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Citizen Journalism
Mainstream Media Miss the Point of Participatory Journalism
The ability of anyone to play an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and sharing news and information is seen as one of the big shifts in journalism over the past 10 years. But a growing body of research suggests that the advent of participatory journalism, or user-generated content (UGC), has done little to change the way...
more »AdvertisingShift
Will Digg Users Bury New Digg Ads System?
Since its launch in late 2004, Digg has tried its hand with several outside advertising networks, going from an off-the-shelf Google AdSense arrangement to working with Federated Media before finally signing a deal for Microsoft to deliver its display advertisements. But in April of this year, Digg announced it would end its deal with the software giant in favor of...
more »Legal Drama
Criminal Cases Push Newspapers to Identify Anonymous Commenters
Anonymous comments on newspapers blogs are drawing attention from prosecutors seeking information about criminal matters, once again raising the issue of whether newspaper blog comments are protected under state press shield laws. Last fall, I wrote about two civil cases involving claims of defamation, where two separate courts refused to order newspapers to disclose information that would lead to the...
more »NewspaperShift
Journalists Can Embrace Emotions and Remain Neutral
Very recently I did something weird. Normally, when moderating our online community at Mediafin, I first read the news articles before I read the comments left by community members. Feeling a bit bored, I reversed this. I started by reading the comments and tried to figure out what the articles were about. It was a weird (but rather subversive) sensation...
more »NewspaperShift
Newspaper Cartoonists Engage Audiences (Including Haters) Online
I once worked for a daily newspaper, where there were two things guaranteed to generate letters to the editor: articles about cats and the comics section. Readers didn't have much to say about our coverage of local elections or big trials, but we were sure to receive letters if someone disagreed with the slant of an editorial cartoon or didn't...
more »Philosophy
Farewell to the Tyranny of Reporters
When I give lectures about the future of journalism, recently I have been making reference to the weakening, if not the entire overthrow, of what I term The Dictatorship of the Writer. What I mean is simply that in the pre-Internet past reporters and writers of various sorts would nose about a subject and after a certain amount of research...
more »MagazineShift
Mother Jones Boosts Community in Site Revamp
As digital technology wreaks havoc on the business models of legacy media such as newspapers and magazines, they are now turning more often to the non-profit model. Can they raise donations, micropayments, or get grants? They might want to check out a magazine that's been a pioneer with the non-profit model, and first went online in 1993: Mother Jones. The...
more »Weblogs
Diet Bloggers Deal in Brutal Honesty in Quest for Weight Loss
On February 11, Scott Schroeder fell. He'd eaten at a McDonald's for supper and gorged himself on a Big Mac, fries, regular Coke, and a dollar chicken sandwich. And though he managed to pull out of the trenches the next morning, he fell from grace later that day when he stopped at a Taco Bell and ate two soft tacos,...
more »PoliticalShift
Obama, Congress Enlist 'Direct to Constituent' Communications
Professional communicators are paying close attention to the rise of "direct to consumer" (DTC) communications. This is a phenomenon largely enabled by the rapid proliferation and adoption of online technologies, whereby organizations can communicate directly to the public without filters or mediation from the press. Corporate blogs or advocacy groups' online "action alerts" are just a couple examples. As a...
more »Embedded Report
Wikis Still Slow to Catch on Internally, Externally
Our newsroom at Mediafin is transforming into an integrated multimedia operation. To prepare for this, we recently decided to create two wikis to stimulate talk and facilitate media training programs. At the same time we also created another wiki to encourage discussion amongst our readers. In this very early phase of the experiments, I learned that wikis are still an...
more »Legal Drama
Judges Rule Anonymous Commenters Protected by State Shield Laws
Political campaigns often produce a blizzard of ancillary election-related litigation -- for an example, just look to the 2000 presidential campaign. When the press reports anonymous accusations during an election campaign, sometimes that litigation involves lawsuits by candidates or public officials seeking to learn the identity of those anonymous sources. In many states, newspapers and other media can protect such...
more »Your Take
Where do you get U.S. election news online?
What sites do you follow for US Election coverage?I want to know which sites you trust for news on the US election: blogs, news sites, newspaper sites, aggregators, video sites? Share your thoughts and check out responses at www.pbs.org/mediashift With the U.S. election season hitting its final stages, political junkies are inundated with information online. But where do you go...
more »Digging Deeper
Commenters Mix Conversation, Self-Promoting Links to Defeat Filters
There was a time not too long ago when you could spot spam comments on a blog from a mile away. There were too many links, the comment was off-topic, and they were trying to promote a pyramid scheme website. But as human and automated filters started catching problematic posters, their techniques became more sneaky. Soon, there were comments...
more »Your Take Roundup
Keep Video Ads Brief, Contextual
Online video usage is exploding online, as people watch everything from YouTube to TV shows to sporting events -- but mainly, YouTube. But the question is how sites will be able to pay for all that usage. Most video viewers would prefer not to pay for them, nor watch any advertising either.
more »Your Take
What's the future of wire services in the digital age?
With all the fuss lately around the Associated Press and its legal tussle with Drudge Retort over lifted quotes, there's been a renewed focus on the future of the AP and its role as a newspaper cooperative. The Wall Street Journal noted that newspapers were becoming disgruntled by the high cost of being an AP member and that the AP wasn't providing enough return for that cost. One problem is that AP is putting more efforts into courting digital business and isn't giving enough back to the papers who back it. So more generally, do you think the AP will have role to play in the digital age?
more »Your Take
How do you decide on friend requests?
If you belong to social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter, Flickr, et al, you probably face this question each day: Should I add this person as a friend? Most services will send you an email alert that someone has requested that you become their friend. Now it's up to you to decide to accept or ignore it....
more »Your Take Roundup
Newspapers Should Focus on Local News -- But Not Forget Bigger Picture
Recently, there was a healthy discussion on Poynter's Online-News email list on the topic of the importance of local news. So I decided to put the question to MediaShift readers as well: Should traditional media outlets start focusing more on local news and leave the national and international stories to other outlets? How far should they go? Before I...
more »Your Take
Are Google and online advertising vulnerable to a recession?
As the U.S. moves into a possible economic slowdown, partially caused by the subprime mortgage meltdown, the question is whether the pain will spread to online advertising. Online ads have been booming since the dot-com bust ended around 2003, with 20%+ growth every year. When recession questions arose recently, many analysts believed online advertising would remain "recession-proof" because it's relatively...
more »Your Take
How do you protect your privacy online?
Lately, online privacy has been a hot topic for Internet users. The Federal Trade Commission held hearings about online privacy in relation to behavioral, targeted advertising, and Facebook took a lot of heat for its Beacon platform that broadcast people's off-site purchases to friends without their permission. But many surveys show that people don't care as much about their privacy as the experts do. So I'm wondering: Is online privacy a big issue for you, and if so, how do you keep your information more private online? Do you clear your cookies, the identifying information that gives a trail of your web surfing? Do you use fake user names and personal information when you register at a site? How do you protect your privacy online, and how much do you care about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and I'll run the best ones in a future Your Take Roundup.
more »Your Take Roundup
Facebook Has a Problem with Trust
In the not-too-distant past, I remember fondly getting an email notification from Facebook that one of my friends had sent me a message or "poked" me virtually. I happily clicked over to Facebook to see what someone had said or done, and responded in kind. Now, my reaction to getting the same kinds of notifications has changed, and I...
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