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April 30, 2007 • 2:42 pm 3

X-Files star struggles with privacy online

Like just about every celebrity, X-Files actress Gillian Anderson has her own website.

One part of it is entitled “Messages from Gillian”, supposedly so that she can talk directly to fans. But the actress is not happy with the way the media has also been reading her messages.

Apparently, she is going to stop writing as she is fed up with journalists using the information for stories. In an entry dated 23 April, she expresses surprise that her notes have been used for mass public consumption, without anyone asking her permission. She said she was flummoxed and angry.

I would quote from the post here. But in a pre-amble to the entry, Anderson says that her messages are exclusively for fans and she asks that the entries not be published either online or offline.

Anderson does seem rather naive about the web. If she did not want journalists to know about her life, she should not publish those details online. In an age of the Internet, does she really expect that she can stop anyone quoting from her entries?

But the story demonstrates how public our lives have become and how the Internet is redefining the meaning of privacy. There is an unprecedented amount of personal information available online, via blogs, social networking sites or by simply doing a Google search.

Filed under: internet, new media, online, privacy

April 27, 2007 • 10:44 am 0

Conversations in the newsroom

This cartoon neatly sums up the situation in many newsrooms:

MSNBC cartoon

From Daryl Cagle via Cagle Cartoons.

Filed under: Web 2.0, internet, multimedia, multiplatform journalism, online ,

April 26, 2007 • 5:32 pm 1

What do BBC bosses think about the web?

Arguably the world’s leading broadcaster, the BBC has outlined its priorities for the coming year in its Statements of Programme Policy 2007/2008.

The lengthy document makes interesting reading, not just because of what it includes, but what it doesn’t. In particular, any discussion of the BBC’s award-winning news site, BBCNews.com seems like a bit of an afterthought.

The website is one of the BBC’s secret success stories. In its (almost) 10 years of life, it has become one of the world’s leading sources of news and information online (full disclosure, I was one of its founding members and worked there for nine years). In February, it hit a billion page views for the month.

In the light of this, you would expect that growing the website would be a key priority for the BBC. But instead any mention of it is buried in the section on Future Media in its policy document. The language used reveals how the service is perceived by management:

bbc.co.uk news and information complements [my emphasis] the BBC’s television and radio broadcast news coverage across all subject areas, including local, national and international news and sports.

At a time when news organisations across the world are realising the value and essential nature of their online properties, BBC bosses appear to view their own news site as a bit of an add-on.

What is more surprising is what you find in the News section of the document. This is devoted to the BBC’s 24-hour news channel, News 24. The top priority here is:

Put BBC News 24 at the heart of the BBC’s online proposition and enhance audience interactivity via texts and emails.

I can understand why the BBC wants to build on its relationship with the public by using online tools of engagement. But putting TV at the “heart” of the BBC’s online services? This just sounds counter-intuitive.

Perhaps this is to be expected. The BBC was born as a broadcast organisation. This document shows that it still considers itself to be primarily a television and radio organisation.

Filed under: BBC, Web 2.0, broadcast, internet, new media

April 25, 2007 • 7:14 pm 0

Me media and the Virginia Tech shootings

NPR’s On The Media has an interesting take on the last week’s shootings at Virginia Tech.

The programme interviewed Thomas de Zengotita, author of Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in it on how students related to their experiences.

The main point was to examine to what extent the students played the role expected by the media. Even the shooter played his role as disturbed loner in the “press kit” he sent to NBC. In the words of Zengotita:

It’s a fusion of reality and representation. I call it the “story event.” The story shapes the event. The event shapes the story. It unfolds in real time, just the way the kids who were trapped in their various classes were reporting on their cell phones simultaneously as the events unfolded, and hearing themselves on their own laptops reporting through MSNBC on themselves.

This is a novel interpretation of the idea of citizen media and user-generated content. The reported on adapt to the role they are expected to play by the reporters. But now the reported on are also reporting on themselves, often in real-time. The public ends up playing a central role in a media event, both as a participant and an observer.

As Zengotitia says, “This is a fused world of representation and the real that we’re all living in.” What does this mean for the veracity of news, of the quotes from witnesses to a news event? Are they playing a role for the media derived from their experience of the films and TV?

What I am also interested in is how experiencing an event through a media lens, through a cellphone or digital camera, alters our perception and experience of an event. This is a rich area for research. If you know of someone working in this area, please leave a comment.

Filed under: Web 2.0, citizen journalism, internet, news, user-generated content ,

• 9:26 am 1

Journalists’ union attacks “McBBC” ads plan

NUJ ad against advertising on BBC.comAs a decision on a proposal to put ads on BBCNews.com nears, opposition to the plan is gathering steam. The National Union of Journalists has thrown its added its voice, warning of “creeping commercialisation”. Its posters bear the slogan, “Say no to McBBC – junk the ads.”

The commercial arm of the BBC, Worldwide, has tried to allay these fears by talking about attracting carefully selected premium advertisers. But this has done little to appease staff at BBCNews.com, many of whom have signed an e-petition against the plan.

The fate of BBCNews.com lies in the hands of the BBC Trust. It delayed a decision on the ads plan earlier this year but now looks set to make up its mind on May 23.

Filed under: BBC, broadcast, internet, new media, news

April 23, 2007 • 3:23 pm 0

Getting to grips with readers’ comments

One of the questions that news editors often raise about user-generated content is whether passive ‘readers’ want to be active ‘producers’, and whether anyone reads this stuff.

BBC Have Your Say screenshotNew figures from the BBC suggest that the answer is as simple as yes or no. Its Have Your Say section received record page views in January of 12 million, according to interactivity editor Vicky Taylor. But at the same time, the BBC only has just under 200,000 registered users, out of its audience of millions.

One factor could be frustration from readers who submit comments that never see the light of day. BBCNews.com has tried to allay these concerns by adding to each Have Your Say page the number of published, rejected and queued comments.

Taylor said the BBC now publishes 49% of messages received, up from around 25% from a couple of years ago. But when a big event happens, like the shootings at Virginia Tech, it is inundated with material and staff cannot cope.

Filed under: BBC, citizen journalism, internet, news, user-generated content

April 20, 2007 • 2:25 pm 1

Social media mash-up reveals US election ‘08 money web

Money webThis is an impressive mash-up of social media and data by OpenSecrets.org to reveal the connections between donors and US presidential candidates.

It offers a visual representation of who is funding whom and the links between them. The interactive flash graphic puts an accessible and compelling interface to the byzantine world of political funding. We got a sneak peak at it during the Knight New Media Center seminar on Election ‘08.

Filed under: Web 2.0, internet, news, presidential elections, social media

• 8:49 am 0

Rethinking news as a journey through an information network

During a session I moderated to the Knight New Media Center seminar on Election ‘08 on Thursday, we discussed the networked nature of news in the era of the Internet. This was one of the themes that emerged in other presentations too. It is the idea that news organisations are part of a network of information.

In this digital and discontinuous environment, users forage for information, going from source to source, creating their own individual ’story’ from multiple sources. It means that news becomes a journey, rather than a destination. A news website from a mainstream news organisation is just one stop on this voyage.

For more on how newspapers should rethink their web presence in the light of the new reality, Northwestern University professor Rich Gordon has some advice on how to be part of the new architecture of news.

Filed under: Web 2.0, internet, newspapers, politics

April 19, 2007 • 1:50 pm 0

The secret weapons of conversational media

Amy Gahran discussed how journalism is a conversation at the Knight New Media Center Election 08 seminar.

Her notes are available in two detailed blog posts, one looking at how to foster community and another one of the tools of engagement.

But in her talk she unveiled what she described as the secret weapons of conversational media. And what are these secret weapons? All journalists have them. We all have them.

These ‘weapons’ are your head, your ear and your feet. It is about thinking about what you are doing, listening to people and getting out of the office and into the community.

This is a remarkably simple insight, but it addresses pressing issues in journalism. One is that journalists are increasing spending all day in the office, working the phones, rather than pounding the streets. The other is that journalists need to do less talking and more listening. The key point is to think abou what you are doing and why. As Gahran put it, use your head.

Filed under: Web 2.0, internet, news, politics, presidential elections, social media

• 10:43 am 0

Journalism and the war of innovation

Day two of the Knight New Media Center seminar on Election ‘08, kicking with a session I moderated on the internet’s impact on journalism. My main argument – this is a great time to be a journalist, with the more ways to reach more people than ever before. I cheekily entitled the session, Jam Today, taking my inspiration from this quote from Lewis Carroll:

The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.

With the internet, we can have jam today. The session proved a lively exchange of ideas and experiences, looking at issues like immediacy, the use of multimedia, questions of resources.

One of the valuable exchanges came towards the end. My comment that the media is engaged in a war of innovation and has lost every battle so far, sparked off a debate about the role of developers in the newsroom. The New York Times has a futurist in residence and a R&D team. Someone also mentioned that when they invited developers into an editorial meeting, one of the editors questioned why these web guys were there.

But there was a recognition in the room that innovation is key and journalists should be working far more closely with developers and researchers. This is to be applauded.

Filed under: internet, new media, newspapers, politics, presidential elections

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Alfred Hermida
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