Friday, December 3, 2004
DISCOMFORT RULESThere still are some standards. Paid Content is reporting that Forbes is backing away from using paid advertising links in editorial copy.
Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller told AP users weren't disturbed but staffers were uncomfortable -- "since we are an editorially driven company, it wasn't worth having our editors feel uncomfortable, so we decided to step aside."
Score one for integrity, even if it is prompted by mere discomfort. |
CHILE: THE OTHER SIDEI reacted a couple of days ago to news that the Chilean newspaper Las Ultimas Noticias is basing its story decisions on the number of clicks that stories get at the newspaper's web site. It was what you'd expect from a long-time newspaperman: Yikes. Since then I've had a chance to read the Christian Science Monitor article about Las Ultimas Noticias. I'm still uncomfortable, but... First, a few quotes from the article. From publisher Augustine Edwards:
"I am not of the school that says, 'Eat porridge, its good for you,'" explains Edwards, warning that it's wise to be humble when deeming something "trivial" or "tabloid." "I'm focused not on what people should be reading, but on uniting them around what they want to be reading." As such, he argues, the paper is fulfilling a civic role — but with a twist. "We are serving the people what they want without passing judgment on their tastes or values, and we are reflecting a liberalizing, changing society that is Chile today." And reporter Orietta Santa Maria.
Her story — on the arrival of the wealthiest man in the world, the Sultan of Brunei (for the trade meeting) — is one of the top click winners. Her follow up, she says, might be something about the daily activities of his "exotic" entourage. "We are all still getting used to the new system here," she says. "It's all down to a science, with the clicks guiding you more than an editor does. "Some years ago I covered good stories, like the Pinochet case," says Ms. Santa Maria. "I spent my time cultivating sources, and it was serious." She misses it once in a while. "But this is a phenomenon," she says with a shrug, "and I am not going to fight against it." As I said, I'm uncomfortable. True, it's one of the expressions of citizens journalism although not, in this case, journalism provided by the readers, but driven by them and giving readers a greater role in "news" is something I wholeheartedly endorse. My problem may in looking at Las Ultimas Noticias in isolation. As a singular model for what media should be, I don't think that Las Ultimas Noticias is any better than Northwest Voice. Both bring something relatively new (although not unheard of) to the media scene and both rely on the readers to drive the news (through web site clicks or by submitting the vast majority of items). While they may not serve as the model, each of them, as part of local spectrum of media (from mainstream to new to blogs to these types of experiments) may fit well into the emerging mediascape.
And my initial reaction, and the reaction of a number of media professionals who throw up their hands in horror at the very idea of what Las Ultimas Noticias is doing, may have more than just a whiff of the reactionary to it. |
SIGN OF THE TIMESFrom NewsDesigner.com:
The Los Angeles Times (Tribune Co., 902,000 daily) is killing its national edition at the end of the year, The Washington Post reports. They say the internet's made it irrelevent. 10:32:16 AM LINK TO THIS POST |
THE E-LIFESteve Rubel has an interesting piece positing a combined Craig's List and e-Bay as the new media giant. He writes:
This will usher in a new era where citizen journalism is directly funded by person-to-person commerce. eBay community bloggers will be able to earn revenues either from their own auction listings or from classified sponsors who choose to advertise on their eBay weblog. In short, eBay will empower consumers to establish a micro version of the media business model that has been around for generations, but only accessible to the big boys.
His prediction may not come to pass, but Rubel makes a great point: we are too used to pigeon-holing and defining potential based on what is: media is media, e-Bay is sales, Yahoo is a portal. Where successful citizens journalism comes from may surprise the hell out of us. |
DEAR SANTA...It's not like seeing him in person or anything, but Santa is online through AOL Instant Messaging (and iChat for all you Mac users).
SOURCE: Joi Ito |
Last update: 12/26/04; 7:03:31 AM .
