Results matching “blog from the web”

The Washington Post has decided to cancel its plans to host private, off-the-record dinner parties for political lobbyists at the home of its publisher after criticism from the newsroom at the suggestion that their services were effectively been sold. Publisher Katharine Weymouth was to host dinners that would give paying lobbyists and business leaders access to officials from the Obama administration and Congress, as well as Post journalists.

Politico first reported the story yesterday after obtaining a flier promoting the events that had been given to a healthcare lobbyist. The flier was entitled "Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate" and advertised events with a maximum of 20 guests to discuss major White House policy initiatives, which participating firms could co-sponsor for $25,000 per event, with up to two sponsors per session. There was also an offer for 11 for the price of 10. The theme of the first July dinner was to be health care reform, and WaPo guaranteed the attendance of Obama administration officials and members of Congress as well as reporters.

A new initiative by Associated Northcliffe Digital aimed at small towns in the southwest will introduce 50 hyperlocal sites where community members can write and upload content. The sites are targeted at towns with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants who don't yet have an online news portal to call their own.

Twenty-three of the sites have already launched, including those for Bideford and Redland, while the rest will be up and running by the end of the summer.

The Internet was responsible for Barack Obama's election to the White House, Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post claims. Although this statement will inevitably incite dissenting views, in the context of Huffington's talk on the power of the Internet it does not seem wholly unreasonable. Huffington was speaking at the Activate Conference 09, convened to discuss the social implications of the rise of the Internet and technology.  

The conference reiterated discussions of technological and cultural trends, which are conditioning not only how news needs to be presented, but how these new forms of diffusion can directly affect politics and society.

The American newspaper publisher Gannett plans to get rid of somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 positions, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal. The job cuts will hit the company's 80 local dailies, rather than USA Today.

Former Gannett editor and reporter Jim Hopkins had previously predicted up to 4,500 slashed jobs on his Gannett Blog. He now says there will likely be 600 actual layoffs as a result of the restructuring, naming July 8 as the axe date.

 

Do you speak Twitter? Come on, Tweeple... It's time to get with the program. Yes, you Tweeple, people of the Twitter universe, or Twitterverse. Whether you are a newetter (a new tweeter), an occasionitter (an occasional Tweeter) or a seasoned reportwitters (you guessed it, reporter-style twitterer), an entire range of Twitter vocabulary has arrived. 

Would expanding US copyright law to incorporate news articles help protect newspapers from unfair competition online? Several columnists and commentators have come out on both sides of the issue in the past week, raising questions on the role of online aggregators and the efficacy of any action regarding copyright.

First off, US Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner proposed on his blog that copyright law should be changed to "bar access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing online content without the copyright holder's consent." Essentially, that would mean news aggregators like Google News would have to ask permission each time they linked to a newspaper article. Posner argues that traditional media lose so much revenue by these "free riders" reusing content it will eventually drive newspapers out of business.

Google News and YouTube are extending their collaborative applications in an attempt to attract more news outlets to use their services. The project will target the 25,000 plus news outlets which are already on Google New's source list, to encourage them to join the YouTube partner programme and become an official partner. The aim is to help news publishers generate a larger audience for their video content.  

The plans were announced Sunday on the Google News Blog by YouTube news manager Olivia Ma.

YouTube today launched its Reporter's Centre, an online educational platform where journalists offer advice on reporting and news gathering techniques to would-be citizen reporters.

The centre offers a selection of how-to videos with some of the industry's leading figures giving seminars on core reporting methods, such as how to conduct interviews, how to verify facts and, lessons on maintaining standards and ethics. (See below for a list which reads like a who's who of the news sector.)

When the Ann Arbor News ceases printing in July, Ann Arbor will become the first US city with no daily newspaper. The publication as it exists now will disappear completely, although a new venture, AnnArbor.com, is set to take over local news on the web and will produce a print product two days a week.

In a column for Poynter's The Biz Blog, Rick Edmunds postulates on what factors led to the decline of the News in Ann Arbor, whose vibrant, educated community would appear to be the ideal location for a newspaper. Edmunds even goes so far as to suggest starting over with AnnArbor.com might not be such a bad idea.

Many newspaper readers would agree that word games are an essential component of the newspaper package. Yet, in last Sunday's edition of the New York Times magazine, the Acrostic puzzle had apparently disappeared.

The magazine has been making modifications to economise on newsprint. It has been reduced in size and the puzzle content altered: two Sundays ago the acrostic had moved page, and its original spot filled by a maths puzzle, the KenKen.

This past weekend, Google News announced a new feature to enhance its search engine capabilities. The new feature allows online readers to search for articles and headlines specific to the author that they are interested in by simply clicking on the hyper-linked text of the journalist's name.

The enhancement is designed to aid users to sift through the 25,000 news sources that Google News aggregates. This is exciting news for journalists in the way that it assists them in promoting their work as part of their own brand. The update is great news for readers who are fans of certain writers, too.

The Huffington Post unveiled its newest addition of the HuffPo clan this past Monday. Huffington Post New York, "The Internet Newspaper" features news, blog and video posts from Nora Ephron, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former Mayor Ed Koch, as well as a host of well-known comedians and playwrights. The site is also welcoming of citizen journalist via its Eyes & Ears Citizen Reporting component that boasts citizen journalists of all ages from around the world.

A memo on the front page from Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, explains that the website "features our curated selection of the best New York news coverage, plus a collection of bloggers eager to share their takes on everything from local politics to the city's fashion, food, entertainment, and sports." She goes on to explain the site's partnership with 14 local news outlets in order to reel in hyperlocal coverage.

We live in a world, not a village

The directors of international journalism courses talked about the importance of internationalisation and giving students a chance to interact with other students from around the world in a bid to understand the effects of global media in a local context.

According to Eric Scherer at AFP, the future of journalism will lie in enterprising journalists and their efforts to come up with journalistic solutions that will facilitate the communication process and continuously revise the business models in place. He also believes that a new mindset will eventually need to replace the typical journalist's attitude of today, as well as in the value of a broad general knowledge base - something that internationalisation makes possible.

As the controversy over the recent election in Iran and the subsequent media response have made abundantly clear, social media like Twitter are playing an increasing role in the world of journalism. While today's working journalists must learn how these tools will affect their jobs on the fly, j-schools have a great opportunity to instruct the next generation of journalists before they enter the newsroom.

In a column on Mashable, Vadim Lavrusik - himself a journalism student at Columbia University - outlines "10 Ways Journalism Schools Are Teaching Social Media." Lavrusik spoke with professors and deans at some of the top j-schools in the US, who told him how their respective schools have integrated lessons about how new technology can assist in reporting and provide a tool for promotion and self-branding on the web. The questions Lavrusik raises regarding ethics and social media are perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the article, and could have real consequences for students.

The Washington Post recently took the unusual step of publishing a long investigative reporting piece on a local homicide only on its website, rather than in the print paper. Even though many articles are published online first and then in print, it has become common practice to publish in-depth pieces which are not breaking news in the print paper first, and the Washington Post's move is somewhat of a break with tradition.

The 7,000 word article on the unsolved murder of Robert Wone appeared on the Post's website in two parts, on May 31 and June 1. It is, however, the "sort of long-form reporting that newspaper editors say still justifies print in the digital age," according to the New York Times. And unsurprisingly, keeping the article out of the print edition angered many readers who pay for the newspaper, with comments on the article questioned the move.

Earlier this week, the Huffington Post replaced CEO Betsy Morgan with media-industry venture capitalist Eric Hippeau. The change seems intended to mark a new era for the news aggregator site as it seeks to capitalize on its immense popularity.

"In our space, staying still doesn't work," Arianna Huffington told paidContent.org. "You can't stand still. We need to keep monetizing our traffic at a higher level - and we need to keep expanding. Everything on the internet is accelerated; we need to accelerate."

On Monday the Washington Post offered its readers ground breaking coverage on Mexico's drug war. The project, "Journey Along the Border," is an on-the-ground look at the Mexico drug war from some of the most dangerous border sites. To coincide with the launch, the Post also offers an in-depth look at assailants targeting drug addicts in Ciudad Juarez.

The series, "Journey Along the Border" will last for the duration of the week-and-a-half trip during which Mexican Bureau Chief, William Booth and Emmy Award-winning video producer, Travis Fox will travel through the border from El Paso/Ciudad Juarez to San Diego/Tijuana. Another component of their travels will consist of interviewing a variety of people from ordinary area residents to U.S. Border Patrol Agents. A map of their journey is also posted online to track the duo's progress. 

Joining the rising trend of niche news on the web, UK publishers the Yorkshire Evening Post and KM Group are set to launch several hyperlocal sites and for the communities surrounding Leeds and Kent, respectively.

The Yorkshire Evening Post will introduce 20 sites for the Leeds region containing news, information, sports and entertainment. Most sites will also feature audio and video

The latest word on the web suggests that Google is planning to launch its own micro-blog search service.  According to the unofficial Google Operating Systems, the venture will index and rank content from micro-blogging websites, such as Twitter.  If successful, the project will reaffirm Google's dominant position in the search market, adjusting to the rapid fire pace of the micro-blogging world.  Micro-blogs tend to be shorter, posted quickly or at the 'real-time' of events.


The Google micro-blogging application will be development of its existing Google Blog Search.  It will be incorporated into the search engine and work on the basis that key words recurring in recent searches will initiate a micro-blog search. 

For journalists constantly on the prowl for new ways to brand themselves, the Facebook gods have an answer, one that may turn out to be the ultimate name game. Previously, 'Facebookers' were simply assigned a random number as the URL of their personal page. But no longer.

With the advent of Facebook "usernames", Facebookers will have the opportunity to create a specific URL for themselves. Usernames will be available at http://facebook.com/username as of Saturday, June 13 at 12:01 am EST.

The Apple iPhone 3GS, premiered yesterday at Apple Inc's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, boasts an array of important new features for the newspaper industry and journalism at large. Perhaps most pertinent is the development that content can now be purchased from within iPhone applications. This new functionality presents newspapers with the opportunity to employ subscription and micro-payment structures to monetize the delivery of their content to their mobile phone readership.

Given the recent developments in the newspaper industry, such as the 'secret' meeting held in Chicago organised by the Newspaper Association of America to discuss how to monetise online content, it seems the question is no longer whether papers will begin charging online, but when, and how. And with regards to the iPhone 3GS, will they allow readers to continue to access their content for free, maybe making it harder to shift them to a pay structure in the future, or will newspapers seize this opportunity and begin charging readers as soon as the new OS is released?

The New York Times Company has released a statement declaring that it does not foresee closing the Boston Globe "at this time," but has apparently hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to manage the possible sale of the paper, reported the Globe's website Boston.com. The company plans to request bids for the daily in the next couple of weeks, the Globe has learnt from people who say they might make an offer on the paper.

One of the Globe's sources said that this does not "mean they have said they are going to sell it. They've just said they are willing to entertain bids. But it sure indicates an interest." Ever since the first closure threat in early April, speculation has been rife that the company might be preparing to sell the paper. The proposed wage cuts and moves to end lifetime job guarantees would make the paper a more attractive purchase. Times Co and Globe executives have declined to comment on the matter.

Classifieds website Craigslist has provided a noteworthy boost to alt-weeklies' adult classifieds revenue after its recent policy change that requires closer regulation of its adult-services classified ads.  This is an ironic turn of events for the online colossus of classifieds that has wrought havoc on its competition, in print and online, ever since 2005.

The Washington City Paper reported increases in adult ads of 38% compared to one year ago, a change Andrew Beaujon from the paper's City Desk blog correlates directly to Craigslist's tougher regulation of their adult ads. Beaujon reminisces that for alt-weeklies like his, "Craigslist's free classifieds were an extinction-level event." But now Craigslist's requires would-be adult-services advertisers to waver that their posts contain no "content that is unlawful, pornographic, or which advertises illegal services", no ads "suggesting or implying an exchange of sexual favors for money", and no "pornographic images, or images suggestive of an offer of sexual favors.". These stricter standards have driven adult advertisers away from Craigslist, resulting in the higher figures for the local papers and free weeklies that used to account for so much of the classifieds market.

The NYT is taking its citizen journalism project seriously. 'The Local', its online section dedicated to all things community based, is delegating reporting roles to eager citizens, asking them to cover local body meetings.  

The 'missions' are posted on the website, alongside instructions and relevant information.  To sign up, enthusiasts just have to express their interest on the site, and wait to receive further 'training' and directions.  

London court reporting agency, Strand News, is looking forward to emerging from a spell of grave financial uncertainty, Press Gazette reported today. 

News desks around the UK were alerted to the failing financial status of the news agency last week.  The news that the company, which provides an essential service to newspapers in judiciary coverage, could be dead by the end of the year was revealed in a letter from the editor, James Brewster.