Monday, November 26, 2007
User-generated breaking news and open source reporting website launched
Launched last month, Vartti.fi is a fledgling project that allows users to break news by uploading multimedia content direct to the site.
Vartti editors also publish story threads on the website and ask for multimedia submissions from the readers - setting them deadlines for their contributions.
The stories are then published in a series of ultra-local weekly papers distributed in and around the Helsinki area.
"With the Jokela High School shooting we had one of the first pictures in Finland [from the scene] which was taken on a mobile phone, we then sold it on to publications in Norway and Sweden," Janne Kaijarvi, editor-in-chief of Vartti, told Journalism.co.uk.
The site also broke news about a train fire in Helsinki, Kaijarvi added, with reporters first finding out about the incident when a passenger uploaded a picture to the site from inside the train.
However, the contributor for the Jokela picture was paid significantly more, Kaijarvi added. Sanoma publishes seven local editions of Vartti in Helsinki and a further seven in other areas.
Developers claim that 15 to 20 per cent of each paper is user-generated content. A figure they hope will be nearer 50/50 by next year.
"The market for these kind of news sites in Finland is very tough, we have tabloids which are very strong so we are trying to learn all the time what different approaches people may want," Kaijarvi added.
"By the end of next year the site might be totally different from what it is like now as we develop more and more user-generated content."
Vartti.fi is just one of five news site start-ups which have been launched Sanoma Digital, one of the largest Nordic publishers, since the start of the year.
Friday, November 23, 2007
blogging and vlogging an event
Read Joitske Hulseboach excellent blog posting on this
See full text below
happy reading
Editor- penplusbytes
Blogging and vlogging an event
For a question by Simone Staiger on the knowledge management for development list, Peter Ballantyne, Chris Addison and myself compiled our experiences so far.
1. For the euforic annual meeting this year we tried to capture a lot of the discussions with blogs and short videos. see the Euforic AGM blog where we published a whole bunch of stuff. we started drafting stories on different sessions, by the end several participants were doing their own stories. At the feed you can also see some stories published by off our site about the conference. Doing videos has transformed our approach.
2. At the brusselsbriefings blog you can see where we use a more structured approach and a blog as the primary advertizing and reporting mechanism for, in this case, a series of short meetings. The blogging really changes the way the meeting is reported. Instead of a heavy policy paper we ended up with a four page newsletter format closely based on the blog. Interestingly the organisers offerred no comments on the blog postings but the moment the same text was in word it was closely edited. The video played an important role in the last
brussels briefing in the dynamic of the meeting itself. We were able to incorporate over 20 blips, many from non-speakers. As a result many people felt their views were taken seriously by the organisers. It also gives the meeting a buzz, we often get people thanking us for the
opportunity to talk to video.
3. We think it is VERY worthwhile to blog an event. Even if it just adds an extra documenting element and gets people used to the idea that others maybe listening. There is a difference in whether you want to capture the live presentations, or rather the voices of others who are
listening/reacting. You may have an aim of changing the conversations if you reach out to capturing other voices than the plenary speakers.
4. the blog (or site) MUST have feeds, and have the feeds on the sites of others [and get people to subscribe to them]. i think you want people to blog your conference and its blog on other blogs or platforms. Before, during and after. establishing a conference tag to be used
across different platforms may also be good. we need to go where the 'audiences' are and not expect them to come to us. I think the blog needs to have quite 'instant' stories, giving atmosphere and opinion as well as text and presentations. so the feeds change and it's worth
coming back.
5. However, a blog has a normal 'pace' and blogging an event can be overwhelming for the readers. Personally I still have 105 unread blogposts on the web2fordev blog. Suddenly
you are overwhelmed with information. ...So there could be other alternative ways of displaying
things too. For inspiration, here's an example of a vlogged event from rocket boom using a site which is very attractive. Erwin Blom wrote a great blogpost in Dutch (important language for all to know :). He writes about an aggregator page for an event. They asked people who were
interested to use twitter, youtube etc. to help cover the event. And aggregated all the content on a site of the event: Picnic07. They discovered (as we did) that you need a UNIQUE tag, picnic will also be used by anybody picnicking in 2007. You can have a look at the site, it's in english.
6. On tools: One thing that blogger allows (but not wordpress) is to be able to post directly to draft by email. This would make my job easier as I write posts in the meeting on my phone and email them for editing. It is also much more difficult to have relaxed blips if you use a tripod for the camera. We use small digital cameras rather than video cameras and talk to the person over the top of the camera. A little camera shake can add to the immediacy of the blip. (See Mabel
on euforic.blip.tv)
7. The experience of following meetings remotely. Although I don't have the stats for web2fordev, the anecdotal evidence was that very few followed the event live, and I only had direct feedback at the meeting from one person, watching the videos has been higher than I expected (over 100views for individual items) but the impact is far higher as videos are shown at other meetings and we show at individual training sessions.
Ethan Zuckerman and Bruno Giussani have compiled a tips for conference bloggers guide
Question for you: how do you as an online viewer experience an event from far? What makes it easier to connect? And how do you use the online documentation of events you have attended?
blogging and vlogging an event
Do you want to learn more about blogging or video blogging at events?
Read Joitske Hulseboach excellent blog posting on this
See full text below
happy reading
Editor- penplusbytes
Blogging and vlogging an event
For a question by Simone Staiger on the knowledge management for development list, Peter Ballantyne, Chris Addison and myself compiled our experiences so far.
1. For the euforic annual meeting this year we tried to capture a lot of the discussions with blogs and short videos. see the Euforic AGM blog where we published a whole bunch of stuff. we started drafting stories on different sessions, by the end several participants were doing their own stories. At the feed you can also see some stories published by off our site about the conference. Doing videos has transformed our approach.
2. At the brusselsbriefings blog you can see where we use a more structured approach and a blog as the primary advertizing and reporting mechanism for, in this case, a series of short meetings. The blogging really changes the way the meeting is reported. Instead of a heavy policy paper we ended up with a four page newsletter format closely based on the blog. Interestingly the organisers offerred no comments on the blog postings but the moment the same text was in word it was closely edited. The video played an important role in the last
brussels briefing in the dynamic of the meeting itself. We were able to incorporate over 20 blips, many from non-speakers. As a result many people felt their views were taken seriously by the organisers. It also gives the meeting a buzz, we often get people thanking us for the
opportunity to talk to video.
3. We think it is VERY worthwhile to blog an event. Even if it just adds an extra documenting element and gets people used to the idea that others maybe listening. There is a difference in whether you want to capture the live presentations, or rather the voices of others who are
listening/reacting. You may have an aim of changing the conversations if you reach out to capturing other voices than the plenary speakers.
4. the blog (or site) MUST have feeds, and have the feeds on the sites of others [and get people to subscribe to them]. i think you want people to blog your conference and its blog on other blogs or platforms. Before, during and after. establishing a conference tag to be used
across different platforms may also be good. we need to go where the 'audiences' are and not expect them to come to us. I think the blog needs to have quite 'instant' stories, giving atmosphere and opinion as well as text and presentations. so the feeds change and it's worth
coming back.
5. However, a blog has a normal 'pace' and blogging an event can be overwhelming for the readers. Personally I still have 105 unread blogposts on the web2fordev blog. Suddenly
you are overwhelmed with information. ...So there could be other alternative ways of displaying
things too. For inspiration, here's an example of a vlogged event from rocket boom using a site which is very attractive. Erwin Blom wrote a great blogpost in Dutch (important language for all to know :). He writes about an aggregator page for an event. They asked people who were
interested to use twitter, youtube etc. to help cover the event. And aggregated all the content on a site of the event: Picnic07. They discovered (as we did) that you need a UNIQUE tag, picnic will also be used by anybody picnicking in 2007. You can have a look at the site, it's in english.
6. On tools: One thing that blogger allows (but not wordpress) is to be able to post directly to draft by email. This would make my job easier as I write posts in the meeting on my phone and email them for editing. It is also much more difficult to have relaxed blips if you use a tripod for the camera. We use small digital cameras rather than video cameras and talk to the person over the top of the camera. A little camera shake can add to the immediacy of the blip. (See Mabel
on euforic.blip.tv)
7. The experience of following meetings remotely. Although I don't have the stats for web2fordev, the anecdotal evidence was that very few followed the event live, and I only had direct feedback at the meeting from one person, watching the videos has been higher than I expected (over 100views for individual items) but the impact is far higher as videos are shown at other meetings and we show at individual training sessions.
Ethan Zuckerman and Bruno Giussani have compiled a tips for conference bloggers guide
Question for you: how do you as an online viewer experience an event from far? What makes it easier to connect? And how do you use the online documentation of events you have attended?
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Let's Hope Kindle Is Only Chapter One
The Kindle, launched Monday, is a slim handheld device that holds around 200 novels' worth of words and--using electronic
ink technology that physically arranges a dark chemical under the screen--displays them so crisply that the text is only
barely distinguishable from ink on a page. Unlike the Sony Reader, a device launched about a year ago that uses the same
e-ink display technology, the Kindle connects to Amazon's servers with an EVDO cellular connection to download books
from a stock of more than 90,000 titles, and can pull an entire novel's text directly onto the device wirelessly in
less than a minute.
Weighing just over 10 ounces and displaying text on a 6-inch diagonal screen, the Kindle does a remarkable job of
reproducing the feel of a book. The passive display technology produces no light, so a two-hour charge of its
battery lasts for 30 hours of uninterrupted reading. In fact, it only takes thumbing through a few digital pages of a novel
to forget that you're using a newfangled gadget and become completely immersed in its content. The goal, says Bezos, was
to create a device that "disappears completely and lets you enter the author's world."
But from a design perspective, the sooner the Kindle "disappears" the better. Amazon's reader is in many
ways the anti-iPhone. It does one thing very well: downloading and displaying text. Unlike Steve Jobs' wondertoy,
The Kindle is an off-white, asymmetrical tablet. Its screen is entirely gray-scale and never gets brighter than a dingy
gray; images look as if they were printed in a Depression-era newspaper. Menus are navigated with a clunky up-and-down
click-wheel, and when they load, the screen flashes black like a TI-82 calculator.
The Kindle's business model has another set of problems. To avoid a monthly subscription fee, Amazon is charging a wallet-
taxing $399 for the device--then $9.99 or so for every book that you download from Amazon's "Kindle Store." Publishers
seem reluctant to put their entire stock into the discounted e-book format. Bezos brags that 101 of the 112 current New
York Times best sellers and new releases are available for download. Just don't ask about best sellers from past years.
I went searching for Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff and came back with only I Am Charlotte Simmons.
For content that's already available on the Web, the Kindle is even less practical. A variety of magazines, including
Slate, The Atlantic Monthly, Time and Forbes are available by subscription or individual purchase: for instance, $1.50 will
get you a single issue of Forbes, or $2.49 will get you a month's subscription.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Washington Post collective wisdom on blogging in the newsroom
If you want to set standards of blogging in your newsroom, this article is a good read
All blogs should draw on our principles for Washington Post journalism on the web, including meeting our standards of accuracy and fairness and rules for expressing personal opinions.
WHAT WORKS?
- A news column/opinion blog with two or a single contributor. Examples: Raw Fisher, White House Watch.
- A breaking news or event-driven blog that can accept many contributors but should generally be supervised by one editor. Example: The Trail.
- A blog oriented around a relatively defined issue with two or a single contributor. Example: soccerinsider...
- Blogs with voice, a consistently strong (even provocative) writing tone. Example: Achenblog.
- Blogs with active editors. Guidance is important and all blogs need editing and benefit from the back-and-forth between the author and an editor.
- Group blogs that lack focus.
- Blogs that lack voice.
- Blogs that are not updated (several times a week AT LEAST).
- Grab-bag blogs that are a dumping ground for notes that will not make the paper.
TYPES OF BLOGS
Breaking News Blogs. Created for a big breaking news story, such as the Virginia Tech shootings. One editor should supervise the blog content and another editor the coverage in the newspaper. The two editors should be in constant communication with each other and the corresponding wpni editor.
Event Related Blogs. Created for a one-time or periodic event, such as the Maryland Legislature or the ACC Tournament. An editor should be assigned to oversee the blog in collaboration with the editing of the newspaper's coverage.
Subject Blogs. These are long-term blogs around a clearly specified topic. In most cases the number of contributors should be limited to fewer than three reporters, with exceptions such as The Trail.
BLOG LAUNCH "9 POINT CHECKLIST"
- What's the blog's topic or what event will it cover? Blogs with relatively narrow topics do better than loosely defined blogs. Either way, the topic of each blog needs to be clearly defined. A strong personality or voice can serve a similar defining function (Achenblog, the Kurtz media summary).
- What's the competition, and how will your blog win? You're unlikely to find many topics that someone else isn't already blogging about. Identify the competition and tell us why your blog is special.
- How will your blog supplement what appears in print and online? Blogs on washingtonpost.com must contain original material – newsworthy reporting, useful information and/or strong commentary. Some of the best blogs have a live and fresh feel precisely because they take readers inside the news. Outline how your blog will relate to existing print and online features.
- How often will it be updated, and at what time(s) of day? Blogs need to be updated at least once each weekday.
- Who will write your blog? Blogs usually benefit from a distinctive voice. At the same time, reporters can't offer personal opinions on a blog in a way that would not be acceptable in the newspaper (critics exempted, for example). Proposals should include at least three "test posts" to judge whether the writer can produce posts with effective and acceptable voice.
- Who will edit your blog? Blog items need to be edited. Your proposal needs to say who will edit blog copy.
- Who will moderate comments on your blog? User comments typically account for 10-25% of a blog's traffic and are a key to success – but need to be moderated. Who will review comments that appear to violate the site's discussion policy and delete them if necessary?
- How and where will your blog be promoted? Successful blogs typically "live off the land" by attracting bloggers who link to them and a loyal audience. But promotion on washingtonpost.com and in print is helpful, particularly at launch. Work with appropriate editors on both sides on a realistic promotion plan.
- What names and "taglines" do you propose for your blog? Since many names are already taken, you should include several possibilities in your proposal, and do a quick web check to make sure none is in use.
Labels: blogging, newsroom, penplusbytes. ICT Journalism
Monday, November 19, 2007
Accessibility 2.0: How accessible are UK newspaper website
A report published earlier this year looking at website accessibility claimed that the UK's 10 most widely read newspaper websites are 'effectively barring millions of disabled people from obtaining up-to-date information' by failing to meet minimum standards.AbilityNet, a charity that helps disabled people with their ICT needs, published its second State of the eNation report, detailing how it believed the online editions of those leading papers had failed to meet the criteria it claimed was required to facilitate access for users with visual impairment, dyslexia or a physical disability.
A Disability Rights Commission (DRC) review of 1,000 websites in 2004 found that 81 per cent failed to meet even the most basic standards of accessibility for the disabled.
In many cases, it seems, instead of liberating disabled people by providing greater access to news than ever before, the internet is proving as limiting a medium as the printed page.
Journalism.co.uk decided to conduct its own, first-hand assessment by asking members of the blind and visually impaired community to give us their views on the accessibility and ease of use of the websites of several leading UK newspaper websites.
Over the course of the next week Journalism.co.uk will publish the findings from its assessments of:
The Guardian
The Daily Telegraph
The Times
The Independent
The Sun
The Mirror
The Express
The Daily Mail
To conduct the study, Journalism.co.uk enlisted the help of retired research worker John Allnutt, whose bilateral retina blastoma rendered him blind for most of his life.
In addition to John's assessment, pupils from Dorton College of Further Education provided a further perspective.
(Read full profiles of our volunteers.)
The intention of the study was to evaluate what impact new media is having - positive and negative - on those with a keen interest in the news but an impairment that prevents them accessing it in a way millions of other Britons take for granted.
Despite the obvious benefits for users, good accessibility has advantages for publishers, including higher ranking and more matches from search engines, which can more accurately index the content.
Yet these benefits are overlooked by many of the UK's major newspapers in their online strategies. Our study found that only the Guardian and the Daily Mail have sections dedicated to accessibility on their sites. In addition, no newspaper site has yet earned an RNIB 'See It Right' logo, awarded for excellence in this area.
Usability experts told Journalism.co.uk that blind and visually impaired users tend to approach news sites in an inefficient way, persevering with the difficulties they find and working out 'best fit' ways to surf. We wanted to test this theory and see what other problems arose.
We took advice from behavioural research consultancy Bunnyfoot on the common difficulties visually impaired and blind users faced when interacting with websites and advised us on the criteria for our test.
Accordingly, we asked users for their general impressions of each site, then to attempt to access the lead story and then navigate to a news story of interest to them away from the home page.
We then asked them to locate and play a piece of audio or video, use the search function to track down a story, find the blogs or user-interaction sections - and interact with them, and locate the accessibility section.
To conclude our study of each newspaper site, we asked an expert on accessible design to comment on our findings and the paper in question to also respond.
Tags for this article: accessibility, blind, visual impairment
http://www.journalism.co.uk/5/articles/530590.phpSaturday, November 17, 2007
Correspondent TV
Correspondent.tv a new platform for independent TV journalism is now live, introducing some major innovations and changes. According to correspondent tv their overall aim is to create a global TV journalist network that connects you and other professionals worldwide to help deliver independent TV journalism.
(1) Correspondent.tv's new Video Portal has been introduced to help you showcase your work and so maximise your exposure to more broadcasters worldwide. Our aim here is to offer TV journalists a unique means of(2) Correspondent.tv's enhanced online Journalist Network aims to provide a single point of contact for the global TV journalism community. We have therefore introduced some changes to the platform so that all the players (TV reporters, freelancers, journalists, service providers [crew, edit, play out, satellite trucks, producers, technicians], as well asTV Broadcasters and Media Organisations) can make contacts, discuss and communicate securely.
Labels: correspondent tv, ICT JOURNALISM, online tv, PENPLUSBYTES
Friday, November 16, 2007
BBC News reorganises into multidmedia newsroom
by Peter Horrocks, head of BBC Newsroom
As a consumer of BBC News on the web, do you expect it to cover the same stories as BBC News on TV and radio? I ask, because today is a very big day for BBC News which has now been re-organised in a fully multimedia fashion. As the head of the new multimedia newsroom that is responsible for our core output on web, TV and radio, I want to know about our audiences' preferences in the world of multi-platform news.
I hope you agree, if you use our services on a number of platforms, that the BBC has a generally strong reputation in all media. But up until today the editorial decisions have been taken separately in three different departments Radio News, News Interactive and TV News. Now those proud departments are no more. Instead we have a new system that allows the great strengths of each of our editorial areas to create an even stronger editorial proposition. We have re-organised into two main departments responsible for our audience-facing services:
The multimedia newsroom comprises the BBC News website, the radio summaries and bulletins (except for Radio 1), BBC World Service news, BBC News 24, BBC World, BBC Breakfast and the bulletins on BBC One at 1, 6 and 10, among others.
The multimedia programmes departments contains Five Live, the Today programme, World at One, Newsbeat, Newshour, Newsnight, Panorama, the Andrew Marr Show, Hardtalk and a wide range of other diverse programmes.
This new structure will help us to be more efficient and so save money to invest in improvements to BBC News. We will be putting more into on-demand news for instance developing content for new platforms such as mobile and IPTV; increasing personalisation and providing purpose-made audio/video for the web.
The new organisation also allows for our journalism to be used more dynamically across our three main existing platforms web, radio and TV. But I'd like to know how far we should go with this. So for web users such as you I'd like to know if you mainly look to BBC News for an in-depth approach on the day's most significant stories, or do you value more diversity in the range of subjects we cover?
If we drive our stories more across platforms you will see greater consistency within BBC News with similar editorial judgments being made across different services. We could concentrate resources on developing the most significant and original stories in greater depth. However the downside could be a narrowing of the range of stories we cover, with less coverage that is distinctive and tailored for each medium.
Of course, I'm painting a somewhat polarised view of the strategic choices available to us. In reality we will choose a balance between these two extremes. But it would be helpful to know your broad preference should we move in a more coherent or a more diversified direction in our core news?
For thousands of journalists in BBC News, today is the start of one of the biggest changes we have ever been through. Many of the people who bring you the news are uncertain of their own futures, but I know that all of us are determined to improve further the service we bring to you. BBC News wants to be the most successful multimedia news operation in the world competing with and excelling against the best newspapers, broadcasters and news aggregators on the globe. Your comments will give us some indications to help us do that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/11/multimedia_news.html
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Workshop on Medias and ICT issues in West Africa :new journalism, new technologies, improved governance
Call for productions – Grants for participation
Deadline : November 21st , 2007
THE WORKSHOP
The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA, http://www.panos.ao.org), through its
"Uses and Policies of Digital Technology" Programme (ICT Programme),
will organize on December 13th to 15th, 2007, in Dakar, Senegal, a
workshop entitled "3rd Regional workshop on Medias and ICT issues in
West Africa : New journalism, new technologies, improved governance".
This workshop aims at:
- promoting uses of blogs and new ICT tools by medias for improved
governance in West Africa
- strengthening reporting on ICT in the region
The workshop will give the opportunity to assess the use of blogs by
medias and citizens in west Africa and to discuss about blogs and
"citizen journalism".
Apart from discussions, practical sessions will help participants learn
or strengthen knowledge on the use of blogs, podcasts, and new digital
communication applications.
About 40 people, including 30 journalists from West Africa (radio,
written press, English and French speaking countries) and some delegates
from media and ICT organizations will attend the event.
The workshop is organized within the framework of the West African
Portal (or Haayo) Project funded by Osiwa and of other PIWA projects
funded by Freevoice.
18 GRANTS TO SUPPORT JOURNALIST PARTICIPATION
To enlarge participation in the workshop, PIWA will provide 18 grants
for participation for selected African journalists. Priority will be
given to journalists from English speaking countries and to radio
journalists.
The grant covers expenses in relation to the participation in the
meeting except insurance. It costs in particular:
- international travel (air ticket from your country to Dakar, Senegal –
economy class),
- food and accommodation,
- Shuttle from and to airport.
How to apply:
To apply for the grants, journalists need to send either an article of
3, 000 letters or a 5 mn audio programme (such as reports, but not mere
interviews) in mp3 or ogg format. The article or audio production may
have been published in the past (not more that 6 months ago) or may be
original (produced for this call).
This production will deal with one of the 2 following themes:
- uses of blogs in Africa
- ICTs and local/democratic governance
PIWA will select best articles or audio programmes. Authors of selected
articles will received the grant for participation in the workshop.
APPLICATIONS AND MODALITIES
All applications should include the following:
- One article in French or in English dealing with one of the topics
proposed (if the article has already been published, attach a photocopy
of the newspaper and/or address of the website where it was published,
including the date of publication);
- OR one radio production in French or English, about 5 minutes long
(give precise references on the media in which it was broadcast, if this
is the case);
A CV that shows, if appropriate, a list of previous articles or radio
productions on ICTs (please indicate the newspaper/website where they
were published, the date of publication, etc.);
A document attesting that the candidate is actually a journalist in a
press organ.
An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent accordingly, via e-mail and
within 48 hours, to applicants whose files have been received.
The article or audio programme should be sent by electronic mail no
later than on November 21st 6:00 PM GMT, to the two following addresses:
contact@cipaco.org AND judith_lenti@yahoo.fr .
People living in Senegal may bring, in addition, their production
directly to PIWA to the address below:
INSTITUT PANOS AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST
6, rue Calmette
BP 21 132 Dakar – Ponty
Dakar – Senegal
Tel: +221 33 849 16 66
Authors of selected productions will be informed by November 26th, 2007.
PIWA will not return submitted productions to their authors. PIWA may in
the future publish, within the framework of its programmes, some
productions received; the authors therefore accord to PIWA the right to
publish, for non-commercial purpose, their productions.
The decisions made by PIWA are supreme and beyond all possible dispute.
All participants in this call for participation accept the rules
presented in this document.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on this call for participation or on the workshop
or in case of sending troubles, please contact Judith LENTI
jlenti@panos-ao.org or Ken Lohento contact@cipaco.org at PIWA.
Who is Blogging and Why? Is the Blogosphere in a Digestion Phase?
The article start with taking a look a tBlogging Trends and Stats then Professional Blogging,Blogging for a Cause,Blogging for Business and Pleasure, Personal Blogs and Spam blogging.
Study : UNESCO’s Series on Journalism Education Criteria and Indicators for Quality Journalism
by Prof Guy Berger & Corinne Matras
In association with:
School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa & École supérieure de journalisme de Lille (ESJ), France
countries and schools covered :
1. Kenya: University of Nairobi; United States International University; Daystar University
2. Uganda: University of Makerere
3. Namibia: University of Namibia; Namibia Polytechnic
4. Mozambique: Eduardo Mondlane University; Mozambican School of Journalism; NSJ media training centre
5. Ghana: University of Ghana at Legon; Ghana Institute of Journalism; African Institute of Journalism and Communications
6. Nigeria: University of Ibadan; University of Ilorin; University of Lagos; State University of Lagos; Polytechnic of Ibadan; Lagos State Polytechnic
7. South Africa: Rhodes University; Stellenbosch University, Tshwane University, Walter Sisulu University
8. Burkina Faso : University of Ouagadougou
9. Cameroon : École supérieure des sciences et techniques de l'information et de la communication – ESSTIC
10. Democratic Republic of Congo: FCK, IFASIC, UNIKIN, ICA
11. Rwanda: University of Butare (EJC)
12. Burundi: University of Tanganyika Lake
13. Zambia: ZAMCOM, University of Zambia
14. Zimbabwe: National University of Science and Technology; Midlands State University
see full report at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001514/151496E.pdf
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wall St. Journal to Make Web Site Free
The Wall Street Journal, one of the last major U.S. newspapers that still charges for online access to its content, may soon go free. According to News Co. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who has signed an agreement to acquire the Journal's parent company Dow Jones & Company, he plans to make access to WSJ.com free.
Speaking at a shareholders meeting in Australia on Tuesday, Murdoch said, "We are studying it and we expect to make that free." As a result, Murdoch anticipated having 10 to 15 million worldwide subscribers as opposed to the current 1 million.
In related news yesterday the WSJ.com site became populated with social-bookmarking site Digg buttons. According to a blog post by Digg founder Kevin Rose, the Journal will allow its users to submit WSJ.com articles to Digg and Digg users will also have free access to any WSJ.com article submitted to the service.
In September, the New York Times ceased its TimesSelect service, which previously cost subscribers $49.95 a year.
The Wall Street Journal currently charges $79 a year for its online edition.Tuesday, November 13, 2007
PROMOTING VISITORS TO YOUR BLOG(Driving Traffic) AND VISITOR COUNT
By Kwami Ahiabenu, II
Recently, one of my students sent me an interesting email with this question: how can he promote his blog that is drive traffic to it and secondly how can he count visitors to his blog. Good question because creating a blog is very easy but becoming a well read and influential blogger is a different ball game. But you can achieve this objective if you work hard at it.
Driving traffic to your blog, is very possible and every blogger is encouraged to promote his and her blog to its intended audience
Broadly speaking there is a number of ways to promote your blog, namely using off line means, use of appropriate online promotion tools and quality of your content (posts)
1. OFFLINE Promotion
Though your blog is located in the virtual world, you can always use offline means to drive traffic to it
1. Put your blog address on your card or complementary card, that is in addition to your telephone, fax, address, email, your blog address should be found on your card
2. When published hard copy articles remember to add your blog address at the end of the article
3. If you have the chance of doing public speaking remember to ask your audience to visit your blog at the end of your speech. This also true for lecturers and teachers, encourage your students or learners to visit your blog
4. In meetings, do not feel sly to share your blog with participants if appropriate
5. If you are can afford, you can place an ad in your local newspaper, or on the television or the radio
6. What about a big billboard with your blog address ?
2. ONLINE Promotion
There is no doubt that the Internet is your best bet in driving traffic to your blog. The good news is that the Internet offers you thousand and one tools to help you promote your blog:
1. Add your blog address to your email signature in additional to your contact details
2. You can send email to your email contact list and invite relevant contacts to visit your blog. In addition to your contact list you can also capture email address of visitors to your blog by asking them to subscribe to your blog.
3. You can post your blog address to relevant online mailing list or discussion boards
4. Build links to your blogs. Exchanging links are great ways of promoting your blog ask your fellow bloggers to set links to your blog.
5. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines through search engine optimisation and submit your blog to search engines as well. Submit your blog and RSS feed to directories as well
6. The use of keywords is crucial to promoting traffic to your blog. Use appropriate keywords in the title of your post, in the body of your post and in the achor text of links inthe body of your posts. Most blog service would allow you to add tags to your blog, adding tags help visitors find your blog when they are searching for your blog. So for each post make use you add tags
7. Create your own online community who are interested in your blog
8. Make use of Ping your blog services such as Ping O Matic which basically a service which update your blog to different search engines when your blog is updated.
9. Make use of Social marketing in promoting your blog sites such as Digg or Bumpzee, Stumbleupon, etc comes to mind
10. Join blogging networks such as LinkedIn Bloggers, 9rules, Blogrush
3. CONTENT IS THE KING.
At end of the day, people would visit your blog if the content is relevant to them since CONTENT IS THE KING.
In this direction:
1. Write Posts that your audience will want to read. First you need to be clear about your audience, who are you writing for? Once you know your audience, make sure your posts are going to be relevant to their needs. There is no point in writing about pets if you blog is about knowledge management.
2. Edit your blog post into articles and submit them to article directories
3. Your posts should be topical and it should be very current
4. Do not be afraid to write about controversial topics, it can help drive visitors to your blog
5. Your blog should have a clear cut focus and it should attempt to reach out to specific community of practice or special interest topics
To read more about promoting traffic to your site and sustaining it, see 99 ways to promote your blog for free , promoting your blog from blogger and how to promote your blog .
How do you measure visitor to your blog?
After working hard to drive traffic to your site, you actually need to measure or count visitors to your site, where they are coming from, who are repeat visitors, which posts they read and how long they stay at your blog. Thus you basically need to count visitors to your blog in order to find out if your strategy of promoting visitors to your site is working. Take a quick read at website statistics article to find out more about web basis of measurement.
There are a number of services which count visitors to your blogs and you can sign up for this service by going through a simple registration and activation process.
See a selection of some visitor count services:
2. http://www.hit-counter-download.com/
3. http://www.statcounter.com/
4. http://www.freestatscounter.com/
5. http://www.maploco.com/view.php?id=695306
Ends
Monday, November 12, 2007
MEDIA AND JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP, COMPETITION, AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIP
The Reuters Foundation Fellowship Programme http://www.foundation.reuters.com/fellowships/oxford.asp
The Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) Science Journalism Award http://www.scidev.net/ms/journogrant/
Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT
http://web.mit.edu/knight-science/fellowships/overview.html
Annenberg-Oxford Summer Institute in Global Media Policy, St. Catherine's College, Oxford, cgcs@asc.upenn.edu
Uganda ICT journalism awards (UICTJA) http://www.i-network.or.ug/media-node/
Radio Production: Freelance radio producers are invited to submit story proposals for Smart Solutions for a Developing World Green Planet Monitor, a series of audio programs about global development created by Canada's Earth Chronicle Productions, with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency and the Social Justice Fund of the Canadian Autoworkers Union. kattenbu@westman.wave.ca
John S Knight Fellowship for Professional Journalists http://knight.stanford.edu/
African Information Society Initiative Media Awards http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward.htm
Nieman Fellowships for Study at Harvard University are awarded annually to 12 U.S. and 12 international journalists who have at least five years of experience. For more information or to apply, email nieman_applications@harvard.edu or visit http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/ .
Siemens Profile Awards for Journalistic Excellence in the fields of Science and Technology, sponsored by Siemens Southern Africa to develop, nurture, and advance quality science and technology reporting. Prizes include cash and business equipment. The grand prize winner will also receive an all-expenses paid overseas trip. For more information, visit http://www.profileawards.co.za/
Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year http://www.telkom.co.za/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/CONTENTS/COMMON/JOURNALIST/history_pa_frame.htm
Highway Africa Awards http://www.highwayafrica.ru.ac.za/page.cfm?pID=9
The Jefferson Fellowships for Journalists are travel and study awards given twice a year to English-speaking print and broadcast journalists with a minimum of five years experiencehttp://www.eastwestcenter.org/
The Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships in Science & Religion enable up to twelve print, broadcast, or online journalists to pursue an intensive two-month course of study in issues of science and religion. www.templeton-cambridge.org
Online course in Science Journalism, A project by World Federation of Science Journalists and SciDev Net http://www.wfsj.org/projects/course.php
Amundsen Competition, Competition for Science Journalists http://www.wfsj.org/projects/page.php?id=62
Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) and CTA African Farmers' Strategies for Coping with Climate Change http://penplusbytes.blogspot.com/2007/11/competition-african-farmers-strategies.html
- Summer Academy for African Journalists open to SADC Journalists check www.iaj.org.za for updates
Knight News Challenge http://www.newschallenge.org/index_lang.html
WEB SITES WITH FELLOWSHIP AND AWARDS LISTING AND INFORMATION
International Journalist' Network http://www.ijnet.org/Director.aspx?P=Home
JOURNALISM JOBS http://www.journalismjobs.com/Fellowship_Listings.cfm
JOURNALISM SA http://www.journalism.co.za/iaj/scholarships-fellowships-2.html
CIN General Awards Including Journalism http://www.comminit.com/en/sections/terms/36%2C34/250%2C253%2C256
Visit our blog for latest info from the ICT Journalism World
Friday, November 09, 2007
Do you want to keep up to date with latest news available on the Internet, then you need a WidSet
Thursday, November 08, 2007
MEDIA - Website Management: web statistics and analysis
By Kwami Ahiabenu,II
Media organization operating in radio, Television or print area constantly going the process of monitoring the audience, this feedback process provides critical input for ensuring audience needs are met on an ongoing basis.
There are a lot of scientific and non scientific tools available for monitoring key audience indicators depending on the medium in question. As more and more media organization invest in online presence, it becomes very important to implement appropriate web statistics and analysis tools in order for them to receive feedback for the improvement of their web presence. There are a number of reasons why we have to undertake this website management process including, measuring return on our investment in the website (ROI) finding out why visitors to our site are coming from (geographical location), who are they, how much time they spend at our site, which site are they coming from, for advertising rates, which pages do they visit, other web traffic indicators, why they are visiting us and monitoring spam visit to the website. There are a thousand and one web statistics and analysis tools available on the market. Some of them are as simple as providing number of visitors to your site only (web counters); others provide statistics only to sophisticated ones providing the full range of web statistics and analysis. Because of the rising importance of web statistics and analysis, most web hosting services provide this as part of their offering. In addition to services which you must pay for, there are a number of free web statistics and analysis services on the web as well.
Most of these web statistics and analysis tools tend to use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The internet is a network of networks and based on this principle, each computer on this network is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address in order for it to communicate with other computers on the network. By using this IP address, the geographical location of visitors to a website can be determined and recorded for example.
In implementing web statistics and analysis tools, you have an option to make some of the result visible to the world at large or keep it private. For example, you can install ka web counter or map which is visible to all visitors to the site or you can make it visible thus its results are only available to the web administrators or persons with authorized access.
Web statistics and analysis tools can provide a very powerful tool managing your website. But like any other tool it comes with some inefficiency and inadequacy in its measurement. It is not a perfect tool therefore in making use of its results; these factors must be taken into account. By and large, website statistics and analysis tools are become very indispensable tool in web site management and you can not run a successful website today without making use of it.
ENDS
Labels: driving traffic, PENPLUSBYTES, site traffic, visitor counts, visitors, website monitoring
books books books on online journalism, new media and ICT Journalism
- For a different angle on the whole shebang: Gatewatching by Axel Bruns: not the most famous of books - perhaps because it is so far ahead of its time. Gatewatching looks at peer to peer publishing, and non-traditional news organisations: the likes of Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Wikinews, among others. An essential read for an insight into how news reporting can be organised completely differently. See also: Digitizing the News by Pablo Boczkowski.
- For an authoritative history: Online News by Stuart Allan: a refreshingly rigorous look at some of the most famous moments in online journalism - Rathergate; 9/11; Drudge. Helps supply the reality behind the mythology. See also: Online Journalism by Jim Hall.
- For an essential challenge to your basic journalistic values in the new media age: Online Journalism Ethics by Friend & Singer: poses the questions we should all be asking ourselves, and is brave enough not to supply the answer.
- For the definitive guide to citizen journalism: We The Media by Dan Gillmor: doesn't sit on the wall, but then Gillmor would be the first to point out that objectivity is dead.
- For a good introduction to the basics of writing for the web: Journalism Online by Mike Ward: now looking dated with its chapter on HTML but the fundamentals still apply. Bring yourself up to date with Convergence Journalism by Janet Kolodzy or Convergent Journalism by Stephen Quinn.
- For a guide to interactive storytelling: Flash Journalism by Mindy McAdams : covers the ideas behind good multimedia interactives as well as the practicalities.
Poynter also maintains New Media Bibliography
with a listing of some key book as well
lastly do not forget to visit Penplubytes ICT Journalism Bibliography
ends
Labels: books, ICT JOURNALISM, ONLINE JOURNALISM, PENPLUSBYTES
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
BBC Ads Are Now Live: BBC.com Execs Appointed, Video Ads Coming Too
The controversial move from BBC's commercial arm is finally in place: Advertisements started appearing overnight on BBC web properties when viewed from outside the UK, and the corporation has made three hires for the BBC.com site that will be the new business model's primary driver. Kym Niblock joins as BBC.com MD after leaving her post as BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) head of broadcast operations, Tom Bowman becomes BBC.com VP international ad sales after quitting as MSN International's regional sales director, while Phu Truong leaves Dow Jones' (NYSE: DJ) Wall Street Journal Digital to become BBC.com director of digital sales.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Do you want to keep up to date with latest news available on the Internet, then you need a WidSet
Labels: ICT JOURNALISM, MOBILE JOURNALISM, ONLINE JOURNALISM, PENPLUSBYTES
Monday, November 05, 2007
BBC website now with ads
Writers' Strike Begins; Could Last Months
With no agreement in sight on compensation for DVD sales and online distribution, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) started to strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Picketing is slated to begin today. The strike could last into the pilot season. In the meantime, the first to be affected will be those shows that most rely on currency-late night talk shows, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Scripted series have episodes in the bank but not enough for a full season in most cases. CBS (NYSE: CBS) claims it could make it through the season.
LAT: Carlton Cuse, an executive producer of Lost: "This is a strike for future generations of writers. It's just a critical point in the evolution of the business."
Reuters: Nick Counter, president, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP): "Notwithstanding the fact that negotiations were ongoing, the WGA decided to start their strike in New York. When we asked if they would 'stop the clock' for the purpose of delaying the strike to allow negotiations to continue, they refused."
PaidContent.orgSunday, November 04, 2007
The DEATH of the Inverted Pyramid
what is your view point, add your comments below
Labels: ICT JOURNALISM, INVERTED PYRAMID, ONLINE JOURNALISM, PENPLUSBYTES
Friday, November 02, 2007
A decade on, BBC News website braces for integration
As the BBC News website marks its tenth anniversary this week, it is preparing for a tumultuous year that will see its seperate editorial team merged with radio and television news operations as part of the Corporation's newsroom integration strategy.
BBC News Interactive, the division that produces the website along with the corporation's mobile and Ceefax news services, is set to disappear as its newsrooom is merged with the radio and television services as part of the BBC's restructuring.
Pete Clifton, the head of BBC News Interactive, told Press Gazette that he expects the newsroom integration process to be complete within one year at the latest.
"I've been arguing for a long time that rather than this separate approach and newsroom that we have — although it's stood us in good stead for the first ten years — we need to integrate our online teams into the main newsroom," he said.
Clifton, who will become the BBC's head of editorial development for multimedia journalism when his department ceases to exist, said he expects television and radio BBC correspondents will be writing more for the site, and that more video would become available for the site.
"For a period of time it was quite good to be quite separate — we could just go about our business and establish what we wanted to do, but I think now as we try to deliver the best of the BBC's news to the web and to mobile and other platforms, we need to be much more at the heart of the news operation."
He also stressed that there would continue to be some core staff specialising in online journalism when the integration of BBC News is completed.
"It's not like everybody is now thinking that they can do a bit of the web — I'm very clear that the best people that we have, the craftspeople who make the web site what it is will still be doing what they do, although we're going to be in a more central place."
The 24-hour news website was launched this week in 1997 as BBC News Online. The launch was originally scheduled for 4 November of that year, but no records exists of the exact time that the current site went live.
"We've talked to the original editor and the original product manager and nobody can put a finger on when exactly we switched to the new content system and started producing pages in the way that we have done ever since," said Clifton.
"We know that it was some time this week, but as for which moment of which day — we were probably just knackered at the time so nobody looked up to see what time it was."
Clifton, a former editor of the site who was editor of Ceefax at the time of the website's launch, recalled that BBC News Online grow out of several ad hoc projects that had been produced online that summer, including pages created for the 1997 general election and the death of Princess Diana.
Since then, the site has grown dramatically. Today, it draws five million users a day and generates more than one billion page views each month.
News Interactive as a whole now employs around 200 journalists. Ceefax has no dedicated staff. Instead the service, whch is being phased out due to digial switchover, automatically reproduces the first four paragraphs of the websites' stories. Mobile news services are also produced out of the website's content management system.
Clifton said: "One of our strengths has been that we have a sizable team that can keep up with the news and offer the kind of analysis and breadth that can become known for — none of which, I would hasten to add, will change because of the reorganisation. If anything I think there will be more breadth because there will be a greater emphasis on what our needs are earlier in the newsgathering process."
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Competition : African Farmers’ Strategies for Coping with Climate Change Radio Scriptwriting
Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) and CTA are launching a scriptwriting competition entitled African Farmers' Strategies for Coping with Climate Change for African radio practitioners (broadcasters, production organizations, NGOs with a radio project, farmers' associations with a radio show etc.). Competitors are invited to submit a radio script on one of the following themes related to local adaptation to climate change:
- Water and soil management
- Cropping strategies emphasizing drought-resistant plants
- Livestock management practices
- Fisheries and Agro forestry
- Other (for original topics related to coping with climate change and not listed above)
To assist radio practitioners with producing the radio scripts, a climate change resource kit and a guide to writing radio scripts will be distributed to interested African radio practitioners.
Any of the following script formats can be used: interview, spots, discussion between two hosts, drama (with different characters), or a story (told by one or two narrators). Participants can use audio and/or script formats.
The material is to be prepared with input from local actors (and especially farmers). It must be between 500-1000 words, include background notes about the topic and production notes for broadcasters, and include references to information sources used to prepare the script ( i.e., farmers, agricultural institutions, NGOs, documents, etc.). For audio material, a full transcript will complement Mp3 or wav material.
Entries must be received no later than March 15, 2008.
The scripts will be reviewed by an international panel of judges. The top 15 entries will receive audio recorders. The winners will be announced in May 2008 and will be published by CTA and DCFRN. All entrants will receive feedback on their scripts.
If you want to receive more information and participate, contact Blythe McKay, DCFRN's Development Communication Coordinator at bmckay@farmradio.org and Sarah Bel, CTA's Communications Officer at radio@cta.int
The Mobile Journalism Toolkit contents
The next part of the toolkit are the peripherals. A key component was the bluetooth keyboard that we used. This made it much easier to enter text-based stories in the field. For this we used the Nokia SU-8W (see image on left). This folds up and has a bracket to hold the phone.
.
