Monthly Archives: November 2007

iPM: have they been reading my model for a 21st century newsroom?

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Over at BBC Radio 4’s iPM website there’s an interesting experiment going on – and some good examples of my 21st century newsroom ideas in practice.

  1. Firstly, their ‘Rough Notes’ blog is a good example of the ‘draft’ stage of my News Diamond, with members of the team talking about what they’re working on (and comments facility for people to suggest stories – some very good ideas there, BTW). Also, posts labelled ‘In Production‘ allow you to see the work so far, while you can comment on the current running orders.
  2. Secondly, they have a Flickr page where users can upload images. Distributed Journalism, perhaps? Well, more like simple community.
  3. Thirdly, and perhaps best of all, they’ve made their del.ico.us account public, so readers can see what they’re reading. That’ll be the ‘What’ of my Five Ws and a H, then.

The blurb, BTW, is: “We’ll source what we do through the best blogs, passionate ‘ear catching’ online debate as well as comments and recommendations of others. So what ends up on air will be shaped by listeners and bloggers.”

Help make ‘5Ws+H’ happen

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I felt so strongly about the Five W’s and a H that should come *after* every story that I pitched an idea based on it to the Knight Foundation. It’s called the ‘Conversation Toolkit’, and it’s through to the second round of the Knight News Challenge. Think it sounds like a good idea? Have any improvements? Want to help make it happen, or test it out? Then log on to the idea wiki at http://bidideas.pbwiki.com/conversationtoolkit (password: idea) and add what you can, or contact me directly.

Here’s the text so far: Continue reading →

Five W’s and a H that should come *after* every story (A model for the 21st century newsroom: pt3)

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So far this model has looked at sourcing stories in the new media age, and reporting a news story in the new media age. In this third part I look at what should happen after a news story has been reported, using a familiar framework: the 5 Ws and a H – who, what, where, why, when and how.

Five W’s and a H that should come *after* every story

A web page – unlike a newspaper, magazine or broadcast – is never finished – or at least, can always be updated. Its permanence is central to its power, and relates directly to its connectivity (and therefore visibility).

Once out there it can be linked to, commented on, discussed, dissected, tagged, bookmarked and sent to a friend. That can take place on the original news site, but it probably doesn’t. The story is no longer yours. So once the news site has added comments, a message board, ’email to a friend’ boxes and ‘bookmark this’ buttons, what more can it do? Continue reading →

Why does it matter if we call it journalism?

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I’ve just had an email from a journalist in Portugal, who describes an all-too-familiar scenario:

“On Portuguese public TV there is a show called “Journalist’s Club”. The moderator was interviewing the director of the Portuguese news agency LUSA. He asked: is citizen journalism journalism? The director of LUSA said ‘Yes’ with some examples. The moderator was insistingly, to say the least, denying this possibility, giving the final comparison: “The act of journalism is like a medical act” – i.e. journalists are like doctors – they hold a power. This is the opinion of a majority of professionals here in Portugal and I bet in many other countries too.”

It amazes me that people are still debating whether X or Y is journalism. Apart from anything else, it seems such a pointless debate. Why does it matter what you call it?

There’s the comment-fueller for today – I’d love to know your opinions.

Are there really only six essential books on online journalism? {UPDATED}: Now 9

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I was looking to draw up a list of ten essential books on online journalism – but it seems to me that there are really only six (updated to 8, September 2010).

Have I missed something? Let me know. In the meantime, here are my six 8 essential reads for online journalists:

  1. For a different angle on the whole shebang: Gatewatching by Axel Bruns: not the most famous of books – perhaps because it is so far ahead of its time. Gatewatching looks at peer to peer publishing, and non-traditional news organisations: the likes of Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Wikinews, among others. An essential read for an insight into how news reporting can be organised completely differently. See also: Digitizing the News by Pablo Boczkowski.
  2. For an authoritative history: Online News by Stuart Allan: a refreshingly rigorous look at some of the most famous moments in online journalism – Rathergate; 9/11; Drudge. Helps supply the reality behind the mythology. See also: Online Journalism by Jim Hall.
  3. For an essential challenge to your basic journalistic values in the new media age: Online Journalism Ethics by Friend & Singer: poses the questions we should all be asking ourselves, and is brave enough not to supply the answer.
  4. For the definitive guide to citizen journalism: We The Media by Dan Gillmor: doesn’t sit on the wall, but then Gillmor would be the first to point out that objectivity is dead. Not to be confused with the also very good We Media by Bowman & Willis (online only).
  5. For a good introduction to the basics of writing for the web I will obviously now recommend The Online Journalism Handbook by Liisa Rohumaa and I. Also good: Digital Journalism by Mark S. Luckie which brings up to date some of the techniques first introduced in Journalism Online by Mike Ward, which is still worth reading. And Convergence Journalism by Janet Kolodzy and Convergent Journalism by Stephen Quinn focus specifically on multimedia. Also, download Journalism 2.0 (PDF) by Mark Briggs (thanks to Steve Yelvington in the comments for reminding me about this one).
  6. For a guide to interactive storytelling: Flash Journalism by Mindy McAdams: covers the ideas behind good multimedia interactives as well as the practicalities.
  7. ADDED SEP 2010: On community management, 18 Rules of Community Engagement is a great introduction.
  8. ADDED SEP 2010: On the enterprise side of things, Funding Journalism in the Digital Age (reviewed here) is a great introduction to the range of business models and experiments.
  9. ADDED JULY 2011: For a vital grounding in search engine and social media optimisation: The Search by John Battelle, beefed up with Click by Bill Tancer and The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick.

PS: I maintain an ongoing list of useful books for online journalists at My Amazon Associates store. If you’re in the US, you may prefer the Amazon.com version.

UPDATE: It’s very true that blogs are a better source of up to date information and reflection on what’s going on now. Check out Shane Richmond’s list on must-read online journalism posts.

Are there really only six essential books on online journalism? {UPDATED: Now 9}

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I was looking to draw up a list of ten essential books on online journalism – but it seems to me that there are really only six eight nine.

Have I missed something? Let me know. In the meantime, here are my six 8 9 essential reads for online journalists:

  1. For a different angle on the whole shebang: Gatewatching by Axel Bruns: not the most famous of books – perhaps because it is so far ahead of its time. Gatewatching looks at peer to peer publishing, and non-traditional news organisations: the likes of Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Wikinews, among others. An essential read for an insight into how news reporting can be organised completely differently. See also: Digitizing the News by Pablo Boczkowski.
  2. For an authoritative history: Digital Journalism by Jones & Lee is very comprehensive and worth reading in full. See also: Online News by Stuart Allan.
  3. For an essential challenge to your basic journalistic values in the new media age: Ethics for Digital Journalists poses the questions we should all be asking ourselves. See also: Online Journalism Ethics by Friend & Singer.
  4. For the definitive guide to citizen journalism: We The Media by Dan Gillmor is seminal: it doesn’t sit on the wall, but then Gillmor would be the first to point out that objectivity is dead.
  5. For a good introduction to the basics of writing for the web, multimedia and data journalism I obviously recommend my own book The Online Journalism Handbook written with Liisa Rohumaa. Also good: Online Journalism: The Essential Guide by Lashmar and Hill; and Digital Journalism by Mark S. Luckie.
  6. For a guide to interactive storytelling: Newsgames by Bogost et al covers the development of interactivity in storytelling, and game journalism in particular.
  7. On community management, Richard Millington’s Buzzing Communities is a key book.
  8. On the enterprise side of things, Funding Journalism in the Digital Age (reviewed here) is a great introduction to the range of business models and experiments. On a more practical level The Entrepreneurial Journalist’s Toolkit by Sara Kelly is better.
  9. For a vital grounding in search engine and social media optimisation: The Search by John Battelle, beefed up with Click by Bill Tancer and The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick.

PS: I maintain an ongoing list of useful books for online journalists at My Amazon Associates store. If you’re in the US, you may prefer the Amazon.com version.

UPDATE: It’s very true that blogs are a better source of up to date information and reflection on what’s going on now. Check out Shane Richmond’s list on must-read online journalism posts.

Ego boost for the week (oh, and nine other bloggers)

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Adrian Monck has compiled a top ten of “the UK’s finest journalism bloggers” based on blogroll links. Here it is:

  1. 194 Roy Greenslade
  2. 165 Paul Bradshaw
  3. 119 Shane Richmond
  4. 73 Robin Hamman
  5. 66 Jemima Kiss
  6. 65 Andrew Grant-Adamson65 Martin Stabe
  7. 61 Richard Sambrook
  8. 49 Seamus McCauley
  9. 46 Simon Waldman

Does this merely demonstrate what an incestuous lot we are? That only the BBC, Guardian and Telegraph have time to allow staff to write about what they’re doing? That it’s time to start linking to other people on my blogroll? That Adrian has too much time on his hands? Of course we’ve been here before. Answers on a postcard, please.

Blogs e Jornalismo Investigativo: O debate amador-profissional

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Na segunda parte de meu capítulo de livro, dou uma olhada nas críticas dirigidas tanto a blogueiros quando a jornalistas profissionais. Qualquer correção, informação extra ou comentários são bem-vindos. [This is a Portuguese translation of Blogs and Investigative Journalism part two. Thanks to Gabriela Zago]

O debate amador-profissional

Blogs têm atraído críticas de uma variedade de fontes por serem suscetíveis de mobilizar multidões (Allan, 2006), por conter opiniões doentias ou viciadas, por ser uma “cadeia de eco”de vozes homogêneas (Henry, 2007), pela falta de rigor editorial, e como representantes do crescimento do “culto do amador”. Continue reading →