Will Salon survive?

Media Shift have a great interview with Salon's new CEO, Richard Gingras about whether the extremely economically troubled indy media site can be saved. The interview also looks at the redesign Salon is going through in an attempt to integrate the new technologies, and practices, that are seeing social media sites like Twitter take off. To increase profits, Salon is also launching an e-store, as well adding new categories to the site, for example next month they will introduce a food section. It's just a really good interview that leaves you wanting Salon to survive even more.

The power of home video blogs

A Russian police officer has used YouTube to expose police corruption in Russia. The video has become a media sensation in Russia, where the police force is constantly being accused of being crooked. To read more about it click through to the Guardian's article.

Or alternatively for all those fluent Russian speakers out there, watch the YouTube clip

The News Corp sites that 'steal' content

Here I go again, a post about Murdoch, well he is everywhere at the moment. Anyway there is a great post on Tech Dirt about all the sites owned by Murdoch that 'steal' content from other sites. The article shows examples of the Wall Street Journal and Fox News' Buzztracker, which links to The New York Times and The Washington Post, all linking to other sources. These are just two of the many News Corp sites listed in the Tech Dirt article that, in Murdoch's words, are 'stealing.' Click through to see who else is guilty.

Interview with Gawker's Richard Rushfield

Media Bistro have an interesting interview with Gawker's Richard Rushfield about why he left the LA Times to become a blogger. I like Rushfield's answer about the switch from old to new media. He says, "the switch is invigorating. This is where the conversation is."

I think it illustrates two important points we have covered in class. One being that working for an independent media outlet is more than just a job, it can be a saisfying, rewarding career that you actually enjoy doing. The other is that new media is about a two-way flow of information, not just about feeding people the news.

Rushfield adds:

"here were so many times when you'd write a wonderful article for the LATimes, or break some news and it would just be met by the sound of crickets. When you are at the LAT you're at a place where even the website isn't in the central flow of the nation's cultural conversation. But at Gawker one is very much in and a part of that conversation and as one who is writing, in part at least to communicate, that's where you want to be."

Rushfield also talks about his new book, Don't Follow Me I'm Lost. To read the rest of the interview click here.

Murdoch sits down to discusss charging for online news

Ol' Rupert seems to be everywhere at the moment, banging on about charging for online content. In an interview with Sky, who of course he owns, he discusses why he will be charging for online news. This media mogal's arguments don't even make any sense. Asked about Google's argument that they drive traffic to News Corp sites, he says yes but only the one page. And when asked if he is losing money with his online sites, Murdoch says no but they aren't making millions. No surprises here, Murdoch's main concern isn't his journalists' hard work getting ripped off, its about the amount of money going in his wallet. Then he goes on to defend Fox news saying they are the only "fair and balanced" news. It's quite interesting to here how he describes Fox new programs, such as Glen Beck's, to an Australian audience. It's an interesting video, even if it just shows how out of touch Murdoch is with modern media and its audience.

Independence, satire and press freedom

Australian media commentator and comedian Julian Morrow delivers a speech on independent media, censorship and media ownership at the annual Andrew Olle lecture. Andrew Olle was a respected Australian journalist.

e-Palestine

Time has an interesting article on the "e-Palestine" movement that started after the second intifada erupted, in 2000. Instead of using violence, an increasing number of Palestinians are using online activism.

Saif Abukeshek who is from the West Bank city of Nablus but now lives in Madrid says, "It's a way to achieve effective non-violent resistance."Abukeshek helps run Pal-youth.org, an online internet portal connecting Palestinians around the world. He says that their reduced mobility, along with growing internet access, has seen a serge of young Palestinians joining online communities, a movement that sociologists are calling "e-Palestine."Starting out mainly as a way for youths to socialize, young Palestinians are now using chats to discuss the news and politics with one another. To read the article click here.

Google Dashboard, friend or foe?

After Google announcing Dashboard, a new program that allows you to manage all your information associated with Google, Andrew Heining of The Christian Science Monitor asks, is having all your personal data accessible in one place a good thing?

While Heining points out that the most basic concern is how easy Dashboard makes it for someone to get find all your private information in one place, his biggest fear is Google having, and accessing, all of our information. Heining writes,

"Another unintended feature of Google Dashboard? Its ability to freak us out. Yes, the concerns have been there from the beginning: ‘Give Google access to every email I send?’ ‘Tell Google where I am?’ ‘Let Google record and transcribe my phone conversations?’ But now, with Dashboard aggregating all of the aspects of our lives that we’ve signed away to Google, it’s hard to just shrug off those concerns as “privacy wonk stuff.”"

To read the rest of the article click here

Ariana Huffington

Lets just bypass how late she was. I thought Arianna Huffington was such an inspiring person. Given how hard hitting her columns are, I was surprised by how sweet she came across. To be honest I was expecting Huffington to be very matter of fact, but it seemed like she was generally pleased to be here and answer our questions. For me, coming from Australia means I don't always have the opportunity of meet such influential people, so it was an amazing experience. The intimate setting and being able to ask her questions one on one was a fantastic opportunity.

So all the praise aside, lets discuss some of the things she spoke about. With so much criticism from traditional media outlets, I really appreciated Huffington's optimism for newspapers. Rather than saying they are doomed, Huffington stressed that journalism will only become stronger with new and old media coming together, sharing their best qualities. While online offers amazing opportunities for multimedia, reach and audience participation, traditional media can offer experience with investigative reporting and other news values.

I really agree with Huffington's answer to the question about whether balance is important. She said not all stories are balanced, and giving equal space to two unequal sides actually skews facts and mislead the audience. I do believe in objectivity in hard news, and I stress the difference between it and balance, I see objectivity as trying to keep your opinion out, but I thought her point that "facts are sacred" was spot on for opinion pieces.

I also thought it was great how Huffington talked about how young journalists are succeeding because of their skills online. It is extremely daunting knowing I will be entering the work force in a few months, so it's nice to know that I still have things to offer when competing with experienced journalists.

But most of all, just hearing and seeing Huffington's passion was of most value. And I'll end on a quote from her, "failure is not the opposite to success. It's the stepping stone to success" - a line I think young journalists should remind themselves of.

It’s 2012 and news is no longer free

Simon Dumenco predicts the future in the article “Life After the Pay Wall: Ignorance Ain't Bliss After All” for the Advertising Age.

It’s 2012 and news is no longer free. Michael Wolff, founder of the news-aggregation site Newser, is in prison, the first high-profile casualty of the 2011 anti-aggregation law. To avoid punishment the Huffington Post has turned into an Arianna Huffington fan-fiction site – and has better traffic than ever. It’s an era where news is luxury, where a yearly subscription to the New York Times cost $7,000. Mobsters are now trafficking pay-wall passwords because it’s more lucrative than counterfeit handbags. All paid-news consumers have to agree to a "Premium Content Code of Honor" that prohibits them from sharing news with non-subscribers. And shock horror, Fox News is now The Glenn Beck Channel.

Times publisher compares the newspaper to the Titanic

New York Magazine recently asked the New York Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, his advice for young people wanting to get into journalism. Here is his response:

"Um, what I would tell them is the industry is in the midst of a massive transition. But the core of the fundamental job is critical. We have to re-create ourselves, but the heart of what we're going to re-create is still journalism. The way people get information is changing, but the need for information will remain constant."

I think his response is spot on. Instead of going into the "bloggers are ruining traditional media," poor us, territory, Sulzberger acknowledges that it is traditional media that needs to change to please consumers. I also like that he points out that the need for information isn't changing, that the public aren't just simply giving up on reading the news.

He also uses a great analogy for the fate of physical newspaper:

"What was the critical flaw to the Titanic?," he asked NY Magazine. "Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed. Twelve years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane."

The Washington Post is in for some competition

The Huffington Post got hold of a memo from Politico's publisher, Robert Allbritton, announcing to Politico staff that he is launching a local DC news site that is hoping to compete with the Washington Post. I wonder how the Post will feel about the new competitor being run by former Washingtonpost.com editor Jim Brady?

The memo says that they will be merging "the current WJLA.com and News8.net websites into a site whose aim is to set a new standard for media coverage of local news, with a staff of more than 50 people."

Read the rest of the memo on the Huffington Post here.

"the age of the amafessional" - Wall Street Journal

Despite using the questionable term "amafessional," this article on bloggers for the Wall Street Journal is surprisingly positive. While acknowledging the threat they pose to almost all professions, the writer says that bloggers, with their talents, are providing trained professionals with some strong competition. The article ends on this note:

"In recent years we've experienced the growth of the professional class as the nature of work and American aspirations have shifted. But now come the amafessionals, who could produce even greater growth."

Side note: The article quotes a recent op-ed in the New York Times saying that the "shuttering of Gourmet [magazine] reminds us that in a click-or-die advertising marketplace, one ruled by a million instant pundits, where an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up." - Harsh

Censoring Twitter?

In keeping with today's discussion on censorship, check out this article on Mickey Kaus's blog, Kausfiles, for Slate. In the article, Kaus wonders why Twitter searches on celebrities almost always turn up positive "tweets". Is there absolutely no criticism against celebrities on Twitter?, he asks. Infact, insulting "tweets" against celebrities are dissapearing from search results. Kaus argues that, perhaps, Twitter "curates" the comments (deletes negative tweets) to look after the celebrities.

Why?

Well Kaus, citing Nicole LaPorte's article in The Daily Beast, points out that celebrity publicists have connections at Twitter HQ, and suggests that:

"Celebrity Twitterers like Milano, Moore and Kutcher have been very important to Twitter's growth. They take care of Twitter. Twitter takes care of them. At least that would be the equation"

While this could just be Kaus' own conspiracy, I wouldn't be suprised if it turned out to be true...

Mother Jones, Slate, The Atlantic, Wired, Propublic to join forces for investigative reporting into climate change

Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery has revealed in an interview for Advertising Age that she is negotiating with Slate, Grist, The Atlantic, Wired, Pro Publica and others to collaborate on investigative reporting into climate change.

Jeffery reveals that the outlets are hoping to delve into bigger, ongoing climate change coverage coverage - more than they could individually pull off.

25 of the best undderated bloggers

Mediaite has put together a list of 25 of the best underrated bloggers that readers should know about.

The site says:

"If they aren’t themselves household names in a few years, the odds are good that they will continue to smartly analyze the news, break stories, serve as role models for others, and put their stamps on the flow of information far beyond the Internet."

The article explains why Mediaite has chosen each blog. This is definitely an article Indy Media students should check out.

Authors — once an elite minority — will soon be a majority.

An article on Seed Magazine discusses the finding of a recent study on authorship. The study, which claims to be the first of its kind, compared the number of published authors since 1400 to now.

To be considered published, an author’s text (book, magazine, journal and now more recent social media – blogs, Facebook, and Twitter), must have been read by at least 100 people.

The two researchers, Denis G. Pelli and Charles Bigelow, found the number of published authors per year increased nearly tenfold every century for six centuries, and that by 2000 there were 1 million book authors per year.

But now authorship, with the advent of new media, is growing nearly tenfold each year. The graph predicts that by next year 1 percent of the world’s population will by publishing and that nearly 10 percent will be the following year. If the “twitter-author curve” proves to be accurate, every person will publish by 2013.

The researchers state that even if they were to change the criteria for publishing to texts that were read by 1,000 readers, it would only delay the predicted 100 percent participation by a year under their model.

While many of you might cringe at all this data, the study shows how media participation is becoming an everyday part of society. It is evidence to support, in the authors words, “[that] our society is changing from consumers to creators.”

Interview with Paul Krassner of the Realist

Image courtesy of The Rag

For my research into alternative newspapers of the '60s counterculture I stumbled across an interview with Paul Krassner, the creator of the Realist. The interview is from February this year in The Sun Magazine. It's great to hear what he has to say about his experiences of the underground press, and also just to see what he is up to these days. The interviewer asks some good questions about being an editor and publisher and maintaining credibility.

Political bloggers

With the popular political blogs backed major media outlets, Michah L. Sifty from Tech President asks if the days of independent political bloggers is over. Read the article here.