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17 Nov 2009 10:36

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Tech: YouTube connects citizen journalism with real news organizations

  • News organizations can ask for citizen reporting; nonprofits can call-out for support videos around social campaigns; businesses can ask users to submit promotional videos about your brand. With YouTube Direct, the opportunities to connect directly with the YouTube community are endless.
  • The announcement on YouTube Direct • Describing how the service can be used for citizen media in conjunction with the mainstream media. This is cool. If it makes AP a little less stogy and stuck in its ways, it’s a smart idea. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Nov 2009 11:04

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Biz: In a position of strength, Bloomberg grabs for the brass ring

  • We need a broader audience. The history of this company is you do the counterintuitive, countercyclical thing. It’s part of our DNA.
  • Bloomberg president Daniel L. Doctoroff • On his company’s desire to expand into a more general-interest news source. The company is in a good spot to do so. Largely built on business and financial data rather than newspaper subscriptions, it just bought troubled magazine BusinessWeek for the bargain-basement price of $5 million and has a ton of money to throw around. You know, just like founder Michael Bloomberg did when he spent millions of dollars on his recent mayoral campaign even though he didn’t need to. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2009 22:40

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Politics: L.A. Times: Maybe straight news is what CNN needs to stand out

  • I’d like to suggest that CNN, in parting ways this week with its most opinionated host, Lou Dobbs, may be planting the seeds of its resurrection and holding out the possibility that around-the-clock broadcasting doesn’t have to mean around-the-clock spin.
  • L.A. Times media columnist James Rainey • Discussing CNN’s move to objectivity thanks to the departure of Lou Dobbs and the subsequent scheduling of John King. Rainey suggests that the constant spin cycle on other networks is getting tiring for many who might just want good journalism – you know, the kind CNN used to do back in the day. “If CNN fortifies the information meal,” he suggests, “I think King could prove correct.” Considering the votes our poll got today, it seems a lot of ShortFormBlog’s readers agree with his assessment. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Oct 2009 10:23

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Biz: Everyone sucks in newspapers except the Wall Street Journal

The Awl recently put together a graph showing how crappy the newspaper industry was doing. It wasn’t pretty. Not at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Oct 2009 10:23

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Sports, U.S.: Steve McNair, a mistress, and a series of desperate texts

  • Baby I might have a break down im so stressed. baby i might need to go to the hospital. baby whats wrong w[ith] me i can hardly breath[e].
  • Sahel Kazemi • In a text exchange between her and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair the day before they were both found dead in a murder-suicide. Kazemi sounded increasingly desperate in the messages, while McNair was getting annoyed by the constant contact due to the fact that he was with his children. McNair, who was married with children, was seeing a second girl on top of Kazemi. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

19 Oct 2009 08:46

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U.S.: Obama says the stimulus helped hugely in schools

  • 250,000 education jobs saved, eh? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Oct 2009 12:20

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U.S.: Daily poll: On Balloon Boy and the 24-hour news cycle

  • We just watched Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene’s “big announcement”: He put a box in front of his house and told reporters to put questions in the box. Wha? Sounds like someone’s living his personal PR nightmare. Anyway, this got us to thinking. Between this and talk-show chatter, is the 24-hour news cycle broken? Let us know what you think.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 Oct 2009 13:01

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World: Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai gets tough on Robert Mugabe

Tsvangirai says that if Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party does not change its tune, he will push for UN-sanctioned elections. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Oct 2009 10:38

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Tech: Digg vs. the human hand: Why the world needs an editor

Digg as a newspaper

This image, while funny, nails what (to us) is wrong with Digg. It's not that there isn't a place for funny/bizarre content or the chance to be goofy, but when it's all you've got, it seems a little threadbare. And it's not even their fault. It's how democracy works sometimes.
  • Editors vs thumbs In a lot of ways, sites like Digg can replace rooms full of journalists and editors with a single yes/no thumb system. It works on the idea of visceral impact, much like TV news does. But when visceral impact is all you got, it stops becoming what you need to know and turns into what you want to know.
  • Editors vs thumbs In a lot of ways, sites like Digg can replace rooms full of journalists and editors with a single yes/no thumb system. It works on the idea of visceral impact, much like TV news does. But when visceral impact is all you got, it stops becoming what you need to know and turns into what you want to know.
  • Eating veggies Sometimes, the stories that aren’t very sexy are the most important. Newspapers spend hours debating these stories daily. But those stories can get overlooked in the hunt for a sexy headline. Editors have struggled with this very issue for years. Does it even come up for people clicking on thumbs?
  • Editors vs thumbs In a lot of ways, sites like Digg can replace rooms full of journalists and editors with a single yes/no thumb system. It works on the idea of visceral impact, much like TV news does. But when visceral impact is all you got, it stops becoming what you need to know and turns into what you want to know.
  • Eating veggies Sometimes, the stories that aren’t very sexy are the most important. Newspapers spend hours debating these stories daily. But those stories can get overlooked in the hunt for a sexy headline. Editors have struggled with this very issue for years. Does it even come up for people clicking on thumbs?
  • It’s not all bad We don’t want to disparage link journalism, because it can work. We’re big fans of Y! Combinator’s Hacker News, for example, because it has this strong mix of audience, community and focus. The Windy Citizen does a great job applying it to a local market. We want to see more of this.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2009 10:01

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U.S.: The California legislature even less-loved than Schwartzenegger

  • 13% approval rating for the clogged-up state legislature source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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