Category Archives: Media MusingsA reporter from the Washington Post just interviewed me for my perspective on Netscape’s recent offer to pay talented people for their “social bookmarking rights.”
I wondered: “Netscape? Are they still around?” I assumed they were resting on the scrap heap of the the 20th century. So I told the reporter, “Give me an hour to look into this so I can give you an informed opinion.”
Here’s what I’ve learned, and what I think…
As I mentioned yesterday, on July 9 the San Diego Union-Tribune published an article by Bruce Bigelow called “Dr. Beyster’s book (Or: How SAIC’s founder stopped worrying about publicity and learned to love the blog).”
No kidding, that’s the actual title. Being a die-hard Dr. Strangelove fan, I adore it. And I don’t just like the article because I’m quoted in it. (But thanks, Bruce!)
Anyway, this is an example of someone who, like me, is blogging a book…
I’m starting to collect my thoughts, observations, and explorations regarding conversational media into a more coherent body of work. This will take several forms over time: a book, a wiki, and most likely a podcast series. But I believe in starting small and simply, so why not blog it first?
In short: You can help me write this book. In fact, I can’t do it without you. This is, after all, about conversational media – so I need to have other folks involved.
The best place to begin, I suppose, is with how conversations start. So here’s an open question:
What’s different about how conversations begin online?…
(NOTE: I published a slightly different version of this article today in Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits.)
News organizations, bloggers, advocacy groups, think tanks, and others routinely cover the legislative process – especially about the real or potential effects of bills and laws. In most cases the full text of those bills and laws, and information about their status, are available online.
Why, then, is it so rare to see an online news story that links to the bill or law being covered? Or that at least cites the reference number so people can look up and follow the legislation on their own? It just seems odd to me that many organizations (especially news media) routinely cite the party and state/district of legislators, but omit brief citations and links to the products of their efforts on our behalf.
For example, today’s Washington Post includes this story: House Passes Bill Ending Ban On Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling. Nowhere does that story cite the specific bill number, let alone link to the bill text and info via the Library of
Congress’ Thomas online database. (For the record, the bill discussed in that story is H.R. 4761. There – see how easy and brief that was?)
Similarly, an AP story which ran today on Philly.com reports on the Penn. General Assembly: “School districts would have to conduct exit interviews with students who are dropping out or withdrawing from school, or who have accumulated more than 10 unexcused absences, under a bill passed by the House 164-28 and sent to the Senate.” Which bill? Hey, statehouse legislative info is online too! I found this bill: HB 1729.
Here’s why this common oversight bugs me so much…
(NOTE: I’m cross-posting this from Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits weblog, which is read mainly by mainstream journalists. But I think Jeffrey Treem — noted below — is right: this topic deserves examination beyond newsrooms.)
On June 27, NYU professor Jay Rosen published a bluntly worded clarion call to mainstream media organizations: The People Formerly Known as the Audience
Here’s my favorite quote…
I subscribe to a great many podcasts. However, I’ve noticed over time that there are a few I absolutely must listen to as soon as (or within a day of) when they come out.
Interestingly, as I look at my must-listen preferences, they tell me interesting things about the kind of mobile audio information I feels works best in the context of my life. Generally I don’t feel an urgent desire to listen to the same kinds of content that I read.
I’m not quite sure what to make of all this, but I thought I’d put it out there as food for thought. Here are my must-listen podcasts, and what I find compelling about them. I’d love to hear your list, too…
I’m not anti-advertising, but I am anti-intrusion. Unfortunately, so much online advertising is intrusive. It’s not just a matter of visual distraction or clutter. It’s also about a profound lack of relevance in many cases.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m willing to peruse text-based ads as long as they are relevant to the content in some clear way and also clearly separated from the editorial content. Anything other kind of online advertising diminishes my experience.
Yesterday and today at Poynter’s E-Media Tidbits blog, I’ve posted a couple of items about some nifty extensions to the open-source web browser Firefox that allow me to kill the types of online advertising that bug me most. Here’s a quick recap of those tools…
Part of how we can save traditional journalism, I suspect, lies in overcoming the deeply competitive culture of newsrooms — at least enough to allow for more constructive collaboration between news organizations.
Here’s what I mean…
On Wednesday, May 17, I’ll be giving a talk at the annual conference of the University Reseach Magazine Association (URMA). They seem like a fun group of media professionals. (Seriously — their conference agenda even features the Creature from the Black Lagoon!)
The topic of my talk is: Invasion of the bloggin’ pods: The new media – ready or not, they’re here! (So whatta we do with ‘em?)…
Obviously some people over at Corante know a few things about doing blogs well. Why, then, is comment spam such a pervasive problem on Corante blogs?…
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