#Tip of the day from Journalism.co.uk

‘Twitter mobs’ on the BBC Radio 4 Moral Maze

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting, Press freedom and ethics

Two weeks ago, John Mair raised the issue of mob action on this very blog in the wake of the Jan Moir episode, provoking criticism and further comment. Yesterday, he responded to some of the response, and picked up on subsequent national media analysis on Twitter’s impact on democracy.

Tonight the so-called ‘Twitter mob’ is getting yet more discussion space on the excellent BBC Radio 4 programme, Moral Maze, presented by Michael Buerk, and featuring, among others, Kenan Malik.

BBC Radio 4, 8pm (GMT): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nkcfk

Tags: moral maze, Radio 4, twitter mobs

‘Twenty tweetable truths about magazines’

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Laura Oliver in Magazines

MagCulture has shared the below animation from the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), which has produced a list of twenty ‘tweetable truths’ about magazines.

Agree or disagree?

magCulture.com / editorial design.

Tags: Magazine Publishers of America, MPA, us

The end of Gourmet – a photographic view

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Laura Oliver in Magazines

Last month Conde Nast announced the closure of luxury food magazine Gourmet in a move by the publisher to cut costs, which saw several other titles shuttered.

Marking its closure the title’s former art director Kevin Demaria has published a collection of photographs entitled ‘Last Days of Gourmet’ – an office landscape that meant a great deal more to Demaria, as he explains:

Kevin Demaria's Last Days of Gourmet collection “In shock and disbelief, using garbage pails for long exposures, I took these photos of the last few days at Gourmet. Although at times it was hard for me to shoot the common places in the offices at Gourmet, I knew I needed to document where I loved working for the last eight years. It was a unique opportunity to have worked with such amazingly talented people in such a friendly work environment. Gourmet became my family and I will always look back proud to have been part of such an amazing magazine.”

(Hat tip MagCulture.com)

Tags: Conde Nast, gourmet, Kevin Demaria

Guido Fawkes: Expect more local newspaper attacks on MPs

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Journalism, Newspapers

Guido Fawkes flags up the Luton & Dunstable Express ‘Get Moran Out Now’ campaign in MP Margaret Moran’s Luton South constituency. Expect to see more of this type of campaigning ‘across the land,’ he writes.

“As well as the macro-political environment and the visceral anti-political feeling that covers the land and will be celebrated this Thursday [November 5], the nature of the expenses scandal means that local newspaper journalists will find it easy to attack their sitting MPs.”

Full post at this link…

Also see Telegraph.co.uk…

Tags: Guido Fawkes, luton & dunstable express, margaret moran

OJR: Q&A with ‘personalised’ news service TwitterTim.es

November 4th, 2009 | 1 Comment | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Online Journalism, Social media and blogging

Writing on the Online Journalism Review, Eric Ulken profiles TwitterTim.es, a new service that uses Twitter feeds to created personalised ‘newspapers’.

Maxim Grinev (@maxgrinev) from TwitterTim.es said: “We look at the tweets that your friends send, and also tweets that friends of your friends send. So, first circle and second circle. And then we extract links from those tweets. Usually links are shortened, so we get the long versions. Then we group by links and calculate how many times each link is posted by your friends and friends of friends to built your personalized ‘newspaper’.”

Full post at this link…

Tags: Eric Ulken, maxim grinev, twittertim.es

Observer.com: NYTimes’ interactive team hires first woman

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Editors' pick, Newspapers, Online Journalism

Journalism.co.uk noticed the absence of women in the New York Times’ interactive technology team during a visit to its offices earlier this year.

But now comes news that it has brought a female programmer on board, Jacqui Maher. ‘This is the 10-person team’s first and (so far) only female hire,’ writes Gillian Reagan for the New York Observer.

“Software and web development is a male-dominated field at The Times and everywhere else, editor Aron Pilhofer told The Observer. “It is a serious issue,” he said.

“Mr. Pilhofer sent out a memo about the new arrival. “Brian [Hamman, assistant editor,] and I were looking for someone who is a top-flight programmer; is a stickler for testing, usability and documentation; can think creatively about ways to extend our technology; can train others and act as a sort of ‘evangelist’ to the newsroom; and, of course, brings creativity and new ideas,” he wrote. “It’s a thick job description, and we never thought we’d find one person who embodies those traits – until we met Jacqui.”

Full post at this link…

Tags: Aron Pilhofer, jacqui maher, new york observer

#FollowJourn: @keykate/online communications specialist

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Laura Oliver in Recommended journalists

#FollowJourn: Kate Whiteside

Who? Freelance for behind Key Advice – a digital media training and online content service for client websites, blogs and promotional sites.

What? With a background in online journalism, editing and using social media, Whiteside creates multimedia plans for clients and works as a new media consultant.

Where? Key Advice and on her Key Kate blog.

Contact? All her contact details can be found at this link.

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

Tags: #followjourn, kate whiteside

Non-profit Texas Tribune launches

November 4th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted by Judith Townend in Citizen journalism, Editors' pick, Online Journalism

“[I]f our nerves are shot, we’re excited, elated, enthralled (…) For those of us who willingly quit good jobs with big media companies to join an untried journalism start-up with an untested business model, this site, this thing, is the expression of our ideals, the realization of our dreams, and the validation of our faith,” said the editor-of-chief of the new non-profit Texas Tribune upon launching yesterday:

“What we intend to accomplish with the Trib – what we mean to do on an ongoing basis – is right there in our stated mission: to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government, and other matters of statewide concern,” wrote Evan Smith:

“We’ll do this through our original reporting, published on this site and in the pages of and on the web sites of our syndication partners, and our various on-the-record events, which will always be open to the public: an annual ideas festival, a weekly conversation series, a college tour, and the like. In true twenty-first-century fashion, we’re approaching the task of storytelling across multiple platforms: text, audio, video, blogs, databases, mobile, social.

“We’re treating you, the reader or viewer or listener or user, as if you’re the customer, and we’re busily puzzling through how best to meet your various demands. Our goal is to maximize your ability to personalize your experience; as we move to day five and day ten and day thirty, we’ll be adding new and innovative ways to do just that.”

Full post at this link…

The publication has also produced this YouTube video:

Tags: evan smith, texas tribune