PARSING MEDIAI'm used to bloggers, academics and others taking on the media for its sins, but I haven't often seen a newspaper devote significant space to some of the central questions and criticisms. That's what the Guardian has done in a series of articles that examines the question "do journalists live in a parallel universe?" The coverage is extensive and in-depth, so set aside a good whack of time for it. Or you can read Simon Waldman's post that neatly outlines the scope of the arguments being made.
The Guardian articles deal with the press in Britain, but a lot of what is being written about covers North American journalism as well. Props to the Guardian for deciding that the discussion about media has a place in the media. |
FOR THE TOOLBOX
For the Journalism Tools folder in your bookmarks: CAR in Canada, Fred Vallance-Jones's guide to computer-assisted reporting in Canada. Great resource, with lots of tips and links. |
A NEW FAVOURITEI finally had a chance to check out issue 10 of Blueeyes Magazine, the online photo journal and I've discovered a new name to add to my list of favourite photographers.
Juli Leonard's Portfolio: Found is a collection of 24 stunning photographs. She's a photojorunalist, but there are none of the usual photojournalism cliches in her collection. The way she uses space in her photos particularly blows me away. We teach our journalism students to get close: when someone moves back and incorporates space in a meaningful way, it makes a powerful statement. Go look. |
CRYSTAL BALL GAZINGThe Pew Internet and American Life Project has interesting new poll results out: an attempt to predict where the internet is headed over the next 10 years. The survey of "technology experts and scholars" pokes into two dozen areas in an attempt to read the tea leaves, including those that impact on media. The full report is available at the Pew site as a PDF. The best summary is in the Pew Centre press release, which in part reports:
Some 66% of the experts responding to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University agreed with the following prediction: At least one devastating attack will occur in the next 10 years on the networked information infrastructure or the country's power grid. In addition, there was notable agreement among the 1,286 experts in this survey that in the next 10 years the internet will be more deeply integrated in our physical environments and high-speed connections will proliferate — with mixed results. They believe the dawning of the blog era will bring radical change to the news and publishing industry and they think the internet will have the least impact on religious institutions.
I can see the belief that news and publishing will face the most radical change. After all, it seems like we've left the starting line in the race to remake media. I'm not sure I agree that the changes will have the least impact on religion. Take a look at podcasting, where there are a significant number of what Adam Curry calls "God-casts." Not sure that's pointing to any sort of trend, but the fact that religion is playing a significant role in something as new as podcasts means something is going on. |
GREAT RADIOPodcasting isn't just about dedicated amateurs cranking out some good 'casts (Adam Curry, Bruce Ibbott at Coverville, etc.). As the new medium has grown, the potential for it has been recognized by a growing number of public and commercial radio stations. I just finished listening to last week's On the Media from WNYC, the New York NPR station, and the first half of it has three great interviews, including one with CBC's Todd Maffin.
If you're "podding," you can download the MP3s or get the feed at the On the Media web site. If you're not, transcripts of the reports Tsunami Web, The Revolution Will be Streaming and Podcasting should be available at the site Wednesday afternoon. |
ANOTHER MODELJ.D. Lasica is using his Monday blogging space at Morph to provide some details of another successful adoption of 'net power by a print publication. The Santa Fe New Mexican has some interesting features that bring the reader on-board, including the ability to comment on every story. According to editor Stefan Dill, that's not only making readers feel more welcome, it's also helping to drive coverage. Dill and the others at the newspaper are smart. It's not just the comments, either. They've simplified navigation, feature reader-provided content on their home page, list recently-updated stories and more.
Add Sante Fe to the list that is proving that newspapers can effectively reinvent themselves in a connected world, improving the journalism and the experience for readers. Given the successes that are mounting up, mainstream media has fewer and fewer excuses not to be involved in what is becoming a new media revolution. |
LOSING SHAREThis is interesting: for the first time, visitor stats to Notes From a Teacher show that Internet Explorer's share of visits-by-browsers has inched below 50 per cent. The biggest reason is Firefox, which is now used by 31 per cent of visitors. That's up from just over 10 per cent a couple of months back.
That can't be good news for Microsoft. While blog readers tend to be more technically savvy than "average" surfers and more willing to chase technology, the indications are that Firefox (deservedly so based on my experience with it) is starting to eat away at the IE browser near-monopoly. |
THE HORRORDigital Journalist's January edition features reports from six photographers about what they faced in covering the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami. One of them is Gemunu Amarasinghe:
People were running everywhere, and the first waves hit the road. The first waves were not huge, not too destructive. They brought fish to the shore, and people rushed to collect them. Smiling young boys ran with fish dangling in their hands. But then another set of waves crashed ashore, much more powerful. I parked my SUV and climbed on its roof, thinking I was safe there. I started taking pictures - my cameras are always with me in the car in case I stumble across a news picture. But the water kept rising. And rising. In a few minutes my SUV was submerged and I suddenly slipped into the water. I struggled through the water, joining the crowds running for higher ground, some of them carrying their dead and injured. Whitecapped flood waters raced over the streets and between houses.
The reports help bring home the enormity of the event, and what it takes to work as a journalist in the face of devastation. And, as always, much more to read in the latest issue of the premier "magazine" for working journalists. |
MONDAY'S QUICK HITSSome media-related stuff worth reading: @ Boing Boing: Digitize every Canadian book @A Photo a Day: A link to the new issue of blueyes and a spiffy redesign
@PJNet Today: Leonard Witt ponders the idea that we are in the end stages of the "Roman Empire" of big media |
Last update: 1/30/05; 10:21:51 PM .
