Comments = good journalism?

Daniel Libit of Politico on the relationship between blogs, journalists and audience engagement.

"Behold the Commentocracy, where big ideas and rough remarks sit shoulder to shoulder, altogether transforming the nature of the Web and of journalism...Writers and editors have become obsessed with comment tallies (even if many don’t deign to read the comments themselves), which have become a favored, albeit unreliable, barometer for determining editorial success and tapping into the political zeitgeist."

Citizen journalistists, transparency and trust

Thanks to Gawker for this take on Bill Clinton's "scumbag" moment and the means by which it was achieved.

While I'm all for reporters being upfront about their trade around people they want to quote, Hamsher makes two good points in this excerpt alone:

1. Clinton should have been a bit more aware
2. Journalists should be trustworthy for the benefit of the public (and even those they may make look bad) rather than their access.

Granted, I'm not fighting it out in the Dailies trenches on the American political front, so my view is ultimately ignorant and (let's face it) irrelevant. Still, it would be nice to think I could retain an ethic or two on the battlefield.

CTV starts citizen journalist site

They're a little late to this particular game, aren't they?

MyNews.CTV.ca.

CP24 and the photos they took from Flickr

The Torontoist outlines this story fairly well, with a little blogger editorializing thrown in to get the conversation rolling.

The gist:
-photographer finds man breaking into his house, burglar jumps from window, breaks leg
-photog takes pics of injured burglar below his window, posts them to Flickr
-CP24 covers incident, asks for photos, does not get permission, but runs them anyway without attribution after accessing them on Flickr

It's a fair use issue which is fleshed out nicely in the comments section of the original post.

Links for April 22, 2008

NYTimes - Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand.

Flickr post (via BoingBoing) - Radio for back up, an illustration of what's happening in the UK regarding public photography. Changing laws, could set a global precedent in our ongoing war on terror. Must investigate topic further.

Ad Age- Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Resigns... for later reference.

Links from Feb 2, 2008

Rogue Columnist - I should investigate this gent's writings more, but here's a link from BoingBoing to his post on what's really wrong with the modern newspaper's business model: its ad sales mentality.

Threat Level - "Afghan Student Sentenced to Death After Downloading Report." Reporters Without Borders has a statement on the situation here.

Bloggos and Journos may get protection

From David Jones' PR Works blog, a note on a new bill that may get passed providing reporters and some bloggers with some protection from governments wanting access to confidential sources.

CNet has a story on the blogging half of the equation.

To Save Themselves, US Newspapers Put Readers to Work

Wired reports on a pro-am-model paper in Cincinnati.

Callinan — and all the other top editors who received shoes that week — got the point: The nation's largest newspaper chain was in deep trouble, and the editors had better get ready to run fast. Callinan had been ready for seven years.

A new way to standardize the podosphere

...by Jesse Kohl.

The newly formed Association for Downloadable Media, based in San Francisco, is setting out to standardize audience measurement and advertising for media such as podcasts.

Dan Gillmor's 10 Points

Lots here on the state of citizen journalism. Many claims made (be sure to check those out later) and his bias seems apparent in the initial skimming.

Of note, in #10:

"What becomes increasingly clear is the need to update media literacy for a media-saturated age. When people are creators of media, not just consumers, the task is more complex — but more important than ever.

Think of media literacy in terms of principles, not a bunch of specific must-do kinds of instructions. They differ somewhat depending on the role one is playing in the media ecosystem."

You can find it here.

Torture and Uganda

Peter Gabriel talking about the Witness project at TED and video from that project in Uganda. The clip speaks to citizen journalism.

Boston Now

BostonNOW appears to be a print news product that sources blogs and "citizen journalists" for content.

BoingBoing commentary and reporting. Great quote to find again: "Print versions of blogs - their slogan should be 'Bringing you yesterday's news tomorrow.'"

UPDATE
Just a few notes now that I've had exactly 5 minutes to go back and look at this site.

-stories are not dated on the front page. Datelines are found at the bottom of each story

-there are a few older stories still being ranked as "front page" (French election, for example, under the World heading). This could just be because of the presentation scheme (stories perhaps ranked by readers? most recent comments? I'm not sure).

-I find the headlines and decks confusing and mostly useless (which could just mean I'm not Bostonian)

-There is precious little news evident under the World and Nation headings; in order to find news there, you have to navigate a "most popular tags" interface, so news is not presented, but rather placed so readers have to go looking for it

Wired/Assignment Zero

Patricia reminded me to read this story in Wired that concerns this online journalism project that deals with collaborative, online, "open source" reporting. Crowd-sourcing. That kinda stuff.

Fascinating reading really. I wonder how and when this will explode?

Associated link: NewAssignment.net.

Edit: July 9, 2007
-Wired just published this follow-up (reprinted from Assignment Zero) that gives a state of the union on the project under the headline Open-Source Journalism: It's a Lot Tougher Than You Think.

Edit: July 16, 2007
-Another follow-up entitled Did Assignment Zero Fail? A Look Back and Lessons Learned.

MySpace to launch news site

...or at least, that's what Wired is saying. Be sure to check out the PowerPoint slides on page 2. This particular item caught my eye.

Why?
-MySpace users previously had to leave the site to find comprehensive news, gossip, sporting news, etc. With MySpace News, we bring the news to them.
-Advertisers can now align their brand with news categories that best fit their brand goals

Citizen Journalism School

Thanks to Rachel for sending me this link to The Largemouth Citizen Journalism Manual.

LARGEMOUTH is a group of professional journalists who volunteer
time to listen to citizens and to teach the necessary skills
to produce accurate, fair, and compelling journalism.

It is a collaborative project of the the Twin Cities Daily Planet, The
Resource Center of the Americas and The McGill Report.

The links at the bottom of the document are all golden for those interested in reading journalists on the subject of journalism.

Only pro journos can film violence in France?

I'm linking to this story on MacWorld about a new French law so I can confirm it later. Comments are welcome of course, as always.