Results matching “multimedia empo”

Dubbed the "brown paper envelope for the digital age" by the Guardian when it launched in 2007, Wikileaks, "the online clearinghouse for leaked documents", has been forced to temporarily close in order to raise the funds it requires to continue operations.

Committed to remaining ethical and independent, the website refuses to accept government or corporate funding. Having leaked some 1.2 million sensitive documents online, Wikileaks is the force behind the publication of the British National Party's membership list and attracted attention when it hosted the Minton report - a report detailing oil trader Trafigura's activities at a time when the company's legal representation was desperately trying to keep its contents secret from the press.

The Associated Press is extending its AP Mobile News Network throughout the Americas, with the launch of AP Mobile América Latina, a multimedia wireless news portal that expands the popular AP Mobile news network to its consumers.

The service offers Latin American news sources via AP Mobile en Español, providing international, national and local news from participating news providers in Spanish to consumers in the U.S. and via the new AP Mobile Latina to users throughout Latin America.

CNN.com has revamped its international website today with a greater focus on video and photography and less text clutter. The redesign comes as many news organisations, including the BBC, attempt to keep their homepages up-to-date with changing technologies, the advanced capabilities of the Internet and a general shift in the way people consume news today.

Speaking about the new presentation, Nick Wrenn, CNN's vice president for digital services said: "It's a design change that gives us a more contemporary look, with a new focus on video that brings the site to life."

A new report produced by the publishing arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers - the world's largest professional services company - in conjunction with the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), examines the outlook for newspapers as they seek to realign themselves within a digital framework and minimise the impact of the global recession.

The study identifies interactivity, specialisation and new business models as being key to ensuring the survival of the newspaper in an online age.

Having learnt their lesson from Election Day, US newspapers are determined not to let the potential profit-making madness that is Barack Obama's Inauguration Day slip through their fingers.  The astronomical and unexpected demand for Election Day copies from readers who wanted both information and souvenirs of the historic result left newspapers reeling and print presses smoking.

So on January 20th, nothing will be left to chance.  The Washington Post is so far the publication with the grandest plans; they intend to have an extra afternoon edition on the stands by 2.30pm and are adding a 4-page wraparound special to their usual 6pm edition. Both will be sold at a mark-up, $2 compared to the usual Post price of 75c.  They also plan to have more than 70 journalists in Washington, greatly increased press runs and will employ 500 street 'hawkers' to sell their paper throughout the city.  The Post will release a commemorative edition on the 21st January, which is also selling at $2 per copy - although advance orders are being taken for $9.95.

Obama's hometown paper The Chicago Tribune is cashing in on his success with plans for an afternoon edition, and a promise to keep the presses rolling until demand is satisfied. The New York Times is set to increase its press run by 950,000 after the big day and has revealed plans for an Inauguration themed magazine two days before, as has the Washington Post.  USA Today has decided to release its own two Inauguration magazines, on 20th and 21st January, which will retail at $4.95.

Inauguration is proving to be a great day for citizen journalism too with many, often smaller, publications actively asking for their readers' input. The Journal of Martinsburg, West Virginia for example 'would like to invite all Journal readers to become citizen journalists and help share in the coverage of this historic day.' They are offering readers the chance to post their own photos and stories of the day on a specially dedicated section of their 'Virtual Newsroom'.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is also encouraging their readers to document the day, whether they have tickets or not.

It's not just the newspapers that are determined to make the most of Inauguration Day either.  There are many temporary and slightly out of the ordinary alliances forming - MSNBC coverage of the event will be streamed in 650 Starbucks stores across the country, for example.  Fox News are broadcasting in Times Square for the day, MSNBC will be shown in many theatres and cinemas, and CNN have given permission for their day's footage to be used by a variety of groups (including public school systems).  The AP is planning its 'most comprehensive multiplatform reporting ever' for 20 January, following an increased trend towards multimedia reporting.

The big event offers a timely boost in sales for the struggling media industry, which has been battling the increase of news on the web and the resulting lack of desire for newspapers for some time.  With all the extra copies, special editions, exclusive screenings and increased prices, it seems that demand for news on Inauguration Day is set to exceed all previous events - or so newspaper bosses hope.

Source: Editor & Publisher,  Followthemedia.com, New York Times, Poynter Online

Rich Gordon, Director of Digital Technology in Education at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, argues the necessity to reinvent the journalism production process. And not only does he argue it, he actually outlines a new process.

 Every web-based news source must take great care in providing an efficient layout. For two reasons. Studies have shown that, in a general manner, the print-format of newspapers is still more practical than web versions for cursive visual scans and information retention. The second reason is common sense: since traditional newspapers’ readership is migrating to online, it’s even more essential for them to produce a quality online format. So how do you do it? 

Jennifer Carroll, Gannett's VP for new media content says "We've learned that no one wants to read a 400-column-inch investigative feature online. But when you make them a part of the process they get incredibly engaged."

In the run-up to the US mid-term elections, many news organizations have been using interactives in their website coverage, and often taking advantage of Flash technology to do it.  Are these graphics effective?  Are they worth all the trouble?  Digital media experts Alberto Cairo, Mindy McAdams and Laura Ruel give their assessment, and offer tips for future news website content producers.

Whew! What a turbulent year for the newspaper industry. One would think that after so many developments, positive and negative, that the storm would be ebbing. But 2005 may be just the beginning.

Below are eight trends that the Editors Weblog feels will have major effects on newsrooms in 2006:

1. Print/Online integration becoming the norm
2. Threats against investigative journalism growing
3. More transparency needed
4. Breaches appearing in the free news ideology
5. News agencies competing with newspapers
   
6. Social networking: advantages for newspapers
   
7. Mobile TV threatening mobile news
8. News organizations becoming entertainment companies

Explanations are followed by links to previous related postings. 

Please feel free to comment and add your own ideas.

Happy New Year to all!

 

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle this week tells of the popularity of the social networking site MySpace, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., with music groups trying to gain exposure. The first thing that struck me was, "Why doesn't the Chronicle and newspapers everywhere open themselves up to this digital opportunity?" Essentially what these bands have been doing is loading recordings of their music, pictures and tour dates on to the 22.5 million-user-strong MySpace, complimenting or bypassing altogether the normal process of whirlwind tour advertising and trying to scratch out a living selling homemade cassettes from the back of their rusty rundown equipment van. The article says that about 350,000 bands have already posted their material on MySpace, 3,000 of those coming from the San Francisco Bay Area alone. That's a potential 3,000 opportunities that the Chronicle has missed. Here's why:

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle this week tells of the popularity of the social networking site MySpace, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., with music groups trying to gain exposure. The first thing that struck me was, "Why doesn't the Chronicle and newspapers everywhere open themselves up to this digital opportunity?" Essentially what these bands have been doing is loading recordings of their music, pictures and tour dates on to the 22.5 million-user-strong MySpace, complimenting or bypassing altogether the normal process of whirlwind tour advertising and trying to scratch out a living selling homemade cassettes from the back of their rusty rundown equipment van. The article says that about 350,000 bands have already posted their material on MySpace, 3,000 of those coming from the San Francisco Bay Area alone. That's a potential 3,000 opportunities that the Chronicle has missed. Here's why:

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle this week tells of the popularity of the social networking site MySpace, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., with music groups trying to gain exposure. The first thing that struck me was, "Why doesn't the Chronicle and newspapers everywhere open themselves up to this digital opportunity?" Essentially what these bands have been doing is loading recordings of their music, pictures and tour dates on to the 22.5 million-user-strong MySpace, complimenting or bypassing altogether the normal process of whirlwind tour advertising and trying to scratch out a living selling homemade cassettes from the back of their rusty rundown equipment van. The article says that about 350,000 bands have already posted their material on MySpace, 3,000 of those coming from the San Francisco Bay Area alone. That's a potential 3,000 opportunities that the Chronicle has missed. Here's why:

The New York Times' decision to merge its print and online newsrooms will be looked back on as the tipping point for the future of newsrooms everywhere. It will be considered the moment in history when newspaper organizations realized and began to capitalize on the true potential of the internet. The engines have been purring at the starting line for some time as several smaller papers have already adopted similar strategies, but the Times just waved the green flag and sent them roaring down the track. Powered by the rapid spread of broadband, newspapers the world over will all be racing for the golden cup of multimedia convergence.

One of the reasons that newspapers and TV broadcasters are losing their audience is because there are too many other forms of media attracting their attention. By combining these media, news organizations will retain and attract more customers. A sole piece may just scratch the surface of a story, but packaged with multimedia compliments, the audience will dive deeper, consuming a thorough and educational news experience. Senior VP of digital media at NYT Martin Nisenholtz sees the eventual inclusion of 30 to 40 daily multimedia reports on his paper's website: "(NYT multimedia is) still baby steps, but it's a hell of a lot more robust than even two years ago. Our multimedia now is embedded into the rhythm of the way we produce the Web site, and all of that is done in collaboration with the newsroom."

For the moment, the Grey Lady has said that it will not oblige its staff to adapt to the net, that it expects some resistance. But the fact is, the multimedia race has begun and you'll be disqualified pretty quickly if you don't step on the gas. Ultimately, multimedia internet capabilities will change everything for everybody in the news cycle...

The New York Times' decision to merge its print and online newsrooms will be looked back on as the tipping point for the future of newsrooms everywhere. It will be considered the moment in history when newspaper organizations realized and began to capitalize on the true potential of the internet. The engines have been purring at the starting line for some time as several smaller papers have already adopted similar strategies, but the Times just waved the green flag and sent them roaring down the track. Powered by the rapid spread of broadband, newspapers the world over will all be racing for the golden cup of multimedia convergence.

One of the reasons that newspapers and TV broadcasters are losing their audience is because there are too many other forms of media attracting their attention. By combining these media, news organizations will retain and attract more customers. A sole piece may just scratch the surface of a story, but packaged with multimedia compliments, the audience will dive deeper, consuming a thorough and educational news experience. Senior VP of digital media at NYT Martin Nisenholtz sees the eventual inclusion of 30 to 40 daily multimedia reports on his paper's website: "(NYT multimedia is) still baby steps, but it's a hell of a lot more robust than even two years ago. Our multimedia now is embedded into the rhythm of the way we produce the Web site, and all of that is done in collaboration with the newsroom."

For the moment, the Grey Lady has said that it will not oblige its staff to adapt to the net, that it expects some resistance. But the fact is, the multimedia race has begun and you'll be disqualified pretty quickly if you don't step on the gas. Ultimately, multimedia internet capabilities will change everything for everybody in the news cycle...

The New York Times' decision to merge its print and online newsrooms will be looked back on as the tipping point for the future of newsrooms everywhere. It will be considered the moment in history when newspaper organizations realized and began to capitalize on the true potential of the internet. The engines have been purring at the starting line for some time as several smaller papers have already adopted similar strategies, but the Times just waved the green flag and sent them roaring down the track. Powered by the rapid spread of broadband, newspapers the world over will all be racing for the golden cup of multimedia convergence.

One of the reasons that newspapers and TV broadcasters are losing their audience is because there are too many other forms of media attracting their attention. By combining these media, news organizations will retain and attract more customers. A sole piece may just scratch the surface of a story, but packaged with multimedia compliments, the audience will dive deeper, consuming a thorough and educational news experience. Senior VP of digital media at NYT Martin Nisenholtz sees the eventual inclusion of 30 to 40 daily multimedia reports on his paper's website: "(NYT multimedia is) still baby steps, but it's a hell of a lot more robust than even two years ago. Our multimedia now is embedded into the rhythm of the way we produce the Web site, and all of that is done in collaboration with the newsroom."

For the moment, the Grey Lady has said that it will not oblige its staff to adapt to the net, that it expects some resistance. But the fact is, the multimedia race has begun and you'll be disqualified pretty quickly if you don't step on the gas. Ultimately, multimedia internet capabilities will change everything for everybody in the news cycle...