March 2008 Archives
John Ndege blogs the demise of his London-based ScribbleSheet citizen journalism site, which launched last September, in a post titled "The Problem with Citizen Journalism.".
Ndege has some observations.
Among them, he thinks NowPublic may have a potentially sucessful model, particularly as a result of its agreement with the Associated Press.
ScribbleSheet is another in a long stream of examples of the how very tough it is to build a successful community model -- as a business.
One of Ndege's hard learnings: Simple display advertising won't cut it.
That calls into question the business models of a large number of sites.
Ndege has some observations.
Among them, he thinks NowPublic may have a potentially sucessful model, particularly as a result of its agreement with the Associated Press.
ScribbleSheet is another in a long stream of examples of the how very tough it is to build a successful community model -- as a business.
One of Ndege's hard learnings: Simple display advertising won't cut it.
That calls into question the business models of a large number of sites.
Scott Karp's Publish2 has raised $2.75 million in Series A funding from Velocity Interactive Group.
Congratulations! Read the news.
I've been experimenting in one area of Publish2 and Karp's vision of the future, link journalism. I had been dabbling in extensive outside linking as "the content" rather than "supplemental content" before I ran into Karp's ideas.
But his thinking outlined on his Publishing 2.0 blog crystallized what I could see in my the Web stats for knoxnews/govolsxtra.
The epiphany: Human aggregating is a valuable, journalistic service.
Sounds simple. Most good ideas are. What I have found is that "stories" that consist of links to relevant content are consistently high traffic drivers.
Karp's vision goes much further than mere external linking to the power of groups, a sort of wisdom of the crowds approach. But one not subjected to gaming or social relationships that happen on sites like Digg. How to quickly develop ad hoc crowds of human aggregators on a breaking news event is one of the challenges still to unravel.
That might be enough of a goal. But his business plan goes further than creating a cool tool for journalists and it'll be interesting to see what he outlines there. He says his ideas around a sustainable business model will be announced in the future.
This is an intriguing effort that has caught the attention smart media thinkers like Jeff Jarvis. I'm listed as an "advisor" for Publish2, but I'm more of an incurable road tester. I'll leave the smart thinking and advising to Karp, Jarvis, Howard Weaver, Howard Owens and Beth Parke.
If you're a journalist and you haven't already signed up for Publish2, head over there and request an account. This is a good idea to wrap your head around.
As today's announcement shows, guys with skin in the game think so.
Congratulations! Read the news.
I've been experimenting in one area of Publish2 and Karp's vision of the future, link journalism. I had been dabbling in extensive outside linking as "the content" rather than "supplemental content" before I ran into Karp's ideas.
But his thinking outlined on his Publishing 2.0 blog crystallized what I could see in my the Web stats for knoxnews/govolsxtra.
The epiphany: Human aggregating is a valuable, journalistic service.
Sounds simple. Most good ideas are. What I have found is that "stories" that consist of links to relevant content are consistently high traffic drivers.
Karp's vision goes much further than mere external linking to the power of groups, a sort of wisdom of the crowds approach. But one not subjected to gaming or social relationships that happen on sites like Digg. How to quickly develop ad hoc crowds of human aggregators on a breaking news event is one of the challenges still to unravel.
That might be enough of a goal. But his business plan goes further than creating a cool tool for journalists and it'll be interesting to see what he outlines there. He says his ideas around a sustainable business model will be announced in the future.
This is an intriguing effort that has caught the attention smart media thinkers like Jeff Jarvis. I'm listed as an "advisor" for Publish2, but I'm more of an incurable road tester. I'll leave the smart thinking and advising to Karp, Jarvis, Howard Weaver, Howard Owens and Beth Parke.
If you're a journalist and you haven't already signed up for Publish2, head over there and request an account. This is a good idea to wrap your head around.
As today's announcement shows, guys with skin in the game think so.
Don't forget to see my shared Google Reader items. Add it your reader (a Read the Shared Reader thing).
Companies often have the uncanny ability to do precisely the wrong thing at the exact right time.Business history is a virtual junkyard of Edsels, New Cokes, Bic pantyhose.
Decisions months or years later reveal themselves as the turning point to a failed strategy or tactic.
How is it that bright, highly successful business people can do such boners?
Venture capitalist and former Apple executive Guy Kawasaki has some thoughts on that inspired by Mortimer Feinberg's Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
." And Madeleine L. Van Hecke in "Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things" lists factors such as "Missing the big picture."Whatever the reasons for doing the wrong thing, I believe we -- those of us who work for traditional media companies -- are in one of those exact right places to do them.
Times are tough in media industry is an understatement of comical proportions.
We know the story.
Newspapers just ended the worst year in 50 years and prospects for 2008 seem no better. The prospects of local TV stations are none too bright either.
Structural changes in traditional audiences and advertisers; an economic downturn; and tremendous competition online for audience and advertising from digital competitors unencumbered by traditional media's problems form a triple assault force.
The result for newsrooms and journalists? It sucks.
And, I believe, the short-term pressures to make plan, cut expenses, trim the fat in the old businesses is resulting in blind spots to opportunity for the future businesses.
The examples are not hard to find. A recent "What are They Thinking" decision by a Nashville television station is one of the trend. I'm sure you can point to others, and please do in the comments.
This one involves Tennessee blogger A.C. Kleinheider and his VolunteersVoters blog, which became in less than two years a must read for links and quick reaction to political news in the state.
On March 14, Keinheider announced that he had written the last post for VolunteerVoters due to budget cutbacks at its owner, Nashville TV station WKRN. The station, not a broadcast ratings leader, had in recent years become one of the most innovative mainstream online presences in the state -- and even in the TV business. BusinessWeek and NPR did pieces. But these are troubled times for its owner, Young Broadcasting.
React to the VoluntterVoters deicison was fast and passioned. As I type this, there are 165 responses on his final blog post.
PS-WKRN--You're making yet another mistake is in the first comment. They don't get more positive.
Blogger and communications director for the state Republican Party Bill Hobbs wrote:
It's been a week, and I've come to a conclusion about the demise of VolunteerVoters.com. It's not a big loss. It's a MAMMOTHLY HUGE loss. There is a giant hole in the media fabric in Tennessee when it comes to political news. VV was the indispensable go-to source for all things political involving Tennessee, and provided depth and context that the various disparate news outlets often lack.I'm sure some smart business people made what they believe is the best decision. But I'm left thinking they just dumped a content franchise and what could have been a future source of sizable audience and revenue.
Additionally, while MSM outlets mention or quote from press releases and documents and such, VV often uploaded the whole thing, or gave readers a link to it - making it a far more valuable resource than any single MSM outlet for politics junkies.
It's a damned shame that WKRN couldn't figure out how to monetize the single most valuable political news property in the state. Here's hoping that some other news outlet, one which understands the new media - and the new media consumer - and wants to be an information portal for its readers rather than just an information destination, decides it wants to take over VV, or at least hire Kleinheider to build a VV replacement for them.
Perhaps other local media agree. It was announced last week that Kleinheider would be hosting a blog at the site of another Nashville news outlet, the Nashville Post.
The ability of a company in the midst of a downturn or tightening financial conditions to invest in innovation and emerging opportunities is so counterintuitive that it takes guts not consensus.
Kawasaki came up with a list of 10 ways to prevent doing dumb things. Not a bad list.
Here's a starter list of questions in search of suggestions.
Is an online community disposable because it can't be monetized today?
Is a reporter blogging so much they "aren't covering their beat" a bad thing?
Is converging print and online the way to compete online?
Will improved news deadlines based on printing schedules lead you to a brave, new digital world?
Are registration walls helping grow audience?
New Coke moments to ponder?
Some links on A.C. Kleinheider and VolunteerVoters.
- Blogging in newsrooms | KnoxvilleTalks.com
- Kleinheider | Tiny Cat Pants
- Kleinheider | Nashville is Talking
- NashvillePost.com hires Volunteer Voters veteran | NashvillePost.com:
- Nashville Post Makes Super Smart Move | Sparkwood and 21
- Political blogger laid off at WKRN | Lost Remote TV Blog
- In Praise of Bill Hobbs (No, Really.)(Seriously.) | Sparkwood and 21
- Kleinheider | The World According to Oatney
- The Kleinheider Finds a Home | Nashville for the 21st Century
- One Year, Eleven Months And Thirteen Days | Volunteer Voters
Links powered by Publish2
(This post is part of the Carnival of Journalism hosted by Will Sullivan)
There was a lot of buzz on Twitter this morning about Earth Hour. Here's a sampling from Tweet Scan, a "real time" Twitter search engine. Oh yeah, follow me on Twitter.
 | Despil : @scarab I thought we have about 6 hours 'till Earth Hour. It's not even noon yet << (2008-03-29 06:52:21) |
 | rgabostyle : Turn of your lights for an hour from 8pm to 9pm local time and join the Greener One team for Earth Hour! http://tinyurl.com/yrb23j << (2008-03-29 06:51:07) |
 | mic2007 : twitterfolk as part of earth hour today-take a picture of where u are now n send 2 pics@dailytwitter.com w/ location see earthhourus.org/ << (2008-03-29 06:47:38) |
 | halfscottishguy : still has his lights off after earth hour << (2008-03-29 06:47:16) |
 | antonmannering : @gabig58 What is Earth Hour meant to acheieve exactly? << (2008-03-29 06:46:51) |
 | gabig58 : Earth Hour tonight at 8pm- your local time http://www5.earthhourus.org/ Turn your lights off! << (2008-03-29 06:43:41) |
 | mattbodman : its earth hour!!! stop using twitter, it wastes electricity!!!! << (2008-03-29 06:43:33) |
 | steverosebush : Earth Day: Turn off the lights for an hour. I never turn ON my lights to begin with. Sometimes have a desk lamp on. Maybe I'll light candles << (2008-03-29 06:43:05) |
 | scarab : I wonder how many stores and shops got robbed during Earth Hour. << (2008-03-29 06:43:02) |
 | Wedge : It's 'Earth Hour' tonight at 8pm, see Google.co.uk - just working out my Carbon Footprint now at actonco2 << (2008-03-29 06:42:48) |
 | harikishore : Earth Hour!! << (2008-03-29 06:42:10) |
 | patrickcurl : @steverosebush Its to celebrate earth hour - between 8-9pm a large portion of the world will be dimming lights to conserve 1 hour of energy. << (2008-03-29 06:41:07) |
 | styler : @jwegesin it's for earth hour, but black screen could actually be using more energy hahaha << (2008-03-29 06:40:50) |
 | reemyrobby : What a Earth Hour??? << (2008-03-29 06:40:39) |
|
| patrickcurl : They need to have earth hour around 6pm, so I can use it as a time to take a nap before dinnger and conserve my internal energy too lol << (2008-03-29 06:38:48) |
 | bruingeek : For excitement today, I'm considering an Earth Hour observance...but may need someone to hold my hand in the dark *snortle* << (2008-03-29 06:38:43) |
 | virginia : I was in a bar during Earth Hour, and they didn't turn off the lights, so we went outside in protest. Then we came in again due to coldness. << (2008-03-29 06:37:54) |
 | siopaomaster : tinamad akong mag swimming..wait ko na lang earth hour << (2008-03-29 06:37:29) |
|
| patrickcurl : @steve228uk they sure did - Don't forget to turn yours off between 8pm and 9pm for Earth Hour! << (2008-03-29 06:36:40) |
 | wbarthol : Yum, Baskin & Robins... Earth Hour seems to be a bit of a failure. << (2008-03-29 06:33:17) |
 | CodeJedi : Funny how you can still twitter during Earth hour! << (2008-03-29 06:33:00) |
 | Yarra64 : I thought every hour was earth hour in adelaide (sorry dt - just had to!) << (2008-03-29 06:32:34) |
 | 01000101 : Watching Melbourne switch back on, from my roof as Earth Hour comes to a close << (2008-03-29 06:32:31) |
 | pcrobot : Turn your lights off for Earth Hour. Kudos to Google as well... when I opened Firefox this morning I thought my homepage had been changed! << (2008-03-29 06:31:59) |
 | linglingtai : Lights off from 8pm to 9pm today! Support Earth Hour! << (2008-03-29 06:31:38) |
 | kbond : Did not take part in the BS earth hour, house is lit up like a freakin' Christmas tree << (2008-03-29 06:30:35) |
 | dailytwitter : twitterfolk as part of earth hour today - take a picture of where you are now n send to pics@dailytwitter.com with location - blog ensues. << (2008-03-29 06:29:55) |
 | gboaca : Earth Hour tonight at 20:00 << (2008-03-29 06:29:14) |
 | shauntrennery : Took some neighbourhood kids to get all the house on our road to turn the lights off for earth hour. << (2008-03-29 06:26:52) |
Betcha noticed this today. Good for Google; let's see if we notice lights out between 8 and 9 p.m. tonight. I somewhat suspect that life will go on fairly normally between 8 and 9 p.m. And granted "Earth Hour" is mainly symbolic. But in an ironic sense, the lack of being able to discern much change in lifestyle during Earth Hour is the most apt symbolism.
AP says lights are noticeable dimmer in Sydney. Take a poll on whether you plan to participate.
2007 was the worst year for newspaper advertising in 50 years, according to industry trade group, the Newspaper Association of America.
Revenues were down industry-wide by 9.4 percent. Online ad revenues were up 18.8 percent, but make up but 7.5 percent of the pie. And worse, online ad revenue growth has significantly slowed. It grew 31.4 percent in 2006
Coverage in Editor & Publisher and PaidContent, of which the latter said: Of course, the industry is getting hit with a double whammy: secular industry shifts, and the effects of a sorry economy, which has decimated core revenue bases like housing, employment and auto ads.
2008? No sign the flood waters are abating. Where's the higher ground? Mark Potts says we're over the cliff. Ken Doctor has some marketing ideas (Now! More Time on Sunday to Do Other Things!) to turn the industry around.
Revenues were down industry-wide by 9.4 percent. Online ad revenues were up 18.8 percent, but make up but 7.5 percent of the pie. And worse, online ad revenue growth has significantly slowed. It grew 31.4 percent in 2006
Coverage in Editor & Publisher and PaidContent, of which the latter said: Of course, the industry is getting hit with a double whammy: secular industry shifts, and the effects of a sorry economy, which has decimated core revenue bases like housing, employment and auto ads.
2008? No sign the flood waters are abating. Where's the higher ground? Mark Potts says we're over the cliff. Ken Doctor has some marketing ideas (Now! More Time on Sunday to Do Other Things!) to turn the industry around.
Someone screwed up again and put me on a conference panel next week as part of something at UT called "Public Conversation on Web Journalism."
Ah, yes, the blog is named "random mumblings" for a reason.
Tennessee Journalist has all the details so if you are interested in journalistic issues, particularly of the digital variety, there are some good panelists among a random mumbler like me. Rob Curley, vice president for product development for WashingtonPost.Newsweek is the top draw for the conference. He's speaking at a Thursday night dinner.
Again, the whole panel list is at TNJN, but the local New Media glitterati on the panels include Scripps Networks' future thinker Channing Dawson, new partner in Moroon Ventures Bob Benz, Knox/Blount/Tennviews blogging pioneer Randy Neal, E.W. Scripps' (and proud new site pappa) Patrick Beeson, WBIR senior producer and KnoxvilleTalks "conversation hostess" Katie Allison Grandju, and News Sentinel online producer extraordinaire and journalism instruction Lauren Spuhler.
Here's the full info if you're marking your calendar.
Ah, yes, the blog is named "random mumblings" for a reason.
Tennessee Journalist has all the details so if you are interested in journalistic issues, particularly of the digital variety, there are some good panelists among a random mumbler like me. Rob Curley, vice president for product development for WashingtonPost.Newsweek is the top draw for the conference. He's speaking at a Thursday night dinner.
Again, the whole panel list is at TNJN, but the local New Media glitterati on the panels include Scripps Networks' future thinker Channing Dawson, new partner in Moroon Ventures Bob Benz, Knox/Blount/Tennviews blogging pioneer Randy Neal, E.W. Scripps' (and proud new site pappa) Patrick Beeson, WBIR senior producer and KnoxvilleTalks "conversation hostess" Katie Allison Grandju, and News Sentinel online producer extraordinaire and journalism instruction Lauren Spuhler.
Here's the full info if you're marking your calendar.
What? Angry Journalist sees future in much-maligned industry for J-School grads?Call it optimism tempered by realism, Yoda teaches careers in journalism.
Bryan Murley pointed me to a great piece on his Innovation in College Media blog by Kiyoshi Martinez, founder of Angry Journalist.
The piece is aimed at journalists trying to enter the work force and it's good advice, damned good advice.
As I was reading it, however, I was thinking this is fantastic advice for students contemplating journalism as a major, a sort of this is what you are getting into and can look forward if this is the path you choose my little one.
And then it occurred it me it, this is great reading for people already working in journalism, this is what you haven't thought about recently in terms of personal marketing and how journalism is changing.
Some tidbits:
"You ought to be able to explain why you're taking the job you're taking, why you're making the investment you're making, or whatever it may be. And if it can't stand applying pencil to paper, you'd better think it through some more. And if you can't write an intelligent answer to those questions, don't do it."I think there's soemthing in it for journalists of any season. There's more.
You might think you know journalism. It's writing articles for a newspaper. Or shooting photographs. Or designing pages. Or maybe even that new media stuff people keep mentioning. Wrong. Those are skills.
With Google and Wikipedia you no longer have any excuse to be stupid. Ever. Have a question or curious about something? Type it into Google.
You might think you're too young in your career to build a brand. Wrong. You need to start developing it now. Literally, your employer is purchasing your skills over someone else.
Stop blaming others. Maybe you wanted to start blogging for your college paper, but they're too incompetent, lazy or slow to let that happen. Same goes for video. Or soundslides. So, you're sitting around and doing nothing now. Screw them. Do it yourself.
Get a good idea about the publication's strategy and vision -- and not the bullshit one that they'll spin you. What have they actually done?
If all you love is newspaper journalism, then you take the risk of it not loving you back.
Rage of the day. Muxtape.com. Lost Remote's Cory Bergman calls it "Super mega coolness." Brittney Gilbert has done one celebrating Nashville. There's more, of course.
Launched Tuesday. Have you account yet?
Launched Tuesday. Have you account yet?
Now we're talking Creative Commons.
Free Beer points out Free Beer version 3.3 is available in Knoxville.
Copyshop Knoxville and Everything Mushrooms get the credit for bottled "FREE BEER version 3.3.".Photo from The Art Gallery of Knoxville
(vis Underoak -- Who knew Danes licensed Free Beer under Creative Commons, and someone's bottling it in Knoxville? Nice design too.)
Update: A back story. Underoak, a Twitter user at The Charlotte Observer noticed the Free Beer in Knoxville link on a French tech site. She says: "French blog on tech. gets Free Beer hat tip. Keeps my French and global perspective halfway fresh. http://snurl.com/22nbi" .
Who knew. The French and beer? Tip a cold one to the Internets!
Jimmy Guterman, editorial director of O'Reilly's Radar group and the editor of O'Reilly's Release 2.0, is parting company with the printed edition of the New York Times.
There was a newspaper tale that I had never heard from Ross Stapleton-Gray:
Ah, yeah.
Guterman came back with:
I hadn't heard that one either. And from riester rente
What finally made me give in to the inevitable was realizing, one barely-dawn morning last week when I was reading the paper at our kitchen table, that I had already read much (most?) of it online. For all the pleasure of holding and print, the Times on paper is just too late. In 2008, today's paper is yesterday's news.The comments were interesting not only for the degree at which degree readers of this high tech blog are engaged with their printed newspaper, but for some of the newspaper trivia. You'd think regular reader of O'Reilly Radar would have gotten over their emotional attachment to news on paper years ago. But, no.
There was a newspaper tale that I had never heard from Ross Stapleton-Gray:
It's not widely known, but Barbara Bain ("Mission Impossible," "Space 1999") lost a dog in a tragic accident, when a copy of the LA Times thrown by a delivery boy landed on it and crushed it to death. So there's that.That sent me to Google where I found a story on AllBusiness from the Hollywood Reporter written by European Bureau Chief Jeff Kaye on March 31, 1998:
... It sometimes makes me think back wistfully to actress Barbara Bain's dog, who was killed by the Sunday Los Angeles Times in the early '80s.
Or at least that's what we reported over at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner -- a thin but scrappy paper that was soon to meet its own end.
My fellow reporters got a tip that a newspaper boy had hurled the Times' behemoth Sunday edition onto Bain's porch and had accidentally killed her pooch. We recounted the sad tale in a somber tone.
We also ran an editorial cartoon. It depicted a cop, notebook in hand, talking to Bain. Beneath them was the dog, flattened, big Xs in his eyes, the Times laying atop him.
The cop was saying to the actress: "Y'know, Miss Bain, this never would have happened if you had been taking the Herald Examiner."
Ah, yeah.
Guterman came back with:
On the other hand, Ross, a few months ago a truck driver survived a bad highway accident because his cab was full of newspapers. So newspapers can save lives, too!
I hadn't heard that one either. And from riester rente
I also heard the story with the truck driver who survived a bad highway accident. Newspaper can save lives - but in my house the newspaper is a killing machine for the moskitos etc. :-)Read them all, thoughtful.
Blogger, consultant and inveterate Twitterer Stowe Boyd says hopes of a newspaper return to better, happier days are but melodic dreams of the Benny Goodman era.He finds the pessimism in a David Carr piece on the industry in the New York Times not near pessimistic enough.
In that piece, long-time newspaper analyst John Morton says:
"Newspapers have lived through recessions before and come back strong, My worry is that when things do turn around, they will be coming back in an environment that is more competitive than ever because of the Internet, and that after all these cuts, they will have less stature, less product quality and less talent -- all of the things that they need to compete."Boyd says when (or if) the turn around comes, the audience, or "edglings" as he calls them, will have moved on just as people moved from Big Band to Rock 'N' Roll music. He says:
The Big Band era is coming to an end, and while some oldsters are going to keep on listening to Count Basie and Duke Ellington, most of us are moving on to rock and roll. Many of the players will find new gigs, experiment with new musical forms, but some won't. Some will retire, open bars, or find something else to do.True enough. But as a person in the newspaper industry, I think (or hope) you can't discount the ability of people and corporations to change. Maybe Carr will end up blogging for the Huffington Post. Who knows. It's also possible that newspapers, like the record companies before them, will be able to make the transition to a catalog that includes both Big Band and Rock. I think there can be such a future.
Either way, it will assuredly be a different world. Give both the Carr piece and Boyd's reaction a read.
Steve Boriss writing at Pajamas Media says reporters are a dying breed and that's a good thing. They are mere "unnecessary recyclers of news."The downfall of the reporter it seems, it that she turns out to be human, "the public increasingly understands that reporters are often biased and inaccurate, just like the rest of us."
He says Internet is destroying reporters as the middlemen between news and audience.
Boriss is nothing if not consistent. Earlier this month he explained "why modern journalism will be extinct long before polar bears."
And also this month, he suggested that blogging is simply journalism without the organizational overhead that tends to screw it up.
In that one, he said:
Blogging allows personal style, journalism doesn't. Blogging allows opinion, journalism doesn't. Blogging gets news out immediately, journalism doesn't. Blogging allows the writer to take risks, journalism doesn't. Blogging allows rumors to be followed by updates, journalism doesn't. Bloggers are independent of oversight by editors who slow down publication while removing the style, opinion, rumors, risk, and edge. Journalists aren't. Oh, and there's one more difference. Blogging is growing because news consumers prefer all of the above. Journalism isn't.Aren't many journalists bloggers? Isn't mainstream media adopting in varying degrees a blogging publishing style? Couldn't quite a bit of blogging, even by people who don't call themselves journalists, be journalism?
Boriss is tackling issues such as those and more as Associate Director of the Center for the Application of Information Technology at Washington University in St. Louis and as the author of a blog called "The Future of News," whose goal is to "make a small contribution toward the emergence of better news products and services than are available to Americans today."
As a journalist, I can't imagine news without reporters despite the structural changes to the mainstream media. I also don't think it requires professional journalists to report or capture news.
While the short term outlook for media companies is dour and journalists are being laid-off, the long-term prospects for the function of journalism is quite bright.
And it's for the reason that Boriss points to:
We will continue to have news middlemen, but those that survive must create real value for their audiences. Editors can create value by aggregating, analyzing, adding opinions, and gathering like-minded audiences for advertisers.He's correct there, I believe.
The service that journalists can ably perform is helping people make sense of the multitude of competing voices in the marketplace of ideas. The Internet is a perfect pandemonium, requiring more filtering, aggregating (or collecting and organizing), pointing and selecting than ever before.
And there's a still a great role to be played in community service journalism.
(via Instapundit)
Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) points to a David Pogue piece on the New York Times Web site that says the little, unassuming Flip Camera has captured 13 percent of the camcorder market.
It's secret: simplicity that works, or as Pogue suggests "if you're successful at something the first time you try, you fall instantly in love with it."
Reynolds' post yesterday:
Reynolds notes that he doesn't see much advantage in the Flip over point-and-shoot still image digital cameras from nearly ever maker that also record video. He's right, there's not if you are comfortable using using your camera. The Flip is simpler to use than even those simple-to-use cameras. You don't have to remember to put it in video mode, there is no USB cable or memory card/stick to misplace, and it installs its file management/video editing software into any computer it's plugged into with no disk needed.
And hopefully without rekindling the ever-smoldering point-and-shoot vs we only do pro video debate (with rebuttal), that's why these cameras are a great option to let reporters who are juggling a number of tasks under stress shoot some pretty darned decent video.
This near-foolproof nature of the camera is certainly why consumers like them, too, in addition to its Zen. I say near-foolproof because shooting decent video even with this camera isn't a sure thing 100 percent of the time. Reporters have come back without the video they thought they shot and sometimes what they did come back with had to be dumped.
That's been rare. Our News Sentinel reporters who participated in a short in-house "basics of video" session improved the quality of the video they turned in, some of them greatly.
It's secret: simplicity that works, or as Pogue suggests "if you're successful at something the first time you try, you fall instantly in love with it."
Reynolds' post yesterday:
WOW: According to this review, the cheap and easy to use Flip Video Camera has captured an amazing 13% of the camcorder market. Why? "Having finally lived with the Flip, I finally know the answer: it's a blast. It's always ready, always with you, always trustworthy. Instead of crippling this 'camcorder,' the simplicity elevates it." I still don't see much advantage over video from a digital still camera, though the review says the Flip does a lot better in low light.Today he posted a react from a reader.
YESTERDAY'S POST on the cheap and popular Flip Video Camera produced this email from Christopher Johnson of Midwest Conservative Journal:We've been using the PureDigital's cameras for reporter shot video since before the company came up with the Flip name. The newer, "Ultra" models are as excellent for shooting short news clips as they are for that unforgettable family moment. Put the HD Canon in its case and try one!
I LOVE the Flip. Bought one from Amazon several months back and I'm having a ball with it. I'm not interested in making Hollywood-quality movies, just recording events, and the Flip does that extremely well. And it's true about the low-light quality. I tried it out in the back stacks of the library where I work, where there is very little light, and the result was outstanding. I first learned about it at InstaPundit so I guess a thank you is in order.
Glad it's worked out.
Reynolds notes that he doesn't see much advantage in the Flip over point-and-shoot still image digital cameras from nearly ever maker that also record video. He's right, there's not if you are comfortable using using your camera. The Flip is simpler to use than even those simple-to-use cameras. You don't have to remember to put it in video mode, there is no USB cable or memory card/stick to misplace, and it installs its file management/video editing software into any computer it's plugged into with no disk needed.
And hopefully without rekindling the ever-smoldering point-and-shoot vs we only do pro video debate (with rebuttal), that's why these cameras are a great option to let reporters who are juggling a number of tasks under stress shoot some pretty darned decent video.
This near-foolproof nature of the camera is certainly why consumers like them, too, in addition to its Zen. I say near-foolproof because shooting decent video even with this camera isn't a sure thing 100 percent of the time. Reporters have come back without the video they thought they shot and sometimes what they did come back with had to be dumped.
That's been rare. Our News Sentinel reporters who participated in a short in-house "basics of video" session improved the quality of the video they turned in, some of them greatly.
I signed up and have been trying JungleDisk. I'm thinking it's a pretty nice (and safe) service for keeping your digital life backed up somewhere in the Cloud. Sort of sounds like the Matrix, but it's really off-site backup, stuff that IT department guys muss about with. Sometimes they leave with the building with backpacks on to go to these off site data depots for disaster simulations. (Scout camp for geeks?) I don't think Amazon will be letting me do simulations in the JungleDisk, but I could buy a book.
JudglesDisk, a Georgia high tech startup, uses a small client and Amazon's S3 servers to safely store your data for pennies on the gig. As an aside, I think Amazon has been really smart with its Web services that it's rolled out to developers. Competitors just seem to be getting there while Amazon is building out a robust set of services.
But I'm not using its services because I'm a developer. I'm beginning to think I'm a backup freak. I use a Seagate Mirra box that watches the two main computers in the house. Course the links on Seagate site to the promotional material go to a 404 so I'm not feeling secure about Mirra's longterm place in Seagate's product mix. (The existing customer support and Web access to your data site is still found.)
And it did fail once, well before the hard drives of the computers whose data it was "protecting" died (they haven't thankfully). And then there's that little drawback that it's in the same house as the computers it's backing up. What if the unthinkable happens?
I do like the Mirra product. It keep tracks of versions and runs pretty much without complaint. Restores are simple. Plus, once you buy it, there are no monthly fees.
I'm thinking of JungleDisk, which works very much like a network drive on the user's machine, as a place to permanently archive photos, music and docs/spreadsheets. And, oh yes, the files are available from anywhere through a simple browser interface.
Anyone else have opinions on JungleDisk, Mirra, backup strategies (or the lack thereof)?
I've started sharing links to posts I find interesting (or share-worthy) in Google Reader. You can subscribe to it if you like.
Beth Lawton of the Newspaper Association of American highlights the knoxnews Digital Edge entry.
Blogging grows up and tries to survive being a business. And Michael Arrington sees an opportunity.
When times get tough, companies like to hunker down like a tortoise in its shell. When the rough times pass, they'll come out of our shell again.But in the media business today hunkering down and focusing on the core is like a tortoise withdrawing into its shell in the middle of a highway.
You have to get to the other side of the road or ...
KnoxvilleTalks blogger and WBIR online producer Katie Allison Granju has some thoughts on getting to the other side in light of the well-publicized scaling back of Internet efforts at Nashville TV station WKRN, once a pioneer in how TV stations should do the Internet (and which has had more than a few ideas that newspapers could borrow).
The new State of the News Media 2008 study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism has some charts that might help to bring it into focus what is happening to news and the media.. Which of these three charts seems to be showing growth?
Daily newspaper readership by age (click image for larger version).
Average early evening news share for TV (click image for larger version).
Top online news sites and growth (click image for larger version).
Which Tennessee men's basketball team will be in the Final Four and play for the championship?
One educated guess is Belmont.
Inside Higher Ed did a NCAA men's basketball bracket based the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate with the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate as the tiebreaker.
See the full details on this methodology, which is not recommended for those with hopes of winning the office pool.
In this bracket, No. 2 seed Tennessee doesn't make it out of the first round and No. 1 seed Memphis exits in the second round. But that B-ball team from Belmont makes it to a final game against brainy Davidson, where its Cinderella run ends.
See the full bracket.
(Hat tip to Underoak)
One educated guess is Belmont.
Inside Higher Ed did a NCAA men's basketball bracket based the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate with the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate as the tiebreaker.
See the full details on this methodology, which is not recommended for those with hopes of winning the office pool.
In this bracket, No. 2 seed Tennessee doesn't make it out of the first round and No. 1 seed Memphis exits in the second round. But that B-ball team from Belmont makes it to a final game against brainy Davidson, where its Cinderella run ends.
See the full bracket.
(Hat tip to Underoak)
In what could only be viewed as a perverse and often baffling development, author and New Yorker magazine writer Malcolm Gladwell said last week a story he told in an early February segment of public radio's "This American Life" is, well, a complete tall tale.In the story, recorded at a New York club called the Moth, Gladwell recounts his early days as a cub reporter at that august bastion of journalism, Ben Bradlee's The Washington Post.
To hear the "The American Life" segment go here and click on full episode and move the player sliderbar to about the 45:27 minute area of the audio to hear the start of the Gladwell piece.
The original piece had a disclaimer, but now, more than a month later, Gladwell has clarified the story's veracity on his Web site:
There is a disclaimer at the end of the This American Life broadcast, to the effect that the Moth is a place where "people come to tell both true stories and occasional tall tales." As I think should be obvious if you listen to it, my story definitely belongs to the "tall tale" category. I hope you enjoy it. But please do so with a rather large grain of salt.But you know, the story has that ring of ...
Friend Feed, a service that aggregates social network information, is having its "Twitter Moment," according to Michael Arrington.
After the buzz wears off, is it here to stay?
In the meantime, I'm here.
Updated: Louis Gray says A-lister bloggers are joining in DROVES.
After the buzz wears off, is it here to stay?
In the meantime, I'm here.
Updated: Louis Gray says A-lister bloggers are joining in DROVES.
A trio of posts over the weekend had me musing about the new roles journalists find themselves in, roles far beyond what journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken (pictured at right) probably envisioned. Beyond reporting and writing, they are becoming community discussion leaders, the deejays of news.Robert Niles and Howard Owens, among others, have suggested that this is a role that must be played by newspapers and other media on the Web.
Howard Owens was quoted in January as wishing: "Reporters and editors would take seriously their roles as community conversation leaders, concentrating on getting it right on the web first -- Web-first publishing, blogs, video, participation -- and using the print edition as a greatest hits, promote the web site vehicle. Old packaged-goods-thinking about the newsPAPER would disappear overnight."
Robert Niles said a few months back "The core skills one needs to build an active, informative and respectful online content community are precisely the same skills reporters and editors have employed for generations to become good journalists."
Which brings me around to this weekend's posts.
WBIR senior online producer Katie Allison Granju says her role on KnoxvilleTalks.com is "akin to one of those salon hostesses of yore who worked to facilitate and encourage great conversation among guests."
Trace Sharp says adds another angle. The conversation guides must have a voice themselves, much like the radio deejays when you knew the deejay's name.
She wrote:
Blogging and the tubes are somewhat like personality-driven radio for me. I listened to DJs I liked who engaged me. That's what I wanted to do. ...And then there was Cathy McCaughan, who explained her use of a newspaper Web site: "I visit it to read about local news and read the comments that people make on each article. I read the editorials and the letters people have written to the newspaper. I don't read the newspaper for news. I read it for reactions."
I think about blogging the same way.
And I like human aggregators. I just see blogging a bit like radio. I listen/read you because I dig what you, the person, says/writes.
The "for reactions" part struck me a particularly poignant in that she is looking for the conversation around the news.
Is your request line open to live calls? Is your playlist sharp and engaging? Do your news deejays have personality?
I like to think Mencken would have leapt at this opportunity. He certainly had the personality and voice.
Since I first wrote about him in December (here and here), I've been keeping up a bit with MTV's Tennessee Street Teamer Dustin Ogdin, a Nashville based filmmaker.
Ogdin is part of MTV's Choose or Lose Street Team '08 (chooseorlose.com).
Part 1 of a two-part report moved last week on the AP Online Video Network, which is featuring videos from the MTV effort.
Ogdin starts with the February report from the Pew Center on the States that captured attention with its "more than one of every hundred adults are behind bars" headline, but quickly transitions into tackling Nashville-based Corrections Corp of America and it's sizable political influence in Tennessee.
Ogdin points to Sen. Lamar Alexander's rumored pimping of the chief corporate attorney for CCA for a Middle Tennessee federal judgeship, noting that Alexander is a huge beneficiary in CCA's political contribution largesse.
(Having judges with ties to prison operators is an amazing supply-chain innovation.)
Part 2 should be interesting.
Ogdin is part of MTV's Choose or Lose Street Team '08 (chooseorlose.com).
Part 1 of a two-part report moved last week on the AP Online Video Network, which is featuring videos from the MTV effort.
Ogdin starts with the February report from the Pew Center on the States that captured attention with its "more than one of every hundred adults are behind bars" headline, but quickly transitions into tackling Nashville-based Corrections Corp of America and it's sizable political influence in Tennessee.
Ogdin points to Sen. Lamar Alexander's rumored pimping of the chief corporate attorney for CCA for a Middle Tennessee federal judgeship, noting that Alexander is a huge beneficiary in CCA's political contribution largesse.
(Having judges with ties to prison operators is an amazing supply-chain innovation.)
Part 2 should be interesting.
Wow, this is how Twitter users covered the storm that damaged the Georgia Dome during the Alabama-Mississippi State game.
This is a Twittersearch result set for "georgia dome." Noticed some people were talking about the weather without using this exact search terms o I've far from caught all the relevant Twitters, but you get the idea of how the news spread among Twitter users.
mrscrumley
Left georgia dome waiting for marta
in Dayton, Ohio
2
minutes ago
jayshepherd
Apparently a tornado hit the Georgia Dome during the Alabama Mississippi State game. http://tinyurl.com/37zj7p
in Alabama
25
minutes ago
usnews
Storm Rips Holes in Georgia Dome: ATLANTA (AP) -- A severe storm ripped away two panels in the side of the.. http://tinyurl.com/39367j
in Washington, DC
39
minutes ago
edsbs
Applauding the structural integrity of the Georgia Dome.
1
hour ago
transformer68
Storm rips holes in Georgia Dome (AP). AP - A severe storm ripped away two in. http://www.lnk2.com
1
hour ago
adml
Game on after 1 hour delay in MSU-AL game in the damaged Georgia Dome
in Mississippi State, MS
1
hour ago
amberlrhea
Apparently the tornado ripped a hole in the roof of the Georgia Dome! @rustytanton PLEASE be careful driving home tonight!!
in Atlanta, GA
1
hour ago
slobokan
@sodapoplv A couple big t-storms moving through the ATL. Georgia Dome damaged during the ballgame.
in Gilligan's Island Debuts On CBS
1
hour ago
dskaggs
Play suspended while a funnel cloud went over the Georgia Dome
in Tennessee, USA
1
hour ago
Page_other Page_other
halosfan
Wow, looks like some intense moments at the Georgia Dome tonight w/ weather.
in 90250
1
hour ago
jacklail
AP says "A severe storm ripped two holes in the side of the Georgia Dome" during SEC tourney game. Whew
in Knoxville, TN, USA
2
hours ago
aakelley
Just flipped on SEC tournament & see there was a tornado over the Georgia Dome. No one hurt.
in Crittenden, KY
2
hours ago
rkischuk
games resuming. Total cloverfield moments at georgia dome tonight.
in Atlanta
2
hours ago
joe_wheeler
yeah, to make the Georgia Dome sound and shake like that had to be big, just watched the replay
in Louisville
2
hours ago
clifmims
Looks like a tornad passed over the SEC tournament in the Georgia Dome. 30,000 ppl all ok. Lots of concerns for a while.
2
hours ago
rkischuk
holy crap - Georgia dome shook like crazy - minor roof tear from mega storm!
in Atlanta
2
hours ago
researchgoddess
Wow....tornado at the Georgia Dome? SEC game is suspended right now b/c something rumbled the roof!
in Cincinnati, OH
2
hours ago
mrscrumley
Severe weather just blew apart some of the georgia dome. very scary. still shaking
in Dayton, Ohio
2
hours ago
adml
Tornado Warning in Atlanta, GA stops play with 2:11 to go in overtime. Debris falling from Georgia Dome ceiling
in Mississippi State, MS
2
hours ago
(Oh yeah, follow me on Twitter)
This is a Twittersearch result set for "georgia dome." Noticed some people were talking about the weather without using this exact search terms o I've far from caught all the relevant Twitters, but you get the idea of how the news spread among Twitter users.
mrscrumley
Left georgia dome waiting for marta
in Dayton, Ohio
2
minutes ago
jayshepherd
Apparently a tornado hit the Georgia Dome during the Alabama Mississippi State game. http://tinyurl.com/37zj7p
in Alabama
25
minutes ago
usnews
Storm Rips Holes in Georgia Dome: ATLANTA (AP) -- A severe storm ripped away two panels in the side of the.. http://tinyurl.com/39367j
in Washington, DC
39
minutes ago
edsbs
Applauding the structural integrity of the Georgia Dome.
1
hour ago
transformer68
Storm rips holes in Georgia Dome (AP). AP - A severe storm ripped away two in. http://www.lnk2.com
1
hour ago
adml
Game on after 1 hour delay in MSU-AL game in the damaged Georgia Dome
in Mississippi State, MS
1
hour ago
amberlrhea
Apparently the tornado ripped a hole in the roof of the Georgia Dome! @rustytanton PLEASE be careful driving home tonight!!
in Atlanta, GA
1
hour ago
slobokan
@sodapoplv A couple big t-storms moving through the ATL. Georgia Dome damaged during the ballgame.
in Gilligan's Island Debuts On CBS
1
hour ago
dskaggs
Play suspended while a funnel cloud went over the Georgia Dome
in Tennessee, USA
1
hour ago
Page_other Page_other
halosfan
Wow, looks like some intense moments at the Georgia Dome tonight w/ weather.
in 90250
1
hour ago
jacklail
AP says "A severe storm ripped two holes in the side of the Georgia Dome" during SEC tourney game. Whew
in Knoxville, TN, USA
2
hours ago
aakelley
Just flipped on SEC tournament & see there was a tornado over the Georgia Dome. No one hurt.
in Crittenden, KY
2
hours ago
rkischuk
games resuming. Total cloverfield moments at georgia dome tonight.
in Atlanta
2
hours ago
joe_wheeler
yeah, to make the Georgia Dome sound and shake like that had to be big, just watched the replay
in Louisville
2
hours ago
clifmims
Looks like a tornad passed over the SEC tournament in the Georgia Dome. 30,000 ppl all ok. Lots of concerns for a while.
2
hours ago
rkischuk
holy crap - Georgia dome shook like crazy - minor roof tear from mega storm!
in Atlanta
2
hours ago
researchgoddess
Wow....tornado at the Georgia Dome? SEC game is suspended right now b/c something rumbled the roof!
in Cincinnati, OH
2
hours ago
mrscrumley
Severe weather just blew apart some of the georgia dome. very scary. still shaking
in Dayton, Ohio
2
hours ago
adml
Tornado Warning in Atlanta, GA stops play with 2:11 to go in overtime. Debris falling from Georgia Dome ceiling
in Mississippi State, MS
2
hours ago
(Oh yeah, follow me on Twitter)