Missed this great post from Dan Blank last week looking at what impact using Twitter has had on the School Library Journal, published by Reed Business Information (RBI).
Tags: Dan Blank, RBI, School Library Journal, the School Library Journal, Twitter
The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has received a $230,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to investigate why magazine websites are struggling to grow online traffic and audiences.
Tags: CJR, Columbia Journalism Review, MacArthur Foundation, online problem, online traffic, The Columbia Journalism Review, us, USD
Microsoft has created the Publisher Leadership Council – a collection of digital publishers – to help develop its new advertising platform for online.
Tags: advertising platform, digital ad offering, digital publishers, microsoft, Publisher Leadership Council
In an interview with Cindy Royal, associate professor at Texas State University, New York Times’ newsroom interactive technologies editor Aron Pilhofer discusses the Times’ graphics and data teams and being part of, what he describes as, one of the most collaborative newsrooms he’s worked in.
Tags: Aron Pilhofer, associate professor, cindy royal, data, Data journalism, New York Times, newsroom interactive technologies editor, Texas State University, The Times
There are no plans to introduce a pay wall at Times Online – despite recent suggestions by newspaper rivals, paidContent:UK has learned.
Tags: Online There, pay wall, paywalls, Times Online, United Kingdom
The New York Times next API release will be TimesNewswire, which will give developers access to live news headlines, CN reports. The announcement was made at the Times’ first ‘hack day’ last Friday.
Tags: #timesopen, API, data, New York Times, the New York Times, The Times, timesnewswire
This Sunday Times article has sparked a bit of a Twitter reaction in the comments beneath it, a few blog posts (Sarah Hartley, Duncan Riley and Martin Stabe, for example) and also a few raised eyebrows in the Twittersphere.
In his article entitled ‘A Load of Twitter’ the Sunday Times’ Andy Pemberton (don’t think he’s on Twitter) wrote:
“The clinical psychologist Oliver James has his reservations. “Twittering stems from a lack of identity. It’s a constant update of who you are, what you are, where you are. Nobody would Twitter if they had a strong sense of identity.”
The article, if not James’ comments, seems to imply that users of Twitter have less of a ‘sense of identity’ than people who publish via other forms of publication (comment below if you think otherwise).
It seemed only right to ask Oliver James himself about his comments, and he quickly responded by email.
Firstly, James clarified: “I should have thought my contentions are not especially surprising – see the arguments in my books regarding individualism versus collectivism, the rise of insecurity, loneliness etc.”
And is he, then, as someone who publicly publishes his own comments and opinions, any less lacking in identity than a Twitter user?
“I have frequently argued that people seek out fame and might also do newspaper columns out of lack of identity. Suppose I am one of those, does that affect whether I am right about Twittering? Not sure what your point is?”
So, finally, do journalists who publish column pieces or news also lack identity?
“I should have thought the longing for short-term quick-fix connectedness would lead to a plausible hypothesis that a significant number of Twitterers would be more insecure and lacking in identity than the average journalist, who has to wait a week for their column to be published, in the case of columnists, and 24 hours for a news journo – i.e immediacy factor could be significant, though doesn’t mean all Twitterers are identity-less…”
Tags: Andy Pemberton, average journalist, clinical psychologist, Duncan Riley, identity, Martin Stabe, newspaper columnist, Oliver James, Sarah Hartley, Sunday Times, the Sunday Times, Twitter
Not-for-profit news organisation ProPublica is already making the most of new journalist-programmer intern Brian Boyer, who joined the site last month.
Boyer, who graduated from a specialist programming-journalism course at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, has created ChangeTracker – a tool to monitor changes made to WhiteHouse.gov, Recovery.gov and the upcoming FinancialStability.gov websites.
“ChangeTracker lets users see exactly what was removed, edited or updated on those sites by showing side-by-side comparisons of sites before and after changes made to them,” says a release from ProPublica.
What’s more you can get updates of the changes via RSS, Twitter, email or via the ChangeTracker webpage.
“ChangeTracker will help us keep an eye on the administration’s transparency pledges, and will help reporters, bloggers, government watchdogs and everyday citizens keep watch over the websites of their elected officials,” said Scott Klein, director of online development.
In true Boyer style, the programming behind the tool will be open source, much like his News Mixer application, for use by third-parties.
The organisation recently launched Shovelwatch – a site analysing President Obama’s stimulus package.
Tags: Brian Boyer, ChangeTracker, data, Data journalism, director of online development, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, Obama, online development, President, propublica, Scott Klein, Twitter
Courtesy of Justin Williams, assistant editor at the Daily Telegraph, comes this map of independent news websites in the UK:
The featured sites present a snapshot of how the definition of local news and news providers is changing with dedicated ‘news’ sites mapped alongside village information websites and campaign groups.
Justin is still looking for more examples – if you’ve got one/run one, contact him via his blog or on Twitter
Tags: assistant editor, Justin Williams, the Daily Telegraph, Twitter, uk, United Kingdom
Video gaming website NowGamer.com was launched by publisher Imagine Publishing on Friday. The site is the first in a series of ‘supersites’ from the company to go live in the next couple of years, according to a release from the group.
The clean, easy-to-navigate site was created with Bedford-based technology partner, Evolving Media and, unlike most gaming websites, it avoids a typically overcrowded, hectic layout.
The stand-out thing about NowGamer.com though it allows you create your own personal space of sorts:
Users can drag and drop different content widgets around the homepage, ranging from podcasts to previews, and reposition each element according to their interest – or even just delete it if they see fit.
Users can also redefine the content so that it only includes material relevant to the video games platform they use, be it Nintendo Wii or iPhone.
This modern, mature approach is also combined with a wealth of expert knowledge. The people behind the site, from Imagine, have all had a history in the field of video games journalism, working on titles including SegaPro and 360 in the past. The site is also able to make use of Imagine Publishing’s extensive back catalogue which started in 1995.
Although only formed in May 2005, Imagine Publishing is already responsible for 25 websites and 20 magazines.
Tags: Bedford, Damian Butt, Evolving, Facebook, Imagine Publishing, iPhone, Ltd., Nintendo, Nintendo Co., NowGamer, NowGamer.com, online technology, social networking sites
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