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April 7, 2014 media notes: Vox.com launches; tough digital questions for news outlets; how information is archived

4/7/2014

For Monday, April 7, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Ezra Klein's new venture, Vox.com, made its debut today as an entry into explanatory journalism. Vox will make use of highlighted words to go deeper and to provide "stacks" of information. It will be, as The New York Times suggests, a blend of technology and reporting. Its initial stories and files are loaded with gravitas: Ukraine, Obamacare, the GM recall.
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Raju Narisetti, the senior vice president of strategy at News Corp., has an enlightening series of questions for news organizations on their true commitment to digital transformation. His post for the Nieman Journalism Lab is written from an insider's perspective to identify the real allocation of resources and the contemporary revenue streams, and most of his questions would likely be uncomfortable for many organizations fashioning themselves as digital enterprises. Good answers to the questions would form an interesting business model.
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Adrienne Lafrance has a lengthy look on Medium at the technological evolution of news archives, how librarians are approaching their catalogues in the digital era, and the implications for research and storage as professionals work toward new standards that involve the link. For anyone interested in how information is organized, it's a fascinating read.

March 21, 2014 media notes: Turkey blocks Twitter, Poynter debates value of page views, data journalism's challenges

3/21/2014

For Friday, March 21, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Turkey has blocked Twitter. The prime minister promised to eradicate it, and soon after it could not be used by the country's 10 million Tweeps. This is the latest in a string of measures to suppress free expression in the country and focus on state-run media to inform citizens. Not surprisingly, there is a large effort to thwart the block, including the use of Google as a workaround.
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Poynter has a healthy debate under way between two of its writers on the value of page views as a metric for online news sites. Rick Edmonds has taken the view that the day has come to ditch the page view and measure other forms of engagement, but News Corp.'s Raju Narisetti argues on Poynter that page views remain important and not only as "vanity" metrics in the business model of journalism. It is a recommended discussion.
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This week's launch of FiveThirtyEight at ESPN has prompted several posts on the value and challenges of data journalism. The Columbia Journalism Review's Tanveer Ali argues it will not succeed without a narrative, without recognizing that numbers are a means to telling the story and not the story itself. Ben Thompson, meanwhile, looks on the stratechery blog at the decline of the newspaper and its incompatibility with the Internet's capacity to find what people want. Self-promotion: I posted this advice to the newspaper on LinkedIn overnight.

February 27, 2014 media notes: Al Jazeera day of protest, LinkedIn's publishing move, phone-hacking trial evidence

2/27/2014

For Thursday, February 27, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Al Jazeera today deemed a global day of action to protest the trials of four of its journalists in Egypt accused of supporting the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The four have been held since December. Their arrests prompted an international outcry, so far to no avail.
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Adam Lashinsky, writing for Fortune, examines the move by LinkedIn to open its blogging platform (eventually) to all its members. He wonders if the company is becoming a publisher. LinkedIn prefers to see itself differently, with its publishing tool as a stronger connector within its network, a better driver of advertising revenue and recruitment information, and an inducement for more premium accounts. Lashinsky believes its next move may be to hire journalists.
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Three News Corp. reporters, a prison guard and a former police official have been charged in the U.K. probe into bribing public officials. Meantime, the phone-hacking trial has heard owner Rupert Murdoch wanted Rebekah Brooks as editor to make the Sun more fun and less about politics and that Brooks consented to payment to a public official for information when she believed there was an overwhelming public interest.

February 13, 2014 media notes: journalists urged to lead Internet debate, news replaces literature, China's news needs

2/13/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Thursday, February 13, 2014:

Michael Copps, a former Federal Communications Commission commissioner, says journalism needs to lead the debate over the future of the Internet. Copps says the Internet, still in its early days, will produce several more revolutionary changes in the news, but "not by continuing down the road it is presently on." He writes an open letter to journalists in the Columbia Journalism Review. Copps argues regulatory moves to widen broadband access and guaranteeing an open Internet are vital to the future of news, and he writes that journalists need to be involved in these decisions. Otherwise, the axiom will hold that decisions without you are usually decisions against you .
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Lee Siegel, writing for The New Yorker, poses the question: Is the news replacing literature? He cites the recent reprised dispute between Dylan Farrow and Woody Allen over sexual abuse allegations as an example. "Instantaneous news of what happened, or might have happened, has become our art, and, like the chorus in ancient Greek tragedy, we are all part of the swelling roar."
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Hu Shuli, editor-in-chief of Caixin Media, writes of the challenge of building independent, sustainable journalism in her native China. She notes in the latest Nieman Reports the lack of business acumen and the need for "better company structures and digital know-how" to meet the challenge of developing press that can stand strong. An important priority is for Chinese media to collectively protect intellectual property rights.

February 5, 2014 media notes: big media's muscle, the phone-hacking totals, and the concept of fencing stolen secrets

2/5/2014

Here are some media stories of note for Wednesday, February 5, 2014:

We may have digital abundance, but we also have big media dominance. The Los Angeles Times reports on a new study by the Sanford C. Bernstein firm indicates that a few players have immense impact and clout over the advertising and subscription revenues of the U.S. media industry. Disney's hold is about 20%, while Time Warner's is about 18%.
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What was the fuss over the phone-hacking calls? Now we know more. The trial in the U.K. over the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal has quantified the extent of intrusion. It has heard that 6,813 calls targeting 282 voicemails were placed in 2005 and 2006 by those in the employ of News of the World. More than 4,700 of the calls were made by the paper's journalists.
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We all know that Edward Snowden possesses classified information. We also know he leaked it to journalists. But, if the journalists sold their stories, is that "fencing" stolen material and a crime? The subject was floated Tuesday at a federal hearing between two critics of Snowden's (the head of the House Intelligence Committee and the director of National Intelligence) and the head of the FBI. Not so clear, the FBI chief said: the activity may be protected by press freedom rights. Other experts agree the concept is questionable. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post explores the issue.

media notes 11.22.13

11/22/2013

For Friday, November 22, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

Raju Narisetti, senior vice president and deputy head of strategy for News Corp., recently shared what he considers the top nine challenges facing journalism in a speech to students at the Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University.

The school's Maryanne Reed, writing for PBS MediaShift, summarizes them as:

1. Print isn't going away.
2. Digital advertising isn't the saviour.
3. Paywalls are here to stay and struggle.
4. News will have to go to readers; they will not come to us.
5. Web video offers a way out.
6. Mobile might be a threat or opportunity, but it is a journalism reality.
7. Great journalism matters.
8. Good and bad experiences involve the intersection of content and technology.
9. Newsrooms faces a new competitor: Advertising.

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited as the creator of the World Wide Web, warns of the threat to democracy of the web by surveillance and censorship. Berners-Lee released his annual report, a web index on censorship, and it found that 94 per cent of countries tracked did not have adequate systems to monitor government interceptions of information. The BBC reports that Berners-Lee's report identifies one hopeful sign in the increased effort by the general public to expose wrongdoing and spur change.

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Gay Alcorn, former editor of The Sunday Age and now a columnist for The Age, writes critically of the Australian press "toxicity" in response to revelations of government surveillance. Many Australian media commentators have criticized the media revelations for their impact on foreign relations, for instance. She believes media have been wrong in turning so quickly on their ilk.
"Perhaps it was predictable that such complacency would be so quick to surface here, but it's no less alarming," she concludes.

media notes 08.27.13

8/27/2013

Here are some media stories of interest for Tuesday, August 27, 2013:

Dean Starkman, writing for the Columbia Journalism Review, looks at the "journalism problem" for ESPN. Unlike other organizations that cover a wide range of topics and have a wide range of advertisers supporting them, ESPN's programming contracts and journalism coverage are much more narrow. Starkman looks at the dilemma it has with its NFL and NCAA coverage, given the enormity of the programming contracts that contribute richly to its wealth.

The Australian press watchdog has reminded newspapers of their obligation to provide fair-minded political coverage during the election campaign. The prime minister has been critical of the News Corp. papers' coverage of his party in the run-up to elections next week. Rupert Murdoch's chain comprises about 70 per cent of the country's newspaper circulation. The watchdog has written papers to note they have agreed to provide a "reasonably comprehensive and accurate account of public issues," although it acknowledges their right to hold opinions and favour candidates.

Dell Cameron, writing for VICE, examines the critical issues involved as the United States wrestles with the notion of a media shield law. Cameron argues that the bill would not protect journalists at all but revoke the rights of anyone who reveals government threats to the public. He says it would only help corporate media and would define journalism as a profession and not, more appropriately in his view, as an action.

media notes 07.04.13

7/4/2013

Here are some media stories for Thursday, July 4, 2013:

Margaret Sullivan, the public editor for The New York Times, follows up on a Gawker story earlier in the week that a TImes contributing blogger had demanded compensation from a public relations firm for mention in his You're The Boss blog. Sullivan finds there is much less than meets the eye, but in the process examines some of the slippery issues of blogger/PR relationship.

Eric Deggans, writing for Poynter, takes another look at the impact of the media self-examination on the issue of who is a journalist. This issue surfaced after Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald reported on leaks by former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden (at last word, still in a Russian airport figuring out which country will grant him asylum). Deggans argues that the work done, not the title, is the important thing. But he also believes that those who break the law need to face consequences.

Gawker chronicles the release of a secretly recorded discussion in the Sun newsroom with News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch in which he acknowledges his staff had been offering bribes to officials for stories. The reporters at the Sun were upset the company had provided police with internal communications information and Murdoch commits to support them however the court cases against them turn out.

media notes 05.21.13

5/21/2013

Some media stories of note for Tuesday, May 21, 2013:

Taylor Miller Thomas, writing for Poynter, looks at how news organizations use Tumblr, the platform purchased by Yahoo this week for $1.1 billion. Thomas identifies the techniques of media and Tumblr to connect and interact with audiences, in particular to answer questions.

Jack Shafer, writing for Reuters, argues that the problems James Rosen of FOX News (accused in a Justice Department affidavit as a "co-conspirator" in breaching government secrecy) have encountered are in part of his own making. Namely, Shafer suggests that Rosen wasn't all that intrepid in covering his tracks and ensuring his source could do the same. It's a contrarian take on what has largely been journalism concerned with the plight of the craft under surveillance.

AdWeek examines how The New York Times is applying its ingenuity to rework the online banner ad. The innovation largely associated with its editorial department is alive in its R & D Lab to generate advertising campaigns that are more interactive and effective. It has potential applications elsewhere with news organizations looking for more avid use of its online advertising.

media notes 13.03.13

3/13/2013

Five media stories of note for Wednesday, March 13, 2013:

The chairman of the India Press Council has proposed there be minimum qualifications for journalists. The Hindu reports that Justice Markandey Katju has established a committee of two other council members and a professor in order to make recommendations for legislation. He says that untrained people enter journalism and do not hold high standards. It is time for there to be professional qualifications enacted in law, he says. Industry reaction, not surprisingly, has been critical of the proposal.

In Australia, meanwhile, there is political and industry opposition to the government's new package of media reforms. Among them is the establishment of a public interest advocate to oversee the self-regulatory press council and to review such industry transactions as mergers. The government defends the reforms as integral to public trust of media, while industry suggests the reforms are intrusive. News Corp., the largest media company in Australia, has called the moves Stalinism.

A two-part post in theMediaBriefing features a presentation by German academics who argue that a rethinking of editorial models is necessary in the time ahead to invest in high-quality, unique content. But they argue that the fear of crisis inhibits innovation.

Could a print-on-demand model help publishers in the digital age? theMediaBriefing writes of the success Scientific American enjoyed in creating a print version of a digital application. While it wouldn't replace print revenues, it might augment digital-centric operations.

A new study for the U.S. National Newspaper Network has good news for the print media: It's the choice of sports fans. A survey conducted for the network found sports fans preferred newspapers over television, radio or other print outlets for coverage and analysis of sports. Poynter Online, in summarizing the study, also noted newspaper websites were preferred over their digital counterparts.

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