Survey Says
Help Improve MediaShift with Your Feedback
This is the post where I plead with you, offer you crazy schwag, and hope you will take 5 minutes out of your very busy lives to please fill out first ever MediaShift Reader Survey. I know, every other site on the planet is asking you for feedback too...continued...
Open Source Reporting
Eliminating Physical Media Sprawl of CDs, DVDs, Books
Lately, I have declared my own personal war on clutter in my life. That means all the paper littering my home office had to go. Those outdated hats from Burning Mans past also were out, as were old loose photos of places I don’t remember. But for whatever reason,...continued...
Top 5
Top 5 Week Thirty-Seven
- Verizon TV
Telco hires video journalists to be new-media outlet - Audiobook revival
iPod, download boom pushes publishers to change - .mobi
Thousands snap up new domain, but why bother? - HandsOff43
Pa. blogger finds telco-backed comments proliferate - Folly of John Dvorak
‘Citizen pro baseball’? Tech pundit whiffs badly
Your Take
Has Facebook jumped the shark?
The popular college and high school social networking site Facebook has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The site introduced a controversial “news feeds” feature that allowed people to see what their friends had been doing lately online, leading to thousands of users signing a petition...continued...
Digging Deeper
Your Guide to Citizen Journalism
From time to time, I’ll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and hopefully consider trying it out — even if it’s all new to you. I’ve already...continued...
The Global Language
English Today, Mandarin by 2020?
Because the Internet and computers were home-grown in America, it’s no surprise that the Internet naming convention (.com, .net, .org) and computer keyboards and software interfaces are based on the English language. That has helped to push English into the dominant second language worldwide for people doing business across...continued...
Top 5
Top 5 Week Thirty-Six
- Austin Arensberg
American in Bangkok shoots newsworthy photos after coup - Knight Brothers Challenge
Foundation to give $5 million for local online news projects - Reuters thinks ahead
Helps fund NewAssignment.net and Global Voices - NJ sock puppets?
Kean aide denies anonymous attacks in blog comments - My TV
DVRs, streaming shows let viewers be programmers
NewspaperShift
The Case for Citizen Ownership of the Los Angeles Times
Corporate ownership of daily newspapers is reaching the breaking point, especially now at the Los Angeles Times, which is owned by the Chicago-based Tribune Company media conglomerate. The newspaper is facing the same problem that hundreds of other newspapers are facing: Owners and stockholders who want profit growth each...continued...
Digging Deeper
Can Witness, Global Voices Make Human Rights Video Go Viral?
There is an impulse when we see quirky videos we like on YouTube to email them on to friends or co-workers. When those catchy videos start accumulating viewers, marketers say it’s gone viral through word-of-mouth popularity. So what if you could take videos shot by citizens of human rights...continued...
Your Take Roundup
Your Take Roundup
Award-Worthy Blogs Showcase Evolution of the Medium
Not too long ago, your blog might be judged by your skill with the written word. Are you funny? Do you have a new view on politics that hasn’t been covered by the mainstream media? Are you writing anonymously about a sensitive subject? These were the attributes that helped...continued...
Your Take
How do you protect your privacy online?
Identity theft. Digital stalking. Credit card fraud. Spam overload. These are some of the dangers of living your life in the open online. But perhaps you take some precautions when you give out information online. Do you have a special email address where you sign up for email newsletters so...continued...
Top 5
Top 5 Week Thirty-Five
- Microsoft Zune
iPod-killer due for X-mas; brown is the new black - Facebook about-face
Backs down on stalking feature, but will open network - Human Rights Video Hub
Witness.org, Global Voices team up to stem abuses - Apple’s iTV
Can it bridge PC-to-TV divide in living room? - Times Reader
NY Times’ next-gen effort still Microsoft-only
Digging Deeper
Associated Press, MSNBC Video to Support Macs, Firefox
There is nothing more frustrating for Macintosh users or those who use the Firefox browser than going to a video site and hitting a wall demanding Windows and the Internet Explorer browser. But when the Associated Press’ Online Video Network first launched last spring in conjunction with Microsoft, the...continued...
Lonelygirl15 Outed
Matt Foremski’s Sleuthing Leads to Jessica Rose
Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a winner of the MediaShift Your Blog Here Contest. I was a bit flustered trying to figure out the mystery behind the Lonelygirl15 series of videos on YouTube, so I started a contest to see who could solve this mystery — and...continued...
Online Remembrances
Reliving 9/11 Without Glitz of Big Media
Today is September 11, and the date 9/11 will seemingly forever be linked to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001. I kept hearing on NPR News yesterday that the memorials for 9/11 had already started a day earlier on 9/10. I dreaded this day, especially as a...continued...
Your Blog Here Contest
Help Solve the Lonelygirl15 Mystery
My head is spinning, hurting. I’m not sure which confounds me more — figuring out who YouTube star-of-the-moment Lonelygirl15 really is or figuring out why so many major news organizations have taken the bait and played along. I’m hoping that you, dear MediaShift readers, will take my pain away...continued...
Your Take Roundup
Your Take Roundup
U.S. Government Should be Focus of Investigative Reports
Whether it’s the Iraq War, the events of 9/11 or the Department of Homeland Security, government conduct (or misconduct) is what you’d like to see investigated most. I asked a very open-ended question to you last week, “What investigative report would you like to see done?” Your answers included...continued...
Your Take
What weblog or podcast would you nominate for Best of the Blogs?
Is there a particular weblog or podcast that you love more than anything? Do you think it deserves some international attention? Now’s your chance to nominate that blog — whether it’s yours or someone else’s — for the Best of the Blogs (The BOBs) awards, put on for the third...continued...
Digging Deeper
Journalist Paints Bleak Picture for Media in Zimbabwe
The government shuts down independent newspapers. It jams radio signals from outside the country. Internet access is sporadic. Inflation is out of control. A bill is in Parliament that would allow the government to censor private email communications. Welcome to Zimbabwe, the south African country born out of the...continued...
Top 5
Top 5 Week Thirty-Four
- LonelyGirl15
NY Times, BusinessWeek, LA Times agog over Bree - Internet justice in China
Net vigilantism punishes kitten-killer - Facebook backlash
50,000+ users want stalker feeds removed - iPod over?
Youngsters turn away from pricey, closed format - Google News goes wayback
News archives go back 200 years — not all are happy
