Results matching “google news bia”

Sky News has relaunched its website today with a raft of new features. The revamp is aimed at personalizing the site for users and expanding its range of user-generated content and videos.

Steve Bennedik, the editor of Sky News Networked Media, states that, "The features we are introducing to personalize the site are just the start of a process aimed at allowing our users to tailor sky.com/news to suit all their online needs."

Sky is introducing an online community element to its website, powered by Pluck, enabling users to have their own blogs, to comment on other people's blogs, and discussion boards.

The redesigned website will incorporate SkyCast, a video platform powered by a "white label" version of Google's online video technology, into its news pages to encourage users to submit their own videos relating to news stories.

The new Choose Your News function allows users to hone their news search with categories including most popular stories, most recent video clips and "special interest" topics.

A Story Tracker function will automatically update users on news stories they are following.

Sky News is also launching a news service, powered by news aggregation company Daylife, which will provide readers with any related stories from "external sources" from the UK and international providers.

The website will also include more video, graphics and a new "bold design", as well as an interactive and searchable weather map of more than 4,500 destinations.

Source: Guardian

Editor and Publisher culled through Friday's online news to highlight five cool newspaper features. Here are a couple of the selections:

*The Press Democrat of Santa Roza, California is assimilating Google Maps into its coverage of forest fires. Readers can access information through an interactive map.

*The New York Times produced a slideshow documenting an "elevated park" to be built in NYC.

*Similarly, the Dallas Morning News constructed a package of slideshows illustrating social problems in Texas. The topics include poverty, pollution, and the working poor.

Source: Editor and Publisher

At the Future of Journalism conference Jeff Jarvis, journalism professor at City University New York, MediaGuardian contributor and BuzzMachine blogger, offered 10 questions news outlets should be asking themselves and the Guardian in particular. Here's a selection:

1 - "Who are we?"
History is "full of companies that had failed to answer this question and lost their way", said Jarvis.

He discussed how AOL could have become what Facebook is today if they hadn't been sidetracked into thinking they were a "content company." Likewise, Yahoo could have become what Google is, if it had embraced the fact that it was "really an advertising company."

In his opinion, the Guardian is "increasingly a 'community' company" but future growth could stem from thinking of the paper as a "platform" or "network". News organizations should try to "collaborate and mobilise" effectively, perhaps by including audience reports of news events. 

3 - Are we generous?

This may be done by "sharing technology, supporting people with the Guardian ad network" and "allowing people to be stars in the outside world", reported the Guardian.
 
5 - Are we findable?

News websites should be findable and should include "distributed content, content that is open for developers to build applications (or widgets), content that is findable on social media, and content that can be consumed on mobile."

Newspaper websites should act like platforms, sharing "knowledge and promotion and traffic and advertising and branding" Jarvis said.

Other questions for newspapers to ask themselves include:

"Are we inventing new narratives?"
"Are we in data layers?"
"Are we having fun yet?"
"Are we agile?"

Source: Guardian Online

See Also:
@Future of Journalism: the benefits of Twitter
@Future of Journalism: reporting celebrity news

Chances are you've heard all about the now-'resolved' dispute that opposed the Associated Press to social news sharing site Drudge Retort, over the fair - or unfair - use of AP quotes. Even more likely is the possibility that you've heard emotion-filled - and perhaps inaccurate - coverage of the affair. So this is an attempt to untangle some of the knots.

The four-point recap, clarifications
Lesson one: The blogosphere's outcry is heard
Lesson two: but the winner is?
Lesson three: AP - "Whither" or "Adapt"? Change the DMCA or set a legal precedent?


The four-point recap, clarifications

If you haven't followed the story, here's a four-point recap (or skip to next):

- Earlier this month, AP demanded that the Drudge Retort take down seven entries, which were in its view violating policies of fair use of content and the agency's copyright (AP wants to charge outside sources for using for excerpts longer than four words).
- Drudge Retort Web host Rogers Cadenhead consequently blogged about the takedown notice, and this created a ##-storm in the blogosphere, with many influential bloggers including TechCrunch's Michael Arrington and BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis calling on the boycott of AP content.
- Shortly after, on June 16, AP retreated, but didn't recant: it admitted that its request had been "heavy-handed" but didn't withdraw the takedown notices.
- Then, on June 19, AP issued a statement to say its conflict with Cadenhead had been resolved, after AP lawyers gave him guidelines to make the postings suitable, and that "both parties consider the matter closed." This really meant that Cadenhead agreed to modify the contested items and ended up not reposting them.

The guidelines discussed with Cadenhead have yet to be made public though, and the AP is working on a new set of guidelines for "fair use" of its content in general. "If AP's guidelines end up like the ones they shared with me, we're headed for a Napster-style battle on the issue of fair use," Cadenhead wrote on his blog. He told the New York Times' Saul Hansell that some of the key issues for AP related to protecting headlines and first paragraphs of stories.

First clarification: unlike what has been widely echoed on the Web and suggested by another New York Times article on June 16, AP was never supposed to meet the Media Bloggers Association (MBA) in order to draft guidelines for all bloggers, according to MBA President Robert Cox.

Another clarification: the blogosphere went ablaze when it learned that AP had filed a lawsuit against Cadenhead in June, seemingly out of the blue. According to Cox though, "Drudge Retort got on AP's radar due to the posting of entire articles with exact headlines which all parties agreed constituted copyright violations two months BEFORE the most recent spate of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Take Down Notices."

Lesson one: The blogosphere's outcry is heard

News of the Associated Press' June take-down notices was met with severe criticism, calls for boycott - and many profanities - by the blogosphere.

In one of his posts, entitled "FU AP," Jarvis wrote: "Bloggers, unless the AP recants and apologizes to Cadenhead, I urge you to avoid linking to the AP and to link to reporting at its source." Jarvis also encouraged bloggers to copy-paste full AP stories.

In a self-admittedly "ridiculous" post, after being quoted in an AP story, Harrington announced that "I've called my lawyers (really) and have asked them to deliver a DMCA takedown demand to the A.P. And I will also be sending them a bill for $12.50." According to Harrington this "is exactly what the A.P. would have charged me if I published a 22 word quote from one of their articles."

That short posting alone generated more than 230 comments - most of which were harshly critical of AP's stance at the time. The wildfire that spread in the blogosphere and the seemingly rapid turn-about of AP once again illustrated a known fact: blogs have gained enough traction and buzz-generating capacity to concretely influence and shape the media landscape.

Lesson two: but the winner is?    

One - erroneous - interpretation is to say that bloggers - won their battle against the traditional media Goliath, which was trying "to impose some guidelines on the free-wheeling blogosphere, where extensive quoting and even copying of entire news articles is common," - a quote from a New York Times story. (The Times' coverage of the affair was, according to Harrington, hindered by a conflict of interest, considering that the Times is one of AP's members and sits on its board of directors.)

But this isn't a victory for bloggers. "The A.P. is going to assert a much stricter interpretation of fair use than most people on the Internet are used to," reported Hansell on the Bits blog.

As mentioned above, Cadenhead had to agree to AP's proposed modifications, and ended up not reposting the material. Furthermore, this case is really a microcosm for the bigger issue of how to adapt "fair use" policies and copyright to the digital age in general.

"I'm glad that my personal legal dispute with the AP is resolved, thanks to the help of the Media Bloggers Association, but it does nothing to resolve the larger conflict between how AP interprets fair use and how thousands of people are sharing news on the web," wrote Cadenhead, following his two-hour conversation and settlement with the AP.

"I think AP and other media organizations should focus on how to encourage bloggers to link their stories in the manner they like, rather than hoping their lawyers can rebottle the genie of social news."

While Cadenhead may be right in terms of global news consumption trends on the Web, the AP was clearly in its own right under the US DMCA, at least regarding the stories posted in their entirety with the same headline. But the legal provisions concerning "fair use" of content for smaller excerpts have remained vague - simply undefined - until now, something the AP hopes to reform by setting guidelines.

"I think it would be helpful for bloggers and users of social news sites to know what the AP believes to be fair use of their copyrighted work," said Cadenhead's lawyer. But "I hope that any guidelines that are issued are not interpreted as an agreed definition of fair use" under copyright law.

Lesson three: AP - "Whither" or "Adapt"? Change the DMCA or set a legal precedent?

The Associated Press versus Drudge Retort - blogosphere - affair throws light onto two main issues:

- Does this case exemplify the 'old media' versus 'new media' divide? Is the AP's stance representative of its inability to adapt to a new context?

Yes, in the eyes of new media guru Jarvis: "I value the AP and don't want it to die. I want it to morph to a new model and a new future. But I am afraid that in its fights, we are seeing its inability to adapt."

On the other hand, few bloggers have pondered the more controversial view that the AP's approach may actually be a sign of its willingness to adapt - granted, not yet to the 'utopian' world copyright-lessness. But the AP, in its own way and after being "heavy-handed," is now attempting to define new standards that are adapted to the digital age. (Read this note on June 13 by Jim Kennedy, VP and Director of Strategy for AP.) No doubt some of the outspoken bloggers mentioned previously could be quick to shatter this argument.

- As is often the case, the law doesn't evolve as rapidly as the context it seeks to protect. The blurry wordings of the current DMCA must either be reformed quickly, after multilateral consultation, or the issue of "fair use" of content will eventually be settled in court and set a precedent, costing either news organizations or bloggers - presumably both.

This is the real issue at stake: how fast can the law be adapted to the reality of the Web, in order to avoid costly conflicts over subjective interpretations of "fair use" of content? As Hansell concluded in the Bits blog, "the unsettled state of the law makes it a gamble to take the matter to court."

A costly gamble, whether it ends in a loss for the AP or for bloggers. Or both.

Note that, just in case, no AP material longer than four words was excerpted in the above.

Bloggers: you can also watch this video by DigitalJournal.com for advice from Harvard Citizen Media Law Project Director David Ardia.



Source: Buzzmachine (here and here) - Techcrunch (here and here) - Associated Press - New York Times - New York Times Bits blog - Mediabloggers.org - The Moderate Voice - paidcontent.org

In the saturated online news market, newspapers are constantly competing to draw readers to their sites. One of the most effective ways for papers to attract readers is to show up in the top of Google's search rankings. Google engineer Matt Cutts has some simple tips to help sites climb the rankings.

1. Spotlight your search term

Cutts says that putting keywords on your website is imperative. Otherwise, your site will be buried in the rankings

2. Tag

According to Cutts, search results most often show the title and description tags. Good tags will increase your site's visibility.

3. Link back

When reputable sites link back to your site, you gain credibility, and Google bumps you up in its rankings. In fact, all link backs help, not just those from the powerhouses.

4. Blog

A blog enables you to link back to your own site. It also adds a personal level to your site, allowing for interaction between you and your readers.

5. Optimize free tools

Google offers several free tools that can give you a better idea of how to maximize your site's exposure.
 

Source: USA Today

Google News cannot be compared to other news sites like Yahoo News or CNN.com, according to PaidContent.org.

Google News gathers content with the help of computers who scan news on the Web and does not contain any ads. Meanwhile, other news sites like CNN.com create licensed material that passes through editors.

Google News groups articles by subject and ranks article by importance based on factors like  authority of publisher or placement of article in site. NYT writes that Google "packages the results as a set of links, sending readers to the sites where the articles appear."

According to the New York Times, Google executives claim that traffic is not the primary aim but that Google News "helps the company produce better search results and helps users find news sources that they might not know about otherwise."

According to the NYT, the growth rate of Google News is only 10 %, compared to MSNBC.com's 42 %, which got the site 10.4 million in traffic.

Dan Gillmor, who is director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at the Arizona State University School of Journalism, said that he is surprised "how little" Google News "evolved, at least on the surface", NYT wrote.

Marissa Meyer, vice president for Google search and user experience, said that Google News is one of "the most innovative" Google features and that its users actively employ the  Google search engine  and other services, NYT wrote.

She also mentioned that news results do emerge on the main Google search page, alongside adverts.  According to Meyer, "it directly feeds the main business."

Google News is sometimes seen as a competitor to other news providers, even if it brings traffic to the news site. Industry executives, according to NYT, think that because Google News links to a remote article, the readers are not likely to stay on the news site.

According to Braig Moffett, a Sanford C; Bernstein & Copany analyst, the Internet "made it possible to aggregate news cheaply". Consequently, news providers stopped charging for content. "Google may be doing more to accelerate this trend than anyone, but they are not doing it out of malice,"  Moffett said.

Tribune Co. owner Samuel Zell accused Google of stealing news stories for their own gains. In Europe, Belgian prosecutors said that Google News had "violated copyright laws" without asking for permission to link to the articles, NYT reported.

Google said that the company wishes "to help, not hurt, journalism", NYT wrote. Its chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, said that the company has "a huge moral imperative" to aid news outlets in becoming more "successful online", NYT wrote.

Last year, several features were added, such as different country and language versions of Google News. The number of "duplicate articles" is being reduced, as "authoritative" and "original" news stories are being displayed, according to NYT.

There is also the chance to personalize Google News, by focusing on local news and mapping the news event sites on Google Earth. Users can also post comments and search quotes.

Different sides to the same story are being provided by the news search engine, helping to make people "wake up and think," said Krishna Bharat, the research scientist behind Google News. "That's what makes people news junkies," she added.

NYT wrote that even if there have been some innovations, Google News "still lacks many of the flashier features that have attracted users to more conventional news sites, including interactive graphics and video."

Analysts have begun to question automated products and their limitations. Mark Glaser, PBS MediaShift editor said, "there is only so far you can go with an algorithm" because , "in the long run, people want a human touch."

Source: PaidContent.org, New York Times

See Also:

8 efficient and visual ways to present your online news
How to maximize your site's visiility in Google search ranking

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

According to the latest ABCe traffic figures, the Daily Mail's website - Mail Online - has recorded its highest ever number of unique visitors. 18,712,533 browsers visited Mail Online during May, an increase of 700,000 from April.

"What's important is the fact that we have got a vibrant industry. These are very nice numbers that recognize what we have achieved, and that's a credit to a cracking editorial team," said Martin Clarke, Mail Online's editorial director.

Clarke says the paper has begun to look beyond its established print competition to weigh in against more untraditional news outlets.

"We're used to measuring against each other but I'm as interested in what Google News, the BBC, or Sky is doing," he said.

Mail Online is also adapting to its expanding global market - almost 73 percent of the site's unique users were outside the UK last month.

"All media need to think about being global brands," Clarke said.

Source: Guardian

A great post that will be of interest to all visual editors: 10000words.net recaps eight original and graphically enticing ways to present and organize information (click here to view all graphic representations):

- The Photo stream:
Instead of displaying headlines and links, this format features news photos in a grid. When the mouse cursor is over one of the pictures, the headline is displayed.

- Newser:
A tiles news combination of photographs and headlines. When the mouse cursor is moved over one of them, more detailed information pops up. Newser also offers a toggler feature to switch between soft and hard news.

- Spectra:
MSNBC.com developed a visually pleasing template to read RSS feeds.

- NewsWorldMap:
A very basic format that can be useful to readers, as NewsWorldMap simply combines a Google map of the world with Google News items related to each location.

- Visual Dictionary Online:
The Visual Dictionary Online doesn't aggregate news, but its interface, which displays a picture with links to the various elements of the picture, can be useful to newspapers.

- 10x10:
This site presents the news in a ten by ten grid of photos. It's a little overwhelming but can be visually attractive.

- Times:
The Times newsreader is a simple animation that aims to replicate the feel of flipping through print pages online. It is only available for Mac OS X Leopard though.

- LiveNewsCameras.com:
Recently launched, LiveNewsCameras.com proposes a grid of live video feeds from broadcasters and news organizations internationally.

Unfortunately, due to a few technical difficulties, we can't show you the screenshots here. You'll have to click on the individual links or please click below to view all the various formats on screen.

Source: 10000words.net through Journerdism

After months of stagnant negotiation with Microsoft, Yahoo has taken its business elsewhere, agreeing yesterday to a deal with search-engine king Google. The move puts to an end, for now, a hectic four months for Yahoo (the deal still needs to be reviewed by antitrust regulators).

The agreement stipulates that Google provide ads next to Yahoo's search results and on some of its websites. For both companies the deal should prove to be beneficial, solidifying Google's command of the search advertising market, and easing Yahoo's strained finances.

The agreement also has implications for a newspaper industry still figuring out how to coexist with Google News, the search engine's news aggregator. Newspapers claim that Google News lifts their content, steering readers away from the papers' websites. Just last month, a Belgium copyright group for newspapers sued Google over the search engine's "content theft."

Click here for more information on the Google-Yahoo deal.

Source: New York Times