While introducing our new classroom computers to news writing classes
this week, I pointed out the Firefox Web browser's built-in RSS
aggregator -- as a handy way for journalism students to subscribe to
headlines from a variety of sources... newspapers, TV stations and
more. Out of almost 70 students, no hands went up when I asked whether
anyone knew what RSS was. Four or five admitted to having blogs. No
more than a dozen said they read them.
(Another surprise: Everyone said they have used Google. But no one
volunteered to explain how to make Google skip stories mentioning
"Johnny Knoxville" in a search for stories about our fair city. Maybe
they were just shy and quiet on the first day of school. Or maybe I'll
be able to teach them even more than I expected to!)
Back to RSS: For "classroom demo" purposes, I skimmed through a few of my
aggregator feeds and collected a couple dozen headlines that caught my
eye. My reasons for the choices varied. It will be interesting to find how many of them also would have
caught the eyes of students, given that we are different ages and have different interests...
Some aggregators arrange things by "feed" -- you get all the New York
Times headlines, then all the CNN headlines, and so forth. Others,
including the one I'm using tonight, arrange headlines and summaries in
the order they arrived. The sources range from the various newspapers
and the Associated Press (as forwarded by other websites) to
Knoxville TV stations, and bloggers -- from complete strangers to old
friends. (Guess which one is a news librarian at Harvard University,
and as least as much an RSS fan as I am. Guess which one gave me my
first account on a Web server so that I could post my own pages on the
Internet instead of carrying them around in my pocket?)
The more serious questions for the class:
- Which of these "aggregated" items would inspire you to click and read the whole story?
- Which ones do you think of as "news"?
- Are some more suited to a newspaper, television, radio, a magazine, or a Web site?
- Which ones give you all the information you want on the subject?
- Are there any that just aren't clear? Why not?
- Does the headline or first paragraph of the story at the other
end of the link do as good a job (or better) of getting you
interested or informing you?
Miss America pageant headed to Nashville? ATLANTIC
CITY, N.J. (AP) -- In a surprise announcement, the organizers of the
Miss America pageant told Atlantic City officials Thursday they want to
move the 84-year-old contest from the only home it's ever known. [AP via Yahoo via Michael Silence]
Tropical Storm Becomes a Hurricane as it Nears Florida.
Hurricane Katrina could gather even more strength during its creep
toward the state's southeastern coast, forecasters said. [By SHADI
RAHIMI, The New York Times.]
Bald Eagles: Breeding success in Knox County. The nest at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge is one more indication that Eagles are making a comeback in East Tennessee. [WBIR]
Dramatic video shows lightning strike local youngster.
Lightning may not strike twice, but one young lightning strike survivor
and his family are reliving his near-death experience. [WBIR]
Retailers Get Bloggy with It.
USA Today: The online retail industry is seeing opportunity in the blog
boom. Retailers are creating blogs to promote brand awareness and
sales.... By noemail@noemail.org (Steve Rubel). [Micro Persuasion]
Parking tops freshmen concerns. Subject: Editorial- Author: Jeff Cohran- Published: Thursday, August 25, 2005 [The Daily Beacon]
Newsweek Taps Technorati to Provide Valuable Sidebar Content
There's been lots of hot chat about how mainstream news organizations
can tap the power of weblogs to create more content value for their
brands. According to Technorati CEO David Sifry's weblog
, Newsweek has come up with a reasonable solution to this quandary: put
links to weblogs that point to Newsweek news and commentary on that
content's Web page. [Shore News Commentary]
Foreign student shares experiences. Subject: News- Author: David Klein- Published: Thursday, August 25, 2005 [The Daily Beacon]
Age-Old Cures, Like the Maggot, Get U.S. Hearing.
Maggots and leeches have experienced a renaissance among surgeons, and
a federal board will discuss how to regulate them. By GARDINER HARRIS. [The New York Times]
Condé Nast Plans Business Magazine and Web Site.
By planning to start a business magazine and Web site, Condé Nast
Publications has decided to go where others have already gone - and are
struggling. By LOUISE STORY. [The New York Times]
How-To Community Journalism.
J-Lab has a great new site (J-Learning) about community journalism. The
Institute for Interactive Journalism is a center of the Philip Merrill
College of Journalism, University of Maryland. Cool site. [J-Log]
Shoplifting as Social Commentary.
A movement called Yomango turns the five-finger discount into a
single-finger salute. But now cops are cracking down on the outlaws who
rebel against consumer culture. By Robert Andrews. [Wired News]
ESPN Thinks Outside the Box.
Web, WiMax, cell phones and beyond: The sports powerhouse is about to
be on every screen in your life. By Frank Rose of Wired magazine. [Wired News]
A 30-gram Indoor Flying Robot. It's
not always easy to explore small buildings in dangerous areas and even
more difficult to see what might be hidden in a cave or a tunnel. In this short article, the MIT Technology Review describes the results obtained by Swiss researchers with a small robotic aircraft. [Smart Mobs]
Does mobile phone use make people late, disorganized, confident? News Telegraph reports
that a survey by Intel of 1000 adults reveals that people are more
likely to be late for appointments, make fewer plans, and feel more
confident about approaching others for dates -- because of their mobile
telephones... [Smart Mobs]
Green Dazed.
Green Day[base ']s show was not only about professionalism (despite being a
punk band, well sorta in the beginning) and spectacle (flames, lights,
confetti, water, etc) but also about audience involvement. From posting
SMS messages to projected screens (yes ours got posted) to pulling
audience members on stage to form an impromptu band...
[Paul Jones]
Experiences with Aggregators and Feeds. Sololib
had a discussion about people's experience with aggregators and finding
feeds. As I drafted my response, I realized I say these things a lot,
so I thought I'd blog a version of what I wrote. My words will be
familiar to those of you who have suffered sat through any of my introduction to blogs and feeds presentations. [J's Scratchpad]
Hillary Clinton is Blogging.
Hillary Clinton is blogging about cancer for Yahoo and comments are on
folks. Wow. Also joining her, Tom Green, Peggy Flemming, Sam Donaldson
and Deepak Chopra, among others. Here's the aggregate feed. Technorati
Tags: Politics, HillaryClinton... By noemail@noemail.org (Steve Rubel) [Micro Persuasion].
Rising enlistments in TN CHATTANOOGA,
Tenn. (AP) [~] Increased bonuses, advertising, relaxed qualifications
and more recruiters are being credited by Tennessee National Guard and
Army recruiters for rising enlistments. [AP via No Silence Here]
Fatality involving cell-phone use. KINGSPORT,
Tenn. (AP) [~] A Rogersville woman charged in a fatal traffic accident
was using a cell phone at the time of the crash, police said. Bethany Goodson, 19, was indicted on a charge of criminally
negligent homicide and turned herself in at the police station on
Monday. [AP via Michael Silence]
An Anchor by Evening, a Blogger Any Time.
The NBC news anchor Brian Williams's daily blog is an attempt to
communicate with his audience more informally, in a voice that is
effectively unfiltered. By JACQUES STEINBERG. [The New York Times]
Commission Rejects Pentagon Plan to Close Base in Connecticut.
Also, the commission has approved Pentagon plans to shut down three
major bases, but one in Georgia was spared. By CHRISTINE HAUSER. [The New York Times]
9 States in Plan to Cut Emissions by Power Plants.
The action came after the White House decided not to regulate the
greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. By ANTHONY DePALMA. [The New York Times]
UT to retire 3 football numbers . For the first time in half a century, Tennessee will retire jersey numbers this fall. [WBIR]
Synthesizer Visionary Robert Moog Dies at 71 [World Music Central]
Boy rescues sister, family dog from fire after adults injured HENDERSONVILLE,
Tenn. - A 10-year-old boy plucked his 13-month-old sister from the
family's burning kitchen after his mother and aunt were injured trying
to fight the fire and get help. [AP via New Sentinel]
Court may review murder conviction reversal ALCOA
- The Blount County district attorney general is requesting that an
appeals court decision reversing the conviction and death sentence of a
Blount County man in the killing of a man accused of rape to collect a
bounty offered by the boyfriend of the alleged rape victim be reviewed
by the Tennessee Supreme Court. [News Sentinel]
Boomsday Ends Summer with More Bang, Live Music, and Choices Sept. 4
Fun
for the entire family, food, live music and entertainment - not to
mention 20 percent more fireworks - are on tap for Boomsday XVIII set
to take place on the downtown Knoxville waterfront at Neyland Drive and
Volunteer Landing Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005. [City of Knoxville]
Suspect arrested in hit-and-run crash into post office
Knox County sheriff's deputies arrested Thursday the woman they believe
drove her car into the Heiskell post office. [WATE]
Hidden camera in found in cheerleaders' changing room A
secret camera has been discovered inside a school in a room where
students change clothes. It was put there by a school administrator. [WATE]
8:59:34 PM 
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