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21 Feb 2010 20:58

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Politics: “A narrative of impending tyranny” our new favorite phrase

  • In a word, the Times editors and Barstow know this narrative is nuts, but something stops them from saying so — despite the fact that they must have spent over $100,000 on this one story.
  • Our boy Jay Rosen • Regarding a recent New York Times article about the Tea Party movement which seemed to accept a seemingly wrong-on-its-face statement about our country – “a narrative of impending tyranny” – as fact. This phrase floored Rosen enough that he wrote a huge blog post about it. The point that he’s getting at, and that we completely agree with, is that the need for objectivity doesn’t mean you can’t consider or critique what’s being said. Being impartial is one thing; being oblivious, or repeating what’s being said without qualification is another altogether. We owe readers more than that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Feb 2010 10:59

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Culture: Twitter’s ready to tackle Tiger Woods’ statement



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2010 22:09

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Biz: Rejoice! The AP’s long absence on Google News has ended

  • 7 weeks without the Associated Press on Google; nobody noticed source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2010 22:56

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Tech: Facebook as news source: The danger of getting news from friends

  • Facebook is a unique and wonderful artery to our friends’ lives and interests. But if we define our reading by our friends’ libraries, we will all find what we already expected rather than what we need to know.
  • Atlantic writer Derek Thompson • Regarding recent reports that Facebook has become a primary source of finding news for many people. He brings up a good point, one that news like this only emphasizes: With the change in journalism to something suggested to us by friends, all cookies instead of a well-balanced meal, we end up limiting our information to what we want to know rather than what we need to know. And, considering how often it shows up in politics already, that’s pretty dangerous. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 09:50

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Biz: The Adventures of Newsday Customer No. 36: Still no bill, kids

  • This photo turns Long Island into a cliche the way “Fargo” turned Minnesota into one. Can you guess what the story’s about? (Hint: It’s got to do with the kid.) Man, the only image more cliche than this we could think of is perhaps a picture of the Seaver family from Growing Pains – you know, before Kirk Cameron went off the deep end. Anyway, we’ve been with the site nearly a week, haven’t paid yet, and get the feeling that the paper is not offering anything close to the $5/week price tag, a price tag that’s supposed to be a deterrent to guys like us signing up outsides of the confines of Cablevision’s walled garden. Unimpressed. (Note: This article is behind a paywall, but maybe it’ll give you enough of a hint to tell you what it’s about.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

30 Jan 2010 11:48

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World: Giant photos are starting to take over other papers’ Web sites

  • The Boston Globe’s “Big Picture” feature is awesome. So we’re glad to see other papers, such as the Sacramento Bee, try the idea out. This is from the Machu Picchu citadel flooding and mudslides in Peru. Very dramatic. And much bigger at their site. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Jan 2010 14:40

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Biz: The Adventures of Newsday Customer No. 36: Quick, kinda useless

  • We understand what Newsday is trying to do with its “Quick Read” format on its $4 million, paywall-ridden site, but the implementation is weak. We say that as warriors of the quick-read information format. We’re like Mel Gibson in the first “Mad Max.” Newsday’s implementation is just flashy, like Tina Turner in “Beyond Thunderdome.” How does a giant image with the lead of a story and a giant photo constitute a “quick read”? There’s no bullet points. There’s no attempt to contextualize the information. It’s just an entryway into another page with another ad – something that the quick read format has a lot of, by the way. Oh yeah, one thing we want to mention: We’ve been subscribers of Newsday.com for three days now, and we’ve yet to be contacted by anyone about paying for our $5/week subscription. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Jan 2010 11:09

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Tech: Survival of the tweetest? AFP tries an endurance test for journalists

  • one Five journalists will be locked away in a farmhouse in rural France for five days next month.
  • two The journos will not have access to any form of mainstream media but Twitter and Facebook.
  • three Among the sources banned: TV, radio, newspapers, smartphones and other Web sites.
  • four The goal? To report what they see on social media, and to test the quality of the info. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 21:19

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Politics: So, post-Scott Brown, what does Obama do next, anyway?

  • I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on.
  • President Barack Obama • Regarding his signature health care bill, which got screwed up by Scott Brown winning the Senate race yesterday. It’s perhaps the largest failure of his presidency so far, but one with a silver lining. Now Obama has an opportunity to push for that bipartisan congress that never really happened. Or maybe the Republicans can just stonewall some more. It’s worth noting a couple of things: The fact that Obama plans to wait until Brown takes office to tackle health care is smart. And, as Andrew Sullivan notes (amazingly), he could totally use this as an opportunity to turn the tables during his State of the Union address next week. We want to see him do that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jan 2010 02:02

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Biz: A shoutout to our friends at the bankrupt Morris Publishing Group

  • Our history Before we worked on ShortFormBlog, we worked at this great little publication called Bluffton Today (disclosure: we started this Wikipedia article), a pretty innovative small-town newspaper. The owner, Morris Publishing Group, has been very supportive of the idea, despite their recent financial struggles.
  • Their troubles Morris, another victim of the recession, had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. It’s a reorganization of debt – one that reportedly takes $278.5 million off the table – that they say will not affect their papers, employees or advertisers. They’d still remain on the hook for about $100 million in debt.
  • fingers crossed While it’s likely Morris will survive this change in their corporate standing mostly unscathed, we do worry about Morris missing opportunities to do innovative things like Bluffton Today – or with their larger publications in Jacksonville, Fla. or Augusta, Ga. We have our fingers crossed for them – and our friends. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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