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Making sense of the intersection between media, society and technology

Since when are blogs ‘therapy’, not journalism?

Some startling and remarkably ill-informed comments about blogs, this time from journalist and author Pete Hamill.

On a talk show promoting his new book, Hamill was disparaging about blogs, advising young journalists not to “waste their time” blogging. Instead they should try to get a job on a newspaper “no matter how small, where there’s an editor who will look at you copy and say this will be better if you do this. Go somewhere where you learn the craft”.

As far as Hamill is concerned, most blogs are therapy, not journalism:

People who write them, except for the professional propaganda blogs, are there for therapy. They’re there so people can feel better about having thrown a rock through a window. But they’re not useful for information most of the time. They’re certainly not good for young writers to fall into the bad habits of an unedited blog.

This is like saying that young journalists shouldn’t work for magazines because there are some trashy celeb mags or supermarket tabloids.

Blogs take many forms – some are personal journals, some are badly written, some bloggers are self-absorbed. But to dismiss an entire new form of communication is short-sighted and ignorant.

It is so obviously clear that blogging can be journalism. As part of their journalism studies at the University of British Columbia, my students wrote blogs. These took the form of a cross between commentary/analysis and beat reporting.

As Mindy McAdams writes, of course it is great to have the tutalage of a good editor. But this is a separate issue to blogging.

Filed under: Web 2.0, blogs, internet, journalism, newspapers

Apple iPhone fuels blog buzz

Apple’s iPhone has generated a great deal of buzz, with many articles appearing in the mainstream media. But the biggest beneficiary has been the blogosphere, according to Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

Apple iPhoneThe traffic generated by the phone is “higher than any product launch we’ve monitored”, Nielsen BuzzMetric’s Pete Blackshaw told Netly News. Some 1.5% of all blog posts mentioned the iPhone in the week following Steve Jobs’ unveiling of the product in January. This sort of over-excitement can be expected, as Apple has a hardcore of devoted fans, as well as sceptics.

But digging deeper, two sites emerge as the biggest winners from the iPhone buzz – tech blogs Engadget and Gizmodo. Engadget’s traffic has jumped by 30% since the phone was announced. The day of the unveiling, its live coverage of the event received 10 million page views. Gizmodo has also benefited, with the site now getting 1.8 million page views a day.

These figures would suggest that these tech blogs are challenging and in same cases supplanting mainstream media when it comes to news from the world of technology. Established media simply cannot compete in offering the detailed and exhaustive coverage that these dedicated tech blogs provide.

In the past, the audience for this would have been dismissed as nerds. Now technology has become a part of everyday life. The iPhone has shown that there are some products that can arouse an intense appetite for information from new forms of media.

Filed under: Apple, blogs, internet, journalism

Essential guide for podcasters in Canada

graphicPodcasters in Canada worried about copyright and other legal issues should head over to Creative Commons Canada.

It has put together a legal guide for Canadian podcasters, to guide them through the myriad of rules and regulations.

It covers such issues as “fair dealing”, use of trademarks and pubicity rights, as well a discussion of copyright.

The guide, available in HTML and as a PDF, is an invaluable document for podcasters unsure of what they can and can’t broadcast.

(Via Boing Boing)

Filed under: Web 2.0, broadcast, multimedia, podcast

Is citizen journalism struggling to catch on?

For all the hype surrounding citizen journalism, there is little research into how much interest there is in this kind of content.

A poll on public interest in the murder trial of Robert Pickton in Canada suggests that most people still rely on the mainstream media for their news.

It found that only one out of four people in British Columbia were interested in new forms of journalism, such as blogs from citizens and sex trade workers about the trial.

Graph
Moreover, approximately 50% of British Columbians over the age of 35 were not at all interested in this type of information. Blogs and citizen journalism fared better with younger people, with 24% of 18-34 year-olds saying they were “somewhat interested”. Overall, just 3% were “very interested” in these emerging forms of journalism.

The results seem to suggest that citizen journalism sites have a long way to go before they are gain a wide audience. But it would be premature to write off blogs and other forms of new media content.

Citizen journalism is not meant to replace professional journalism, but it can offer a different perspective on the news. It is a sign of a expanding mediasphere where a greater diversity of voices can be heard.

One of the most high profile examples of this was citizen journalism site Orato. It commissioned two former Vancouver sex trade workers to cover the trial of the alleged serial killer, saying this would “give the fallen women a voice”.

During the winter semester, one of my students at the UBC J-School, Catherine Rolfsen, also kept a blog on the ethical issues surrounding the reporting of the trial.

Both these offered different perspectives on the Pickton trial. But it is unsurprising that most people still turn to their daily newspaper or TV station for coverage. These are established forms of media, which fit into established patterns of news consumption. Perhaps what is surprising is that one in four people surveyed were interested in alternative sources of information.

The poll, which was conducted by Mustel Group for the Feminist Media Project at the UBC School of Journalism, gauged public interest in the Pickton trial, which is in its sixth month after starting on January 22, 2007.

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

How Facebook can get you expelled from school

A story from Vancouver illustrates how teens, teachers and parents are still grappling over how to deal with Facebook. In this case, a teenager was expelled from school for setting up a Facebook group in which she said she would kick her teacher.

The school saw this as a threat to the teacher and expelled the student. Her father maintains it was just a joke.

The story shows how what someone may see just as a prank has far-reaching ramifications once it is written and published online for anyone to see. As I said when I was interviewed for the article, it highlights the tension between what teens consider their private space but is actually a public forum.

Ironically, the journalist who wrote the story contacted me via Facebook.

Filed under: Facebook, Web 2.0, internet, news, social media

Who is doing what online, at a glance

This graphical representation in Business Week of what people do online hold no surprises. But it is a clear and easy to understand way of explaining who is writing blogs, joining social networks or simply online but not participating.

Business Week graphic

Click here to see a larger version.

Filed under: Web 2.0, internet, social media

How pro-life groups hijacked a Facebook experiment

CBC wishlistCBC has admitted that its Facebook experiment has been hijacked by special interest groups, in particular the pro-life/anti-abortion lobby.

There were signs that this was going to happen just days after the Great Canadian Wishlist was launched.

Tod Maffin, writing in the official Inside the CBC blog, explained how the top wishes were dominated by political causes associated with Conservative or right-wing groups.

One of the people behind the idea, CBC reporter Mike Wise, says that he considers the project a success:

This was an experiment to see how social networks could work to bring out story ideas, and it’s done that.

One of the interesting insights of this experiment is how lobby groups are now adapting to the world of social media to promote their causes. In this case, they even set up a page with detailed instructions on how to rig the Facebook wishlist.

Filed under: CBC, Canada, Facebook, Web 2.0, broadcast

Learn to tell stories with sound

GraphicThis is a must for print reporters struggling to adapt to a multimedia world.

There is a free online course on NewsU on the basics of audio reporting and editing. The course was put together by Andrew DeVigal, multimedia editor for The New York Times.

As the course notes say:

Sound plays a vital role in online and broadcast journalism, and good audio results from a deliberate process of planning, working in the field and producing in the studio.

This is a good investment of one or two hours’ study for journalists working in print, broadcast or online.

(Via Multimedia Shooter)

Filed under: broadcast, education, journalism, multimedia, multiplatform journalism

Friend or foe? BBC TV ads ask the viewers

BBC World interactive adBBC World television is mounting a big push in the US with a range of interactive billboard ads.

The campaign takes advantage of text messaging to present an image which reflects a pressing issue in the US to pose difficult questions.

And it seems to be working, at least with Digg users, hitting the top of Digg recommendations.

Filed under: BBC, journalism, news

Doh! We did get the wrong website

Following on from my post on Wednesday, expressing concerns about a study on the accountability of news websites, the researchers have amended their findings.

The original assessment by the University of Maryland’s International Center for Media and the Public Agenda gave the BBC a poor rating in transparency and openness.

I noticed that the study had analysed the website of BBC World Service radio, rather than the BBC News website.

The error was brought to the attention of the researchers by one of editors at the BBC News website. Initially the team said that they had analysed the right site, but had posted the wrong link.

Challenged on this, Susan Moeller later admitted that they had found “significant discrepancies” in the data, leading them to revise their assessment. It has also prompted them to reassess the fact checking system they had in place.

The BBC News website is now rated as excellent, third behind The Guardian and the New York Times. Ironically, considering this was a study on transparency, the ICMPA has not posted a correction note on the site, indicating that the original publication was flawed.


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