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Legal Drama
Opinion Roundup::Mixed Views on Apple Vs. Gossip Sites
In the Age of the Blog, the wheels of justice are spinning in the U.S. as courts are trying to rule on the rights of bloggers as journalists. There are more questions than answers in a case such as Apple vs. Does: Are the people who run gossip news sites such as PowerPage.org and Apple Insider journalists or even...
more »Your Take
Are print newspapers going to die?
It's the question that's been on the minds of every newspaper journalist in the past few years, and with each passing month, less people read newspapers in print, and more people read newspaper journalism online. Consultant Vin Crosbie recently predicted that the newspaper industry has five to ten years to undergo radical change or face the chopping block. "What radical...
more »PoliticalShift
Free Hao Wu::Blogosphere Unites to Help Jailed Chinese Filmmaker
It's a strange sensation reading through the personal musings of Hao Wu on his Beijing or Bust blog. There is an entry, Teacher for Life, in which Hao recollects a recent meeting with a former teacher. The entry is dated February 22 -- the same date that the Beijing division of China's State Security Bureau arrested Hao, jailing him...
more »Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper::Singapore Tries to Squelch Political Blogs, Podcasts
While many Americans have been focused lately on online censorship in China, few have noticed a similar practice in other countries such as Singapore. That island state is a parliamentary republic in theory, but has really been run by one dominant party in its history of independence since 1965 (see a Singapore historical timeline here). The mainstream media is...
more »Weblogs
Get a Life::Fighting Blog Obsession
When I first started blogging in January, I had a sneaky suspicion that this blog might become a bit of an obsession. Here's what I wrote then: "But now, finally, in 2006, I am ready to turn my life over to the blog. I hope it doesn't eat my wife and son, chew through my assorted leisure activities, and...
more »Wikis
Email Debate::Wales Discusses Political Bias on Wikipedia
Conservative blogger Robert Cox, who writes the National Debate blog, told me he was amazed at the quality of Wikipedia and thought it was a great resource. But there was something about the free online community-generated encyclopedia that was getting under his skin -- what Cox believed was a liberal bias in many hot-button topic entries, despite Wikipedia's principle...
more »Your Take
Should bloggers and online journalists be able to protect anonymous sources?
A court of appeals in San Jose, Calif., is listening to arguments in a case relating to Apple gossip sites revealing what Apple terms as "trade secrets" about its products before their release. Earlier a judge ruled that Apple could subpoena the sites' inside, anonymous sources on these stories in order to punish people inside Apple who were leaking the...
more »Your Take Roundup
Your Take Roundup::Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia's Trustworthiness
Are you enjoying Wikipedia Week yet at MediaShift? The more time I spend looking at Wikipedia, delving into its arcane rules and hearing from its various supporters and detractors, the more it feels like a religious sect. People have very strong views on the community-generated free online encyclopedia, ranging from calling it a revolution in collective wisdom to a...
more »Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper::MySpace, Wikipedia Cope With Growing Pains
When a TV show or radio program becomes a hit, the producer usually makes more money and everyone benefits. But when an online community becomes hugely popular, complications arise with the influx of a mainstream audience and trouble-makers who have no history with the site. That's because TV and radio are broadcast or one-to-many outlets, while user-generated content sites...
more »Citizen Journalism
Wikipedia Bias::Is There a Neutral View on George W. Bush?
One of the guiding principles for Wikipedia, the free online community-generated encyclopedia, is the "neutral point of view." According to Wikipedia's own explanatory page, "NPOV (Neutral Point Of View) is a fundamental Wikipedia principle which states that all articles must be written from a neutral point of view, representing views fairly and without bias." The problem is how to...
more »AdvertisingShift
Your Take Roundup::Simplicity, Relevancy Rule in Ads You Want
What can the world of technology teach the world of advertising when it comes to keeping people tuned in? A lot more than I would have guessed. Most technically savvy people I know do everything in their power to avoid advertisments. But lately, it's become more difficult to avoid the ads that have a simple message and are very...
more »Your Take
How much do you trust Wikipedia?
My editor recently questioned whether I should source my blog posts with links to Wikipedia, the community-built online encyclopedia. It's a good question, a fair question, and one that many newsrooms are grappling with to some extent. Wikipedia is an amazing resource, with more than 1 million entries in English on an array of topics -- with versions in dozens...
more »Weblogs
Blog Tempest::Strumpette an 'Anonymous Coward' or PR Muckraker?
Everyone who toils in glamorous industries dreams of the day that they'll write a tell-all book or blog on the subject of what really goes on at their workplace. And the example of the Washingtonienne is instructive: Capitol Hill staffer writes about her sexcapades with co-workers on an anonymous blog, gets outed and fired, and writes a novel on...
more »Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper::TV-B-Gone Device Shuts Public TVs Down
The last time I was in an aiport, I was held hostage by the ubiquitous CNN Airport Network monitors that wouldn't shut up. I ranted about the experience, and then I heard from a former CNN guy, William Jeakle, who explained that these TVs made too much money for CNN to shut them off. But thanks to one commenter...
more »Jargon Watch
Jargon Watch::What is Web 2.0, and Should You Care?
From time to time, MediaShift will try to explain the jargon of the digital media revolution, the catch-phrases and buzz words that get bandied about ad infinitum -- yet no one really knows what they are. Use the comments to share your own personal definition of what Web 2.0 is and isn't. Jargon: Web 2.0 (noun or adjective). Definitions:...
more »Your Take Roundup
Two-Tiered Net::People Wary of Government in Net Neutrality Debate
The debate over "Net neutrality" has heated up immensely over the past few weeks. Why the hubbub? Broadband service providers -- mainly telephone and cable companies -- want to charge some heavy-use sites such as Google and Yahoo more money for carriage on their systems, creating a kind of two-tier Internet. The issue has pitted companies such as Amazon,...
more »Your Take
What kind of advertisement would you actually like to see?
There are a lot of ways to get around advertising. You can change the channel or use TiVo or a VCR to skip commercials on TV. You can change the channel on a radio, or listen to podcasts, where you might fast-forward through commercials. You can use a pop-up blocker online. You can ignore outdoor billboards, and airplanes trailing signs...
more »Citizen Journalism
Citizen Media Conundrum::If You See News, Where Do You Report It?
One of the ideas behind citizen journalism is that anybody who witnesses something newsworthy can photograph it, videotape it or write about it for the rest of the world. But one of the conundrums of citizen journalism is where do you do that? You could start a blog or put the information on your existing blog. You could try...
more »Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper::YouTube CEO Hails 'Birth of a New Clip Culture'
There is a simple truth about video-sharing site YouTube, and an enigma. The simple truth is that this web startup has bottled up the viral video idea and made it eminently drinkable by anyone -- you go to the site, find the video clip you want to watch, and, voila! you're watching it in seconds. And if you want...
more »MovieShift
Rethinking Theaters::Explode the Multiplex, and Let the Community In
I probably go to see a movie at a theater about once every other week. But with each passing month, I realize just how stale this experience is. Just how broken it is. And I'm not surprised to see that the overall U.S. movie box office revenue was down 6% in 2005. As I start to gain control of...
more »Tags
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