Wage Fight Over 'Village Voice'

The Arizona Republic's Chad Graham notes in a November 12, 2006, article that, "In the year since Phoenix-based New Times Media announced it would merge with Village Voice Media, the fallout from the $400 million deal has been more national soap opera than fairy tale."

"At the storied Village Voice, the editor-in-chief's door has been a revolving door, with "interim" the most common nameplate," Graham wrote, noting that "Longtime, well-respected journalists for the alternative weekly have left the publication, either quitting or being fired.

For years, I read the Village Voice diligently. I was especially fond of the Press Clips column penned by Alexander Cockburn,  Doug Ireland and Sydney Schanberg over the years. The current owners killed it.

I still visit the publication online. However, it doesn't have the personality I had come to love. James Ridgeway, Nat Hentoff, Jack Newfield, and others gave it something you could feel. Maybe the new Voice will find a personality along the way. If it does, I think it will be a longtime before it's evident.

To read more of Graham's interesting and informative post, see  "NYC-Phoenix wage fight over 'Village Voice.'  Reporter  Matt Dempsey contributed to it.

Doc Searls Responds To 'The Stewardship of Journalism’s Future'

Linux Journal Senior Editor Doc Searls has an informative response to BuzzMachine proprietor Jeff Jarvis' November 9, 2006 post headlined The stewardship of journalism’s future. Jarvis laments:

I don’t see enough development going on in new news efforts — enough to save journalism from the sinking news business. And that’s what’s troubling me. The old players are proving to be quite ineffective stewards — we knew that — but there aren’t enough new stewards joining the church.

Searls says, among other things: "Problem is, you can't make a new business out of an old business that's turned into a church. Wall Street isn't up for that, and most of the big papers work for Wall Street. The word "stewardship" alone is a boat anchor on any company's stock price."

To read more, see "Follow the lack of money." Also see "Let's do for news what we did for software." 

Thanks to Jeff for the tip about Searls' response to his post.

Wikipedia Considering Plan To Buy Copyrighted Material

Guilherme Felitti at IDG Now has an October 27, 2006, post at PC World that says "Wikipedia is considering a plan to purchase copyright content and make it available under public domain."

To read more, see "Wikipedia Mulls Copyright Purchase Plan." By the way, I love Wikipedia and use it a lot.

The Society for New Communications Research

Here's the agenda for the Society for New Communications Research's (SNCR) inaugural  "Research Symposium, Awards & 1st Anniversary Celebration. It will be held November 1 - 2, 2006 at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, Mass, according to SNCR.

WSJ Online Profiles A Few 'Moguls of New Media'

John Jurgensen at The Wall Street Journal Online published a great feature today on "Moguls of New Media."

 

"As videos, blogs and Web pages created by amateurs remake the entertainment landscape, unknown directors, writers and producers are being catapulted into positions of enormous influence," he wrote.

 

Thanks to Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine for the tip.

Many Arab-Americans Turn To Alternate Media For Mid-East News

Ruth Morris of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported July 27, 2006 that, "many Arab-Americans who say relying on U.S. media alone would not give them a clear picture of the turmoil" in the Middle East are seeking "balance with al-Jazeera, which plans to launch a worldwide, English-language service later this year."

"Others check the Web sites of Arab newspapers or parallel English-language sites" she wrote in an article headlined "Arab-Americans turn to alternative media."

High Plains Messenger Scales Back Operations

The High Plains Messenger started as "an Internet-only newspaper focusing on Colorado Springs," Colorado.

But "this month," reports R. Scott Rapold in the July 22, 2006 edition of Gazette.com of Colorado Springs, "economic reality caught up with the little Web-based newspaper that could."

Rapold said, "After less than three months in operation, money problems forced the Messenger to halt daily updates July 5. Six of its eight staffers were let go, and it was reborn Wednesday [July 19, 2006]as a scaled-down, nonprofit Web site."

For more, see "Web paper scaling back.

Slate's Jack Shafer Profiles 'Nick Denton, Publicity Cat'

Slate Media Critic Jack Shafer profiles Gawker Media owner Nick Denton in a July 11, 2006 article headlined "Nick Denton, Publicity Cat: How the Gawker Media guy reaps so much media attention."