From Michael Kelley at Media Bistro on March 28 – Periodically and with increasing speed, the Internet goes through a transformation, which is today being defined by digital video. Thanks to innovative communications providers, the continued expansion of broadband and availability of faster download speeds to anyone with an Internet connection, video is now the new frontier on every device. Many are rushing to get a piece of the “action” and now, just like a growing community, we need to build the proper infrastructure to measure and value digital video. Read More
Long-Form Content in a Short Attention Span Culture
March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A new online publishing house, called The Atavist, brings original reporting, long-form, non-fiction stories to mobile readers like the iPad, Nook and Kindle. It was started by a freelance writer for Wired, Even Ratliff, and Nicholas Thompson, an editor at the magazine.
Videos, links, and images are fused with text to create a complete story experience in the demand/digital age. There are only three stories currently available but their website lists a number of writers that they have lined up for upcoming publications. You can check out their site here or read the NYT article about them.
Foreign News Coverage Could Break TV News Budgets
March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With revolutions throughout the world and natural disasters in places like Japan, TV news budgets are quickly spending money to cover everything. A report came out recently showing how the foreign coverage may break the bank this year (read the article here).
One TV executive said that to send a crew and reporter oversees can cost tens of thousands of dollars each week. With so much breaking news overseas so far this year, there may be much more money to be spent to report the news in 2011. Read the article
Media in Mexico Set Guidelines for Drug War Coverage
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
From the LA Times on March 25 - Many of Mexico’s top media companies agreed Thursday on first-ever guidelines for covering a drug war that has drastically increased risks for journalists.
The 10-point accord, covering more than 700 outlets across the country, calls on news-gathering organizations to find ways to protect their journalists and avoid glorifying crime bosses. Read more
Social Media’s Focus on Japan
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
From the Project for Excellence in Journalism on March 24 - For only the second time since PEJ began measuring social media in January 2009, the same story was the No. 1 topic on blogs, Twitter and YouTube.
Social media users last week responded in huge numbers to the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake in Japan, including the growing concern about damaged nuclear reactors. For the week of March 14-18, a full 64% of blog links, 32% of Twitter news links and the top 20 YouTube news videos were about that subject, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Read more
Is Self-Publishing Just a Stepping Stone?
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Recently Amanda Hocking, the self-publisher who sold millions of copies of her books through Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites, signed a deal with St. Martins for her next series of books (you can read the short NYT article about it here). The bigger story in this though is whether or not self-publishing is just astepping stone to signing book deals with major media companies, or is self-publishing a viable alternative to the big companies?
Hocking said she’ll benefit from the deal by not having to manage herself (hiring an editor, running the business aspect of things) and be able to focus on her writing. She’s probably right, and only she knows what she can handle. But for all those out there trying to get their work published, do you think self-publishing is the way to go, are traditional publishers still necessary, or like Hocking is a mix of both the best avenue?
Libya’s Second War
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
From The Guardian March 23, 2011 - There is a second war going on in Libya just now between two media tribes. On one side, CNN and on the other, Fox News.
The first assault came on Monday when Fox’s defence correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, alleged that Gaddafi’s forces had successfully thwarted air strikes by using journalists from CNN and Reuters as human shields. Read More
High-Cost Subscription Journalism
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
From the Editors at CJR in March/April 2011 issue - Washington beckons as a land of opportunity for journalists today, at least in the realm of high-cost subscription news. We’re cheering, but wary, too. A new unit of Bloomberg News is hiring 150 editorial staffers, essentially doubling the size of its DC bureau, to provide detailed coverage of federal legislation, regulation, and government spending. Politico has hired another forty or so journalists for its new “pro” brand, a high-priced news service that will write fast and furiously about every major and minor happening in energy, health care, and technology policy and politics. National Journal last April offered buyouts to all of its hundred-plus editorial employees, but has been on a hiring spree since then to bring on nearly fifty new journalists. Meanwhile, CQ Roll Call, moving beyond the staff shakeout that followed the combination of the two Washington policy stalwarts in their September 2009 merger, is also launching new services and hiring fresh talent. Read More
Advertisers Publish New Ethical Guidelines
March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This week the Institute for Advertising Ethics published their Principles and Practices for Advertising Ethics (available for download). The paper lays out eight main principles that advertisers should follow when presenting information to consumers. With all the changes to technology and media, the paper says that:
The one constant is transparency, and the need to conduct ourselves, our businesses, and our relationships with consumers in a fair, honest and forthright manner.
It goes on to say that the need for transparency is needed more than ever because consumer trust in advertising institutions is eroding. You can view the press release here or download the paper.
USA Today Revamps Strategy to Keep Pace with Internet
March 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In an AP story published earlier today, Michael Liedtke wrote that USA Today is revamping its paper to try to keep pace with the Internet. Although this is nowhere near a new idea in the newspaper industry, USA Today has taken multiple steps in the last few years to innovate the paper and boost earnings.
One thing Liedtke’s story says is that the content of the paper will focus on topics that attract more advertising such as tech reviews, financial advice, travel and lifestyle tips, and sports features. USA Today’s published believes the changes will increase revenue.
Do you think this is a good idea? How will changes in content like this impact the journalism community overall (if at all)? Leave your thoughts in the comments.