Results matching “can freely use s”

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

In April 2007, French regional newspaper Le Télégramme launched an original online offer: a miniature, daily, television-type news report.

At the time, the experiment was hailed as most innovative in the French regional paper landscape. Has that particular format borne its fruits though?

Télégramme and JT Web

The paper built a studio within its newsroom at a relatively low cost, about €70,000 including two professional cameras, an editing console and lighting. The paper hired a professional broadcast journalist to produce daily video footage with professional standards (about one original report daily, sometimes two). The actual news show, dubbed 'JT Web', lasts about five minutes. It is staffed by four of the paper's journalists, who come from diverse backgrounds and desks, on a rotating basis. It is published every weekday at 5pm.

Each journalist compiles video content shot by the videojournalist, gets a share of his or her own footage or carries out short interviews with the paper's journalists, and serves as an anchor for the news report. Each underwent a 4-week training program. They attend the morning news meeting and pick out the stories that will have most visual relevance.

The JT Web has helped to expand Le Télégramme's multimedia coverage. However, the televised format of the JT Web has borne disappointing results traffic-wise. Of the roughly 40,000-50,000 daily unique visitors to the website, there are only between 1,000-3,500 video downloads, depending on the news event.

In these baby steps of online video though, editors shouldn't be excessively concerned by eyeballs, as the JT Web served more important purposes, helping to modernize the newsroom's culture.

Video fueled newsroom convergence

The 'JT Web' was launched with two main purposes. One was to "surf on the growing enthusiasm for video news coverage" that was emerging on all the major international news sites, said Olivier Clech, Digital editor at Le Télégramme. Secondly - and as importantly in Clech's view - the JT Web was a good way to engage in cultural change within the newsroom (which isn't integrated but Clech would like it to be), by creating curiosity amongst journalists.

"Video was a lever to trigger evolution," he said. It was both used to fulfill the audience's needs and made journalists " realize that multimedia was inevitable." This doesn't mean that all of the paper's 200 journalists will regularly produce multimedia coverage, but the JT Web was a good way to make them more Web-friendly.

For the last municipal elections in March 2008, the Télégramme organized diverse video coverage to complement its print and online stories. Video interviews were shot with editors of the paper's local editions ("100% print people") to discuss the details of the elections. On election day, the Télégramme gathered spontaneous reactions from voters and politicians, and provided video analysis from its main offices.



Newspaper video: towards on-demand, news YouTubes

According to Clech, the JT Web's televised news format was a good way for the paper to tackle video, since it required a rigorous and structured approach. But it doesn't fall in line with the expectations of the online audience, "which is a more of a consumer of short video sequences." Most Web users seek short and diversified on-demand clips. The JT Web may have also suffered from insufficient visibility on the homepage, lack of broadband penetration and a relatively slow server.

In the future, the JT Web could be scrapped, or perhaps the Télégramme will save this format for talk shows, profiles or select news items. The TV news report format simply doesn't bring enough people. And there seems to be a disconnect between waiting on videos of 'hot' breaking news until the 5pm news report, instead of publishing them immediately.

Clech couldn't give too many details, but the paper is working on its next set of video offerings, which could include a larger selection of on-demand video clips, which users could freely browse. Content would be more systematically indexed to make it easy for readers to find and share. Sounds familiar? Perhaps there could even be some participatory features...

Last but not least, Clech reminded: "Let's not focus on the platform, and instead keep doing our jobs." That's the secret.


Stay tuned for Part 2, with an interview with Ian Vaile, Director of Digital Productions at Fairfax Media in Australia.

Source: Olivier Clech, Digital Editor-in-Chief at Le Télégramme

Some people may think that blogs do not have credibility since they are usually associated with pretentious reporting based on gossip. But New York Times Blogger Saul Hansell doesn't see the difference between blogs and reviews, columns, and first-person features. He argues that many newspaper blog posts are more analytical and casual than typical news articles, and at the Times, the standard for fairness and reporting are the same for blogs and articles.

The benefits of newspaper blogs, according to Hansell, are that they allow readers, competitors, and sources to comment and engage in more instantaneous and accessible discussion than in the newspaper format. Blogs also enhance an article by adding more information and opening up discussions that flow from the original article. For example, Hansell provides some history about AOL's top ad job to supplement a story he wrote with NYT reporter Louise Story for the paper.

He dismisses the idea of renaming blogs as "RealTime Reporting", which attempts to establish a separate brand identity. As with anything on a newspaper, readers have the power to decide if a blog, or whatever they choose to call it, is worth their time.

In respone, Miande, a reader of Hansell's blog, writes that blogging "detracts from the time, concentration and energy required to conduct authentic reporting. It is sad to see once-reputable news organizations transform themselves into "reality" programs."

On the other hand, Lynn E, another reader of Hansell's, believes that blogs are a "service to the community" because people can express themselves freely on topics that can be "disruptive."  "If anyone ever got out of hand," she writes, "simply [do not] go back to the site, no harm done."

Source: The New York Times

According to Ground Reports, 2008 will be the year citizen journalism evolves, after having cemented its establishment in 2007. Leaders such as Newsvine, NowPublic, Orato and Digital Journal offer many similar features: proprietary content submission tools, community ratings, and even some occasional revenue share. But it’s “how these players break out of the pack in the coming year (that) will determine everything.”

The article summarizes its key predictions on what to expect from citizen journalism in 2008:
 

According to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service, 56% of the 11,344 people interviewed in 14 countries thought that freedom of the press was very important to ensure a free society. But 40% said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press's freedom to report news truthfully.

The French regional daily press is preparing to jointly publish a magazine supplement next spring, which will be distributed freely at one million copies.

Nicolas Beytout, who was editor of the Figaro for three years, is readying to head LVMH’s media division, the DI Group. In an interview with Le Monde, he shows himself reassuring towards the employees of Les Echos, recently acquired by LVMH.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is trying out a new way use Web 2.0 in order to engage new voices in the public debate. The paper is inviting the 26 candidates for the City Council to come express their views on its editorial board blog.

Decreasing circulation and the new media challenge to traditional newspapers prompted Japanese newspapers to cooperate in a digital consortium, Ko Yamaguchi, special advisor of the Kyodo News Agency, told the last session of the 14^th World Editors Forum

A partnership between the Associated Press and Attributor, a California-based technology company, will help track AP content anywhere on the Web. “We are looking at it not just to protect our rights but to derive some intelligence,” said Srinandan Kasi, vice president, general counsel and secretary of AP. 

According to a Swiss radio station, publisher Tamedia is preparing to publish its francophone 20 Minutes freebie seven days a week, starting this fall. A new Swiss-German paper could also be freely distributed in mailboxes.

Microsoft Corporation has prepared to launch an attack on rival Google, arguing that the latter’s growth in new media markets has been at the expense of book, video and software publishers. A Mircrosoft official was very explicit in calling out Google’s practices.

Mike Curtin, associate publisher of The Columbus Dispatch, predicted that metropolitan dailies, including his, will turn towards more local content, and less general news, which will be available online for free. He also foresaw regional newspapers agreeing to share content.

Stephen G. Smith, former head of the Houston Chronicle’s Washington Bureau, is leaving in order to become editor for the Washington Examiner, a two-year-old freesheet. Just why?

Founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales claims that newspaper websites should use wikis as a vital tool to post news that wouldn’t conventionally be published. And European online news aggregator Wikio just secured over $5 million in funding.

The Wall Street Journal hits US newsstands today with an entirely redesigned print version. Nearly half a million now-compact papers will be freely distributed today. The online version, WSJ.com, the largest subscription online news site, will also be free today.

Press freedom is still severely restrained in Egypt and in many Middle Eastern countries in general, but the blog generation may seriously affect the State-censored press landscape.

In just about thirty years, Spain’s free press developed, from State-overlooked agencies, into a far-reaching industry. A brief look at today’s numbers.