Who? Marianne Bouchart
Where? Marianne is founder and editor, Data Journalism Blog
Twitter? @Maid_Marianne
Just as we like to supply you with fresh and innovative tips, we are recommending journalists to follow online too. Recommended journalists can be from any sector of the industry: please send suggestions (you can nominate yourself) to rachel at journalism.co.uk; or to @journalismnews.
The Guardian and Independent are two of the first news sites to build a new breed of Facebook apps, which were unveiled at the f8 conference yesterday (Thursday, 22 September).
Here is director of Facebook’s platform partnerships Christian Hernandez explaining how the apps and the new ‘recommend bar’ work.
Facebook’s Christian Hernandez on the launch of the Guardian and Independent Facebook apps by journalismnews
News sites will be watching to see whether the new apps result in a jump in Facebook referrals to the Guardian and the Independent.
Outlets will also be keen to discover whether Facebook users prefer the Independent and Yahoo News approach of the social engagement happening on the news sites, or whether the Guardian, the Washington Post and the Daily have the winning formula, with the experience happening within Facebook.
The Guardian’s theory is that Facebook users like the experience of being on Facebook so rather than direct readers away, they want them to explore the Guardian within the platform.
Head of digital engagement at the Guardian Meg Pickard told Journalism.co.uk:
We wanted to make ourselves more Facebookey. We also know that if people come to the Guardian via Facebook they often bounce back to Facebook see what else a friends are recommending.
She said despite the Guardian’s being an app within Facebook it is incorrect to think most users will access it as they would a smartphone app.
The starting point is your friend’s timeline, not the app.
The single opt-in to the app – where users agree to share everything they are reading – is an interesting development and both the Independent and Guardian have been quick to assure users they have full control.
Pickard said:
You might be happy for friends to see that you’ve read an article on tarte citron but less comfortable with a public note to say you have read an article called “my husband is a cross-dresser”, so you can quickly click the cross to hide that from your friends.
She explained conversations between the Guardian and Facebook took place throughout the summer with the news organisation’s in-house developers building the app, making the most of the open technologies.
We’ve got our open API, Facebook has this open graph.
The Independent has taken a different approach – its app encourages Facebook user engagement on its site rather than within a user’s personal profile on the social network.
Here’s head of audience and content development at the Independent Jack Riley explaining more on the soon-to-be-released app:
Jack Riley from the Independent discusses the newspaper’s new Facebook app by journalismnews
The Newspaper Society issued a reminder this morning that media accreditation has now opened for the Paralympic Games. The first stage of the process, called Press by Number, opened earlier this month and media organisations have until 28 November to complete a document to indicate how many people they would to request accreditation for.
There are more details and documentation at the British Paralympic Association website. Successful media organisations will be contacted early next year to progress their applications to the second stage.
The NS adds that it is currently working with regional and local newspapers and the British Olympic Association (BOA) to put in place a regional press pool for the Olympic Games, which runs a separate accreditation process.
The Olympic Games process has come in for some criticism in recent weeks after it emerged many local London papers have not yet been approved despite certain aspects of the games taking place on their patch.
The NS reports that the minister for sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said he would write to the BOA about the matter after being questioned by MPs, but said it was “massively oversubscribed”.
He added: “There will be a level of public interest that I do not think we have remotely started to get our minds around. Spots will be tight, but I will absolutely do all that I can.
“There is a possible second channel for non-accredited media, and considerable provision is being made for those who cannot get formally accredited. The mayor of London has done an enormous amount to help that take place.”
Under the pooling system titles would be able to share material on the Games.
Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about. It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations. Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources.
Lib Dem Conference, Swansea mine tragedy and UBS ‘rogue trader’
for the week ending Sunday 18 September
Covered lots
Covered little
Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)
Celebrity vs. serious
Arab spring (countries & current leaders)
Who wrote a lot about… Youth Unemployment rising by 78,000
Long form journalism
Journalists who have updated their profile
Read about our campaign for the full exposure of phone hacking and other illegal forms of intrusion at the Hacked Off website
Visit the Media Standards Trust’s Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism
The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk
For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe
The Picture Editors Guild presented its awards last night, with Associated Press photographer Matt Dunham named as photographer of the year. Matt captured the widely distributed image of Prince Charles and Camilla inside their car as it was attacked last year.
We have created a slideshow of some of the winning entries for this year’s contest:
Google last night (Tuesday, 20 September) announced that its social network is now open to all.
The was much optimism about Google+ when it launched in June, particularly among some journalists who were quick to share invites and sign up, but who is now using the newest social network?
A quick straw poll on Twitter suggests many are nonplussed (see tweets below).
Technology journalists, including the BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones and Channel 4 News’ Benjamin Cohen – an early advocate who predicted Google+ could be a Twitter killer – are among those posting with enthusiasm.
So are journalists using all the features available? Despite these 10 ways journalists can use Google+ it appears most are simply using Plus for sharing stories and for conversations around them but are getting quality comments and a high level of engagement.
Even if you do not feel inclined to post or try out new features such as hangouts (video calls) on your phone, it is worth journalists being aware of one new feature: improved search – something Google should be good at. You can now search topics as well as people. With more than one billion items shared and posted on Google+ every day, according to the announcement, it is worth keeping Plus in mind as a newsgathering tool.
The Metropolitan Police has said it will no longer pursue plans to apply for a court order which would force the Guardian to hand over documents revealing sources of some of its phone hacking coverage.
Here is our story on how the Met has dropped plans to order Guardian source disclosure. Below is the police force’s statement in full, as issued yesterday (Tuesday):
The Metropolitan Police’s Directorate of Professional Standards yesterday consulted the Crown Prosecution Service about the alleged leaking of information by a police officer from Operation Weeting.
The CPS has today asked that more information be provided to its lawyers and for appropriate time to consider the matter. In addition the MPS has taken further legal advice this afternoon and as a result has decided not to pursue, at this time, the application for production orders scheduled for hearing on Friday, 23 September. We have agreed with the CPS that we will work jointly with them in considering the next steps.
This decision does not mean that the investigation has been concluded. This investigation, led by the DPS – not Operation Weeting, has always been about establishing whether a police officer has leaked information, and gathering any evidence that proves or disproves that. Despite recent media reports there was no intention to target journalists or disregard journalists’ obligations to protect their sources.
It is not acceptable for police officers to leak information about any investigation, let alone one as sensitive and high profile as Operation Weeting.
Notwithstanding the decision made this afternoon it should be noted that the application for production orders was made under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE), NOT the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
The Official Secrets Act was only mentioned in the application in relation to possible offences in connection with the officer from Operation Weeting, who was arrested on August 18 2011 on suspicion of misconduct in a public office relating to unauthorised disclosure of information. He remains on bail and is suspended.
Separately, the MPS remains committed to the phone hacking investigation under Operation Weeting.
SEO expert Malcolm Coles has helped to create Tweet Rewinder, a nifty idea to help you rewind Twitter, according to this post on his blog.
The video below explains how this new mobile web app, now in private beta, allows you to catch up on the tweets sent by people you follow in real time. This could mean catching up on a news story, journalism conference or a TV show. Indeed one of the promoted uses is to follow a hashtag, such as #bbcnews, and replay the Twitter conversation while catching up with the programme on the BBC iPlayer, 4OD, or similar.
Coles, who developed the app with Raak, details which parts of the service are free where users will require a subscription. There are also screenshots to provide a taster. There is also a write up on The Net Web.
Rewinder from Adriaan Pelzer on Vimeo.
Tool of the week: Stroome
What is it? A free online video editing tool which allows you to collaborate with others
How is it of use to journalists? When it won $200,000 of funding in last year’s Knight News Challenge, Stroome’s ambitions as a useful tool for broadcasters were outlined:
Through the creation of a virtual video-editing studio, this project hopes to simplify the production of news video by enabling correspondents, editors and producers to upload, share, edit and remix content with others. This will reduce the need for expensive satellite truck technology.
Stroome is handy if you find yourself working on a computer without editing software (there is also YouTube’s online video editor) although most people will no doubt favour editing within an application rather than within a browser due to the speed of upload and processing.
Stroome offers interesting possibilities to work collaboratively with others, not just journalists. One idea is that local news sites could encourage readers to upload footage of a severe weather event and collaboratively build a video using Stroome.
Share your ideas of how Stroome could be used by journalists and news sites by leaving a comment below.
It is being reported this afternoon (19 September) that the family of Milly Dowler has been offered a settlement of more than £1 million by News International in ongoing negotiations.
The Guardian is reporting that it understands News International has made an offer which has been “estimated by sources” at being more than £2 million, which includes a charity donation.
Sky News is reporting that the settlement is “likely to top £1 million”. The BBC has tweeted that News International is “close to agreeing seven-figure financial settlement”.
http://twitter.com/#!/BBCBreaking/status/115822177617588224
The company closed the News of the World following allegations that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was hacked while she was missing in 2002.
The lawyer Mark Lewis, who is acting for the family, had no comment. News International had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.