News — AEJMC Hot Topics

Flipboard CEO Says the Future of the Web Will Look More Like Print

September 13, 2011 By AEJMC 1 Comment

By Matthew Panzarino on TNW, Sept. 12, 2011 – Flipboard CEO Mike McCue is on stage at Techcrunch Disrupt conference right now and he is saying some interesting things about the future of the web and the iPad. “The web will feel a lot different in 5 years. It will feel a lot like print and be monetized differently than it is currently.” Update.

McCue also said, “I think that the iPad is a superior consumption device for content on the web. It is actually the perfect device for content on the web. We’re trying to create a new type of browsing experience that is right for the iPad.”

On The Daily and other products that offer media content directly on the iPad, McCue is optimistic. “I think that there will be an opportunity to create new kinds of content companies on the iPad.”

Read the full post on TNW

Filed Under: News Tagged With: content, iPad, Journalism, Print, Web

Study: Use of anonymous sources peaked in 1970s, dropped by 2008

September 8, 2011 By AEJMC 1 Comment

By Steve Myers on Poynter, Aug. 9, 2011 – Newspaper ombudsmen and media critics complain often about excessiveand unnecessary use of anonymous sources, and yet the press uses them less frequently now than in the so-called “golden age” of journalism.

The use of unnamed sources peaked in the 1970s in the wake of Watergate. By 2008 it had dropped to the same relative frequency as in 1958, according to a paper to be presented at AEJMC this week.

“Going into this, I really did think that I was going to find that anonymous sourcing was used more than in the past,” said Prof. Matt J. Duffy, a professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi who worked on the study with Prof. Ann E. Williams of Georgia State University.

The other key findings:

Nowadays journalists almost always describe anonymous sources in some way rather than simply calling them “reliable sources.” In 1958, 34 percent of stories with unnamed sources used such vague language; that dropped to under 3 percent in 2008.
Reporters are doing a better job of explaining why they grant anonymity. In 2008, about a quarter of stories offered some explanation. While Duffy said that’s still low, through 1998 such explanations were provided in fewer than 10 percent of stories.
Journalists haven’t changed their practice of independently verifying all information from anonymous sources. They do so in most cases, but not all.

Read the full post on Poynter

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: sources

Newspaper finds success with its downtown news cafe

September 1, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Tim Currie on Nieman Journalism Lab, Sept. 1 – Not long ago, the Winnipeg Free Press’s social media editor hosted an online chat from her desk at the paper’s downtown news cafe. She had done it many times in recent months but something unexpected happened.

People had taken up the paper’s social media invitation to “join us” in a chat about Google+ with guests including GigaOM’s Mathew Ingram. But audience members started showing up at the cafe in person saying, “I’m here for the chat!”

“I looked at them and thought, ‘Oh…okay. That’s my mistake there. I didn’t promote this the right way,’ said Lindsey Wiebe. “But that’s also a good sign,” she added. “They’re thinking of this cafe as a hub where our events are held. So, it’s been a challenge for all of us in not just integrating the cafe into what we’re doing, but remembering that people come here expecting stuff.”

Read the full article on Nieman Journalism Lab

Filed Under: News Tagged With: journalism chat, Nieman Lab

How Steve Jobs has changed (but not saved) journalism

August 26, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Jeff Sonderman on Poynter.org, Aug. 25 – Steve Jobs resigned Wednesday as CEO of Apple Inc., but his legacy will be felt in the news industry for years to come.

In the past five years, Jobs’ Apple has simultaneously disrupted, transformed and aided the news industry.

It created or at least defined almost every aspect of mobile consumer technology that is now part of media’s future and its fastest-growing segment. The iPhone and iPad created inescapable trends. They were not just devices but whole new product categories and new content economies.

The iPhone was not the first smartphone. But it was the first to employ a full-face touchscreen, to decide finger taps and swipes were better than buttons, and to unleash the enormous power of third-party apps. Its largest competitors — Android and BlackBerry — have largely followed Apple’s lead in their devices and software.

The iPad was in some ways less new; it borrowed the same operating system and app environment from the iPhone. But in other ways it was entirely different — a whole new category of product between phones and laptops.

The iPad has proven to be an ideal device for long reading sessions, often at home during leisure time. As such, it is competing with print products that had served that purpose, while also offering new long-term hope of a digital transition for publishers.

Read the full article on Poynter

Filed Under: News Tagged With: innovation, Journalism, Poynter, Steve Jobs

A journalist’s guide to the scientific method

August 25, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Robert Niles from Online Journalism Review, Aug. 23 – Why should journalists care about the scientific method? I suggested in my post last week that journalism students should take a lab science class to learn about the scientific method. Here’s why I think that’s so important to journalists today.

The scientific method provides a standard procedure through which scientists gather, test and share information. Obviously, part of that should sound familiar because gathering and sharing information is what journalists do, too.

But there are substantial differences between the scientific method and journalism reporting. And while I believe that those differences did not affect journalism’s viability when newspapers had an information monopoly in their communities, our lack of standards for testing information is hurting us in today’s more competitive information market.

Before I go any further, let’s introduce the scientific method, for those readers who aren’t familiar with it. Here’s a good overview of the scientific method:

1. Find a topic or question worth exploring

2. Do some initial, background research to learn about your topic or question. Read what’s been written before.

3. Come up with a hypothesis. This is your best guess of what happened/is happening/will happen, based upon what you already know.

4. Test your hypothesis. You do this by collecting data, either through controlled experimentation or observation.

5. Look at and analyze your data.

6. Based on your analysis, either accept or reject your hypothesis.

7. Publish your information, including all relevant details on how you collected and analyzed your data.

Read the full article

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: OJR, scientific method

Philadelphia Homeless Man Wins International Journalism Award

August 5, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Christina Ng on ABC News, Aug. 4 – Jose Espinosa was in the financial services industry for almost 30 years. He dabbled in acting, sharing the screen with Glenn Close and Mariska Hargitay, and he is a tournament chess player. He attended Bronx Community College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The fact that he just won an international journalism award might not sound far-fetched, except for the fact that he did it as a homeless man in Philadelphia.

“I’m not the typical homeless person,” said Espinosa, 58. “I’m a very well-rounded individual.”

Espinosa was recently awarded with the honor of Best Interview from the International Network of Street Papers for a profile he wrote of another homeless man.

That man was Matthew Saad Muhammad, the light-heavyweight boxing champion of the world from 1977 to 1980. Muhammad entered the shelter in 2010.

The article, called “Fighting Back,” and was published in the July 2010 issue of One Step Away, a newspaper whose reporting staff and editorial board is made up almost entirely of homeless people. The paper is published by RHD Ridge Center, Philadelphia’s largest homeless shelter.

Read the full article on ABC News

Filed Under: News Tagged With: abc, Espinosa, journalism award, Matthew Saad Muhammad

WKU Students Travel to Paris to Work with Journalism Organization

August 4, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

Over the summer, students from Western Kentucky University’s Imagewest program travelled to Paris to work with the Global Editors Network. Imagewest is a student-run, revenue-generating, full-service advertising and public relations agency.

From their press release:

The team traveled approximately nine hours to Paris, to work with Global Editors Network, (GEN). The client provided the students with a large project list to tackle while in Paris and was thankful for the help, since GEN is a brand new organization. In order to make sure all the work was completed on time, the team carefully planned projects, maintained deadlines and worked 10 to 12 hours each day. Imagewest provided the following deliverables: multiple databases, communication material (mission and vision statements, slogan and news release templates), strategic plans to increase GEN membership and attendance to NEWS! – News World Summit in Hong Kong.

Additionally, the team worked on digital marketing material (two website redesigns, banner ads, email templates, a PowerPoint presentation, email signatures and a social media plan/consulting), posters, brochures and a survey.

To find out more about Imagewest and their program please visit their website.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: imagewest, wku

NYT as the comeback kid: 280,000 subscribers for digital NYT

July 26, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Joe Pompeo on Yahoo! News Blog, July 26 – What better way for New York Times executives to celebrate the news that 281,000 subscribers are now paying to read the publication in digital form than with a magazine cover story about the paper of record’s comeback?

A comeback is indeed the premise of Seth Mnookin’s feature in New York Magazine this week.

Remember back in the ’00s, when the Times had lost a fair chunk of its credibility thanks to a former intern who made up stories and a seasoned reporter who believed stories other people made up? When the advent of online news began to suck the life out of the Gray Lady’s business model? When some media watchers thought it plausible that the iconic news outlet might not even exist in another few months?

No more!

Read the full article on Yahoo! News Blog

Filed Under: News Tagged With: New York Times, paywall, subscribers