eastwikkers

I Objective – Reporting vs. Commentary

According to a new Zogby poll (thanks to The Future of News for the post):

“The vast majority of American voters believe media bias is alive and well – 83% of likely voters said the media is biased in one direction or another, while just 11% believe the media doesn’t take political sides.”

And no wonder. News programming today often makes little distinction between news reporting and commentary, and the journalist is often as important as the news itself.

But distinctions matter. Journalism can never be truly “unbiased.” By the time we read any news article or watch any news segment, even the most “objective” news has been run through a series of bias filters. Each news department selects which stories to cover and which reporters to cover it. Each reporter selects which aspects of a story to focus on and which details of all possible details to include in the story. And editors make selective changes to fit a variety of criteria.

But recognizing this inherent bias, doesn’t mean we should stop insisting on some objectivity. Journalists can still choose to report mainly on the who, what, when, where, and why, and refrain from subjective assessment. They can still do their best to be fair and cover both sides of an issue, reporting that some people disagree about reported facts, and quoting the subjective assessments of people on multiple sides of an issue. And news programs (and bloggers who report the news) can still make a clear distinction between news reports and commentary.

This distinction is an important one for me because it goes to the issue of trust. With the blurring of the distinction between reporting and commentary, to trust the news, we must place more trust in the news organization (with all its corporate influences), which can then lead to an abuse of that trust in the form of completely subjective reporting that serves only the bias. If we can’t trust the organizations, then we’re left only with individuals – whether reporters, commentators, or bloggers – and many of these have little credibility beyond zeal. Stephen Colbert’s incredible humor and influence come from playing off this so perfectly, and the fact that some people don’t recognize the Colbert irony is a testament to what they are not recognizing in actual news programming.

And it’s a good reminder for PR pros. While subjective assessment (“the leader in…”) certainly has its place, hype-free objective reporting encourages trust and ultimately coverage.

While I’d like to think the Zogby poll indicates healthy skepticism, I fear it indicates growing cynicism about an environment in which persuasiveness comes all too often from celebrity and the amount of noise one makes.

A Simple Deception

Another deception is getting play in this New York Times article (as noted in GMSV today). The problem this time is with Wikipedia. In short, a respected editor who used the name Essjay and was supposedly a tenured professor of religion at a private university and an expert in canon law turns out to be a 24-year-old who attended a number of colleges in Kentucky and apparently has no relevant degree.

Most curious, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales initially defended Essjay, accepting the editor’s claim that he’d hidden his identity to protect himself from reprisals for mediating disputes between Wikipedia contributors. According to the NYT article, Wales also stated that the editor “is now, and has always been, an excellent editor with an exemplary track record.” Wales later reversed himself saying that his “past support of Essjay in this matter was fully based on a lack of knowledge about what has been going on,” which really doesn’t at all explain his initial defense or his reversal.

Protecting ourselves by hiding our identity can sometimes be a smart thing to do, and anonymity is often debated in PR. But anonymity is not the same as deception. If I reveal I’ve chosen not to disclose my identity, then it’s up to readers to choose whether or not to take me as credible. I haven’t deceived anyone. Wikipedia’s Essjay lied about his credentials, pretending to have experiences he never had in order to assume a position of authority. The difference is huge, and it’s hard to see what part of this Wales didn’t get immediately.

And what about lying about one’s identity for career advancement? George Eliot? I don’t think so. Actually it’s closer to the fraud perpetrated by Stephen Glass. Essjay was not writing fiction. He was pretending to be an authority on religion, and he used that authority to mediate arguments. Even if Essjay is as knowledgeable about religion as a tenured professor, his readers should have known the truth about what that knowledge was based on.

This deception sits at the heart of social media and our online interactions. How can we ever know that a person or company we encounter on the Internet is honestly represented?  Initially, we can’t. In the offline world, eye contact, a handshake, a feeling we get when we enter a building all help, but even with these, we are often deceived. As more and more of our lives are conducted online, we’ll need to develop new ways of sensing deception, whether through new technology or through social media mechanisms that allow us to get feedback from the crowd – some of these are already emerging (though how can we be sure they are legit?).

The ramifications for PR are clear. Our weapons against a heightened fear of being deceived – and its consequence, cynicism – are more transparency and less hype, a lesson that needs to be passed on to clients as well.

"Backpack journalism" and the evolution of the media

We’ve all seen declarations that print and other traditional media are "dead," but there’s another more interesting trend – the evolution of traditional journalists as they adapt to the new media world.

For decades now, reporters have been filing stories electronically. My brother covered the Exxon Valdez spill for the Anchorage Daily News in 1989 using a Radio Shack TRS-80 (aka "Trash 80") handheld computer.

But the trend of the one-man electronic media show is a newer phenomenon. The convergence in electronic devices, and the increasing financial pressures faced by all traditional media outlets, have resulted in a parallel convergence of skills and responsibilities for the journalist. A quick look at Monster.com reveals job descriptions for reporters that include things like "daily responsibilities include, but are not limited to, reporting, shooting, non-linear editing, writing and producing." This sounds more like the description of the responsibilities of an entire news organization, not a sole reporter.

Much has been written about the general trend toward mobility, and the role played by economic necessity, device convergence, and the need for mobility in a competitive world. Greg Olson, of Eastwick client Coghead, coined the term Going Bedouin in an analysis of this trend. 

Journalists, too, are seeing the advantages, both economic and competitive, of adapting the tools of the mobile workplace. Many of them have "Gone Bedouin" as they follow breaking news around the country and around the globe.

Recently, Eastwick chatted about "backpack journalism" with Haven Daley, video journalist with Associated Press (AP) TV. Daley travels the U.S., reporting on breaking news, writing, producing, editing and transmitting finished reports for a global audience. In fact, at the recent CES show, Daley produced 20 stories and commented that lately, he's more likely to be found "working out of a Starbucks" than an AP office. So-called backpack journalists -- including many converted "old-school” journalists -- were a common sight not only at CES but at DEMO, toting digital cameras and audio recorders to capture interviews and b-roll content.

Arguably, the distinction between a journalist and a blogger may soon disappear. Bloggers posted some of the earliest and most moving accounts of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and during the London subway bombings, passengers were feeding images to the press from their camera phones. 

So where will this all lead? Clearly, this trend will continue as the economic and competitive pressures that spurred it remain. Does the role of backpack journalist automatically mean a decline in editorial quality, as the additional responsibilities of camera operator, producer, and webmaster leave less time for research, editing, and even reflection on the nuances of a story? Are there benefits (other than economic) such as faster filing, more timely reporting, a more coherent finished piece? As Paul Harvey says, “stand by – for news!”

Technorati Tags: CES, backpack journalism, Haven Daley, going bedouin, DEMO

The End of Social Media?

The label that is. Steve Rubel calls for the end of the use of social media because: “In 2006 all media went social.” Continues Rubel: “So as we roll into 2007, it’s fair to say that ‘social media’ as a separate entity is dead. This will only accelerate as individual publishers add employees and build networks of sites that compete with the big boys. Need proof? Look at what Om Malik and Michael Arrington accomplished this year.”

Yes, there’s certainly less and less distinction between social media and mainstream media, but it’s hard to believe a label can become extinct so quickly. And I suspect we will keep it around for a while, even if it’s only to explain how media has changed so dramatically in the last couple of years and credit those who introduced, uh, social media.

The more interesting question is what happens from here as bloggers become business owners with advertising revenue to protect. One of the most interesting characteristics of social media so far has been the number of distinct voices beholden to no one and willing to challenge everything. Do they go mainstream and lose their punch? As the technology-fueled distinction between mainstream and social media disappears, the new distinction may be between mainstream media and independent voices, how individuals move from one to the other, and where we choose, if we choose, to place our trust.

New Media Nerds to Descend Upon Boston

I hope that title won’t turn any of you off, I am happy to admit that I will be part of that mob in Boston next month for the Society for New Communications Research’s Inaugural SNCR Research Symposium. 

Paul Gillin, tech journalist veteran and social media pro, will be delivering the keynote.  Paul will be discussing how the “New Influencers” are disrupting media and markets.  I’ve been thinking a lot about these new Web 2.0 gods and where they fit into the ecosystem of PR and media.  Are these new heavyweights (c’mon, you know who I’m talking about… Do you want me to recite the litany? Okay then, let’s start with one variation on the Trinity -- Om Malik, Michael Arrington, and Scoble -- and leave it at that … for now) really the Barbarians at the Gate of the stuffy, paralyzed world of “old media” or are they just repackaged media élites, as guided by their own tastes as any cigar-chomping editor in a dusty newsroom (actually, it appears that Om is also partial to cigars).

As John Gapper wrote last month in a great Financial Times piece:

“While anyone is free to launch a blog, contribute to Wikipedia or publish photographs on Flickr, a relatively small number of activists often dominate proceedings on Web 2.0 sites. Although they are unpaid, they can nonetheless achieve an elite status reminiscent of the old media's professional gatekeepers.”

So, we’ll see what Paul and other participants in the SNCR have to say about this. 

Other things I’ll be interested in hearing that day: Rob Pongsajapan of Georgetown University (my alma mater) will be moderating a panel on the “Emergence of Blogging in University Admissions and Recruiting.” 

Finally, eastwikkers alum (and a SNCR Research Fellow) Giovanni Rodriguez will be discussing his work on the 33 wikis project (started here on eastwikkers).  Can’t wait to hear what Giovanni’s got for us.

In the Good Old PR Time

“PR in the Internet Age: Same As It Ever Was?” asks BusinessWeek’s Rob Hof while commenting on Robert Scoble’s complaint that Google passed up the blogosphere and briefed only a few, mostly print, news outlets on Google Apps for Your Domain.

Writes Hof: “It does seem ironic that the world’s most prominent Internet company – one that’s specifically trying to get us all to do our work online instead of on the desktop – chose to brief mostly print publications. Maybe I should be glad even Google thinks print matters. But for such an innovative company, the tactic sure looks like a throwback.”

Well, yes, PR is the same as ever. While we often focus on how new technologies are changing the way we communicate and do business, good PR pros will use any technology and any technique they think will be most effective. Doing what’s expected – even if it's usually effective or very cool –  is not required or necessarily the best strategy, and employing a “throwback” can itself generate buzz – witness all the attention Google’s strategy is getting. In fact, by its willingness to comment on everything, the blogosphere continues to create more opportunities not just to innovate but also to experiment.

Take a look at “Street Stunts On The Digital Highway” and the power of blogs to turn a street corner billboard into a media event.

New Media, New Journalists, New Skill Sets…

We’ve all read about the challenges newspapers are facing with a decline in print circulation, job cuts, etc. But, as The New York Times reports, “there is one corner of the profession still enjoying a boom: journalism schools.” And for these graduates, it will be all about new media and “multimedia-tasking” with blogs, podcasts and video clips.

This was reinforced when I saw an email from my alma mater, U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, addressed to “New Media Graduates” detailing a reporter job opening at MSN Money. The successful candidate should have tech/video skills (Flash, etc) and “programming skill a huge plus.” These new media-savvy reporters would basically produce “packages” – part print, part photo, part video and more. I graduated from the program in 1997 and what a change in the required reporter skill-set since then. Back then, “packages” and “sound bites” were relegated to the world of TV news. We’re keeping on how journalism (think grass roots, participatory type as well) is being transformed by new media. Also important to note: with blogs, let the journalist (traditional or otherwise) beware. Incorrect reporting is exposed and dissected – openly – given the transparency of new media.

Cool Tools: Hitting the Boards

With the mind-boggling (or is it mind-numbing?) proliferation of blogs, vlogs, flogs, blawgs, splogs, plogs, et cetera, we who are in the business of tracking and listening to conversations have been presented with a number of pretty good (and not so pretty) tracking tools.  Some of my favorites, and those used most often by the Research Dept. here at Eastwick, include Technorati (natch), Feedster (when it’s humming), and PubSub. Google's blog search tool is also assuming a larger role in our arsenal.

But an often-overlooked venue, one that’s been with us for many years and is still very relevant to LOTS of people, is the message board.  Now, thanks to BoardTracker.com we can search message boards and other forums with relative ease.   As of five minutes ago, BoardTracker claimed to be tracking 16,149,892 threads in 26,016 forums.  Not every community has jumped on the blogging/wiki train yet, so having a useful way to monitor these conversations is great.  It gets me thinking, though, with all the innovations in social media, will Web 2.0’s forgotten step-brother—the message board—be on its way out?

Will Blog for Cash?

After reading a recent article about some Washington Post reporters asking to be paid extra for contributing to a group Web log (question: I wonder if many outlets will shift from encouraging blogging to making this a reporter requirement)… I got to thinking about that recent Fast Company article listing “Six Jobs That Won't Exist In 2016.” On the list: Auto mechanics, Indian call-center operators and bloggers.

With all that’s been written on the blogger’s creed and the reporter’s creed and efforts to map where the two intersect (Is a blogger  who provides a first-hand account of an event, with credible facts and sources, a [temporary] journalist? What defines a journalist and what is considered news… especially in the age of real-time blogs, podcasts, etc.?), and, for PR pros, tips on building relationships with bloggers, it’s clear that blogs – as an information source and more – have made their mark on the new media landscape.

Hard to imagine a blog-less world, especially when it’s so easy to find bloggers who make posting their passion, writing entries daily (with no pay). Unless of course the assumption is that blogging in 2016 won’t be a separate “job” so to speak with extra pay, but instead will be absorbed within various job descriptions (example: while blogging is an additional task for many reporters now, could the day come when it is assumed that a blog post will automatically, always follow a written article?)

Tom Foremski Likes Us

He really, really likes us.

Remapping Our World

Met yesterday with journalist/blogger Tom Foremski, who is dreaming up a Churchill Club alternative he's calling the Rooster Club.   Among other things -- the man has dreams -- he wants to shift the capital of Silicon Valley to San Francisco.  We had lunch at Momo's, which is squarely situated in what Tom calls the new "Hack/Flack District."  I think he's almost right -- you would just need to extend that district to include a cool-and-burgeoning enclave in Potrero Hill.

Wiki Beats the News (For Many)

Check out this article on the Reuters wire, posting some impressive stats on the rise of Wikipedia as a news source (quoted material below).  How do they do it?  We think there are a number of things at play here, including trust.  Wikipedia has become a compelling alternative for many folks who use the Internet to find the best and most recent information on any particular topic.  And Wikipedia's strict adherence to the "neutral point of view" sounds like an ideal that journalism has often tried to embrace but has given up on either because it does not make for interesting copy or simply because it doesn't sell.  Might not work for the news, but it certainly appears to be working for Wikipedia.

Wikipedia recently attracted 22.3 percent of users searching for information on "Gaza Strip," tying the CIA World Factbook (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/). It has drawn five times more U.S. traffic than Google News, Yahoo News or BBC, according to Hitwise analyst Bill Tancer.

Similarly, in April, Wikipedia tied with CNN.com as the No. 2 most visited site among U.S. Web users searching for details on the new Pope Benedict. Newadvent.org, a Catholic encyclopedia, was the most visited site among people seeking to learn more about Joseph Ratzinger, according to Hitwise data.

Katrina Blogs and “Help Wikis” Offer Real-Time Reports

Citizen journalism and “grassroots” media are topics we’ve mentioned here before…  In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, these real-time, first-hand reports are especially relevant, as bloggers providing regular information updates are seeing their readership skyrocket.

One wiki of note: the “Katrina Help Wiki” offers the latest on helpline numbers, health and safety info and government resources.  One citizen journo talks about what started as a few blog posts turning into 20+ posts a day: “The week before last Sunday, I averaged fewer than 11 unique visitors to my site per day; in the week since, I’ve averaged more than 6,100. It is a responsibility I have not borne lightly… For whatever reason you’ve been reading, it has been my honor to serve you this week. Thank you for letting me tell you these stories, and thank you for your many concerns for and your efforts to help Katrina’s victims.”

Other citizen reporters are posting Katrina-inspired poems and sharing photos, straight from the scene. Check out these images from the Astrodome here, here and here  – they will leave quite an impression.

Our Content, "Ourmedia"

Check out this BBC News article on do-it-yourself “citizen media.”

"There is a big transition happening between traditional, top down media and bubble-up, grassroots, emerging media," says JD Lasica, co-founder of Ourmedia.org, a community “dedicated to spreading grassroots creativity” in the form of videos, audio, photos and more. Ourmedia now plays host to 22,000 separate pieces of media, including video blogs, music clips, animation and more.

Posner to Media Consumers: "You Can't Handle the Truth"

See Richard Posner's roundup of eight -- count 'em -- recent books on the media in this week's issue of The New York Times Book Review (the cover story).  For those of you old enough to remember, Posner is the fabled and prolific conservative academic/jurist (he sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and is a lecturer at the University of Chicago School of Law) who has led the "law and economics" movement since the dawn of the Reagan era.  Posner and others have used L&E to do battle with many longstanding laws and precedents, interposing the economic cost/benefit analysis as the basis for deciding all manner of legal dispute.   He's applying a similar economic lens today to the media scene, arguing that negative trends like sensationalism (think Michael Jackson) and polarization (think Fox, talking heads, and angry bloggers) are the result of "the vertiginous decline in the cost of electronic communication and the relaxation of regulatory barriers to entry, leading to the proliferation of consumer choices."   But greater choice hasn't created a competitive market for truth and accuracy, says Posner.  "[P]eople don't like being in a state of doubt, so they look for information that will support rather than undermine their existing beliefs. They're also uncomfortable seeing their beliefs challenged on issues that are bound up with their economic welfare, physical safety or religious and moral views."  It's like a page from George Lakoff -- people generally prefer to listen to what fits their views, filtering out the rest. 

A proponent of new media -- see the article for a lengthy and passionate defense of bloggers against charges from mainstream journalists -- Posner himself is a blogger, sharing a site with University of Chicago economist Gary Becker.

UPDATE, 8/1:  Fellow PR blogger Elizabeth Albrycht writes that Posner's analysis has dangerous assumptions.  Meanwhile, Slate's Jack Schafer accuses the professor of laziness, sloppiness, and verbosity ("[d]eploying four words where one will do....").

Blogs a Cure for Writer’s Block?

For chapter-by-chapter (or idea-by-idea) feedback, some authors are turning to their blogs to invite feedback, criticism, and more. As The New York Times reports, authors' blogs “change the solitary mission of writing into something more closely resembling open-source software.”

Fear and Blogging in Las Vegas

We continue our tour of PRSA events with a stop in Las Vegas.  It's our first visit to this city, and our guide -- or our Virgil, depending on your perspective -- is the erudite Jack Chappell, manager of community relations for Nevada Public Radio.  Eastwick is sitting on a panel for government, non-profit and commercial PR pros who want to know what this blogging thing is all about, and why the PR profession needs to adapt.  One thing we'll talk about is how the media -- one of our key constituencies -- is already adapting, out of fear, neccessity or opportunity.  On that subject, check out Jon Fine's article in Business Week today, Net to Newspapers: Drop Dead.

The New Throats

Tomorrow, the San Jose Mercury News will introduce a new Friday interactive edition that includes blogs, communities, and other ways for enabling their readers to make their views known. This comes on the heels of the troubled experiment at the LA Times (they suspended their wikitorial because of vandalism).  In the meantime, the folks at BusinessWeek's "Blogspotting" are looking at using a wiki for a large-scale, open-source citizen journalism project.  An interesting development ... few publications have the budget or inclination to support budding Woodwards and Bernsteins, and collaborative journalism -- using talented citizen reporters -- might provide a great alternative.

Wikitorial Shuts Its Doors -- For Now

So, we spoke too soon.  The wikitorial experiment at the LA Times has ended -- temporarily, at least -- after a tough bout with vandals.  We expect an interesting post-mortem, with lessons learned about the implementation of wikis in the media world.   Two quick lessons:  (1) the need to restrict membership (there are acceptable ways to do that) and (2) alternative uses for media wikis.

Hail the Wikitorial

In our world, this was by far the biggest story of the week:  the LA Times is conducting an interesting social experiment on its editorial page, enabling readers to edit Times-authored editorials on a public wiki (managed by Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales).  The reaction from top journalists and bloggers has been spirited, from jeers, cheers, to an inspired editorial in Slate calling for the outright abolishment of traditional editorials because they "then either toward timidity, at one extreme, or posturing, at the other."  A Corante blogger opined, "there are better ways to bring the community into the paper."  We agree -- sort of -- but still applaud the Times for this bold and fun experiment.  Little ground has been broken in the new world of community journalism, and this represents a major if inconclusive step.  In the meantime, there's much to figure out.  When asked by Editor & Publisher to explain how the wiki works, Michael Kinsley (the Times editor who is leading the project) admitted, "I am not sure."

UPDATE:  1:30pm -- See Eastwick client Ross Mayfield's comment on Corante, about the flexibility of the wiki platform in news and editorial environments.   You will learn about things such as forking, and fisking.

28 CNET Blogs

CNET is blog-crazy! The technology news outlet now boasts 28 blogs focused on a number of market areas including broadband, enterprise software, gadgets, music, open source, RFID, and the list goes on. CNET even created blogs dedicated to the top tech players like Apple, Dell, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Sun and Yahoo.

Structured Blogging

PubSub has launched what it calls Structured Blogging, an XML-based platform that applies tags to Web pages and blog postings. The press release says it relies on a structured data format that changes simple text into rich data, adding more robust indexing and searching capabilities to content. PubSub has created a separate site with more info on the structured blogging initiative.

Bayosphere is Born

Dan Gillmor has unveiled "Bayosphere", a community-based blog focused on the news, needs and ideas of the San Francisco Bay Area. The site will exploit the concept of the read-write web and will allow Gillmor's vision of grassroots media to really take shape. Interested parties can now register to post comments on Bayosphere's blogs and the soon-to-be-launched open forums.

USA Today/Churchill Event Bars Other Media

See Tom Foremski's post on this event, co-sponsored by one of Silicon Valley's preeminent speaking clubs. All press barred except for USA Today. Sounds like an "exclusive" to us.

Are Bloggers Journalists?

Tom Foremski provides insight into this ever popular question as he examines how blogs are leveling the "free speech" playing field of journalism between established and new media.

"This transformation of journalism is best understood if the Internet is understood as a disruptive force, not of the technology sector, but of the media sector. The Internet is a collection of disruptive media technologies; and blogging, RSS, wikis, podcasts, etc., are part of a second wave of powerful media technologies that are accelerating this disruptive process."

Exiles from the Newsroom

Jay Rosen steps up his coverage on newsroom exiles, here and here.

Steve Rubel

He got the biggest photo by far (a full page at the top of the article) in the Business Week cover story on corporate blogging.  [Thanks to Mike Manuel for the photo].  Quite amazing. When was the last time any PR pro got that kind of star treatment? Move over Howard Rubenstein, Edward Bernays, and Ivy Lee (not to mention Lizzie).

NBC Debating Blogs

Frank Barnako of CBS Marketwatch reports that Jeff Zucker, head honcho at NBC Universal told an audience at a Yahoo! conference this week that news anchors at the network could be perfect candidates for blogging. He referenced Brian Williams and Katie Couric as the top choices for bloggers at NBC.

FOX Gets Crafty About Blogs

When the credits roll and the mics come off, FOX News anchors and show hosts are firing up their laptops and blogging. Topics range from show previews and re-caps to answers to viewer email, results of viewer polls and more.

FOX host Greta Van Susteren writes a blog called "After Hours" and, according to published reports, she spends two hours a day writing blog entries (and yes, what would a cable TV blog be without reference to Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson).  "After Hours" is one of five blogs the network features on its site. Also accessible are DaySide host Linda Vester's "Vesterblog" and "it kind of looks like a blog at first, but it's actually just a list of links to more conservative and liberal blogs" from bickering hosts Hannity and Colmes (LiberalOasis.com anyone?)

http://www.foxnews.com/index.html#blogs

The Media Versus Apple

Tom Foremski: numerous news orgs have filed an amicus brief in the Apple blog case. The lower court's decision, on appeal, held that Apple could force three blogging sites to reveal their sources because bloggers do not enjoy the protections afforded to journalists.

The old bloggers vs journalists debate was turned on its head yesterday when major media corporations and publishers' associations filed an amicus brief [PDF] with the Court of Appeals in the Apple v Does case. In their filing, the media companies consistently refer to the websites as "journalists," drawing no distinction between traditonal media and online reporters.

***

Signing on to the brief were the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times Communications, San Jose Mercury News, Hearst Corp., (publishers of the San Francisco Chronicle), Copley Press (publishers of the San Diego Union-Tribune), McClatchy Co. (publishers of the Sacramento Bee), and Freedom Communications (publishers of the Orange County Register).

Journalists Who Blog

A great list, here.

Gelf

Surprised I haven't bumped into this until today. Gelf is a new webzine run by "two and a half guys" -- former WSJ staffer Carl Bialik, former Wired reporter David Goldenberg, and Economist reporter "Dino" Kakaes (the "half guy" -- the Economist still takes a lot of his time). Lots to say about this great new pub, which is pushing the limits of a fun 'zine/group blog, and is already embarking on some unusual journalistic adventures (like their weekly review of media corrections). But don't take it from us -- to learn more, check out the hilarious "mock-FAQ" here. If this takes off, who knows -- maybe Dino will quit his day job.

Hack/Flaks -- Part II

Thanks to Dan Gilmor for posting this one. Florida's Herald Tribune reports that Mike Vasilinda, a long-time Florida freelance reporter, has been earning PR fees from some of the organizations he routinely covers.

His Tallahassee company, Mike Vasilinda Productions Inc., has earned more than $100,000 over the past four years through contracts with Gov. Jeb Bush's office, the Secretary of State, the Department of Education and other government entities that are routinely part of Vasilinda's stories.

Citizen Journalism -- New Venture

It's called NowPublic, a site that enables anyone "to assign" a story to participating photographers and videographers. Sounds like a boon to art-constrained news organizations. Here's how it works:

First, a member logs in and opens an assignment. Once the assignment is opened, it appears on the homepage of all members (provided they are logged in) in the area. Once they have filed a photograph, video or MP3, then the assignment becomes a news story and appears in the developing news section and within the appropriate channels.

"Inside the Blogs"

CBS Marketwatch writer Jon Friedman says that Inside the Blogs (a daily CNN segment) is this season's best "reality show." He also weighs in on one of the year's biggest debates: are bloggers journalists?

The show -- to my eyes - merely contains equal parts bloggers' opinions and unwitting entertainment. But it's significant that CNN is dedicating time everyday to the blogs.

Remember, the hottest debate in the media today centers on whether the bloggers "real" journalists or simply pajama-clad shut-ins who weigh in on the issues of the day?

Evidently, CNN is happy to make a bet that, indeed, they are journalists.

PR and Control

Tom Foremski has an interesting post about the difficulties PR folks have applying the command-and-control approach in the blogosphere. It is indeed a new world. But many folks in the PR biz have seen this change coming for quite some time, well before new media. Truth is that control never quite worked in the company/reporter relationship. Control -- among other things like, er, obfuscation, hype, deception -- has done a lot to strain relationships between PR reps and journalists. Not that things are so great today, but the blogger class, which claims quite a few folks from both worlds, has done a lot to bridge the gap.