Results matching “trusted use your asset”

The media coverage of the shock death of Michael Jackson has served to highlight press dynamics, raising interesting questions concerning the nature of breaking news reporting, the cult of the celebrity and the relationship between newspapers and their online news rivals. Has the fact that most newspapers were delayed in the initial reporting of the death emphasised the widening gulf between print and digital channels of breaking news? Conversely, has the death been exploited by the printed press as a facile, reader guaranteeing hit?

The news of the performer's death, in terms of rumour, confirmation and reaction has been overwhelmingly 'digital' in expression. The scoop belonged to the Los Angeles based celebrity website, TMZ, which confirmed the death an hour after it aired whispers of a suspected heart attack. The reporting was rapid fire: time of death: 2.26pm, LA time, time of update: 2.44pm. 

Following the Iranian election on 12 June, which both sides claim to have won, Iranians and the rest of the world wants to know the truth about the results, as well as wanting to follow protests and other developments. But this has proved more difficult than anticipated given the restrictions on reporting, both by Iranians and foreigners, and the occasion proved to be an opportunity for citizen journalism to show its value.

Reporting restrictions

Mainstream media has been suffering from severe restrictions in Iran, even tougher than during last year's Zimbabwean elections, foreign editor for Channel 4 News Ben de Pear told the Guardian. Foreign journalists first had to get special press cards and were closely monitored, then on the Tuesday following the election, foreign journalists were banned from reporting on the streets. The BBC's correspondent has been asked to leave the country after the broadcaster was accused of supporting rioters. And it is not just foreign reporters who are suffering: now even reporters of Iranian nationality are being confined to their offices. According to Reporters without Borders (RSF), 26 Iranian journalists, editors and bloggers have been imprisoned since June 14.

Citizen video becomes a symbol

In the absence of an abundance of professional reporters, amateurs have stepped up. One of the most watched and discussed videos to come out of the tragedy, and one which is emblamatic of the role of citizen journalism in reporting from Iran, is that of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young Iranian woman who was walking near the scene of clashes between pro-government militias and demonstrators when she was shot. The video has prompted international outcry and the girl's death has since come to represent the tragedy of the conflict, a "symbol of the anti-government movement," according to the New York Times. It was taken, not by a reporter with a camera, but by a bystander on a mobile phone, and posted on Facebook and YouTube after the man sent the 40-second clip to a friend who then forwarded to friends and news sites in Europe and the US.

A Twitter revolution?

Talk of a Twitter revolution swiftly spread as Iranians and others in the country used the social network Twitter to get their news out to the world, and it has been used extensively by the media. Twitter is particularly effective as a method of spreading news as it is harder to censor, given that it can be accessed via various different applications on computers or mobile phones, as well as via the website. #IranElection has been the top trending topic on Twitter for days, with thousands of updates an hour using the hash tag to get included in the feed and direct interested observers to text, image or video content. Following a request from US President Obama, Twitter decided to delay maintenance to the site in light of the important role it was playing in keeping people informed, carrying it out during Tehran's night rather than daylight hours.

Twitter is clearly not immune to censorship, however. The following message has been passed around Facebook over the last few days amongst Anglo-Saxon users:

"FREEDOM OF SPEECH: If anyone is on twitter, set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians' access to the internet down. Cut & paste & pass it on."

Amateur issues

Clearly, there are problems with relying on information generated by amateurs. Benoit Hervieu of RSF told Editor & Publisher that one of the main problems is that because many people want to remain anonymous, it is harder to verify information. And indeed, it seems that much false information has been circulating. After Twitter was hailed as the voice of the revolution, a backlash quickly emerged asserting its unreliability. There is always the possibility, after all, that interested parties might deliberately try to misinform, or might be so personally involved in the debate that they cannot maintain impartiality. And one of the disadvantages of a campaign such as that mentioned above, encouraging international Twitter users to set their locations to Iran, could end up misleading journalists searching for information on the network.

So how are citizen journalism agencies dealing with these risks and challenges?

Checking for reliability is a top priority for those trying to sell their content to traditional media companies. Citizen journalism agency Demotix has obtained many images from freelancers and amateurs portraying events in Iran, including two pictures which have appeared on the front page of the New York Times. Demotix COO Jonathan Tepper emphasised that Demotix understands the importance of reliability of sources and "believes that serious citizen journalism needs to take all the ethics of traditional reporting and build on them, such as verifiability and protection of sources." All submissions go through a vetting procedure which includes looking at the metadata in photos.

Citizenside, which specializes in citizen photo journalism, has managed to get hold of some good images which have been published by mainstream media outlets, but co-founder Matthieu Stefani said that it has been "really hard" both to establish contacts in Iran and to receive images from these contacts. "The big issue is that most of the contributions we've received were sent through proxies, with most of the time no way to contact our contributors as cellphone networks don't work really well," he explained, and therefore his team is extremely cautious about what they accept. He said that the photos that the agency has been pushing most to its clients were received from known and trusted members in the UK who were sent them by close relatives in Iran.

The Observers, a project run by TV news station France 24 combining citizen journalism with professional editing, has been active in its coverage of Iran. Founder of the initiative Julien Pain told the EW that what makes their coverage particularly useful is the fact that they already had trusted contacts in Iran before the election, and hence they have fewer problems with establishing the reliability of sources of information, particularly when using proxy servers. "We worked with these people before the situation was tense," he explained, "so we know them." He gave the example of a girl who has recorded a video describing how the censorship works, with whom he and his team had already worked. Prior to any major election, Pain added, the Observers tries to enlarge its network of contacts, which in this case proved particularly useful. Even using trusted contacts, Pain said that the Observers still cross-checks information as far as possible.

Amra Tareen, CEO of AllVoices, a project that aggregates professional and amateur news on one site, has a different approach: publish everything and let the reader decide. She said that the site has received more than 1,000 submissions, in English and Farsi, since the election, gathered via proxy servers as the AllVoices site is blocked. She stressed that submissions have tackled both sides of the issue and that this is one of the most crucial aspects of citizen journalism and of her site in particular: that anyone can be heard. "we're neutral and anyone can have their voices heard on our platform--that's key for the credibility of citizen journalism; bias will undermine the concept and keep citizen journalism and citizen journalists from ever being taken as seriously as they ought to be."

Generally it seems that such a situation where media access is severely reduced has provided citizen journalism with a significant opportunity to prove its importance. Tareen commented that "we really want to use this opportunity to show that Cit-J is not only about massive amount of non-qualified content, but also good "pro-am" work that we have been promoting for years now," said Stefani.

Getting pictures on the front page of a major daily is likely to be a huge boost to Demotix in terms of fame and credibility. Tepper was clear that Demotix is trying to supplement mainstream media rather than replace it, but said that "we think our reporting can sometimes be more accurate than the mainstream media" because "most of our users record what is known to them, in their city or country" and therefore "Demotix images provide a more accurate representation of the subject from a local perspective."

For the Observers, the situation has provided an opportunity for collaboration with the TV station on an unprecedented level. Usually, Pain said, he would publish a video on the Observers website and offer it to TV, now he has been working more with programming at France 24 to supply them with videos first before putting them online, to offer a period of exclusivity. "We've really moved a step forward here," he said. "We have learnt how to work together, and it's not going to be the same any more."

Although amateur 'citizen journalists' do not have the knowledge or expertise to analyse developments the way a professional journalist could, they can certainly witness and record events, and when traditional media coverage is limited, this is a valuable service. In terms of providing a true news service, amateur contributions must be verified so that readers can trust them, which is a priority for citizen journalism agencies. As opportunities continue to arise for citizen journalism to prove its value, the mainstream media is likely to incorporate it with increasing frequency and develop new ways of working closer with citizen journalism agencies.

The trusted and often dubbed 'journalist's bible,' has jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. The 2009 edition of The Associated Press Stylebook includes updates with the lingo of the much-hailed and rapidly growing micro-blogging site, Twitter.com, and other entries to remain current with the ever changing written word.

The verb phrases, "to Twitter", and "to Tweet" are now recognized and validated by the prestigious Associated Press as "Twitter" is described as a social networking website where users can emit, "Tweets," or short messages. Another term now defined in the 2009 edition that describes short messages, but is not necessarily exclusive to the Twitter-sphere, is "text" and its cousins, "texting" and "texted."

Poynter's Romenesko blog has published a memo from MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton and president Jody Lodovic to the group's employees which explains that the company is planning to charge for online content, to revamp its websites and to build new local information sites. The memo, originally sent on May 8, is the result of a recent executive meeting on the company's interactive strategy.

The interactive summit was meant to address "three daunting challenges" that the company is facing. The first is that "we continue to do an injustice to our print subscribers and create perceptions that our content has no value by putting all of our print content online for free." As well as reducing print circulation, this "devalues the core of our business - the great local journalism we (and only we) produce on a daily basis." The second is that "our interactive revenue growth has slowed because it has been too closely tied to our print classified business, which has suffered with the advent of Craigslist" and others. Thirdly, "we are not significantly extending the reach of our audience, as our online products too closely resemble the newspaper, and thus fail to meaningfully read the next generation of readers."

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.

This week Marty Kaiser, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, will become the new president of the American Association of News Editors (ASNE). However, since ASNE canceled its annual convention, which was scheduled to begin April 26 in Chicago, the ceremonial passing of the gavel will not take place, and Kaiser will not have the opportunity to address ASNE members with a speech.

In an interview with Poynter, Kaiser mostly stresses that ASNE must take a leadership role in the future of journalism, to protect it in a time of crisis. "Our industry's business model is broken," he says, "but we as journalists have an obligation to protect, nurture and build trusted news coverage that is necessary to our democracy." He believes that newsrooms and companies need a goal to rally around, and that goal should be to concentrate on what journalism can do for communities. Editors and journalists must continue to fight: "The urgency could never be greater to take chances, be creative and use new technology to be more meaningful."

Leading technology experts and bloggers discussed news aggregators and social recommendation sites at a panel at South by Southwest Interactive, the 'tech fest' conference in Austin, Texas (Twitter search #SXSWi). Guardian writer Jemima Kiss described how the panel debated the merits of automated versus human aggregation.

For example, Micah Baldwin of Lijit Networks believes that the networks and tools we build to aggregate links replicate our trust relationships: meaning that people like to look at links from bloggers or news sites that they trust. Several of the panel also deemed the Google Reader's shared links function as very important as it adds an element of social recommendation.

GroundReport, a global citizen journalism initiative, has partnered with the WorldFocus programme from WNET, parent company of two New York public television stations, to create 'Talk To Us', a segment that asks for global views on top news stories.

The segment will include citizen-produced videos in response to questions and topics that are relevant to the programme's international news coverage. Contributors can upload their news reports via YouTube or GroundReport.com, where they will earn a revenue share, said Rachel Sterne, CEO of GroundReport. GroundReport.com has a network of 3,500 international contributors who publish breaking news articles, videos and photos, which are vetted by a trusted corps of trained editors. Anyone can join, and participants earn money.

To mark the relaunch of the Editors Weblog, the World Editors Forum is running a special series entitled "Doing More with Less." The series highlights major trends that editors-in-chief are using to steer their newsrooms through the difficult economic climate. The eighth in the series takes a look at France24's The Observers, which provides professionally-edited citizen journalism.

The Observers is a France24 venture launched in December 2007, which combines citizen journalism with professional editing.  Only three full time staff work on the project, yet it operates two versions of its website (one in English, one in French), has just started a weekly radio show and is about to start a weekly television slot. The Editors Weblog spoke to Julien Pain, Founder and Editor of the site, about its work.

How it works: zooming in and zooming out

The Observers is a collaborative website, with "professional content and an international scope," stressed Pain. The site displays a series of documents - either photos or videos - taken by amateurs from around the world. According to Pain, "you won't see a photo taken by a professional journalist on the site." Editors, based in Paris, then provide some background information on each document and 'observers' from the country it discusses will comment. The idea is to zoom in on a small anecdote and then zoom out, placing it within a wider context.  The stories picked to follow might be connected to well-known breaking news items, or might be about something which is relatively unknown to readers. Occasionally an extraordinary item will come to light, such as a short video sent in by a policeman in Gaza, which shows the entrance to an alleged tunnel linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

Who are the Observers?

As well as the three full time staff in Paris, about a dozen freelancers have been taken on as 'regional editors,' and they are paid for their time but only work when required.  Most of the documents used come from the 700 'observers' around the world who essentially act as trusted contacts. The idea is to receive information from people who are on the scene of whatever story is being told. They are used as local sources, Pain explained, "we don't try to make them into reporters. We use their expertise and local knowledge." He always looks for truly local contacts, "I am not going to get somebody in Beijing to comment on something that happened 3000km away in the Sichuan province," he insisted.  When possible, Pain always tries to get people native to the country to 'observe,' rather than French or English people living abroad, as they obviously tend to have a better knowledge of the local language and culture. Anybody who goes to the Observers site can register as a "friend" and is free to comment or contact the site, and those 'friends' who provide useful information over a course of time will be invited to become Observers. Pain hopes that the already substantial network will grow further.

Observers are not reporters: "We use their expertise and local knowledge"

Blog-style site breaks down barriers

The site takes advantage of the best aspects of a blog, but maintains professional direction. The site has the informal tone of a blog; it aims to be "smooth and easy to read," commentated Pain. He believes that "blogs have broken down the barrier between journalists and readers. Now on a blog, you can talk to your readers." The Observers hopes to be part of a dialogue, allowing comments on all stories and responding to reader reactions. "We are always very clear about what we do know, and what we don't," Pain clarified: for instance if the date of a photo is known but the exact location has not been proved, and this is where readers' knowledge could come in useful. He added that readers are asked "to provide information and links to update the story," and he occasionally specifically asks if people can check or verify content. "The story doesn't stop when it's published," Pain explained, and editors will frequently go back and add or change things.

Essential professional editing

What differentiates the Observers from other similar citizen journalism projects linked to traditional media outlets, such as CNN's iReport, is that although much content is produced by amateurs, everything is professionally checked and edited. Fact checking is a time consuming process, Pain explained, but crucial to maintain the validity of the site. "Amateur content is far more valuable if edited by professional journalists," he believes, as when faced with the vast amount of citizen produced content available on the web, it is difficult to know what is reliable. The Observers is confident that is can be a trusted source, and the confirmation process often involves checking facts with more than one contact. Pain also explained that he would feel very uncomfortable about associating unverified information with The Observers' parent brand, France24.

"Amateur content is far more valuable if edited by professional journalists"

What's next?

The Observers has just started a weekly 15 minute radio show in partnership with Radio France Internationale. The idea is to take a document and analyse it, with an expert on the subject matter, and then Pain explains how the Observers obtained it. A television slot on France24 is expected to follow shortly; it will be along similar lines, but just five minutes long. The same content will be used for all three platforms - online, radio and television - but will be presented in different ways. Pain also hopes to start an Arabic version of the site soon, and possibly increase staff numbers.

Pain was clear that the Observers' work does not intend to replace professional journalism, rather it hopes to provide an alternative voice in the news media world, where so often, almost identical stories will be published countless times. The site is likely to fascinate anybody interested in international news, and the model is extremely innovative, with an impressive output considering its tiny number of full time staff. The Observers has found a way to validate citizen journalism and turn amateur content into something more valuable, and this could well be a model used more frequently in the future as news outlets struggle with limited resources.

Unlike many major newspapers across Europe and the United States who are jumping on the integration bandwagon, Le Figaro has kept its print and online operations separate and intends for them to stay that way. It is, however, working hard to develop its website and keep up with online trends, as well as investing in printing plants. The Editors Weblog spoke with Bertrand Gié, Director of the department of new media at Le Figaro and Luc De Barochez, Editor in Chief at Figaro.fr, to get a better understanding of the paper's unique strategy for print, online and new media.

Strategy: Le Système Figaro

According to De Barochez, Le Figaro is unique because integration is not its objective, it has no interest in fusing print and online together.  De Barochez explained that it was a matter of specializing in two different types of media; to him print journalism is something entirely different from online journalism.  "We think that the web journalists have a specific job, that the Internet is a specific media and it's a new type of journalism that is developing - a multimedia journalism. Journalism for the daily paper is something completely different," De Barochez told the EW.  At Le Figaro, although print and online journalists work closely together, they remain independent of one another.

Investing in print    

This separation echoes the universal strategy of Le Figaro; they believe in both media and strongly support the development and integration of new media and their website, however they also believe that print is a core foundation of the brand.  Gié confirmed this belief when he described the construction of a new printing plant in the north of France due to open in September of this year.  Last year they completed a new plant in the south of France; their aim this time around is to recreate the same thing in the north, but also allowing them to "produce a brand new Figaro with a new format, and significantly reduce printing hours."

Gié went on to explain what a monumental investment this is; "In an epoch where everyone talks only of online editions and the disappearance of paper, we are, without a doubt, the only group in France to have constructed two new ultra-modern plants.  So it is very important to understand that there is a strong investment in new media, but that doesn't mean that the paper is dead."  Of course, as Gié confirmed, there is a lot of work involved in making a paper profitable while retaining its high quality, "there were a few layoffs in 2008, but that's doesn't signify the end of the paper, we are not abandoning our paper, absolutely the opposite."

Newsroom

The newsroom of Le Figaro's paper edition is made up of nearly 300 journalists, while just 30 work for the online edition. De Barochez described the layout of the web newsroom: it is a large open space is divided into four sections, economy and finance, women, sport, and news (which covers everything else, including managing the homepage).  The online newsroom is in the same building as the daily paper, allowing them to communicate easily with the print journalists.

The website

Figaro.fr was relaunched in 2005, before then, according to Gié, "it basically didn't exist," with only five people working on the site and no clear strategy of how to develop the content.  Now, Figaro.fr is the number one site in France with 5.3 million unique visitors per month, leading second place Le Monde with 4.4 unique visitors monthly.  Gié explained that the goal was for the site to be the biggest and most comprehensive portal, so they combined all of the sites and publications of the Figaro Group on Figaro.fr.  

Together but not connected

According to De Barochez, much of the online content comes from the print version and magazines owned by Le Figaro.  Although the print and online journalists work separately, they collaborate fairly often.  The print journalists are not required to write for the website and have the choice to place their articles online or not.

 De Barochez explained the different ways in which the work of print journalists goes online. Firstly, an article written for the print version could be simply reproduced online.  Secondly, when exclusive, breaking news is obtained by a print journalist, they would collaborate with the online department in order to put the news up quickly.  They write a short summary and go back and produce a more in-depth analysis.  A third possibility concerns Le Figaro's online video content, which is all created and edited in-house at its television and editing studio.  For example, a print journalist will interview a person for an online video, or a print journalist will be interviewed on a certain subject that he or she is a specialist in.

Integration

Gié acknowledged that building the website and all of its content was a lot of work, but they did it "step by step," never forcing print journalists into the realm of new media, rather allowing them to voluntarily adapt and work in collaboration when they wished.

Gié maintains that the key to successfully integrating the site into the daily workings of the newspaper was to produce a high quality website that remained independent from the print version.  "We were able to make a good site on our own and slowly we have introduced it to the print journalists and they have grown to accept it as part of the paper."  According to Gié, as of today still not all print journalists contribute to the website, but most of them are drawn to the quality of the site and they are "eager to participate."

The other new media: E-papers and Mobile technology

As for the electronic newspaper, Gié believes (for now) it is a niche technology, and "as long as the designs remain as they are, a little heavy, in black and white, with a navigation system that is not very intuitive, it will remain a niche technology - for businessmen and for people who travel."  But, he finds the e-paper to be a technology that has the potential to develop into something very interesting for newspapers.

Gié believes that mobile phones are "very different, because traffic on mobiles is very important," and there have been significant improvements in mobile technology in the last few years.  Before, all the "operations and platforms were locked by the operators, you had to pass through the operators, it was complicated and expensive."  But now, there are mobile sites and portals that are designed for mobile users and allow them to easily access content online.  According to Gié, because of this, Le Figaro's iPhone site now has an audience of over 100,000 per month and growing since its launch.

Social Networking with Mon Figaro

Gié explained that interaction with readers is key at Le Figaro.  So in 2007, Le Figaro became the first mainstream news site in France to open all of its articles to comments.  Because it worked so well, with over one million comments on the site in the first year, they realized that it was a system that was very important to their readers - their ability to express themselves and interact with the content.  

They also realized that "people really wanted to communicate amongst themselves, and they started to communicate with each other and we really wanted to give them the tools to better manage their commentary."  So in November 2008, Le Figaro launched social networking tool Mon Figaro using a basic platform, which allows "users on Figaro.fr to place other users as favorites and to follow their activities."  Gié confirmed that 2009 will bring additional developments to Mon Figaro.

Personalized News

Gié believes that personalized news is "important but not fundamental."  For the last two years, Le Figaro has been allowing readers to personalize their page through Net Vibes.  However, Gié feels that because there is so much information on the Internet, it is hard for users to select what is worth reading.  For the most part, they select who is going to organize and sort the information for them, in most cases a trusted site like Le Figaro or The New York Times.  Otherwise, they have to select and find the information themselves, which is always  time consuming.  Gié sees Le Figaro's online role as a trusted brand that "provides news based on the notion that our readers want us to select it for them."

Le Figaro's active development of both its print product and website is admirable, and it will be interesting to see whether the paper maintains its separated operations or follows the example of other high profile papers such as the Washington Post, the Guardian, and El Pais, who, after initial reluctance, eventually caved in and integrated their newsrooms. 

The New York Times has partnered with Facebook following its success from its Election Day campaign and CNN's announcement that it will partner with Facebook for inauguration day.  The new partnership is designed to compile users comments to the question, "What should Barack Obama address first as President?"

The move highlights how the mainstream media is tapping into social networking both within their sites and through other social networking sites.  So far, over 35,000 comments have been received and the conversation will continue on inauguration day when the NYT asks "How will you remember today?"

Executive Editor of PBS's MediaShift Mark Glaser offered a "Guide to Alternative Models for Newspapers" in response to all the problems currently "plaguing" the business of daily newspapers in America.  He offers a selection of solutions: some which are already being used, some brand new.

First come blog networks, which aggregate blogs written by staffers, freelancers and readers.   Glaser cites LATimes.com as a site which has used blogs to help it drive more traffic, which could of course lead to more advertising revenue. 

Next is classified networks; Glaser explains that free online services such as Craigslist have usurped much of newspapers' classified ad businesses.  In order to entice people back, he thinks they will need to "super-charge listings and add extras galore."

With the evidence growing that readers want customisation instead of pre-packaged portfolios, the newspaper sector is challenged to develop alternative publishing formats (see Part 1 and Part 2 of our eReader series). A recent McKinsey survey (August 2007 newsletter) revealed the growing habit of 'brand promiscuity', with consumers using up to 16 different news sources weekly. Moreover, readers classified internet as much more useful compared to established media such as print. Modern news junkies go for convenience, comprehensiveness and timeliness rather than the traditional quality standards.

Is the print industry taking up the challenge? Not really. When it comes to using the Net, many newspapers feel more comfortable with direct transfer of existing copy onto the new medium. Companies like NewspaperDirect make a business out it; from next year on this company will start its PressDisplay news portal for delivery of associated papers on e-readers, tapping directly into the pre-print workflow and keeping the trusted appearance.

Not surprisingly, the innovative formats come from media outsiders. These startups have one thing in common, they believe in the electronic newspaper as a composite product, made up of a variety of professional and non-professional sources, tailored to the requirements and profiles of the individual news consumer. The New York-based start-up Daylife, which experiments with new editorial and financial models for online news, offers a mix of traditional and innovative formats for news distribution. A range of reputed titles is already using this platform for additional content delivery, but the site itself features an attractive and constantly updated news overview, produced by an amalgamation of contributors. Already closer to the network-driven medium of the future is FeedJournal, an RSS syndicating newspaper producing a digital daily building on defined user preferences. A comparable initiative, but now based on profile-steered net-crawling, is Newser. This service delivers summaries of hot news from across the globe and links to the original stories. The Radus New Media Platform follows the same philosophy, be it that additionally social networking sites are integrated: Personal highlights blend in with world events.

The aggregation game is on - so much is clear. But these applications don't change the content itself. Ultimately, the very nature of news needs to be reexamined and adjusted to the principles of digital delivery. Research at the Poynter Institute pointed out that alternative story forms are more effective than classical narrative, especially in an electronic information context. An equally interesting study was conducted by Associated Press. AP worked out 'A New Model for News' after observing the reading habits of a group of young-adults, the generation that has meanwhile grown up with or migrated to the Net. The study demonstrated that consumers are accessing the news from a range of different entry points, as much by chance as by design. The need for multiple entry points challenges the conventional container approach and article architecture. The AP model moves news into a new space - a universe of stories made up from different spheres, each ranging in size and scope (facts, updates, back stories, spin offs) - and readers interacting with story particles from different entry points and platforms. What these 'spheres' exactly should look like needs to worked out in practice.

One project exploring the journalistic formats for multi-entry news is the Dutch MePaper project. In a design studio jointly manned by journalists and researchers, key concepts are being developed and tested with proofreader panels. The project uses the term 'collection' to describe the journalistic raw material of the digital era, a loosely defined and ever changing combination of story elements. Quite a contrast with the well-defined nature of the standard article. News collections can be combined into news clouds, according to readers' general preferences and actual reading habits. This leads to four types of newspapers based on:
1. the editor's choice
2. the personal profile
3. the reading pattern of the preferred social network
4. the most read stories at a given time.
While reading, you can switch from one type of newspaper to another. The traditional line up of story titles is replaced by revolving cylinders in which stories, pictures and video are grouped according to theme or genre. In the test groups, the net-native proof readers almost intuitively roamed the presented information space.

Clearly there will be more solutions and design principles popping up. The main thing is that newspaper publishers stop with the easy repackaging and start digging for authentic formats which fully exploit the vast opportunities of electronic news delivery. Things can only get better, eh?

Director of the Euorpean Centre for Digital Communications and long-time journalist, Jan Bierhoff is currently conducting studies on e-reader technology and the consumer trends that will define their use.

As outlined in the first entry of this series, consumers will start using mobile electronic reading devices routinely. But will these versatile tools also become the preferred display for news and current affairs? Publishers' ability to inhabit this uncharted territory will matter greatly, but even more important is the decision of media consumers that news offered in this way best fits today's lifestyle and nicely blends in with their expectations and routines.
 
The readers' view is currently being explored and tested in several prototyping and/or pilot initiatives, although this effort is modest compared to the involvement of hardware and software engineers. Nevertheless, first results reveal the contours of what in the eyes of the digital reader will be the ideal form of electronic information delivery. Based on four recent research actions, this contribution will sketch the preconditions for successful deployment of e-readers and services, seen from the users perspective.

The eNews project, set up by Ifra, explored the consumer readiness for e-readers. Via focus groups in European and Japanese locations it was found that the use setting is different: more lean backward compared to the lean forward use of PC and print. This finding will have consequences for the kind of content that can be offered. Surprisingly, the consulted test persons appreciated the daylight readability of the e-readers, but by no means hyped it as heavily as the manufacturers themselves always do. The love for the device stems much more from its environment-friendly image.

Microsoft, partner in the design of the New York Times News Reader, has evaluated the user appreciation of this application in a field study. A selected group of readers worked for weeks with the NYTReader, especially while commuting, and was interviewed afterwards. Overall assessment was very positive: two-thirds, especially the serious travellers, would stick to the service. The kind of use however depended much on personal reading style: the news junkies appreciated the amount of detail, the skimmers the quickness of updates while the fun-seekers enjoyed the sophisticated layout. The synchronisation feature for permanent updating was less popular: too time-consuming and difficult to understand.
Conclusion: newspapers will have to bear in mind all these different use categories, and with an improved product.

In the Dutch MePaper project, the five participating newspapers are exploring novel journalistic formats for two types of e-readers: the e-ink devices and the mini laptops (UMPCs). New content models for mobile reading are developed in a joint design studio and these prototypes are tested in lab-based proof reading sessions. Here, it shows that there is a difference between what journalists think is important, for instance the addition of time frames to story overviews, and what the public wants (don't bother us with release hours). Also in this R&D effort, the variety of user demands is apparent. Many want both local (often hyper local) news, without loosing the global perspective. The preference can change from day to day, depending on personal circumstances and the attraction of news on offer. A definite outcome is the demand for customisation of the e-paper, ideally composed of sections, even editors from a range of different media. This result is in fact a cry-out for joint ventures between titles and across newspaper groups. Thus, e-reading will provoke unconventional business practices.
If the newspaper world manages to respond to these user requirements, there certainly is scope for a quick roll-out of the e-reading technology. In a Swedish large scale online survey (part of the UbiMedia project), 42 percent of the 3600 readers indicated to be ready for it now, and another 19 percent in the next five years.  Would these people want to change their trusted print edition for an electronic version? Two-thirds said yes, only one-third would be faithful to newsprint. The e-service however is expected to be considerably cheaper (says 58 percent), with a meagre 8 percent willing to pay extra for premium content.

The conclusion is obvious, the adoption potential for mobile electronic reading is certainly high, but it is a medium in its own right, not just another print or online edition spin-off. It needs to be well designed, fully user-driven, with convincing personalisation options. Valuable lessons in this respect are being learned by a Dutch paper, NRC. The e-reader service it launched last year based itself on simple copy streaming, and it obviously doesn't work. Disappointed users created an open forum in wiki format to voice their concerns, criticism and improvement suggestions. The company hasn't been able to respond to it adequately yet. E-reading clearly asks for special content formats, a different type of navigation architecture and innovative forms of news organisation. In the next entry, first design principles will be reviewed.

Director of the Euorpean Centre for Digital Communications and long-time journalist, Jan Bierhoff is currently conducting studies on e-reader technology and the consumer trends that will define their use. 
 

8, 000 miles away from the White House, a nation is celebrating President-elect Barack Obama's historic election win as a victory for a son of their country. 47-year-old Obama's father was born in Kenya and the celebrations following his win are ongoing from the streets of Nairobi to the village of Kogelo where Obama's grandmother still lives. Reflecting the importance of his victory, President Kibaki has declared a public holiday in Kenya to celebrate. The Kenyan media has reported every twist and turn of this nail-biting campaign, and its newspapers have covered this story on a scale never before seen for a US election.

The Editors Weblog spoke to Ian Fernandes, the head of Nation Media's Digital Division, about how Kenya's leading newspaper, the Daily Nation, followed the campaign, its importance to Kenya and the newspaper's future coverage of the USA.

Fernandes begins by saying that this election has captured the imagination of the entire country: "it has dominated the headlines for the past couple of weeks...the fact that someone who has his roots in Kenya can actually end up becoming the President of the United States." As victory was declared, inhabitants of Kogelo began singing "Jakogelo Yiengo Piny", which translates to "the one from Kogelo shakes the world".

Coverage online

From just a quick glance at the home page of the Daily Nation online edition, it is clear how important this election has been to Kenyans. The front page is dominated by a picture of President elect Barack Obama and his family taking to the stage for his post-victory speech under the headline "Win brings pride to Kenyan diaspora", with a lead article discussing the impact this victory has had on Kenyans across the USA. Feeder articles follow, as do photos of the election night and video footage from the Nation Media Group's NTV channel. Under the toolbar is a link for dedicated coverage, including the campaign, Obama's victory and the reaction in Kenya and the US.

The Daily Nation has an advantage on many news organisations in that it is part of media conglomerate, Nation Media Group, and one of the branches of this modern news organisations is a TV station: footage from the station has been an important edition to the Daily Nation's coverage.

Telling the story from a Kenyan perspective

Fernandes reports that the country and, in particular the village of Kogelo, has been inundated by news teams from across the globe. Expanding on this point, Fernandes says that most of these correspondents are based in London and only arrived in the country after the story had unfolded and thus found it difficult to cover it comprehensively, whereas the Nation's reporters were on the ground from the get go. The Daily Nation felt it was important to tell the story of Obama's campaign and victory from a Kenyan perspective, for example, the video footage section on the web edition not only includes Obama's speeches and footage of American reactions, there is also extensive coverage of the celebrations in Kenya following the result and reactions from Kenyan politicians. The small village of Kogelo in Western Kenya was at the heart of the Daily Nation's coverage and the site features interviews with Obama's grandmother and other members of his family who have had to rapidly get used to the media spotlight.

Increased resources, and now he has won?

During the campaign the Daily Nation had three reporters in the United States. Fernandes explains, "I think in order for us to be relevant - and just like foreign media houses having a presence in Kenya during the election - we decided that we should actually have our journalists in the USA, one following the McCain trail and one following the Obama trail, to know and to tell the story with a Kenyan perspective."

The newly elected US President will continue to be of interest to Kenyan citizens and Fernandes reports that the newspaper is considering maintaining a permanent presence in the US in the form of a full-time reporter or "at least a correspondent". He also confirms that the USA will now garner more attention from the Kenyan media, as citizens will want reports on how the new president is progressing.

Readership spike

Fernandes reports that 50% of the Daily Nations' readership is from the Kenyan diasporas across the USA and Europe.  The Daily Nation average 45,000 - 50,000 visits a day but it picked to about 90,000 visits on 4th November. The Daily Nation's coverage of an election thousands of miles away not only managed to cater to the audience at home, but also generated traffic from Kenyans located across the globe who sought a trusted name for the story of how a son of Kenya won the election to run the most powerful country in the world.

The Telegraph announced that they will begin experimenting with "post moderation."  This means that Telegraph reporters will post their stories directly on the website without it passing through a sub-editor first.  Other journalists can then update or edit the stories once on the site.

Mecom chief executive David Montgomery sees "a situation where experienced journalists that can be trusted to have no barrier to communication with their audience.  Sub-editing is a twilight world, checking things you don't really need to check...Senior people will always monitor the content, a core group will create the product."

Source: Press Gazette

According to Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, there is a shift in the balance-of-power of journalism; the power is shifting in favor of new media. Barber believes the "mainstream press lost touch with its audience at the very moment when technology, via the Internet, was dramatically lowering the barriers to entry."

According to Barber, "the imperial status of the mainstream media - the television networks, big metropolitan dailies and lofty commentators - has been shaken.  The lay-offs of hundreds of US newspaper journalists this summer are a symptom of a wider malaise."

He continued, "we are witnessing a shift in the balance of power towards new media, with wholesale repercussions for the practice of journalism."

How objective and spin-free is our news? There is much conjecture that media spin is damaging the relationship newspapers have with their audience, with a recent UK survey indicating that just 43% of the population trust newspapers. With the armies of Communication Directors, PR professionals, lobby groups and political parties battling the press with dizzying budgets and ready-made press releases, is the truth getting through?

With this problem in mind, a new online tool called "SpinSpotter" has been launched. It promises to - once it is fully launched and out of beta testing - scan articles and expose bias, misreporting and spin in the news online, for example a political piece that gives a one sided story or uses colourful language that exaggerates the facts.

Once downloaded, the SpinSpotter Spinoculars appear on your Web browser toolbar and "flags" any bias in an article you are reading with a red icon. Users with the software can highlight and comment on questionable content using a guide to potential inaccuracies and biases created by a panel of journalists compensated by the company. Only people with the Spinoculars program installed on their PCs will see other users' comments. The company is using the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics and input from an advisory board of journalists to police and judge each allegation.

The innovation was launched by ex Microsoft boss Todd Herman and John Atcheson, the founder/CEO of both MusicNet and Ads.com.

The Editors Weblog managed to pin down Todd Herman for a brief chat before he dashed off to promote - and maybe spin? - the new software.

EW: How do you think newspapers will react to SpinSpottter?

TH: Journalists tend to approach us with skepticism, as they should, and some worry that their work might come under attack. But their attitude quickly changes when they realize that SpinSpotter also can protect them against vague, unfounded accusations of bias since users have to be very specific about "why" they think something is inaccurate or biased and must work within a carefully constructed set of rules based on the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists.

They are also pleased to learn that we have all sorts of safeguards to ensure people don't abuse the system, from a Journalism Advisory Board of journalists, writers and academics; to a layer of referees who are mostly graduate students at journalism schools; to a trust rating system that gives more weight to the judgments of users who have proven to be objective in finding spin, vs. those who are showing themselves to be too biased or partisan.

Once the service is officially launched (we are still in beta-testing mode) I wouldn't be surprised if some newspapers started to use SpinSpotter as an internal tool or asked us to develop custom services for their own use.
 
EW: Do you think this product is performing a task that editors and newspapers should be doing themselves?

TH: Most editors do perform this task, and perform it quite well. But it is extremely hard to be 100 percent objective 100 percent of the time -- especially in an era of declining advertising revenue when editors and reporters are expected to do more with less. And then, of course, there is the small minority of reporters and editors who are simply not as vigilant against bias as they should.

EW: What inspired you to launch SpinSpotter?

TH: Although my CEO and I have opposing political viewpoints -- I am conservative and he is liberal -- we both agree on one thing: A free, independent and trusted press is critical for a democracy.  We both admire courageous journalism but are disappointed to see the press lose credibility with readers. According to Pew Research, 66 percent of Americans think the U.S. press is one-sided.
 
EW: What technology is powering your device and how does it work?

TH: At heart, we are a user-driven system.  Our SpinSpotter Spinoculars make it easy for people to identify, share and edit any signs of bias or inaccuracy they find online.  Right now we are in beta, meaning we are still testing and refining the service.

SpinSpotter is not a place for people to hurl vague accusations of media bias, however.  If they want their markers to be seen by other people using the service, they must clearly label which "rule" the journalist has violated (these are drawn from the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists and interpreted by our Journalism Advisory Board and team of referees) and back-up their assertions. Otherwise, their trust rating will decline and their entries will be all but invisible.

EW: How do you envision SpinSpotter developing in the future?

TH: The topic of media bias is much too important to take lightly. We hope our service will raise the level of discourse on the subject by encouraging people to be much more specific and rigorous in their analysis of bias in the press. And as the service fosters that debate, we think the service will grow and evolve. For example, we envision giving editors and reporters special access to respond to users' "spin-markers" and engage in dialog over their choice of words or sources.

We can also imagine newsrooms and journalism schools using the service as a tool to encourage fair and balanced reporting. Lastly, we can foresee a day where SpinSpotter helps people make choices about what they read based upon the level of "spin" any given article contains.

EW: It is obviously early days for your device, but how has the take up been so far?

TH: If passion counts for anything, the response has been great. But, these are *very* early days.  In fact, we are in what is called an early beta phase, meaning all of our current users are actually helping us test the service's technology and refine its algorithms through their usage.

An interesting and growing market has opened up for newspapers with online editions in Africa: the expat reader looking for news about home from a familiar news source. The print version of newspapers remains paramount in Africa in terms of readership and revenue, but newspaper organizations are waking up to this new medium's potential.

When Kenya's Daily Nation launched its website a decade ago, it had a clear vision. The country's leading newspaper recognised that the 1.8 million Kenyans living abroad had little access to news from home, and that an online edition would have mass appeal to the increasing number of ex-pats who hungered for news. This is something that editors and publishers across Africa should bare in mind: the International Labour Organisation estimates there are some 7.1 million Africans living outside their home country. The number is rising rapidly and by 2025 could climb to one in ten, the IOM predicts.

The Editors Weblog spoke with the Daily Nation's managing editor of special projects, Macharia Gaitho, about his newspapers online edition and he said: "We wanted to extend the paper's audience beyond Kenya's geographic borders to deepen the paper's voice and authority, while also offering a service to the growing Kenyan diaspora." The website was launched formally in October 1998 with a dedicated team, following trials the previous year just before the Kenyan general election.

This service goes back to the very foundation of what newspapers are all about, they are not only providing a news service, they are also serving their communities, even the members of it who have moved away.

The fact that the online edition is very reflective of the print edition is a pull to the expat community who will immediately have the emotional response of recognition and thus feel "familiar" with the web version from their first visit, this familiarity will likely encourage return visitors. As one of the most trusted news organization on the African continent, it would already be a first port of call for expats looking for news from home, but with its easily navigable site, clear graphics, photographs, video footage and with a style that echoes the print version, they have cleverly tapped into the expat market.

Gaitho, who describes the Daily Nation website as the "recognized go-to place online for news on Kenya" said it was important that the web edition reflected the "Nation's look and feel."

The Daily Nation site has recently undergone a revamp and the new-look site achieved 50,000 unique visitors daily in its first week after the launch. The previous version averaged 80,000 unique visitors daily. Explaining this disparity in visitors, Gaitho said: "Because of faster download speeds and improved features, we project the new one will surpass 80k".
 
However, some news organisations in Kenya have been slow to see the potential of this new market and only have a web version as a nod to this evolving technology without fully engaging with the medium. Dr George Ogola at the University of Lancashire says that in Kenya, "The element of interactivity, the very essence of 'experiencing' news online remains unexploited." He believes that news organisations need to recognise that with the advent of online news, the relationship between the reader and the newspaper has been altered.

The appeal of ex-pat readers is therefore another attraction for African newspapers to consider when they lead the charge to online editions, not only for editors looking to boost their news organizations readership and to keep their media house relevant, but also to appeal to advertisers such as Western Union who wish to reach the expat audience. It is as a result now mandatory for any newspaper in Africa to have an online edition.

The Editors Weblog spoke to the Directeur de Publications at Le Jour in Cameroon, Haman Mana, about his thoughts on this issue. Recently launched newspaper Le Jour is a particularly interesting case, as they chose to launch the print and online version at the same time on the 17 September 2007. This decision underscores how online media is growing in importance in Africa, even though print still creates more revenue and attracts a larger readership. When I asked Mana about his thinking behind this decision, he said bluntly, "It is inconceivable for any Cameroonian newspaper that wants to be taken seriously not to have an online edition."



Mana agreed with Gaitho on how it is important that the online edition mirror the newspaper, saying, "The design was an important step for us, because we wanted to keep the spirit of the print edition." Mana reports that a significant portion of Le Jour's online readership is also made up of the Cameroon disapora. He also highlighted how having an online edition is simply good publicity for a newspapers brand, he said the web version has opened up a world of markets to Le Jour and, "it permits us to have a global presence and visibility."

It is therefore clear that the expat reader opens up a whole new market of readers and revenue to Africa's newspapers. For those organisations that are reticent about connecting with the web, they need to be aware they are ignoring a growing market waiting to be exploited. The African web news market is already jostling with competitors, so if they do not leap now, they could miss out completely.

Sources: AllAfrica.com, Business Daily, International Labour Organisation, Daily Nation, Le Jour

Welcome to the 2008 edition of the Newsroom Barometer, an annual survey of editors around the world conducted by Zogby International and commissioned by the World Editors Forum and Reuters.

The global survey gathered the answers of more than 700 editors and senior news executives from 120 countries, and was conducted online in March 2008.

In last year's Newsroom Barometer, newspaper editors had revealed their overwhelming optimism about the future of their newspapers - an optimism that is still widespread today. In this edition, editors worldwide see neither their newsroom nor their journalists as being "print-only," having clearly accepted the multimedia revolution.

Do you agree or disagree that the "integrated newsroom" or "multimedia newsroom" will be the norm for newspapers in your country in 5 years?



Among the main results this year:
 
-  86% believe integrated print and online newsrooms will become the norm, and 83% believe journalists will be expected to be able to produce content for all media within five years.
  
- Two-thirds believe some editorial functions will be outsourced, despite frequent newsroom opposition to the practice.

- A plurality - 44% - believe on-line will be the most common platform for reading news in the future, compared with 41% last year. Thirty-one cited print (down from 35% last year), 12% mobile and 7% e-paper. The rest were unsure.
 
- 35% said training journalists in new media was the number one priority for investing in editorial quality. Recruiting more journalists was cited by 31%, up from 22% last year.
 
- A majority of editors - 56%- believe news in the future will be free, up from 48% from last year's survey. Only one-third believe the news will remain paid for, while 11% were unsure.
 
- Two-thirds of respondents believe the importance of opinion and analysis pages will increase.
 
- A majority - 58% - think the decline in young readership is the biggest threat for the future of newspapers.
 
"The survey shows that editors-in-chief are already multi-media minded and that they have the capacity to carry out the transition from print-only to print and online," said Bertrand Pecquerie, Director of the World Editors Forum.

The 2008 Newsroom Barometer also brought good news concerning editors' morale. Despite some (see Part 4) growing concerns as to the improvement of the quality of journalism in the future, an overwhelming majority of newspaper editors are still very optimistic about the future of their newspaper:


Read Part 1: Presentation - main results, the integrated newsroom will be the norm
Read Part 2: Multimedia, multi-skilled and integrated
Read Part 3: The future of the press
Read Part 4: Who participated in the survey?
Read Part 5: Comments by John Zogby and WEF President George Brock
Read Part 6: Threats to newspapers, areas of investment, more results

Or watch the video here.

For the full Newsroom Barometer results and commentary plus the complete, analytical guide to the monumental transformations taking place in the newspaper industry, please consult the print or PDF version of Trends in Newsrooms 2008 (http://www.trends-in-newsrooms.org/home.php), to be released May 2008. From free papers to e-papers, citizen journalism to social media and integrated newsrooms to Internet aggregators, it has everything you need to direct your paper towards a multimedia future.

About the World Editors Forum
The Paris-based World Editors Forum (http://www.worldeditorsforum.org ) is the organisation of the World Association of Newspapers that represents editors-in-chief and other senior news executives. WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspapers and
newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and ten regional and world-wide press groups.

About Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.  It combines industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific,
healthcare and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people in 93 countries.  Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TRI); Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TRI); London Stock Exchange (LSE: TRIL); and Nasdaq (NASDAQ: TRIN). For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

About Zogby International
Zogby International is a public opinion, research, and business solutions firm with experience operating in 65 countries around the globe. Led by founder John Zogby, President and CEO, Zogby International is known as a leading company with a reputation for uncanny accuracy and reliability that specializes in telephone, Internet, and face-to-face survey research and
analysis for political, corporate, non-profit, and governmental clients. The firm is  headquartered in Utica, New York, with offices in Washington D.C. and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 

In the past, reporters used to follow US presidential candidates by car or bus, but today with candidates flying from city to city, coverage of the presidential election becoming too expensive for newspapers, with fares up to $2,000 a trip or $30,000 per person a month.

Papers such as USA Today and the Boston Globe used to cover candidates on a day to day basis, but with newspapers already in financial troubles, they are covering the campaign from television or using wire service reports from AP or Reuters.

"We'd all like to be able to be out there, but given the reality of the costs and other priorities, it just isn't realistic," said Senior Political Editor of USA Today Lee Horwich.

This year the only papers that have full-time correspondents following the candidates are The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and the NY Times. Newsweek is the only publication with a full-time reporter on both Clinton's and Obama's trails.

Traveling campaign reporters say that anyone can watch speeches on YouTube, so instead of repeating raw information, reporters try to track the evolution and growth of candidates by identifying inconsistencies or dishonesty. Bloggers are also taking the reins by posting their thoughts on candidates' speeches and adding information from conference calls with the candidates' press aides.

Los Angeles Times's Mark Z. Barabak, who has been riding political buses since 1984 observed, "What you have lost is the benefit of getting 6, 12, 15 different perspectives. Now you may get three or four. They may be very good."

On one hand, US newspapers are diminishing election coverage. On the other, AP has recently hired 21 additional staff to bolster entertainment news. They say that they will provide what sells and as of now, celebrities are what the people want.
 
US consumer magazines increased ad revenues by 7% last year with those focusing on entertainment and sports personalities did particularly well.

Philip Stone from Follow the Media wrote, "People Magazine and OK! publish first pictures of Jennifer Lopez and twins and pay millions for the privilege while most US newspapers while most US newspapers cannot afford the $1,000 - $2,000 a day to send a reporter on presidential candidate planes."  

Richard Desmond who publishes both OK! and the Daily Express newspaper, noted that advertisers are already "vying for space" in OK!'s special issue on England footballer Wayne Rooney's wedding, which they paid a record $6.4 million for the rights.

Daniel Becker, newly appointed director of Entertainment Content, wrote a memo declaring that AP photographers will not become paparazzi, but instead use their "journalistic talent and unmatched network of  resources to produce high quality, multimedia coverage in an area of growing interest," thus becoming the "trusted authoritative voice on entertainment."

Is the future of quality journalism celebrity gossip?

Sources: The New York Times, Press Gazette, Follow the Media (picture)
 

In the wake of Rupert Murdoch’s $5.6 billion takeover of Dow Jones, the reactions among the media have been diverse: was it a fatal blow onto a trusted news organization’s credibility, a profitable deal in a struggling industry, a conventional business move that won’t affect the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) editorial integrity? Most probably, a little of all of the above. What will become of the Journal’s praised journalism? In addition to international media’s views, the Editors Weblog collected the insight of some top French editors.

Newspapers’ most fundamental asset remains credibility. As one of the most trusted media, they have an obligation of accuracy and integrity. When they fail to fulfill that obligation, they pay for it: 4 newspaper groups in the UK have been fined for wrongly incriminating a man in a terrorist plot.

The US Readership Institute (RI) delves into the results of the General Social Survey, which revealed that the public still trusts its local daily, much more so than other media. Newspapers still hold on to – and must use – the information industry’s most powerful asset: credibility.