2008 January — contentious.com

Monthly Archives: January 2008

links for 2008-01-25

January 25, 2008 – 9:21 am

The Forum Moderator’s Guide To Life - Parts 1 and 2 [Community]
“How do you establish trust and confidence? One way is by communicating a vision of where you are going, what you are doing and what you believe. If people sense a lack of confidence or ability, they will not respect your place as a [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Links | Comments (1)

Get my favorite news headline podcasts via MediaFly

January 24, 2008 – 2:22 pm

My Mediafly profile currently contains these news headline podcasts.

Yesterday I offered some tips about making news podcasts smart. Today, Contentious reader Carson commented, “You should create a public profile on Mediafly.com to allow people easy access to those feeds. Or, take their public RSS aggregated feed and put it on your blog, then people just [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Feeds (RSS), distribution, journalism, news, podcasts | Comments (4)

J-Schools: Don’t waste precious time on Dreamweaver!

January 24, 2008 – 12:40 pm

Axel Rouvin, via Flickr (CC license)

Dreamweaver class for journalists? Might as well be…

A colleague is teaching an interactive storytelling course at a big-name and very, very expensive journalism school. I asked him which tool they’ll use to build the class project, a webzine (really a package of online feature stories, it sounds like, not a [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in education, journalism, tools | Comments (6)

Getting Smart About News Podcasts

January 23, 2008 – 2:46 pm

MostlyNews.net

See how simple podcast show notes can be?

(NOTE: I just published this on Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits, which is mainly read by mainstream journalists and journalism educators, but I thought Contentious readers might find it interesting, too.)
Like many net users, I get a lot of my news via podcasts. I’ve sampled several news podcasts and have [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Strategy, business, news, podcasts | Comments (6)

links for 2008-01-23

January 23, 2008 – 9:22 am

Reuters partners with Adify for vertical ad networks - Brand Republic Login - Brand Republic
I haven’t been able to verify this yet, but it’s interesting: “News service Reuters is to aggregate content from small- and medium-sized publishers on its website, and sell the ad space around it using vertical advertising created by Adify Corporation.”
(tags: wire+services [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Links | Comments (0)

links for 2008-01-22

January 22, 2008 – 9:20 am

Science bloggers debate need for code of conduct : The Blog Herald
The problem with any blogging ethics code, I think, is that a blog is just a tool that can be used many ways. The ethics depend on how you plan to use it. “Possibly a better idea, though open to abuse, was a “science [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Links | Comments (0)

links for 2008-01-21

January 21, 2008 – 9:25 am

What are you Reporting On?
Intriguing new effort: “improve local news by giving reporters access to people they don’t talk to often enough: each other. This is the place to talk to the expert in the next cubicle, which happens to be three towns over — or across a continent.”
(tags: journalism sources hyperlocal local community social+media [...]

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Links | Comments (0)

Beyond parody (Oh wait, not quite…)

January 20, 2008 – 4:38 pm

One of my favorite sources of entertainment are moments that are simply beyond parody, like William Shatner’s 1978 dramatic interpretation of Rocket Man, complete with video effects…

Oh wait, maybe it’s not beyond parody…

By Amy Gahran | Posted in fun stuff, video | Comments (1)

links for 2008-01-20

January 20, 2008 – 9:20 am

Hands-on: Axiotron Modbook Tablet Mac
At last! A review from someone who’s actually used one of these mythical beasts! Now what I really want to see is a review by someone who paid for it and has put it through its paces in the field.
(tags: mac tabletPC reviews)

By Amy Gahran | Posted in Links | Comments (0)

Finding local Tweetups: A humble proposal

January 20, 2008 – 9:17 am

Tweetscan

The search tool Tweetscan may be one way to find spontaneous gatherings of local Twitter users.

A few days ago, it occurred to me that it might be nice if there was an online tool or service that would facilitate local “tweetups” (informal, spontaneous gatherings of local Twitter users). Right now, tweetups start when one person [...]