August 06, 2003
Ken Sands predicts you'll be blogging, too
In the latest E&P, Ken Sands, head of new media at the Spokane Spokesman Review (where he has helped introduce several blogs), answers five questions on the subject of newspaper weblogs.
We Media - Audiences as partners in the news
For the past few months, I've been working with new media writers/consultants Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis to produce a comprehensive report for New Directions for News on the subject of participatory journalism.
Today, the foreword, introduction and first four chapters of the seven-chapter report were posted on the NDN web site.
It's called "We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information."
San Jose Mercury News business columnist and blogger Dan Gillmor writes in the foreword:
I've been lucky enough to be an early participant in participatory journalism, having been urged almost four years ago by one of the weblog software pioneers to start my own blog. Writing about technology in Silicon Valley, I used the blog to generate even more feedback from my audience.That audience, never shy to let me know when I get something wrong, made me realize something: My readers know more than I do. This has become almost a mantra in my work. It is by definition the reality for every journalist, no matter what his or her beat. And it ís a great opportunity, not a threat, because when we ask our readers for their help and knowledge, they are willing to share it -- and we can all benefit. If modern American journalism has been a lecture, it ís evolving into something that incorporates a conversation and seminar.
I believe it's an important report, one that captures many of the exciting developments occurring in the field of new media today. Weblogs, of course, play a prominent role. (The chapters appear in PDF form.)
I'll post a followup announcement when the entire report is completed later this month.
The New Directions site has launched a new blog, but I'm not crazy about the format -- you're required to email your comments -- so feel free to post your thoughts right here.
Later: One reason that I dislike PDF documents -- and so many users hate them -- is that while they're terrific when they work, they often don't open like they're supposed to. Kathy at Kansas University writes to say: "When I try to open the PDF, Acrobat tells me there was a 'font with a bad CMap.' " She has Acrobat 4.0 and has been unable to open any of the docs.
I'll relay this news to the folks at NDN and see if they can put up an HTML version later this month.
A free Internet phone service
SIPphone press release: San Diego -- August 6, 2003 -- SIPphone, Inc., (www.SIPphone.com) announces the immediate availability of free, worldwide phone calls using the world's first affordable plug-n-play Internet phone.
This venture comes from Michael Robertson, the dynamo who was founder and CEO of MP3.com, so it bears watching.
Another paid archive on NYT
Here's another Sponsored Archive on the New York Times on the Web today, Le Divorce, paid for by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Petition against FCC ownership rules
If you're opposed to the FCC's rollback of big media ownership rules, here's an online petition. The group Media Reform hopes to gather 1 million signatures. Thanks to Dean Landsman for the pointer.
Love stories online
Steve S. Saroff spotted my thriller online and sends a pointer to the first 50 pages of his novel and some new short fiction here. Two of the love stories were published in Redbook "back when they published serious fiction," says Steve.
From Naked News to Naked Fiction
Howie Kurtz's latest Media Notes column in the Washington Post is full o' good stuff: From Naked News to Naked Fiction.
Idiot Comment of the Week II
Another day, another Idiot Comment of the Week. This one from James Taranto of the "ultra-right" WSJ OpinionJournal.com, who calls the million-plus members of the organization MoveOn.org "pro-Saddam."
Meanwhile, Lieberman's erstwhile running mate, Al Gore, seems to have gone off the rails. The New York Post reports Gore will be speaking to a gathering of MoveOn.org--the far-left, pro-Saddam group whose online "primary" gave Howard Dean a victory over second-place Dennis Kucinich--at New York University on Thursday. Saving the Democrats from themselves is a noble goal, but it seems a hopeless task.
As the Dean Defense Forces blog notes, "Hey, folks, you're dragging politics down and looking like morons at the same time."
anthony said:
Hey, I'll be attending that speech, as a member of the NYU Democrats, who are co-sponsoring the event.
Arianna jumps into guv race
Breaking news:
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| Arianna announcing her candidacy today. Photo by Fred Prouser/Reuters |
SF Gate: Arianna Huffington jumps into California's gubernatorial race.
Slate: Arianna leaps.
AlterNet: Arianna Jumps into the Fray.
USA Today: Feinstein rules out run for Calif. governor.
Where "Think Different" Is Taking Apple
Jane Black, my friend at Business Week Online, has a special report on Apple's strategic shift: Where "Think Different" Is Taking Apple. Rather than accept being a niche PC maker, Steve Jobs is transforming his baby into a high-end consumer-electronics and services company.
My wife's cousin was just laid off from a managerial job at Apple, so they're having tough times over there.
Has file sharing ebbed?
Dan Ackman at Forbes.com thinks The Download Tide May Have Ebbed.
Wrong. And the article makes no attempt to back up that assertion.
