Andy Piper: Chasing the Daily Mail for Flickr attribution

Maybe not an unlikely crime, but its one that could be increasingly common as more newspapers turn to Flickr for content.

Andy Piper writes on his blog:

“The Daily Mail posted a story on their website about my friend Andy Stanford-Clark, and used a crop from one of my photos to illustrate it. As it happens, I would have been perfectly happy for them to use it (and even to crop it) if they’d asked for permission. At the time I post this, they are not following the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence…”

“….it’s a national newspaper displaying what would appear to be significant ignorance about the morality of using user-created content.”

Full post at this link…

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TwitterJournalism.com: ‘How to verify a tweet’

“Twitter is the great equalizer,” writes @BreakingTweets founder Craig Kanalley.

“It doesn’t matter if you have 100 followers or 10,000, you can break news. That’s because all tweets are recorded and indexed at search.twitter.com. If someone types the right keyword(s), they can find your tweet.”

How do you know if a tweet is legitimate?

Kanalley gives eight tips at this link…

(via @deejackson)

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Martin Cloake: Further points about anonymity in the wake of NightJack

Pushing the NightJack discussion futher, journalist and writer Martin Cloake raises some tricky questions for online observers – or anyone who enjoys a good ethical debate. In a previous post, Cloake said that he broadly agreed with a comment on FleetStreetBlues -  ‘There is no automatic right of privacy in the street – and neither should there be on the information superhighway.’ Now he elaborates on this, and other points raised by the case: his unease with the Times’s main justification, the problems of the old vs new ‘vendetta’ theory, contradictions in the anonymity debate, why whistleblowers and journalistic sources are another matter entirely, and new boundary issues for the public/private spheres.

Read in full at this link.

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RSF founder leaves Doha Centre for Media Freedom

Disappointing (if somewhat predicted) news from Doha’s Centre for Media Freedom: founder of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and director-general of the centre, Robert Menard, has left with his team (heads of the assistance, research and communications departments), according to a release from the organisation.

“For several months we have made an independent voice heard, one that has exposed violence with concern for nothing but the truth. We have helped more than 250 endangered journalists and media all over the world, and I think we can be proud of that,” said Menard in the statement.

“But some Qatari officials never wanted an independent Centre, free to speak out without concern for politics or diplomacy, free to criticise even Qatar. How can we have any credibility if we keep quiet about problems in the country that is our host? Now the Centre has been suffocated. We no longer have either the freedom or the resources to do our work. This cannot go on. I was willing to make any necessary compromises as long as the foundations of our work – assistance grants, statements of opinion – were safeguarded. But that is no longer the case.”

The Financial Times reported last month on clashes between Menard and Qatari officials.

In his departing statement, Menard criticised the local authorities for hampering the centre’s efforts. He claimed that staff from the centre were being prevented from leaving the country and that payment of the centre’s budget, scheduled for April 1, had been repeatedly delayed.

“Sheikh Hamad refused to sign administrative documents that would have enabled the Centre to take in journalists under threat in their own countries, as originally planned. His office told us recently that giving shelter to journalists from countries such as Iran might go against Qatar’s diplomatic interests. This confirmed that the Centre’s independence was, in his eyes, a myth,” said Menard.

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CNN’s iReport attracts nearly 4,000 submissions on Iranian elections

The role of amateurs, citizen journalists and non-professional media in the coverage of the Iranian elections and subsequent protests has been significant, both in its provision of material and insight to traditional news organisations, who have had their reporting restricted; and in its use of social media tools.

CNN’s citizen journalism site, iReport, has received 3,866 submissions on Iran since coverage of the elections began, with 1,600 from last Saturday and Sunday alone, according to a press release.

Of these, 131 have been used on air or online by CNN, after producers have carried out verification checks.

It is apparent that the reason for this astonishing increase in iReports is because of the strong views felt towards this specific case. Likewise during the election of Barack Obama CNN also saw an increase in iReports.

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Break Media launches MadeMan.com

Break Media has launched MadeMan.com, a new website focusing on sports, gadgets and fashion for men. An email version of the title has also been created with 100,000 subscribers so far.

According to a press release announcing the site’s launch, the website is expected to achieve 1 million ‘readers’ within just 30 days.

The site is hoping to attract advertisers who want to target a focused, male audience – it’s the first property launched by Break, which publishes seven other sites, in this area.

Former staff writer at Spike.com, B.J. Fleming, has been named as managing editor for the site.

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NUJ Release: Trinity Mirror to axe eight Birmingham weekly titles

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has learned of plans to reduce frequency of the Birmingham Post and potentially cut eight weekly titles from the region.

Full release at this link…

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#followjourn: A new service from Journalism.co.uk

Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips every day, we’ll now start recommending journalists to follow online too. They might be from any sector: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to judith or laura at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.

Here’s our first one:

#FollowJourn: Rick Waghorn

Who? New media entrepreneur and football journalist

What? He’s behind MyFootballWriter, the forthcoming My Local Writer and Addiply.

Where? @mrrickwaghorn/OutWithABang

Contact?info [at] myfootballwriter.com

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paidContent.org: Nice try Newport, but charging system won’t work, says Brady

While commending its decision to ‘try something new’, former WashingtonPost.com executive editor Jim Brady says plans by the Newport (R.I.) Daily News to charge more for online-only subscriptions is fundamentally flawed.

The paper will charge $145 for an annual print subscription; $245 for print and web access; and $345 a year for online-only.

“[T]his model reeks of desperation. It’s as if, having used all of its bullets in the battle to preserve print revenue, Newport has now decided to throw its gun at the problem.

“The issue with Newport’s model is fundamental. It posits that, in the battle for the mindshare of future readers, print actually has a chance of winning out. I do not believe it does,” he writes.

Full post at this link…

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MediaPost: Las Vegas newspaper to reveal commenter identities

Background: Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas are seeking the identity of two anonymous commenters on a Las Vegas Review-Journal article about the tax evasion trial of local business owner Robert Kahre.

The prosecutors’ initial request was for the names, IP addresses, email addresses and other personal details of more than 100 commenters on the article.

The paper has agreed to hand over the information in response to the ‘whittled down’ request, but civil liberty groups argue that the prosecutors’ action could ‘chill political dissent’.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that no right-thinking person would read the two comments in question and see them as a threat, ‘particularly considering the context, where hyperbolic political speech is to be expected’.

“They are definitely not unequivocal and unconditional direct threats against anyone. At most, they are exaggerated expressions of the authors’ objections to the case, and are fully protected by the First Amendment,” said EFF attorney Kevin Bankston.

Context, subjectivity, freedom of speech – an interesting case in community management and reader interaction.

Full story at this link…

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