Category Archives: BBC

Linked data and why the current approach to archives is “just not working” – David Caswell on Structured Stories

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By Agustin Palacio

Structured Stories is a news database under construction which intends to empower everyone to collect, use and improve a permanent record of news events. Creator David Caswell wants to switch the current approach to archives, which “is just not working”, for “some form of structured information that can be networked.”

According to Caswell, adding value to the structured narrative could be a way to return to something similar to the economic mechanism of the 20th century: a distribution-based bundle.

And as for journalists? Caswell believes it could be a powerful tool: Continue reading →

Curation vs aggregation, and why news organisations can’t be ‘the next LinkedIn’

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“We are not a magazine company,” he exclaims, unprompted. “We are a media company with a portfolio.” “We want to build the next LinkedIn, the next Gilt [a US commerce site], the next Facebook,”

M Scott Havens, senior vice president of digital, Time Inc

What does it mean to be a platform? Time Inc’s M Scott Havens is the latest to express a desire to move into the platform industry, telling The Guardian:

“We want to build the next LinkedIn, the next Gilt [a US commerce site], the next Facebook,”

Platforms came up at the BBC ‘Revival of Local Journalism‘ event last week too. Why weren’t regional newspaper publishers doing more to become ‘platforms’ for their local communities? Continue reading →

BBC College of Journalism website now available outside the UK

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The BBC College of Journalism has announced that their site will now be available to users outside of the UK.

The site features a wealth of content including particularly wide-ranging resources on online and multiplatform publishing. The pieces on mobile video and audio, advanced research and verification are particularly recommended.

The announcement says the site will be freely available “for a trial period of at least 12 months”, although even if the paywall is later reinstated the College does have an equally useful YouTube channel.

More geotagging: sneak preview of prototype “BBC Local”

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Following this week’s post about Archant’s experiences with geotagging, Andrew Williams looks at how the BBC is using the technology in its prototype hyperlocal web service. 

The latest incarnation of the BBC’s troubled local television scheme could be up and running by the end of the year, it was revealed last week. Academics and journalists at the Broadcast News and the Active Citizen Conference at Leeds University were given a sneak preview of a prototype BBC hyper-local web service which makes extensive use of mapping and geotagging in order to allow the audience to access a range of multimedia content linked to a local area of their own choosing.

BBC Yorkshire’s Catherine Hearne, who gave the talk, said, “The idea is that, subject to approval, we will be offering 60 local sites across the UK, and it will transform the way that people can actively engage with their local broadcaster.” Continue reading →