After hearing so much about Twitter in classes and even in the news I decided to make an account and use it for my job. I work at a new media company called Cubico Media where we publish articles for streaming on multiple platforms in the areas of fashion, lifestyle and entertainment.
When I created the account I started playing around with the different features and the idea of micro blogging really appealed to me. As a writer I am constantly trying to "write tight" and with only 140 characters to work with, Twitter forces you to be concise.
I can really see how Twitter is making an impact on people and businesses. As a new media company we can tweet about what we are working on and connect with others who might be interested in reading or watching what we produce.
My first hour on Twitter proved to be a success. In that short amount of time I accumulated a few followers. Today I think we have over 70 people or so following us. I am anxious to see how Twitter changes over the next few months. I expect that like Facebook, or any other social media outlets, Twitter will continue to evolve.
It's interesting, when you really think about it, we are watching the birth of these tools but my future children will not know a world without these applications or the many tools to come in the next few months and years. Scary.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
How much is enough?
As mentioned in my previous post, NewsTrust.net focuses on evaluating the credibility of news articles. After reading a posted article, reviewers are asked a series of questions. The answers to these questions determine the rating that the article receives. One of the questions that NewsTrust asks the reviewers is if the article is well sourced.
Keeping this question in mind I wanted to take a look at some of the articles on the Web pages that I have been reviewing. Looking at the LA Times' article about Clinton's trip to China the reporter used two outside sources in addition to quotes from Clinton's press appearances. For this article are three sources enough? The point of the article is reached, the reader is able to gather information from the article, but should the reporter have gone further?
It is hard to say exactly how many sources are needed in order to produce a well developed article. In some cases, a blog post for example, additional sources may hinder the main point of the piece. As a rule, journalists are taught to be unbiased and present information from multiple viewpoints. Yet, bloggers are not held to the same set of standards.
Jack & Jill Politics for example, features only one viewpoint in a majority of their posts. Does this make the information presented any less credible?
In this case I feel that it is a matter of expectation. When coming to a blog, one expects a somewhat skewed or limited viewpoint. On the other hand, when a reader picks up a newspaper they expect to see multiple points of view presented in an unbiased format.
Keeping this question in mind I wanted to take a look at some of the articles on the Web pages that I have been reviewing. Looking at the LA Times' article about Clinton's trip to China the reporter used two outside sources in addition to quotes from Clinton's press appearances. For this article are three sources enough? The point of the article is reached, the reader is able to gather information from the article, but should the reporter have gone further?
It is hard to say exactly how many sources are needed in order to produce a well developed article. In some cases, a blog post for example, additional sources may hinder the main point of the piece. As a rule, journalists are taught to be unbiased and present information from multiple viewpoints. Yet, bloggers are not held to the same set of standards.
Jack & Jill Politics for example, features only one viewpoint in a majority of their posts. Does this make the information presented any less credible?
In this case I feel that it is a matter of expectation. When coming to a blog, one expects a somewhat skewed or limited viewpoint. On the other hand, when a reader picks up a newspaper they expect to see multiple points of view presented in an unbiased format.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Keeping it Factual
Last week, our Online Journalism class was visited by a guest speaker from NewsTrust.net, Kaizar Campwala. He talked to us about the company and their goal, which is to provide a place where people can analyze and evaluate news.
After participating in a news hunt for articles about Obama's foreign policy in the first 100 days I began to think about the value of this site. The site itself is easy to navigate and use, which is extremely important in keeping users of all ages engaged.
The benefit of this site is the ability for users to contribute their thoughts and opinions about certain articles. In relation to the sites that I am monitoring, this is important because although the publications may be respected, it is crucial to note that journalists are often on deadline, they are human and sometimes mistakes are made.
Keeping in line with this, I decided to see how corrections are handled on the New York Times Website. I found the link to the "corrections" page at the bottom the the NY Times homepage. The corrections page listed seven corrections posted today (Feb. 21) paired with a link to the original article.
I imagine that more than seven mistakes were made throughout the print addition, yet these may have been the only ones brought to light. I don't find fault with publications that make mistakes. It is admirable to print the mistakes and move on. The idea that NewsTrust has doesn't take into account the corrections made by the publications; however, NewsTrust sparked my interest in this topic. It also caused me to evaluate the number of sources in articles, which I will discuss at a later date.
After participating in a news hunt for articles about Obama's foreign policy in the first 100 days I began to think about the value of this site. The site itself is easy to navigate and use, which is extremely important in keeping users of all ages engaged.
The benefit of this site is the ability for users to contribute their thoughts and opinions about certain articles. In relation to the sites that I am monitoring, this is important because although the publications may be respected, it is crucial to note that journalists are often on deadline, they are human and sometimes mistakes are made.
Keeping in line with this, I decided to see how corrections are handled on the New York Times Website. I found the link to the "corrections" page at the bottom the the NY Times homepage. The corrections page listed seven corrections posted today (Feb. 21) paired with a link to the original article.
I imagine that more than seven mistakes were made throughout the print addition, yet these may have been the only ones brought to light. I don't find fault with publications that make mistakes. It is admirable to print the mistakes and move on. The idea that NewsTrust has doesn't take into account the corrections made by the publications; however, NewsTrust sparked my interest in this topic. It also caused me to evaluate the number of sources in articles, which I will discuss at a later date.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Living In Your Beat
This past week our Online Journalism class had a guest lecture from Barry Parr founder of Coastsider.com. His Web site is an example of a hyper local news site.
Parr explained that the area he covers, which is Half Moon Bay and the surrounding coast side region, is the perfect size for a hyper local news site. He mentioned that he has had success in this business and plans on refocusing his attention on breaking news in the area.
With so many newspapers struggling today, one might wonder if these sites might become a new trend. So many people are losing their jobs and the answer might rest in journalists actually living in their beat, breaking news online as opposed to publishing print editions.
There are tremendous strengths in this idea. Paper won't be wasted, people will have access to up to date news specifically for their local area and reporters will be needed to cover the information. Yet, there are drawbacks. The stress of a 24/7 constantly updating stories may be hard for even the most experienced teams of journalists to handle, and there is also the trouble of access for those that do not have a computer or Internet.
I find hyper local journalism to be very resourceful, especially for medium sized areas that are not often covered in mainstream newspapers. However, I do not believe that the creation of more of these sites will reduce the need for major newspapers, such as The New York Times or The LA Times. I do foresee the possibility of local weekly newspapers moving entirely online, creating their own hyper local news page, in order to cut costs and increase profit.
Parr brought forth a new wave of using the Internet at a local level. I feel that this type of journalism has the potential to bring communities together and incorporate audiences that may not be consumers of news otherwise.
Parr explained that the area he covers, which is Half Moon Bay and the surrounding coast side region, is the perfect size for a hyper local news site. He mentioned that he has had success in this business and plans on refocusing his attention on breaking news in the area.
With so many newspapers struggling today, one might wonder if these sites might become a new trend. So many people are losing their jobs and the answer might rest in journalists actually living in their beat, breaking news online as opposed to publishing print editions.
There are tremendous strengths in this idea. Paper won't be wasted, people will have access to up to date news specifically for their local area and reporters will be needed to cover the information. Yet, there are drawbacks. The stress of a 24/7 constantly updating stories may be hard for even the most experienced teams of journalists to handle, and there is also the trouble of access for those that do not have a computer or Internet.
I find hyper local journalism to be very resourceful, especially for medium sized areas that are not often covered in mainstream newspapers. However, I do not believe that the creation of more of these sites will reduce the need for major newspapers, such as The New York Times or The LA Times. I do foresee the possibility of local weekly newspapers moving entirely online, creating their own hyper local news page, in order to cut costs and increase profit.
Parr brought forth a new wave of using the Internet at a local level. I feel that this type of journalism has the potential to bring communities together and incorporate audiences that may not be consumers of news otherwise.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Too Comfortable Online
I took a look at Think Progress and noticed a recent post about Rep. Pete Hoekstra leaking secret government information via Twitter. I had to read the headline twice. Honestly, leaking government information through a social media outlet. What is the world coming to? Are we too comfortable online?
While I feel that recent social media developments, Twitter, in particular are an effective way of reaching and connecting people, I am having trouble buying into the idea that government officials should be tweeting away all day. This raises significant problems of security and national safety. Some things are better left unsaid.
It used to be that people were afraid to share their private thoughts. Diaries came with locks, journals were hidden under mattresses. However today we blog about our personal lives, we tweet our daily activities almost to the minute.
How comfortable is too comfortable when it comes to distributing our personal information via the Internet? Everyone has a line. As the ranking leader of the House intelligence committee you think Hoekstra would have better sense, and if not, at least he should have better things to do than post his arrival in Iraq on Twitter.
While I feel that recent social media developments, Twitter, in particular are an effective way of reaching and connecting people, I am having trouble buying into the idea that government officials should be tweeting away all day. This raises significant problems of security and national safety. Some things are better left unsaid.
It used to be that people were afraid to share their private thoughts. Diaries came with locks, journals were hidden under mattresses. However today we blog about our personal lives, we tweet our daily activities almost to the minute.
How comfortable is too comfortable when it comes to distributing our personal information via the Internet? Everyone has a line. As the ranking leader of the House intelligence committee you think Hoekstra would have better sense, and if not, at least he should have better things to do than post his arrival in Iraq on Twitter.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Top Blogs: Huffington Post
The Huffington Post was recently named as the top blog on Technorati's Top 100 blog list. This title made me curious to spend time on the Huffington Post website in order to determine why they might have been given this honor.
In fact, when going to The Huffington Post you can expect to find up to date postings on a variety of topics. Contained within this one page there is information about everything from politics to Playboy! All news appetites can be satisfied in one way or another just by visiting this site.
The details of this site are impressive. Each section has its own color scheme. The homepage is Green, Politics page is blue, the Media page is orange and so on. The subtle change alerts the reader that they have entered a new section; however the overall feel of the individual sections is the same. That is to say, you still know you are on the same site because the layout is consistent throughout.
In some ways the layout feels more like a tabloid than a news paper because there are a lot of pictures. However some of the articles include a headline with a paragraph or so of the articles text to entice the reader.
What's nice about this blog is that information is truly and honestly presented. Some of the articles give the feeling of a newspaper article where facts are presented clearly. Then there is also a featured blog post section boasting "If you have something to say...Say it on the Huffington Post." Here there are opinionated blogs that feature the writers thoughts on a newsworthy topic.
After spending an extended amount of time on the site I can see why it would be named as the top blog.
In fact, when going to The Huffington Post you can expect to find up to date postings on a variety of topics. Contained within this one page there is information about everything from politics to Playboy! All news appetites can be satisfied in one way or another just by visiting this site.
The details of this site are impressive. Each section has its own color scheme. The homepage is Green, Politics page is blue, the Media page is orange and so on. The subtle change alerts the reader that they have entered a new section; however the overall feel of the individual sections is the same. That is to say, you still know you are on the same site because the layout is consistent throughout.
In some ways the layout feels more like a tabloid than a news paper because there are a lot of pictures. However some of the articles include a headline with a paragraph or so of the articles text to entice the reader.
What's nice about this blog is that information is truly and honestly presented. Some of the articles give the feeling of a newspaper article where facts are presented clearly. Then there is also a featured blog post section boasting "If you have something to say...Say it on the Huffington Post." Here there are opinionated blogs that feature the writers thoughts on a newsworthy topic.
After spending an extended amount of time on the site I can see why it would be named as the top blog.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Beat Blogging
I was unable to attend the lecture by Katherine Fong; however I did take a look at Beatblogging.org to learn a little bit about the practice. The idea is to determine how valid and influential social networking and other web based tools can be in contributing to a reporters beat. Beat bloggers have been successful at getting their readers to help them further a story.
I find that Beat bloggers are even more important at the community level. It is an interesting idea that every day people can help contribute to the news. It shows how the web helps bring people together and deliver information.
On latimes.com there is a story about homeowners that are being scammed by individuals claiming to be bank officials and saying that they can stop their houses from being foreclosed. This article is an example of a story that could benefit from beat blogging. If citizens banned together they could spread the word of warning preventing others from being a victim. In addition, it is an example of a way that social networks and web tools can be used to stop criminal activity. If the news spread about the scam, those behind the scam may stop.
If citizens continue to actively participate in the news it will be more likely for news corporations to target their audience. You have to know who your public is in order to provide them with the information that they want and need. Beat blogging is a really good way for the public to get involved and stay engaged with the news.
I find that Beat bloggers are even more important at the community level. It is an interesting idea that every day people can help contribute to the news. It shows how the web helps bring people together and deliver information.
On latimes.com there is a story about homeowners that are being scammed by individuals claiming to be bank officials and saying that they can stop their houses from being foreclosed. This article is an example of a story that could benefit from beat blogging. If citizens banned together they could spread the word of warning preventing others from being a victim. In addition, it is an example of a way that social networks and web tools can be used to stop criminal activity. If the news spread about the scam, those behind the scam may stop.
If citizens continue to actively participate in the news it will be more likely for news corporations to target their audience. You have to know who your public is in order to provide them with the information that they want and need. Beat blogging is a really good way for the public to get involved and stay engaged with the news.
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