Tag Archives: editorsweblog

Editorsweblog: AFP launches YouTube channel for election coverage

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International news wire Agence France-Presse (AFP) has launched a YouTube channel which will be dedicated to covering next year’s French presidential elections, the Editorsweblog reports.

The new channel has been launched in conjunction with Twitter and the CFJ journalism school (Centre de Formation des Journalistes), the report adds.

The channel hosts videos posted by political parties and tracks candidate popularity, but its main feature is an interface in which viewers can submit questions to candidates. The questions are then posed in interviews held by journalism students from CFJ.

Read more here…

See the YouTube channel here…

WAN-IFRA launches initiative to promote investment in newspapers

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The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is calling on investors for help in its efforts to increase investment in newspapers in developing markets, according to a report by the editorsweblog.

Lack of investment is one of the major problems newspapers face in developing markets. Expanding operations, developing new products, and investing in new staff and printing facilities are the areas where capital is needed the most.

The new Social Investment in Media initiative has been launched by WAN-IFRA in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF). The initiative aims to promote “innovative investing mechanisms in media in developing countries and emerging markets” the report adds.

Concern over search algorithms promoting ‘content farm’ news

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The ability of search engine algorithms to measure the relevance and quality of content has come under scrutiny recently, following criticisms that Google is placing so called ‘content farm’ articles at the top of news searches.

Emma Heald writes on the EditorsWebLog that where SEO content directly competes with news content there is “cause for concern”, both for news publishers and the wider issue of public knowledge.

But the challenge of ensuring online news search results are based on relevant and ‘quality’ sources should be one taken up by the news aggregators, rather than content farms, which have a place in the online arena, she adds.

Evidently, content farms cannot and should not be stopped from producing large volumes of content and it arguably makes a lot of sense to provide internet users with articles on topics which they are searching for. And not all the content is bad: some is written by experienced, conscientious journalists. Traditional news organisations should focus on improving their own SEO (though not at the expense of the content) and if it is to retain its position as a top news aggregator, maybe Google’s algorithm should become more discerning?

Sharing and signposting: Younger Thinking for news organisations

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Research carried out by university student Christopher Sopher as part of his Younger Thinking project has produced a series of recommendations for news organisations trying to reach a younger audience.

The biggest mistakes being made by online publishers at the moment? Overuse of sterotypes, publishing new content on old platforms and a lack of sharing facilities, according to his project blog.

His final ten recommendations for news outlets includes improved signposting, personalisation and explanatory reports giving background and understanding to confusing topics – which they term “wisdom journalism”.

Young people would also benefit from a more active, interpretive approach to journalism, sometimes called “wisdom journalism”. Knowledgeable journalists with a background in their subject matter could offer readers insight into what events really mean and break through the superficial he-said/she-said balance that dominates coverage of serious topics. This methodology acts on the idea that, in many news situations, it is better to be helpful and explanatory than it is to be first.

Hat tip: Editors Weblog

Poligraft: the transparency tool set to make investigative journalism easier

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The Sunlight Foundation has launched a new tool – Poligraft – to encourage greater transparency of public figures and assist journalists in providing the extra details behind stories.

By scanning news articles, press releases or blog posts, which can be submitted to the program by inserting the URL or pasting the entire article, the technology can then pick out people or organisations and identify the financial or political links between them.

Discussing the impact of this technology, Megan Taylor writes on PoynterOnline that it is a simple yet powerful tool for the news industry.

Anyone can use this, but it could be especially powerful in the hands of hands of journalists, bloggers, and others reporting or analyzing the news. It would take hours to look these things up by hand, and many people don’t know how to find or use the information.

Journalists could paste in their copy to do a quick check for connections they might have missed. Bloggers could run Poligraft on a series of political stories to reveal the web of contributions leading to a bill. All this information is public record, but it’s never easy to dig through. What is possible when investigative journalism is made just a little bit easier?

See a video below from the Sunshine Foundation posted on Youtube explaining how the technology works:

Hatip: Editorsweblog

New US local paper paywall divides readership

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Yesterday’s paywall launch on the website of New York Times Company owned paper the Worcester Telegram and Gazette appears to have divided its users, according to a report by the EditorsWeblog.

Following in the footsteps of national publications, the site has introduced a payment model which charges users to access local reports, although does offer a free allowance of up to 10 articles a month. Those with print subscriptions will have not have to pay extra to access content online.

One reader thinks, “as someone who moved from the area 20 years ago, but still likes to think of the area as home, I guess I’ll be looking for a new source to keep current on the news- I won’t be paying to read an article because I think I recognize a name in a byline.” Another writes that, “I will now rely on the local Spencer Leader, Barre Gazette, and word of mouth to alert me news and happenings.

Not all comments are negative, as readers who already have a paid subscription to the print version have full access to the online content. “As a paid subscriber who has been supporting the free online access, I am most pleased with this new policy,” a reader stated.

See the full post here…

Top 100 media list suggests print power is losing ground to digital

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The MediaGuardian’s top 100 list illustrates the growth and influence of digital over traditional media, according to an analysis by the EditorsWeblog.

And if the list is anything to go by, digital appears to be winning in regards to influence hands-down.

Referring to panel comments in a Guardian blog, the report highlights how those who created the list felt newspapers’ influence was “continuing to wane”.

Far too much credence has been given to the influence of newspapers. The election was evidence that they are not the power we once thought.

Digital and social media pioneers claimed the majority of the top spots – prompting a number of questions for the future of traditional media.

Is the influence of newspapers actually waning? Can publishers still compete with Apple or Google for influence over the public? What can they do to work with such companies, and with social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, to maintain newspapers’ relevance in an increasingly digital society?

In another post commenting on the top 100 list, Kevin Marsh from the BBC highlights what he perceives as a lack of interest in content over platforms.

For those of us who think news – in the traditional sense – still matters, the highest placed newspaper editor is Paul Dacre, at 13 … and there’s not another journalist ’til Helen Boaden (BBC), at 21, and Nick Robinson (BBC), at 26 – and there are only three other journalists in the top 50

[T]he power of platforms – whether physical, social media or multi-use – is now greater than that of the content they carry.

Read the EditorsWeblog post here…

Editors Weblog: Figaro group’s new financial news subscription service

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EditorsWeblog reports that the French newspaper group Figaro has launched a financial news subscription service, WanSquare, that sends economics updates to users’ smartphones, available in French or English.

“The newspaper group advertises the service as an exclusive resource for the ‘deciders’ in the French business world.”

Full story at this link…