It appears last week’s guidance from the PCC on correcting URLs as well as the contents of stories has not reached The Sun. Serene Branson’s on-air slurring was initially mocked by the tabloid with the headline “Grammy’s reporter goes gaga”. When it emerged that the presenter may have* suffered from a stroke the article was rewritten – but not the URL:

The Daily Record, meanwhile, have changed their URL as well as the headline (or their content management system has done it for them). 3am haven’t changed anything (see image at top).

A further issue occurs here too: comments posted on the original Sun story remain, but now – under a now more sober report – these appear insensitive.

More recent commenters can be seen criticising these older comments, and without any notice on the article that it has been updated, those commenting under their real names could argue that their reputations are being damaged as a result.

Certainly there’s an ethical issue here: if you change a story so substantially that original comments now no longer apply, should you remove them?

Via Dave Lee, whose post ‘Serene Branson: The disturbing viral that shames us all‘ should also be read.

*UPDATE: The station website says she was examined by paramedics but not hospitalized. “Her vital signs were normal” and “she says that she is feeling fine this morning”.

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While I’ve been blogging my series of interviews with hyperlocal bloggers I’ve come across a few more elsewhere that may be of interest – and thought it worth linking to them here.

Talk About Local is running a ‘Ten Questions’ series of interviews along the same lines.

Nick Booth of Podnosh (which I work for) is writing a blog about hyperlocal bloggers on the BBC website. He has also  interviewed Steph Jennings and James Clark of WV11 – audio embedded below:

[audio:http://audioboo.fm/boos/194465-steph-jennings-and-james-clark-of-wv11.mp3]

I recently had Ventnor Blog founder Simon Perry talk to students on the MA in Online Journalism that I teach at Birmingham City University. Samuel Negredo filmed part of his visit, which can be seen on his blog post about the visit and is also embedded below:

Also interviewed elsewhere – by Philip John – is Brownhills Bob.

Lara O’Reilly interviews Dave Lee about Olympic Borough.

And in the US, Bob Yoder of the Redmond Neighborhood Blog is interviewed by Outside.in, which also gets some tips from Elllie Ashford in Annandale.

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As part of an ongoing series on recent graduates who have gone into online journalism, Dave Lee talks about how he won a BBC job straight from university, what it involves, and what skills he feels online journalists need today.

I got my job as a result – delightfully! – of having a well-known blog. Well, that is, well-known in the sense it was read by the right people. My path to the BBC began with a work placement at Press Gazette – an opportunity I wouldn’t have got had it not been for the blog. In fact, I recall Patrick Smith literally putting it in those terms – saying that they’d never normally take an undergrad without NUJ qualifications – but they’d seen my blog and liked what I was doing.

I met Martin Stabe there, and worked closely with him on a couple of projects – including the Student Journalism Blog on their site.

Martin knew Nick Reynolds – social media executive at the BBC – and when he heard a blogger was needed for the BBC Internet Blog, my name was passed on. That door into the BBC then made it much easier to progress upwards to the newsroom.

My job is to write news and features for BBC News Online, based on output from the BBC World Service.

There wasn’t much in my course [at Lincoln University] which directly relates to the skills I use now – much has been learnt on the job – but there is a certain level of law knowledge, ethics and general good practice that has proved to be invaluable – and that came from my studies.

Of course, it’s always worth stressing that my blog was able to succeed because of my flexibility to write about my studies and people met via work at my university. So while studying didn’t perhaps give me the practical skills for my day-to-day job, it certainly has helped me be a good journalist in other, less measurable ways.

It’s hard to predict how my job will develop in the future. Within the BBC, it’s pretty crucial when making sure we share our best stuff – it’s not good having two sets of BBC journos (or more…) running after the same stories and sources. Jobs like mine help solve that situation.

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Soon after I posted my frustration at journalism students being slow to adopt Twitter, I came up with an idea: you only really start using Twitter when there is a social reason – so why not help by creating those social connections? I posted a call-out to Twitter: 

Anyone willing to ‘adopt’ a journalism student on Twitter and answer their questions about it?

The response (especially on a Sunday afternoon) was heartwarming – within less than an hour I had more than one ‘Twentor’ (thanks to Scott Keegan for that word) per student – responses below. Two days later and the effect has been noticeable – the majority of students had started chatting to their mentors and you could see the lights switching on.

Needless to say the Twentoring idea itself makes two very strong points about Twitter: firstly, how it can be used as a source of support; and secondly, how easy it is to make professional contacts.

When Dave Lee came to speak to the students yesterday he compared it to ‘getting your feet under the table’ at a news organisation – now, as a journalism student, when the local news team needs a hand you can be ‘there’ in a virtual sense to offer help.

Thanks to all who offered to join the ‘Twentoring’ scheme. Here are their responses in full:

paulbradshaw: Anyone willing to ‘adopt’ a journalism student on Twitter and answer their questions about it?

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:43:14 +0000 2009

MissCay: I don’t mind doing that!

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:43:52 +0000 2009

gabysslave: yes we kind of did that at brumtwestival

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:44:23 +0000 2009

amypalko: What kind of questions? Do you want just anyone or someone from a specific field?

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:45:21 +0000 2009

davidelstone: I wouldn’t mind – but my experience is more broadcast than online.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:45:28 +0000 2009

tobynutter: do they have to be stalwart users or can relative newbies such as myself join in?

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:45:36 +0000 2009

JayneHowarth: i don’t mind, but not sure how helpful I’d be!

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:46:09 +0000 2009

DVDsnapshot: Love to! Former journalism grad myself!

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:46:31 +0000 2009

louisebolotin: Sure, count me in!

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:47:40 +0000 2009

Vivdora: have been on twitter for two+ years, not a geek could I help?

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:49:06 +0000 2009

DotLepkowska: I don’t mind helping out a student. Happy to help if I can.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:49:13 +0000 2009

julianlstar: I’ll contribute to that one

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:50:04 +0000 2009

scottmalthouse: I am

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:50:24 +0000 2009

lauraAjones: If your 1st job takes you to Hull & you grew up in Brum it’s an ace way to research the patch, v.happy to ‘adopt’ someone

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:51:29 +0000 2009

ClareWhite: I’d be willing if my cynical ex-journalist world view is at all helpful

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:51:41 +0000 2009

davidhiggerson: More than happy to

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:52:27 +0000 2009

Screenjabber: Me too – always happy to try to help the up-and-comers. Surprised people still choose journalism as a career!

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 12:53:57 +0000 2009

Calli: Let me know if I can help in any way

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 13:07:47 +0000 2009

halbluchs: Twitter adoption? Sounds interesting I’m in.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 13:18:58 +0000 2009

standupkid: Always happy to answer questions…

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 13:23:32 +0000 2009

NigelBarlow: can a mature journalism student adopt one ?

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 13:23:38 +0000 2009

ludtke: I found this page [Poynter

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 13:32:38 +0000 2009

mathewi: @paulbradshaw: I’d be happy to help a student if you need me, Paul

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 14:13:24 +0000 2009

neil_raygun: I’m happy to. Not around much for the rest of today, but happy to answer any questions they have.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 14:17:06 +0000 2009

tombeardshaw: happy to twentor someone – already doing it for companies, DJs & misc layabouts

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 14:21:03 +0000 2009

Lucas_MG: I’ll “adopt” a student if needed.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 14:58:55 +0000 2009

kirklapointe: Count me in for a student.

about a day ago

Sun Feb 15 18:38:18 +0000 2009

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UPDATE: From the comments: similar lists now available for Norway and Sweden.

I will soon begin teaching my annual module in Online Journalism and one of the first things I get the students to do is set up a Twitter account. It’s often a struggle to demonstrate the usefulness of Twitter, so this time around, in addition to following each other, I’m going to give them 10 people to start following from the off. This is the list I’ve come up with – would welcome your suggestions for others:

1. @davelee - former journalism student and excellent blogger who landed a plum job at the BBC after graduating. Get the point?
2. @channel4news - example of how a news organisation can use Twitter in a personal, conversational way, rather than simply republishing its RSS feed (see also: @r4news, @mashable)
3. @jemimakiss – likewise, example of a journalist using Twitter to involve readers in production, as well as just be a ‘real person’ (alternative: Mike Butcher).
4. @jayrosen_nyu – journalism professor at New York University with excellent links and analysis on the news industry and online journalism (see also: @jeffjarvis)
5. @digidickinson – Andy Dickinson, UK journalism lecturer and online video specialist. Ditto above. (alternative: @egrommet)
6. @bhampostjoanna – Jo Geary of the Birmingham Post & Mail, uses Twitter brilliantly, and is so switched on there’s a power surge every time she wakes up. (alternatives: Sarah Hartley and Alison Gow)
7. @shanerichmond – Communities Editor at The Telegraph, knows his onions. (alternative: Martin Stabe)
8. @documentally - vlogger, moblogger, social media man, has worked with Reuters and others
9. This is a local choice so you would probably have a local equivalent, but @peteashton founded local arts blog Created In Birmingham, which recently won Best UK Blog. Every journalism student should be following – and talking with – people like this in their area. One good place to find out is by searching twitter.grader.com for your area
10. Likewise, @tom_watson is a local MP, but is closely involved in campaigning for the release of government data to the public, and in the government’s digital communications generally. You may have a local or national equivalent.

Needless to say I’ll be suggesting they use services like Twellow, Twitterlocal and Twits Like Me to find other users in their ‘beat’, but I think it helps get someone into a conversation quicker if they can see what other people are talking about – and how.

Over to you – who would you recommend…?

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Legendary reporter Robert Fisk recently gave a public lecture in Wellington, New Zealand, writes Dave Lee, and offered some very strong personal thoughts on web journalism. Newswire reports:

“Mr Fisk said the internet had led to the erosion of quality writing.

He recalled being challenged about a quote of his that had been published on a website – although he had never said it. “But I read it on the internet,” was the response, to which Mr Fisk simply hung up.

Often “misquoted or requoted” on the internet, he is furious when people cut pieces out of what he has said or written, especially if someone uses ellipsis to indicate something has been cut from a quote, when they have actually culled 380 words.

Gordon Campbell – political editor of Scoop and host of the evening – attempted to defend the internet, taking the microphone off Mr Fisk several times to reassure the audience of the benefits of web journalism.

At one point, Mr Fisk retorted: “To hell with the web, it’s got no responsibility.”

I wonder what his problem is. I have always admired Fisk. He’s an exceptional journalist. But like so many exceptional journalists who have earned their living reporting for newspapers, I don’t think he understands what blogs actually are.

Let me ask you this: Why do we report news? To inform, yes. To educate, yes. To apply a sense of public voice… absolutely. For reporters like Robert Fisk, a blog should make him weak at the knees with excitement. If you read Reesh’s piece in full, you’ll come across this statement:

“British-born Fisk (pictured), a journalist who has lived in the Middle East for 30 years, describes as disgraceful a newspaper cutting off the bottom part of a photo of a man holding his dead daughter. By not showing the bone protruding from her leg, the newspaper got away with the caption: ‘A man carries his wounded daughter.’”

With a blog, he could have posted that picture in full.

In fact, everything Fisk claims is wrong about Middle East reporting would be solved if he posted his work on a blog as well as just in a newspaper.

Fisk’s work achieves the goal of informing and educating whoever reads it. But if we’re looking at ABC figures, that puts it at 235,289 on average per day. That’s a very small percentage of a small country.

I say if we, as journalists, are to really do our job as the world’s mouthpiece, then Fisk needs to embrace the web, before the web consumes him.

By Dave Lee

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Newsquest has begun the roll out of a relaunch of its websites with the Lancashire Telegraph, Bradford Telegraph & Argus and York’s The Press.

Hold The Front Page describe it as a “modernised and revamped look”. Really? As Keri Davies put it: “ugh, what a mess”. Alex Lockwood: “looks like shoveldesign – can barely see the ‘Lancashire’ on the logo; national news more imp. than local comment?” John Thompson: “Too much noise and everything in three columns. Lead stories should run across two colums Text too small in places.”

Comments on the page outlining the relaunch of the Lancashire Telegraph are invariably negative. ‘Eckythump’, a local web designer, was particularly detailed:

The site is slow, the comments forms don’t always appear and the general layout is poor. In particular the choice of pale grey text over a pale blue background is very bad for anyone with a visual impairment – have you considered SENDA compliance and accessibility standards?
The old site worked better than this and generated far more interaction. The number of comments I can see on the new site is a fraction of those on the old one. In particular the old site allowed registered users to post without having to perform the ‘type what you see’ stage. Now we have to register and perform this step. Hardly making the site user friendly. The old site needed speeding up, not this poor redeign.
The site seems to be more about maximising advertising exposure than genuine interaction with your readers.

And there’s the rub: Newsquest still appear to be treating their websites as products, not services; content, not platforms. What are the “major” changes announced by the Lancashire Telegraph? Commenters have to register, navigation is now horizontal rather than vertical; and some sections have moved.

Credit where it’s due: The Lancashire Telegraph were an early adopter of hyperlocal and in particular are successfully pioneering the use of mobile. They have very well organised photo galleries and a generous and considered video section, with but Dave Lee wonders if the new homepage is flexible enough to allow a video to be used in place of the lead picture (see comment 1). All videos also come with a frustrating 15 second pre-roll advertising that becomes repetitive – and you wonder how readers feel about ads being placed on video they have submitted to the site (or, for that matter, how advertisers feel). Time to tell advertisers about interactive overlays.

The articles retain some nods to the web 2.0 age – bookmarking/sharing/email to a friend; related links; and ‘Ways to get involved’ (where “Register to post comments” hardly makes it sound like they’re keen to hear your thoughts).

On the homepage there is the now expected ‘most read/commented’ table and if you keep scrolling you’ll see some hints of the quality within – including a potentially wonderful ‘Local information’ search that readers will easily miss in the ‘blind’ ad-ridden third column. Shouldn’t this be right at the top, next to site search?

Perhaps an Ajax-driven interface where readers could drag and drop modules to form their own page could bring some much-needed order to it all. On the whole this seems like a missed opportunity which, having had the advantage of waiting until after relaunches from Northcliffe and Trinity Mirror, still comes out looking worse.

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If you’re not one of the 3,000-plus people to have viewed Dave Lee’s video of the BBC’s “shambolic” coverage (or lack of) the UK earthquake this week, I’ve embedded it below. This deserves to be watched by everyone at the BBC (although interestingly, only Sky, who come out of this quite well, appear to be linking to it). For everyone else, the reaction from those who had just experienced the quake and are waiting for some acknowledgement from Auntie Beeb is just very very funny indeed.

You can read Dave Lee’s commentary on this here.

In an equally amusing post, while the BBC were running ads and Sky were running around, Dave Lee rounded up people’s responses to the earthquake with the following intro:

“EARTHQUAKEEEEEE!!!! OH MY WORD! WHAT DO WE DO!? I know… we change our Facebook status….”

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