Results matching “more examples o”

"We have committed $25 million over five years to the Knight News Challenge because we believe in media innovation through experimentation," says Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation's president and CEO. "Each winning project is an experiment with the potential to transform how we practice journalism in the digital age."

News providers have recently begun linking to outside news sites on their web editions, this marks a significant shift in attitude towards recommending rival sites as alternative sources of information.

An example of the changing attitude towards linking to other sites is on the recently launched site, the Political Browser by The Washington Post.  The new section of their site aims to provide readers with the best in political news coverage - even if that means linking to stories by rival newspapers.  This move, according to executive editor at the Post, Jim Brady, will allow their site to become the front door to political coverage.

Mario Garcia recently published an article discussing the future model of the newspaper.  He referenced Philip Meyers recent article in American Journalism Review, which also presented some ideas on where newspapers and journalism are headed.

Garcia uses a few examples to illustrate his view of the future.  First, The Economist, with its unique "information architecture and navigation", creative visuals, distinct personality, in-depth analysis and interpretation, and focused content is an example of what many people desire to read and enjoy reading today.

"I think the glitz of technology has taken over common sense," says Michelle Ferrier, Daytona Beach News-Journal's columnist and managing editor, in relation to the Twitter reporting done by Rocky Mountain News (RMN) Berny Morson at the funeral of a three-year-old boy killed in an accident. She goes on to say that live reporting from funerals of private individuals shouldn't be allowed.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announces its third annual Knight News Challenge, a contest that will grant up to US$5 million for ideas that transform local community news with the help of digital tools like social media, Web 2.0 or multimedia content. A new "incubator" site, the News Challenge Garage, was created in order to offer online criticism and advice for applicants.

Since 2004, the number of new, "citizen-generated" media and reporters at the US political conventions has significantly increased. It has become more difficult to differentiate between independent bloggers and traditional ones as traditional media is adopting a "multi-platform" method, according to Media Shift's Mark Glaser.

Media outlets have taken the Games as an opportunity to compete for audiences as sites reveal an array of Olympics-focused features. Google announced a series of new tools that were launched for the Beijing Olympic Games this year, such as a virtual 3D tour of the stadiums that uses a combination of Google Maps and Google Earth.

Other features include an Olympics widget that can be downloaded and added to a personalized iGoogle site in order to receive features that provide Olympics coverage, sports headlines, YouTube videos, daily horoscopes, weather forecasts and a Google News feature. Users may also add applications such as a clock or games, similar to those used on social networks like Facebook.
 

The New York Times has a prominent section on the homepage that provides stories, results, schedules, multimedia and an interactive Olympics Tracker that allows you to personalize.

USA Today has a colourful section on the Games, offering everything from stories and results to blogs and Twitter feeds. There is also an "Olympics: Looking back and ahead" section that discusses former games and upcoming games as well as a section with input from fans.

The New Zealand Herald's Olympics coverage entails a section that is easy to navigate, with features like "As our Olympic team a question" and "Weird Olympics" with unusual stories about the events (e.g. stories like "Spanish team defends 'slanted-eye' photo", "China opts for lip-synching in quest for perfect Olympic image").

Numerous newspapers around the globe have launched sites dedicated entirely to the Games, such as Russian gazeta.ru, Irish Independent.ie and Ecuadorian eltelegrafo.com.

Send us examples of your Olympics coverage.

Source: The Telegraph
 

The Lede: In the four-missile version of the image released Wednesday by Sepah News, the media arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, two major sections (encircled in red) appear to closely replicate other sections (encircled in orange). (Illustration by The New York Times)

Agence France-Presse has retracted an image of Iran's 'four' missile tests, after it appeared that the picture had been digitally altered by Sepah News, Iran's Revolutionary Guard media arm.

Only, the realization was made after a number of large mainstream media organizations had published the picture on their front page, including The Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune, BBC News and NYTimes.com.



Since then, the Associated Press has distributed a similar picture showing only three missiles being launched.

The fourth missile "has apparently been added in digital retouch to cover a grounded missile that may have failed during the test," said Agence France-Presse when it retracted the first image.

This is one of the most recent and blatant examples of an increasing challenge for media across the globe, namely how to authenticate digital documents prior to their publication.



Source: The Lede through IFRA Executive News Service

Buzzmachine blogger Jeff Jarvis has come up with a self-admittedly "utter bullshit" plan for newsroom economics, or how to invest in newsroom staff, in an attempt to find the ideal distribution of roles amidst shrinking newsrooms.

Based on a newsroom with 100 staffers cut to 70, here are some of his main proposals:

- cut back on international reporting
- increase investigative reporting by 50% (1.5 reporters instead of one)
- increase beat reporting. "To me, though, the real heart of value in a newsroom is beat reporting. That's where the watchdogging comes in; that's where stories worth investigating often emerge."
- the number of photojournalists remains stable, but keeping in mind that most journalists will become multimedia-skilled.
- entertainment and lifestyle "can be handled by community and links."
- Subeditors don't entirely vanish (-80% though), but their role is to transfer skills to other staffers and the community.
- Increase local sports, as for any local features (for local papers).

Perhaps the most interesting new ideas concern new editorial positions revolving around community management. Jarvis proposes to that the budget equivalent to 10 fulltime staffers be devoted to a blog network of professional and amateur journalists. According to him, the end cost would be nil because ad revenues would be shared with bloggers.

The key element in this emphasis on a community network is the addition of seven "collaboration editors" to manage and guide this network of pro-am staffers. This notion is key in trying to develop Web 2.0 journalism (see the recent examples of The Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times and The Bakersfield Californian).

Newspaper editors might be less enthused by the idea of cutting back almost entirely on national reporting, sports columnists, lifestyle reporting and opinion writers.

View Jarvis' full newsroom distribution proposal by clicking below. He has also made available a collaborative spreadsheet where editors can submit their own thoughts on the 'ideal' distribution of roles.

Source: Buzzmachine through IFRA Executive News Service

Posterous, a new blogging platform powered by email, could allow newspapers to attract more users to their blogging communities.

According to Poynter's Paul Bradshaw, Posterous is "fantastically intuitive, quick, and easy".

Bradshaw gives several examples to demonstrate Posterous' user-friendly platform: create a Posterous blog by sending an email to post@posterous.com; email photos, video, or audio to Posterous and the files will be uploaded in a posting; check blog comments through automatic email notifications.

"It's a very new service, but I think Posterous could become a hugely popular blogging tool, as well as a great tool for blogging on the move," he writes.

Source: Poynter Online

Stephen Glover of the Independent does not deny newspapers' bleak economic condition, but believes the industry is "not as troubled" as some think it to be.

Glover opens with a stream of negative information concerning newspapers: plummeting profits, battered circulation numbers, and increased layoffs. He says, however, these numbers are more fairly attributed to cyclical economic conditions rather than to the decline of the newspaper.

"No one could deny that there are problems ahead but my message is that the whole picture for newspapers is not as dire as fevered minds in the City appear to believe," Glover writes.

As proof Glover offers examples of several newspaper organizations experiencing financial success, such as News International and Pearson. These organizations, he says, "should not be tarred with the same brush."

And though Glover admits some papers "have structural problems", he insists investors are overreacting.
 
"The sudden level of panic is hardly justified," he writes.

Source: The Independent

When looking to disseminate breaking news, news organizations should turn first to their Twitter networks, says Amy Gahran of Poynter. Gahran makes her case using the example of a breaking story in Denver, Colorado - a singer's altered rendering of the Star Spangled Banner - and how DenverChannel, a local TV station, neglected to capitalize on the opportunity.

Moments before Denvor Mayor John Hickenlooper was scheduled to deliver his State of the City address, jazz singer Rene Marie performed a controversial version of the national anthem, switching the words with the lyrics from "Lift Every Voice".

Had DenverChannel sent an alert to its followers about the performance, Gahran says, it could have tapped an extraordinary audience within a few minutes.

"Extrapolating the amplification potential of ordinary active Twitter users out across DenverChannel's entire direct Twitter posse, it's possible that the station might have 25,000 people or more Twitter users in its secondhand posse," she writes.

According to Gahran, Twitter offers news organizations the opportunity to reach massive audiences - not directly, but through word of mouth. News organizations risk being tunnel-visioned trying to update breaking news on their websites; Twitter, Gahran says, is where they should be looking.

"When something obviously and deliberately different is happening...that's when your news radar should kick in," she said.

"And especially if you already happen to be streaming live coverage, that's when your Twitter radar should kick in, too."

Here are some recent examples of how Twitter is revolutionizing breaking news coverage.

Source: Poynter E-Media Tidbits

The National, a "western" paper recently launched in the United Arab Emirates, has overcome cultural difficulties to achieve success, the Guardian's Roy Greenslade reports.

Despite the inherent challenges of being a western publication in the Middle East, the National is distributing over 65,000 copies daily.

"We have made waves," a senior executive said.

The project of former Daily Telegraph editor Martin Newland, the National was founded approximately two-and-a-half months ago, and was viewed by many experts as a risk. The analytical reporting that marks "western" papers is markedly different from the reporting of UAE papers, which are subjected to government censorship and often publish press releases verbatim.

The National has encountered some resistance as a result of its reporting. The paper has published articles on issues normally left untouched by the UAE press. Examples include pieces on inflation, traffic problems, and the lack of low-cost housing. Though mild by Western standards, the paper's critical articles have bristled the business community..

"In truth, this country and the commercial operatives here have never been audited by the press," said one foreign journalist.

While the National has made leaps of progress, the paper is managing its expectations. Their mission, after all, is unprecedented.

"You have to see this more as a political and social operation than a commercial one," the executive said.

Related:

More National news: The paper recently launched "UAE's first weekly, Arabic-language financial newspaper", SFN Blog reports.

Source: The Guardian

As newsrooms increasingly seek to cut costs and embrace the concept of "mojos" (mobile journalists), some papers are going as far as to remove their journalists' desks from the office.

With the increasing use of laptops, WIFI and other technological innovations, publishers are wondering, is it necessary for journalists to have an office?

No, according to Stephen Borg, Publisher of The Record in Hackensack. The New Jersey-based newspaper is leaving its main building and relocating employees to another newspaper the company owns, The Herald News of West Paterson.

Borg is a firm believer in the concept of office "hoteling". Journalists must now make a reservation for desk time. This means there will be a lot of sharing, but 'hoteling' cuts down on the need for desks, and thus the space those additional desks would require.

Borg said, "I really view this change as "moving out into the field." He envisages mobile journalists working full-time out of the office.

With Borg's changes, the company can save some $2.4 million annually, cutting down on electricity bills, cleaning crews and all the like necessary to keep a building going.

Such innovations are arguably necessary, but it will be interesting to see how these newspapers perform after the changes have been implemented.

Click on the link below for more examples of cost-cutting/efficiency measures at newspapers.

Source: Follow the Media

See also:

UK: BBC integrates newsroom with new media on-demand production unit

US: Mobile journalism is changing the newsrooms

CNN won't go down the mobile news route