Some media stories of note for Monday, September 23, 2013:
A representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe says media freedom is deteriorating in Southeast Europe. Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE representative on freedom of media, said journalists were threatened, regulation was inadequate, and public broadcasters were not yet reformed. She told a conference that the problems threatened the future of democracy in the region.
Mathew Ingram, writing for paidContent, concludes that the unfortunate fact about the digital journalism business model is that its viability depends on either benevolence or cat GIFs and slideshows. Ingram says it's increasingly necessary to have a rich owner, ask for donations, have another business to subsidize media, focus on entertainment, or all of the above.
Jack Shafer, writing for Reuters, notes the serious speed of change in media and how it is possible now for upstarts to run incumbents into the ditch in short order. The technological life cycle is so quick that outlets can barely "assimilate the last new wrinkle before the next one (or one!) emerge," he writes. The good news: There has never been a better time for a startup.
The New York Times' Nick Bilton writes about Nick Denton, the Gawker founder, and his effort to expand and improve upon the voices through his Kinja website. Improvements to the site permit users to write headlines and summaries of the stories, then discuss them. The aim is to generate more comments and less yelling among them.
A representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe says media freedom is deteriorating in Southeast Europe. Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE representative on freedom of media, said journalists were threatened, regulation was inadequate, and public broadcasters were not yet reformed. She told a conference that the problems threatened the future of democracy in the region.
Mathew Ingram, writing for paidContent, concludes that the unfortunate fact about the digital journalism business model is that its viability depends on either benevolence or cat GIFs and slideshows. Ingram says it's increasingly necessary to have a rich owner, ask for donations, have another business to subsidize media, focus on entertainment, or all of the above.
Jack Shafer, writing for Reuters, notes the serious speed of change in media and how it is possible now for upstarts to run incumbents into the ditch in short order. The technological life cycle is so quick that outlets can barely "assimilate the last new wrinkle before the next one (or one!) emerge," he writes. The good news: There has never been a better time for a startup.
The New York Times' Nick Bilton writes about Nick Denton, the Gawker founder, and his effort to expand and improve upon the voices through his Kinja website. Improvements to the site permit users to write headlines and summaries of the stories, then discuss them. The aim is to generate more comments and less yelling among them.
