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13 Oct 2009 09:47

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World: Carter-Ruck had the U.K. press over a barrel in parliament

  • The media laws in this country increasingly place newspapers in a Kafkaesque world in which we cannot tell the public anything about information which is being suppressed, nor the proceedings which suppress it.
  • The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger • Describing a bizarre situation in which his newspaper was not allowed to publish a question about the Trafigura toxic waste scandal. The gag pushed for by the Carter-Ruck law firm, was lifted just a short time ago. Reminder: The U.K. doesn’t have the same freedom of press as the U.S., so stuff like this occasionally happens. • source

09 Oct 2009 12:30

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Biz: Dear Associated Press: Our boycott of you is still freaking on

  • We content creators have been too slow to react to the free exploitation of news by third parties without input or permission.
  • Associated Press Chief Executive Tom Curley • Discussing the idea of charging search engines money for finding their content. Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. is also on board. May we just say, as the Associated Press looks to screw over the entire Internet with its greed and lack of foresight, we would like to welcome our new Reuters overlords. (In case you’re wondering: We’re going to continue to post stuff from News Corp., because, come on, Glenn Beck!) • source

06 Oct 2009 10:40

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Biz, Tech: Blog or news source? The inconsistent ways of Google News

  • Dividing content along these lines is like classifying brownies based on whether they were baked in aluminum or glass pans. There’s no difference, and it obscures what you really want know: if they contain chocolate chips.
  • Neiman Journalism Lab blogger Zachary M. Seward • Making a strong, interesting point about Google News’ new, and very inconsistent, labeling policies of blogs. Here’s one example: Talking Points Memo recently switched back to being a news source from being a blog. Here’s another (weirder) one: Gizmodo is a news source, and Deadspin is a blog, despite the fact that both are owned by Gawker Media. And the process of getting added to Google News, anyway, seems completely arbitrary. By the way, we love how Seward worded this. • source

05 Oct 2009 21:53

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Biz, Tech: Knight Foundation: Everyone (not just EveryBlock) should benefit

  • Oops, this open source code isn’t very useful on its own! The Knight Foundation, which has been funding startups for a few years as part of their Knight News Challenge, was quite excited at the sale of EveryBlock to MSNBC in August. But now it’s having second thoughts. Why? Because it was released to the public as a piece of open-source code – not a plug-and-play package that newspapers can easily use. So they’re getting a new team to finish up the EveryBlock code which so it can be rolled out simply. Other startups will get treated the same way. We imagine some applicants to the Knight News Challenge (deadline coming soon!) might get turned off by this, but the goal was always to help journalism in general. source

22 Sep 2009 11:07

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13 Sep 2009 21:55

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30 Aug 2009 22:07

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Tech: Got a Fwix on a big story? There’s an iPhone app for that

  • Journalism now fits in your pocket. With a new iPhone app coming this week, hyperlocal startup Fwix is ready to get in on the journalism-as-it-happens game. The app allows regular people to file news reports (which can include photos and videos) onto the company’s Web site, allowing for a kind of journalism that Twitter kind of allows already, but pushed even further. Are we replacing professional journalists with iPhone apps? Good question. Maybe a necessary one to ask. source
 

30 Aug 2009 11:47

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Biz: News Corp.: The BBC’s “free news” model is hurting us

  • It is essential for the future of independent digital journalism that a fair price can be charged for news to people who value it.
  • News Corp. European chairman James Murdoch • Making an argument critical of the BBC, a state-sponsored news source which he says is damaging the business models of free-market journalism. Beyond the fact that the news organization is “dominant,” he specifically has an issue with the fact that they won’t be charging for their content online. Our response to Rupert’s son? Stop whining and improve your content. While remaining independent editorially, the BBC’s news is often of a higher quality than yours, which makes it easier for us to decide what to read online. • source

17 Aug 2009 22:00

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Tech: Why EveryBlock’s success should be a call to arms for savvy techies

EveryBlock

Journalism needs ideas like EveryBlock. Everyone's complaining about losing jobs and how big media organizations like the Associated Press don't get it. Why don't you help write the plot? Here's a few thoughts on how.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Think bigger Ideas like EveryBlock don’t happen by accident. People behind startups notice niches and find ways to make them flourish. They aren’t modest about their ambitions. They’re willing to try and fail. They’ll sweat heavily and spend long hours working on their project even when it feels like it’s not bearing fruit. But if you want to turn journalism on its head, be bold. Be brash.
  • Get to coding If you’re a journalist with tech tendencies who’s been laid off, or even one without tech tendencies who wants to write the plot, start working on your Web skills. Find a niche that’s being underserved or a community that could a new journalism approach. Learn your options, try your hand at coding (don’t be scared; it’s like riding a bike), and put your heart into it.
  • Think bigger Ideas like EveryBlock don’t happen by accident. People behind startups notice niches and find ways to make them flourish. They aren’t modest about their ambitions. They’re willing to try and fail. They’ll sweat heavily and spend long hours working on their project even when it feels like it’s not bearing fruit. But if you want to turn journalism on its head, be bold. Be brash.
  • Come a-knockin’ Knight News Challenge: In two weeks, the organization that birthed EveryBlock will begin accepting applications for the 2010 version of its venture-capital contest. You should apply.
    Y Combinator: Just this morning, the startup incubator announced plans to fund a journalism-centric company with aspirations of making money. Learn more here.

17 Aug 2009 21:22

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Tech: Kudos to journalism experiment EveryBlock for making it happen

  • I often tell friends and industry colleagues that EveryBlock in is current incarnation is only about 5 percent of what we want to do with it. We’re now in a position to make this happen.
  • EveryBlock founder Adrian Holovaty • Discussing his company’s acquisition by MSNBC.com. This is a BIG DEAL for journalism, because EveryBlock’s experimental model, which leans on using public records and RSS feeds to provide a to-the-block organization of information in a city, is an alumnus of the Knight News Challenge, which encourages Web-centric approaches to journalism. Some have questioned whether what EveryBlock does is journalism; Holovaty has famously said he doesn’t care. For what it’s worth, EveryBlock got a warm welcome from NewsVine founder Mike Davidson, whose own MSNBC-owned site has only benefited from acquisition. • source