Results matching “news site regis”

User comments on websites has become standard fare for most media organizations. But according to the Poynter Institute's Bob Steele and Kelly McBride, who spoke at the Unity: Journalists of Colour Convention, news organizations must make it easy and inviting for users to comment, otherwise they may inhibit the discourse they purport to initiate.

Editor and Publisher looked into the matter in order to see the mechanisms that newspaper sites were employing when dealing with user-generated content and found a range of methods.

The research found:

-All of the top 10 US newspaper websites reviewed have mechanisms to monitor the content, be it screening comments or urging users to report offences
-Some sites require registration
-Some sites preview comments prior to their publication
-Some used both

According to Editor and Publisher, the most "liberal" policy about user's posts is from the Wall Street Journal, since neither registration or moderation are used and readers are pushed to self-police and report offences.

The Los Angeles Times had the "most stringent" and "severely worded" rules that referred to discrimination, false advertising and interrupted online access:

WARNING: A VIOLATION OF THESE POSTING RULES MAY BE REFERRED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

This is exactly the kind of unappealing, and threatening phrase that Poynter's Steel and McBride warned against, saying that they could be perceived as "hostile."

Less "threatening" in tone, the Denver Post's Neighbor forum includes the following guidelines:

Think of Neighbors as a neighborhood gathering, where conversation is lively and civil. What's important to you is probably of interest to others - if your neighbors don't know about something, they will appreciate if you share your knowledge. The community and its users will decide what the site becomes, but it is not intended to be a free-for-all.

Retaining more "civility", the New York Daily News writes:

Be nice. Think about others. People often say things on boards that they would be ashamed to say to someone face to face. Please treat other users with respect.

Source: Editor and Publisher

President Alexander Lukashenko has passed a new media law, despite accusations that it is restrictive. The new legislation means that the Council of Ministers in Belarus now control online media.

The Belarusian parliament pushed the bill through in three consecutive readings and passed it to the Constitutional Court for review. According to the local press, the court rubber stamped the bill in July and it became law on Monday, report the Committee to Protect Journalists.

News website Telegraf, report that presidential administration representative Natalya Petkevich said, "only Internet analogues of printed media will be regulated by the new law."

Apart from the controlling online media, the law requires "Belarusian and international journalists to seek individual accreditation from multiple state agencies.... It also obliges Belarusian media to seek re-registration from state authorities" says CPJ.

The Minister of Information also has full rights to suspend media outlets, the ministry and state prosecutors are allowed to shut down outlets permanently if they find their content inaccurate, defamatory, "not corresponding to reality," or "threatening the interests of the state or the public."

Source: Committee to Protest Journalists

"We've reached a point where we have to go beyond user comments as the sole means of interaction on news articles," writes Steve Outing. "It's time to integrate staff content and eyewitness reports supplied from your community."

User comments all too frequently don't add to a story. "Comment threads in many newspaper Web sites are filled with bad behavior, crude humor, and uncivil discourse, punctuated by the occasional worthwhile tidbit that adds to a story. We must do better," writes Outing. Gawker recently suggested cutting comment boxes all together; however, readers can add value - perhaps we just need to look outside the comment box.  

In his latest Editor & Publisher column, Outing argues, "most newspaper Web sites remain largely stuck in the we-tell-you mode of news," and that it's time to "get past that outdated strategy (and) integrate staff content and information from your community."

In its current form, reader-created content "is shuffled off to the side in its own area, set apart from the professional journalism."

Outing suggests that for any - and every - story, along side the reporter's piece is an "info-box sidebar ask(ing) people who were eyewitnesses to the accident to share any photos (or video) they may have taken, and to describe what they saw. Any content shared by eyewitnesses would be posted on the same page as the reporter's story."

Further, this feature should be included for all stories, big or small. "I argue that it's actually more interesting when applied to the smaller headlines," wrote Outing. "Because it serves the people for whom a 'small' story is actually big to them. Small stories often are reported by a small number of news organizations at a shallow level, so expanding them provides a powerful public service for those who want or need to know more."

For example, recently a local paper reported about a bear spotted in a neighborhood. Six users left comments, but most fell into the "smartass category." Outing writes, "By asking for eyewitness accounts... we'd actually get a look at that bear. After all, if you live in that neighborhood, you will be interested in that story... A wildlife expert reading the story might be prompted to post advice on what to do if you spot a bear foraging in your garbage cans."

Outing also suggests adding an story-specific email alert feature, so that as content is added, interested readers can stay up-to-date.

Reader involvement can even allow "big" stories to simultaneously be local, "for example, for the essential hurricane preparation story, local residents can be asked what they are doing to prepare... Retailers can be asked to report if they have essential preparedness materials like plywood available, to spare residents the hassle when trying to find something that everyone in town wants... For a personal-interest story about a specific family's losses, a call can go out -- accompanying the story -- to neighbors or friends of the family who may have additional information to share."

Outing cautions against creating "community content ghettos"  and instead highlighting user-generated photos, videos, tips and opinion. "This stuff is important and can be important to the overall coverage of a story, so don't bury it."

Last, Outing addresses quality control. "How do we know that the eyewitness account is for real? Has the user-contributed photo been doctored in Photoshop? If the submission is written really badly or is riddled with factual errors, are we supposed to run it anyway?"

Outing recommends both user registration (so editors may contact contributors to verify information) and a vetting system, perhaps run by the story's reporter, who filters any community-created content and can moderate these reports. Outing also suggests ranking incoming submissions, so that the most valuable contributions get put at the top of the page.

An interesting point Outing makes is not to "cherry-pick." "If you gain a reputation of only picking the best stuff that community members contribute (the old "letters to the editor" model), you may see contributions dry up. My answer to that is to publish everything that looks to be legitimate and doesn't violate your terms of service, but for the lesser stuff hide it behind a 'more' link for those who want to dig a bit deeper. Present the best stuff at the top layer."

Source: Editor & Publisher

Prominent South African newspaper Mail & Guardian (M & G) recently revamped its website with social networking and Web 2.0 functions. New features include a new layout, the ability to save article clippings, StoryHistory, StoryPredictor, the ability to comment and debate, semantic tagging, and the implementation of NewsSwarm.

In an interview with the Editors Weblog, the M & G Online general manager Matthew Buckland said that the aesthetic aspect of the redesign includes "a wider layout, top navigation instead of left", use of mixed fonts and more white space.

The new site attempts to "build networking features", Buckland said. The ability to see other people's news clippings allows a user to "meet users based on similar interests."

NewsSwarm allows users to see who is viewing what at a given time. "It's interesting from a user perspective to see what articles are important," Buckland mentioned.

StoryPredict will forecast what stories a user will be interested in based on the browsing history, which is in turn saved.

In the past, users were not able to comment but this was due to technical restrictions, according to Buckland. Now comments to the news site are enabled for registered members. "We ensure comments. We encourage users to post under real names. We ensure a high level of intelligent debate," Buckland said.

Every site except the Thoughtleader.co.za, the Techleader.co.za and the Sportsleader.co.za sites require users to register if they want to comment.

Registered users are also able to blog, Buckland said.

The advanced printing function allows for articles to be printed in a row.  

Buckland pointed out that the new site is "tagged quite heavily". Related news stories are linked to articles, even if they are "from competitors and blogs", according to Buckland.

In his blog, Vincent Maher, strategist at the M & G, said that because the old code and the database were "messy", the developing team had to reconstruct "the site from the ground up on a completely new set of technologies."

According to Maher's blog, "the project scope and order of production" included:

- Redesigning and developing front end, designing a new strategy for ad formats, new CMS
- Developing a new data structure to accommodate real-time visualization and semantic tagging
- Integrating an advertising engine and negotiating with advertisers
- Integrating national-level navigation mapping, city-level mapping through Google Maps, "contextually-relevant" outside news sources through Google News, "contextually-relevant" blog postings through Google Blog Search
- Creating new templates for e-commerce partner sites
- Rebuilding newsletter system
(For the whole list, go to Maher's blog) 

Source: Matt Buckland, General Manager Mail & Guardian Online, VincentMaher.com

See also:
South Africa: Mail and Guardian launches Amatomu blog aggregator

Over the last couple of days the future of the printed newspaper has been discussed and debated 15th World Editors Forum. Some declare it dead, others are optimistic. Pierre Haski, Founder and Editor in Chief at Rue89.com, doesn't need to worry. He spoke at the 7th session session under the slogan "There's a life after the newspaper".

Rue89.com was launched about a year ago on the same day that Nicolas Sarkozy was elected for president. And a year later Rue89.com is doing a lot better than he is, Pierre Haski stated. The independent French news website was launched from Pierre Haskis apartment since they did not have an office at the time. Today they have 650,000 unique readers each month. The websites was founded by journalists who, just like Pierre Haski, have kept blogs in the past and really come to see the how the Internet enables journalists to connect with their readers.

Rue89.com does not have a Reuters-wire. They did a first but soon realized that it was "money for nothing", since people are overflowed with that sort of free information, and if readers came to their site it was to read something unique, and they don't feel that they've suffered from not having that kind of material.

The site belongs to the "pro-am" family, with content produced both by professionals and amateurs. Their information comes from three voices, one being the actual journalists, the other experts and the third from readers/bloggers. Approximately one third of the content is produced by non-journalists, including the experts. Already from the beginning Rue89.com decided that journalists should have the final say in what goes up on the website, since they have knowledge about ethical rules etc. The biggest challenge has been to manage the comments. In the beginning they were over-flooded by comments and they had a crisis on their hands after a few months and needed to make some changes. Now readers have to be registered to be able to make a comment. You can use a free e-mailadress which really doesn't give you a real identity, but just by introducing that they "got rid of 90% of the crap".

Pierre Haski explained how the comments really are gold-mines, even though not all of them are gold. Many of their most successful stories over this first year have come from the comments made by readers, either the comments have contained actual tips or a journalist has found a good story in the ten or so lines that the reader has written.

The Recovering Journalist recently blogged on the Norwich Bulletin's (Connecticut) brief adventure into user commenting - The Bulletin gave readers free range to comment on the site, only to find that comments that are entirely anonymous and unmoderated can quickly spiral out of control. Apparently posters were relentless even when it came to wedding announcements.

Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Group recently blogged on 9 Ways to Improve the Quality of Comments on your Website:

1. Have moderators and staff actively participate on the comment board; when staff post frequently they can help lead the discussion and improve the level of discourse
2. Require users to have one comment pre-approved before they can post freely
3. Filter out the profanity
4. Allow users to report inappropriate comments
5. Use other users feedback to bury or promote comments
6. Require registration for posting
7. Threaded comments foster discussion; when users can reply to a specific comment it allows for multiple lines of discussion to coexist
8. Let users ignore other commenters
9. Create a comment policy; transparency is always best

By following these guidelines news sites can reap the benefits of online user discussion, without the swear words.

Sources: Recovering Journalist through David-Black.org, The Bivings Report

Another newspaper catches on to the new media and social networks bandwagon: the San Diego Union-Tribune has launched a social networking platform dubbed sdBackyard.com.

Users can perform all the basic functions, including creating profiles, sharing with friends, uploading multimedia content and creating blogs.

However, unlike many previous newspaper experiments with social networks, the site seems to have thought of two key aspects:
- how to use the user-generated content within editorial packages
- how to make advertising revenues from this venture

The community print publications, which will compile content submitted by users, will be distributed on Fridays by home delivery (along with the daily). They will also be available for free at some retail outlets starting in June.

Users of the social network are required to register according to geographic location, which helps to put them automatically in touch with locally relevant content - and to serve them with targeted advertising.

"The unique geographic targeting allows small businesses, nonprofit organizations, clubs, and other community groups opportunities to promote themselves in print and online," said George Bonaros, marketing director for the Union-Tribune.

Source: Editor & Publisher

BBCWorld Service has teamed up with blogging platform Livejournal.com for Live Report, a global project that provides a blogging platform for the Russian-speaking blog community. This project aims to strengthen user-generated content, connecting bloggers with the BBC Russian website bbcrussian.com.

Stephan Grootenboer, BBC World Service business development manager, Russia, said, "The BBC is keen to expand engagement with social media and reflect user-generated content in its output. Partnership with LiveJournal manifests the changing nature of BBC Russian as it uses new platforms to reach its audiences. With Live Report project, we are breaking new ground which will help us reinforce links with Russia's vibrant and quickly growing blogging community."

There is now a BBC-branded area on Livejournal, which will link the blogging community to stories on bbcrussian.com. Users can read the stories, then return to Live Report to post comments, articles, photos, videos, etc. on their blogs.

The BBC will also keep their eye out for budding reporters, no matter their location, and select the most compelling blog posts for publication in its output.

"We hope their contributions will bring us news and insights that are often bypassed by mainstream journalism. This new community will present us with witness reports and personal views from across Russia which may be selected for publication on bbcrussian.com and the BBC's other international news and information websites," said Zoya Trunova, editor of bbcrussian.com.

Livejournal has over 9 million users per month and over 1.5 million registered accounts in Russia. The community has 365 new members since last month's pilot launch of Live Report.

Source: Media Network

What if newspapers were liable for content published by users? This could happen if the US Congress takes away the protections of Section 230, if newspapers continue to encourage anonymous - and abusive - comments.

Section 230 for Internet postings protects providers and users of an "interactive computer service" that publishes information provided by others.

"Section 230 is important to our industry. It gives us a greater latitude in creating community than we would have without such protections. Losing that protection would be a serious blow to our audience growth prospects," write journalist and media blogger Howard Owens.

However, as many newspapers open up online comments with little incentive for users to register or provide real identification, or with insufficient guardrails, they are potentially jeopardizing their Section 230 protection.

Newspaper consultant Mark Potts offers tips to promote healthy online interaction, in light of Philly.com's recent (re)opening of comments, after having shut them down at the end of last year.

"Anytime a newspaper has problems with comments, it doesn't take long to figure out why: It happens because the site managers allowed anonymity, or they didn't think to employ a profanity filter, or they didn't put "report abuse" buttons on the comments to let readers self-police the feature."

Potts also warns of excessive moderation, citing The New York Times, which screens every single comment editorially, but this can become a huge cost, especially considering that "99.9 percent of comments are fine if you have the proper protections in place."

Philly.com has established an array of new protections to safeguard it from abusive comments, including:

- Required registration with a confirmable email address.
- Unique usernames, preferably real names.
- Automated profanity filters.
- "Report Abuse" buttons that enable the community to police abusive comments.
- An explicit commenting policy for all readers.
- Enabling comments a story-by-story basis. Some items and themes, such as immigration or race, will systematically lead to abusive reactions.
- Don't moderate all comments but react swiftly when any abuse is reported.

Source: Recovering Journalist - Howard Owens through journerdism

The Orange County Register’s (OCR) new publisher Terry Horne is betting on free community newspapers, an enhanced online edition and a smaller sister newspaper, in order to fight back against declining revenues and heightened costs.

“The three-pronged approach is an acknowledgment that the old newspaper business model – based on a one-size fits all newspaper – is no longer viable, Horne said in his first interview since becoming publisher in September,” reported the OCR.

Horne’s renewed business approach will be closely tied to changes in editorial content. The subscription-based paper will include content targeted at an older readership. The free community weeklies will target a more general audience with a hyperlocal focus. The website will be aimed at younger audience with free content.

This could entail less news content within the flagship paper as more emphasis is put on community papers.

The OCR is implementing these new strategies to weather through struggles with its business model: ad revenue is declining, newsprint costs have increased $5 million in annual costs, and paid circulation was down 3% in the six months ending Sep. 30. Last month, the paper cut 25 jobs and consolidates its business section into the news section.

Other changes at the OCR will include a size reduction, shrinking the width of the print paper by one inch, joining a consortium with other media companies to share advertising and news content, and launching a new online portal, OrangeCounty.com, which will serve to draw a larger and global audience. The OCR is also looking at initiatives such as zoning the Local news section.

Understandably, “it's a lot for longtime Register readers to take in and some are unhappy,” reported the OCR, but the "the better choice was to have less content but with as high a quality as possible," said Horne.

Source: Orange County Register through journerdism

How fast is fast in journalism today? Fresh off their creation of the Publish2 Election News Network in Knoxville, Tennessee, Publishing 2.0’s Scott Karp and Jack Lail at Knoxnews.com have set a new base time for launching an innovative feature on a newspaper site: 48 hours from start to finish.   

A week before the Tennessee primary, the two brainstormed about using Publish2, Karp’s Web startup, to aggregate election coverage from around Tennessee and the web, and then post it on Knoxnews.com. Lail suggested recruiting some bloggers from the Knoxville Blogger Network to aid the journalists.

Operating on a principle of “keep it simple,” Lail and Karp had the Publish2 Election News Network up and running in 48 hours, subtitling the webpage as “links to the best election news we can find.”

In an article, Lail called the idea an experiment [that’s] a bit out there as far as “news coverage” of an election.” However, it is an experiment that seems to be paying off.

A key lesson from their experiment is that innovation is faster when it is not centralized.  Jack Lail’s is continuing to experiment with Publish2, but rather than call an editorial meeting for each feature he wanted to add, he made the call individually to incorporate the new feature, in this case, a use of the publish2 bookmarking system to tag other relevant blogs onto an existing story.  

As Dave Cohn points out, “Trying stuff is cheaper than deciding whether to try it.” In other words, it is much more effective to experiment than to remain indecisive and miss the boat.

Two other newspapers, The Herald News in New Jersey and thenewstribune.com in Washington, registered almost immediately to incorporate the Publish2 election service in their respective sites.  Both publications (see photo above of The Herald News site) then immediately began changing and upgrading the service, setting an equally fast pace for innovation.

Sources: Publishing 2.0, Random Mumblings

The World Editors Forum is the organisation for Editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.wan-press.org).

The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for two Web sites: www.worldeditorsforum.org and www.editorsweblog.org.

 

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