Google News has updated its features to allow searching by an author or journalist’s name. You can also now click through on a report’s byline to see more work by that individual – and then set up an RSS feed for that term.
Tags: author, byline search, google, Google News, journalist
The US’ Federal Trade Commission is extending is monitoring of reviews of products and services to blogs.
New guidelines expected to come into force this summer will expand the body’s remit to bloggers offering false claims or who do not disclose conflicts of interest.
An interesting shift in regulatory thinking:
“As blogging rises in importance and sophistication, it has taken on characteristics of community journalism – but without consensus on the types of ethical practices typically found in traditional media,” reports the AP.
Tags: blogs, competition, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, reviews' The US' Federal Trade Commission, United States, us
Econsultancy’s report highlights some interesting figures from a recent survey sponsored by the TEKGroup, which looked how journalists use social media in the newsroom and for newsgathering.
In 2008, according to the study, 44 per cent of journalists surveyed were using RSS feeds regularly, compared with 37 per cent the previous year. Nineteen per cent or more were reading five or more a day.
“Over 70 per cent of journalists surveyed wanted organizations to provide a page in the online newsroom containing links to every social media environment in which that company participates. Thirty-eight per cent of journalists prefer to receive information via company tweets,” reports Econsultancy.
Tags: online newsroom containing, RSS, social media, social media environment, survey, TEKGroup, Twitter
Following the launch of its news pages for Chicago, the Huffington Post has continued its local expansion with a new site for New York.
The local sites are a combination of curation, blogs and opinion, says Ariana Huffington.
In an interview with All Things Digital, the HuffP also confirms plans to cover Denver with a new vertical:
Tags: Ariana Huffington, Chicago, Denver, Huffington Post, New York, The Huffington Post, us
Ninety-one per cent of journalism students think web-based skills were ‘vital’ or ‘important’ skills for journalism students, according to a recent study on the future of journalism education.
More than half the respondents were in favour of learning coding skills too.
But some of the most interesting ‘data’ from the University of Sunderland’s survey comes in the individual responses from students:
(Interesting to compare some of these student responses, which were gathered by contacting journalism schools and online, with the results of the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ (NCTJ) recent skills survey.)
More responses to the University of Sunderland’s survey, which had 144 responses, can be seen below, courtesy of @joshhalliday’s blog:
Tags: National Council for the Training of Journalists, Newcastle University, print product, Sunderland, University of Sunderland, University of Sunderland's, web-base skills, web-based skills, web-coding
A great post from the Nieman Journalism Lab, offering a US perspective on the Guardian’s feat with expenses data. The title says it all really: ‘Four crowdsourcing lessons from the Guardian’s (spectacular) expenses-scandal experiment’.
Tags: #datajourn, guardian, MPs expenses, nieman journalism lab, The Guardian, United States
Last night Journalism.co.uk picked up its laptop and notepad, and sat on the fence. Sitting in the audience of the Editorial Intelligence/Edelman/Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism ‘Commentariat vs Bloggertariat, Who is winning?’ event typing away definitely had me branded as a ‘blogger’ by some of the established comment writers in the row in front, who seemed to throw a glance every time liveblogging was mentioned.
Blogger/reporter/observer – it was a night of arbitrary definitions – some of which were fortunately challenged by the panel of:
Martin Bright, New Deal of the Mind founder and Spectator blogger
Mick Fealty, political blogger at Slugger O’Toole and the Telegraph’s Brassneck blog
Iain Dale, Iain Dale’s diary
David Aaronovitch, comment writer for The Times
Anne Spackman, comment editor for The Times
‘versus’
Before attending the event I had some reservations about setting up bloggers/blogs vs comment writers/comment – so it was good to see this artificial opposition challenged by both panel and audience.
“They are part of the same thing – it is part of the same continuum. I think it’s an artificial distinction,” said Bright.
But there are new rules and etiquette that blogging, and the technology which powers it, have introduced, which are shaping the future of comment.
“Bloggers have been able to hold traditional commentariat to account. That gets an instant reaction from the commentariat because they’re not used to be held to accountable in this way,” explained Dale.
“When you do comment quickly you do make mistakes and you have to hold your hands up.”
And if the future of journalism and the business of publishing is online, bloggers are the pathfinders, added Fealty:
“We’ve changed the behaviour of a commentariat. It isn’t bloggers that have ripped the revenue out of the big newsgatherers – it’s Google,” he said.
“Online bloggers have started a party that is irresistible to the commentariat. Spreadability is the new currency. To do that you need a personal audience as a blogger.
“They [the commentariat] are better writers, but there are many more of us than there are of them (…) We’re getting stories from the little people, not the big people that the commentariat are. The people we talk to aren’t always the best behaved witnesses.
“We’re not obliged to fit in with someone else’s brand. Bloggers are brand builders, the new brand online (…) is us speaking directly from the gut.”
Anonymity and NightJack
Last night’s event was timely given the debate over the Times decision to out anonymous policeman blogger NightJack – despite a punchy start from Iain Dale, neither Spackman nor Aaronovitch would be drawn on the issue.
However, Spackman did say she agreed with Jeff Jarvis that social media sites were breaking down anonymity.
Aaronovitch went further saying he could see previously ‘anonymous’ political sources in comment writing being unmasked and suggested that this was a necessary development.
Bright agreed and said he hoped this would happen ‘organically’: “It is changing, but at the moment it isn’t changing fast enough.”
For journalists using social and new media sources, transparency is needed, added Aaronovitch: “There are synergies there (…) I use bloggers as sources of information I wouldn’t otherwise get. There’s a form of democratisation there. It’s unreliable democratisation – I don’t really know what I’m getting or who I’m getting it from.”
Twitter challenge and shaping the future
The commentariat has been with us for 25 years, but how the shape of the ‘bloggertariat’ will shift in the same time is almost unpredictable, he added.
“I absolutely love what the new media has created (…) the possibilities it has created for me and everyone else.
“We couldn’t even imagine two years ago that there’d be a form of 140 characters and we had no idea how it would apply itself to situations like Iran.
“‘Commentariat vs bloggertariat’ suggests a settled contention that we know where everybody is and everybody’s going.”
Indeed the rise of Twitter was agreed to be a somewhat unforeseen challenge to the dominance of blogging over traditional comment.
“I’ve yet to read a great classic blog post. I think it’s getting close with Twitter. Every now and then you do read a fantastic tweet,” said Bright.
But, commenting on yesterday’s launch of the UK Investigations Fund, Bright said he was concerned that developments and the future of neither the bloggertariat or commentariat would accommodate investigative journalism.
UPDATE – you can now download Editorial Intelligence’s podcast of the event.
Tags: Anne Spackman, blog, comment editor, comment writer, Commentariat vs Bloggertariat, David Aaronovitch, Editorial intelligence, Editorial Intelligence/Edelman/Reuters Institute, Editorial Intelligence/Edelman/Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, google, Iain Dale, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jeff Jarvis, Journalism.co.uk, Martin Bright, Mick Fealty, New Statesman editor, online bloggers, policeman, reporter /observer, social and new media sources, social media sites, the Telegraph, The Times, Total Politics, Twitter, uk investigations fund
I will now be cross-posting, and/or contributing occasional posts to Global Voices, the US-based founded but global community of more than 200 bloggers ‘who work together to bring you translations and reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media.’ Sponsors of the project can be found at this link.
My first post for the site looks at the implications of the NightJack case (which I’ve previously rounded up here) with links to some of the best UK blog posts on the subject.
“A victory for freedom of expression (The Times’)… or a severe restriction for freedom of expression (anonymous bloggers)? Popular opinion is divided, though a blog search would indicate that blogger opinion veers towards the latter.”
Tags: blog search, blogging, citizen media, global voices, mainstream media, NightJack, The Times, United Kingdom, United States
“Rebekah Wade, the editor of the Sun, is to become chief executive of News International from September.”
MediaGuardian predicted the move in March earlier this year.
Tags: chief executive, editor, News International, Rebekah Wade, The Sun
During the 140 characters conference in New York, @Documentally, aka Christian Payne ‘got to connect’ with some ‘really fascinating people’.
Moeed Ahmed is the Doha-based supervisor of internet media for Al Jazeera. In this interview Ahmed talks mobile reporters, Iran and innovation.
Tags: Al Jazeera, Christian Payne, Documentally, Doha, Doha-based supervisor of internet media, internet media, Islamic Republic of Iran, moeed ahmed, New York
Download our free iPhone app for the latest news, jobs and releases.
