Category Archives: online journalism

Online journalism job of the week: Keyword Manager

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The Guardian are advertising for a Keyword Manager “to look after the labelling of our content online to ensure that it is consistent with the needs of the reader and the editorial values of the Guardian and Observer. The role requires attention to the demands both of a considerable content archive and of a fast-moving news operation, and involves work across media; from text to cartoons, video to podcasts. It would suit either a journalist with a particular interest in archiving, or someone with a background in information science who posesses a keen editorial sense.”

To quote William Gibson: “The future is already here – it is just unevenly distributed”.

The burden of a paper image (Bas Timmers)

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Bas Timmers is Newsroom Editor at Dutch broadsheet de Volkskrant. This post is also available at http://www.bastimmers.nl/diginewsuk.php

“In the virtual world a year only lasts three months,” a manager once sighed. The innovations keep on coming very quickly indeed on the web, and a success story can turn into a tale of shattered dreams within months. Kazaa and ICQ were once extremely popular, for instance, but are now only marginal players on the web.

This high speed of innovation doesn’t mean that you cannot draw any lessons from the past. For example, Pablo J. Boczkowski was examining three online projects at American newspapers already in 1999 and 2000, but the conlusions he drew are still applicable. Continue reading →

“Calling all UK Northern Interaction Designers and Freelance Journalists”…

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I’ve agreed to pass on the following call from Gregory Povey of MELD. Sounds a very worthy attempt to match new media and journalistic expertise:

MELD is a world first project: bringing together the best northern (UK) journalists and new media practitioners to explore what happens when the two worlds collide

Selected talent will be paid to attend a five-day residential lab where they will develop products and pitch them to industry partners. This is a fantastic opportunity to extend industry networks, develop new products and explore new routes to market Continue reading →

Guest blogger Bas Timmers on the customisable future of news

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Bas Timmers is Newsroom Editor at Dutch broadsheet de Volkskrant

It´s 2015. Newspapers don´t exist anymore. At least, not as a mass medium. Because everyone is living in his own cocoon, his own little world, assembled to his own preferences. Customizable, as the phenomenon is generally called. A television(or a computer screen or electronic paper?) displays documentaries and YouTube-like videos from internet users with the same preferences and the same lifestyle. The mp3-player pounds out songs automaticallty that fit the mood of its user, because the bloody thing can sense the mental state of of its boss. And in the meantime it also suggests some new songs that might match his preference. Continue reading →

A model for the 21st century newsroom pt2: Distributed Journalism

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In the first part of my model for the 21st century newsroom I looked at how a story might move through a number of stages from initial alert through to customisation. In part two I want to look at sourcing stories, and the role of journalism in a new media world.

The last century has seen three important changes for the news industry. It has moved… Continue reading →

Blogs and investigative journalism: looking for leads and a co-author for a book chapter

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I’ve been asked to write a book chapter on ‘Investigative journalism and blogs’ for the next edition of ‘Investigative Journalism’. If you know of any examples where blogs have been used for investigative journalism, or useful contacts, please let me know.

I would also particularly welcome anyone who is interesting in co-authoring the book chapter via a wiki. Continue reading →

European Bloggers Unconference and PICNIC 07

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Too much to report from PICNIC 07 and the European Bloggers Unconference – I’ll try to summarise in a future post. For the moment suffice to say if you ever get the chance to attend this fabulous event, take it. It’s like a music festival for media types, with every venue lit up by the warm glow of a hundred wifi laptops/camcorders/mobile phones. All that blogging/Twittering/YouTubeing/Flickring is aggregated at http://picnic07.vpro.nl

Meanwhile, the official production was excellent. Two highlights to catch:

USA Today realises political potential of Flash journalism

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Here’s a great example of Flash journalism from USA Today. The ‘Candidate match game’ allows you to see which candidate’s views match yours most closely by answering 11 questions on issues ranging from the Iraq war to same-sex marriage and health insurance.

A particularly nice touch is the sliders which allow you to ‘weight’ each issue – so if health care is more important to you, and you couldn’t care less about immigration, you can skew the results accordingly. More “news you can use”, and less politics-as-spectator-sport. Nice.
Candidate match game

A student from the Philippines writes… (Q&A)

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Following hot on the heels of the email from a Brazilian online journalism student comes one from Carol Bernanda of Quezon City in the Philippines. Once again, here are the questions and my answers:

Q. What is your description of blog journalism/what is blog journalism?

Blog journalism is journalism that is published using a blog. Nothing more, nothing less.

Q. What are the peculiarities and unique distinctions of blog journalism?

Blogs are only a platform, so really any type of journalism can be published on it – including audio and video. But the blog format has brought its own cultural histories, and so blogs tend to be more reflective, opinionated, and analytical. Links are integral to the form, and a good blogger is expected to link to their sources in a manner that makes blog journalism more transparent than traditional journalism. That said, the blog format is still evolving – we are seeing more original reporting, and more analysis.

Q. Is it the same as online journalism? How is it different/similar?

Online journalism is journalism on the internet, so again it’s only a platform. You could call blog journalism a subset of online journalism. All blog journalism is online journalism but not all online journalism is blog journalism.

Q. Do you prefer blogging to writing for a publication?

Yes, in that I prefer being my own boss. But writing for a publication is good in different ways – the restrictions can make you more creative and improve the quality. A lot is said about the unlimited space of the web, but there is something to be said for word limits too.

Q. Can you recommend me samples of sites of blog journalism?Look at my blogroll in the right hand column. And my bloglines subscriptions at http://www.bloglines.com/public/paulb

Q. What are the tips/advice that you can suggest to aspiring blog journalists?

See https://onlinejournalismblog.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/how-a-blog-can-put-you-on-the-road-to-success/ – I’m preparing a lengthier version for a book chapter.