Comment deadline for Public Journalism 2.0 extended

We have had a request to extend the time to comment about the interviews for our book Public Journalism 2.0 by a few days. (See May 8 posting below for details). We therefore are setting a new deadline of May 25. Thank you to those who have contributed, and we hope this extension will elicit a little more involvement from the civic-citizen journalism community.

"A cautionary tale with great photos"

Photographer Stephen Mallon was hired for an adventure in January -- to take close-ups of the salvage of U.S. Air Flight 1549 from the freezing Hudson.

On the Nieman blog Tim Windsor dubs Matthew Schechmeister's report "a cautionary tale with great photos."

Interesting.

Also see: "There's a plane in the Hudson"

"Opinion does not make citizen journalism"

Matthew Negrin of the New Hampshire Union Leader:

[J]ournalists are paid to inform the community.

So when people talk about citizen journalism replacing old-school journalism, I'm not exactly sure what they mean. Do they mean more people adding their opinions about community affairs? Do they mean more people reporting actual news by digging for secrets? Or do they just mean more blogging? It would be really great if some smart, aspiring citizen journalists could outline what exactly they plan to do to further the discussion of news instead of simply reducing it to personal opinion.

More here.

Research project on civic-citizen journalism puts theory into practice

In planning for our book "Public Journalism 2.0: The Promise and Reality of a Citizen Engaged Press," (due out from Routledge early in 2010) we thought it would be interesting and appropriate to use some of the techniques of online participatory journalism in exploring the practice. If we're shifting to an era when "news is a conversation," then why not apply the same principle to research about the process?

To that end, we developed the idea of a chapter for each unit of the book called "Open Source," featuring interviews with experts in civic journalism about their thoughts on the field's evolution. The name "Open Source" came from the idea that not only the authors but the other contributors would supply interview questions, and also from the idea that comments about the completed interviews would be part of the final publication.

Well, the interviews have been done with with three individuals whose names should be recognizable to anyone familiar with civic and citizen journalism: Lewis Friedland of the University of Wisconsin, Tanni Haas of City College of New York and Jan Schaffer of J-Lab at American University. Lew was interviewed by telephone and Jan and Tanni replied in writing to a series of questions. And now comes the "open source" comment part of it: We have posted the interviews on a blog and hope to collect comments that will be incorporated into the published version of the book.

If you are interested in looking at and perhaps even commenting on these interviews, the blog with the transcripts and comment areas can be found at http://publicjournalismbook.blogspot.com. (You will need a free Blogspot account to make comments. If you don't have one, information about obtaining one can be found at the blog site.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please recognize that by making a comment you are authorizing its inclusion in the published book, and also be aware that we reserve the right to edit for clarity and space. Anonymous comments will be rejected.

We are hoping to wrap up this portion of the project by May 15, so the comments will be available until then. The questions developed with the help of our contributors are interesting, and the answers provided by Lew, Jan and Tanni are informative and illuminating. Please take a few minutes to check them out and add your voice to the conversation.

Jack Rosenberry
Burton St. John III
(If you have any questions, use e-mail link with our names at the right)

Murdoch's newspaper sites will begin to charge users in a year

Rupert Murdoch, the would-be media plutocrat of $4 billion net worth, seems to be leading his media properties via two emerging strategies.

One, use citizen journalism when possible. Two, start to charge for Web content.

Breaking news all over again, via CNN today.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch expects News Corporation-owned newspaper Web sites to start charging users for access within a year in a move which analysts say could radically shake-up the culture of freely available content.

Murdoch's newspaper properties include the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, the New York Post (all in the United States), the Times and the Sun (both in the United Kingdom), and the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and the Australian (all down under).

The Wall Street Journal already charges $79 per year for much of its Web content -- it did so even before Murdoch's News Corporation purchased it in August of 2007. But the Journal is still available for free via the iPhone and BlackBerry -- which doesn't please Mr. Murdoch at all.

Also see: Stop giving away content via Web, Walter Isaacson advises media
And: Fox News launches citizen journalism site
And: Mainstream media sites increasingly welcome citizen participation
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
And: MySpace starts its own citizen journalism forum
Finally: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists

New Kindle promises to kindle new cravings

Today in New York Amazon CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos launched the 9.7-inch-screen Kindle DX (for "deluxe"), the latest of the portable, personalizable content readers.

College students are clearly a target market.

Other than the increased size, the biggest improvement in the Kindle ecosystem is the deal with textbook publishers. The textbook market will be key for the DX to succeed. Amazon has already signed up three of the top five textbook publishers (Cengage Learning, Pearson, and Wiley) as well as 27 University Press Publishers. The Kindle DX will be used in trials with at least five universities this fall.

So are digital newspaper aficionados. The New York Times reports:

Amazon also said that three newspapers, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, would offer a reduced price on the Kindle in exchange for a long-term subscription, but only for people who live in areas where their paper editions are not available. Amazon and the newspapers described it as a pilot program.

Meanwhile, Mark Glaser is at a symposium at the University of Missouri where "a group of newspapers and tech folks . . . are looking at how newspaper content might work on various e-readers like the Amazon Kindle."

Economics of delivering a newspaper on Kindle:

> Avg. file size = 1.2MB
> Bandwidth cost = .12 cents MB
> Selling price = $13.99 month
> Monthly bandwidth cost = $4.32

That eats into monthly cost of serving content into Kindle. So Amazon is probably losing money on some of the lower cost publications it sells. This cost doesn't even include advertising in the mix.

Mr. Glaser has a blog post about "the next generation of e-readers." Check it out. It's good stuff.

Also see: Could Kindle 2 save the newspapers?
And: Huffington counsels old media: Monetize links, don't try to sell exclusive content
And: What will the future newspaper look like?

Huffington counsels old media: Monetize links, don't try to sell exclusive content

Arianna Huffington, goddess of the Huffington Post, has called for "a distinction between saving journalism and saving newspapers."

Today we live in the linked economy, not a walled-off content economy. The challenge is to find different ways to monetize links among media through advertising or micropayment or whatever, not subscription for exclusive content. In this environment, good journalism will survive, and even flourish, though most newspapers--except for a handful of the very best papers and magazines in every national market -- probably will not. There will be more bottom up, citizen journalism, which is great.

For more check out this interview in the German weekly Die Welt.

Image courtesy of Gawker.com

Also see: Huffington Post's checklist of "citizen journalism publishing standards"
And: Newspaper layoffs zoom
And: Could Kindle 2 save the newspapers?
And: The one business Warren Buffett will not buy "at any price"
And: Fox launches a conservative counter to HuffPo
Finally: Walter Isaacson advises media to stop giving away content via Web

AllVoices giving cash incentives for high quality citizen journalism

Because "citizen journalism only works if the content is high quality," AllVoices is offering cash incentives until the end of the year.

Citizens, aspiring journalists, writers, bloggers, students, photographers and videographers from around the world . . . will be rewarded based on the quality of their submissions, response from the community and strength of their brand . . . in the following three categories:

Stringer
First time or infrequent contributors in the process of building a social network based around their news. Stringers have tremendous potential to build their brand and make money by leveraging the Allvoices platform.
• Per 1,000 page views: $0.25
• Quality: No copyright violations (text or photos)
• Audience: Minimum of 10,000 views and 25 fans

Reporter
Reporters generate a lot of attention to their contributions. People in their Allvoices social network respect a Reporter’s opinion and content.
• Per 1,000 page views: $1.00
• Quality: No copyright violations (text or photos)
• Audience: Minimum of 25,000 views and 50 fans

Anchor
Anchors are contributors who have a tremendous following within the Allvoices community. Anchors exert influence beyond their social network, and their work is closely followed.
• Per 1,000 page views: $2.00
• Quality: No copyright violations (text or photos)
• Audience: Minimum of 100,000 views and 75 fans

More here.

Also see: AllVoices now accepts citizen contributions via SMS
And: AllVoices pioneers credibility ratings
And: AllVoices claims a leap in popularity

CCJIG bib updated with three dozen new titles

Consider your summer reading list ready.

Sue Ellen Christian, our group's veritable bibliographer, has updated her May 2008 listing with more than three dozen newly published titles relevant to public/participatory journalism.

The update, starting page 12, is available here (pdf, 85.3 kb).

On behalf of CCJIG I thank Sue Ellen for her generous effort given the many demands on her time.

Local TV stations are eager to step into closing newspapers' shoes

Closure of a newspaper means broadcasters in that market no longer have a traditional source of story ideas for later-in-the-day newscasts.

Hofstra University's journalism chair and former television journalist Bob Papper has been quoted to say, “There are any number of markets where newspapers don't set the news agenda.”

Instead, local television stations are stepping over one another to fill the newspapers' shoes.

Broadcasting & Cable deputy editor Michael Malone writes that Detroit's Fox-owned-and-operated WJBK station is sending out a 6 a.m. e-newsletter to inboxes hoping to replace the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, both which have gone from daily home delivery to thrice a week.

As newspapers continue to ring up giant losses—Gannett, for one, saw its publishing revenue plummet 27% in the first quarter—it's the perfect time for stations to grab market share from their beleaguered print brethren. Some station sales staffs have been working local papers' demise into their sales pitches. . . .

“It's early to forecast, but we're already experiencing a revenue increase in broadcast,” says [WJBK general manager Jeff] Murri of Detroit's newspaper retrenchment. Retail outlets that relied on papers to promote date-specific sales, he says, still need to get the word out in a timely fashion.

Some CBS-owned stations have reorganized their creative services departments to help lure advertisers from newspapers. The departments pre-produce commercials featuring a potential advertiser to show the client how its goods look on television. “With newspapers shrinking, it's a good time to dig deeper in terms of where you get your accounts,” says WCBS New York President/General Manager Peter Dunn. “It's really helped us a lot.”

More here.

Also see: Detroit's newspapers cut home delivery from daily to thrice a week
And: Broadcast stations enlist college students as citizen reporters
And: Indian TV station offers prizes to citizen journalists for "news reality" programming

Four business models take root as online news goes hyperlocal

CNN producer John D. Sutter identifies four business models for online news to go hyperlocal -- by using donations from readers, by using volunteers, by going nonprofit, and by aggregating.

In order, he cities as examples Spot.us, ChiTownDailyNews.org, VoiceofSanDiego.org, and EveryBlock.com.

Mr. Sutter is hopeful as he discusses the future of hyperlocal journalism.

[T]he people who run hyperlocal Web sites say they are optimistic about the future of the news business. They say they won't be able to replace all that's being lost as large news companies crumble but say they are excited about the fact that they're able to offer something new -- at least for the moment.

Check out the story.

Also see: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists
And: "Hyperlocal Web journalism meets civic, intellectual and social needs"
And: Mainstream media sites increasingly welcome citizen participation
And: Community blogs, "a new breed of watchdog"
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
And: SPJ partners with Helium to champion citizen journalism
And: Citizen journalism is "all baloney," says Indian editor
Finally: Asia's social media use zooms

Newspaper layoffs zoom; more than 70 jobs lost every day

This year American newspapers are shedding jobs one-and-a-half times faster than they did in 2008.

Paper Cuts records that so far in 2009, nearly 8900 jobs have been lost to layoffs or buyouts -- that is more than 70 jobs per day.

In 2008, a total of nearly 16000 jobs were lost. In the latter half of 2007, 2112 were lost.

The rate has been unerringly incremental, and a ceiling is not in sight.

Summing up, since June of 2007 America's newspapers have shed about 27000 jobs.

A consolation, if at all, is that some other businesses are doing decidedly worse. For example in the first quarter of 2009 America's technology sector (much bigger than newspapers to begin with) shed more than 84000 jobs.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported that at the end of March 2009 newspaper circulations were on average 7 per cent lower than a year ago.

Meanwhile here's what a co-founder of the Huffington Post, Kenneth Lerer, said at the Columbia Journalism School:

“The future of journalism is not dependent upon the future of newspapers.” He suggested that newspapers and magazines had failed to adapt because they were imprisoned by their own success . . .

Also see: Could Kindle 2 save the newspapers?
And: The one business Warren Buffett will not buy "at any price"

Could Kindle 2 save the newspapers?

In a couple of days Amazon will launch a new big-screen ("reads like paper") Kindle 2 operating on an automatic 3G network.

Amazon offers Kindle subscriptions of 58 periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and the New York Times.

Putting two and two together, Brad Stone of the New York Times wonders if the Kindle might turn out to be a knight in digital armor. Perhaps it could save newspapers. Perhaps newspapers could use the Kindle to

"hit the reset button and return in some form to their original business model: selling subscriptions, and supporting their articles with ads."

More here.

Picture courtesy of RedOrbit

Also see: The one American business Buffett won't buy "any any price"
And: Journalism's future may lie in multimedia
And: Scholars call for tax credit for buying newspapers
And: Should the newspaper industry get a bailout?
And: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists
And finally: Can selling news via the Web save newspapers?

The one American business Warren Buffett will not buy "at any price"

As a 13-year-old in 1943, one of Warren Buffett's first jobs was to deliver newspapers.

Thirty years later, the Warren Buffet-owned Omaha Sun became the first weekly ever to win a Pulitzer.

Today, what is the one American business Mr. Buffett says he will not buy "at any price"? Newspapers.

[Mr. Buffett's] view on the future of the newspaper industry is dismal. "For most newspapers in the United States, we would not buy them at any price," he said. "They have the possibility of going to just unending losses."

As long as newspapers were essential to readers, they were essential to advertisers, he said. But news is now available in many other venues, he said.

More Mr. Buffet at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting.

Image courtesy of BusinessWeek

Also read: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists
And: Can selling news via the Web save newspapers?
And: Newspapers' closure adversely affects political engagement, study finds
And: Newspapers, a pillar of civic journalism
And: Scholars call for tax credit for buying newspapers
And finally: Should the newspaper industry get a bailout?

Indian editor says citizen journalism is "all baloney"

Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of the Indian Express, has scoffed at citizen journalism as "all baloney."

"Show me a citizen lawyer or a citizen doctor and I'll show you citizen journalists."

Instead, Mr. Gupta says, a "golden age" would dawn for India's legacy media thanks to a younger crop of "competent, digitally-savvy journalists" who valued "accuracy, fairness, and credibility."

Mr. Gupta, who is popular for hosting a quirky televised interview show in which he strolls outdoors with his interviewee, was addressing convoking students of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media in Bangalore on Saturday.

Find a report here.

Picture courtesy of paidcontent.org

Update 05/04/09: Not exactly "citizen lawyer/doctor" but CNN today runs a story on the growing tribe of "citizen scientists"

Also see: Asia's social media use zooms
And: Can citizen journalism restore a sense of autonomy?
And: Criminal charge slapped on Orkut activist in India
And: Some thoughts on citizen journalism and Mumbai
And: Community blogs, "a new breed of watchdog"
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
And: Hyperlocal Web journalism meets "civic, intellectual and social needs"
Finally (*phew!*): A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists

"Newspapers are the principal pillar of civic journalism"

Ian E. Wilson, the recently retired Librarian and Archivist of Canada, tells Randy Boswell of Canwest News Service that there is

something more in reading a newspaper -- with the stories juxtaposed piece by piece on a page. It's not just the headline, it's the ad, it's the comic strip, it's the news, it's the analysis, it's the coming events. It's the totality of that -- seeing the whole community.

Mr. Wilson has an opinion about blogs vis-à-vis civic journalism.

"Good journalism is essential, fundamental to any society, and we can't expect it's going to happen through blogs," [Mr. Wilson] says.

Wilson sees newspapers as the principal pillar of civic journalism, the wellspring of news and influence and opinion-shaping for all other information purveyors. "The kind of investigative, background material" found in newspapers, says Wilson, along with agenda-setting, enterprise reporting and "analysis and interpretation providing context to today's news is, I think, a role that absolutely must continue."

More here.

Picture courtesy of Jean Levac

Also see: Civic journalism as CCJIG defines it

"10 worst countries to be a blogger"

The New York headquartered Committee to Protect Journalists has posted a list of the "10 worst countries to be a blogger."

Feel free to check out the list. Feel free to feel outraged. Feel free to feel helpless.

So how did CPJ pick the ten from the world's 195 independent countries?

METHODOLOGY

In consultation with Internet experts, CPJ developed eight questions to assess blogging conditions worldwide. The questions:

• Does a country jail bloggers?
• Do bloggers face harassment, cyber-attacks, threats, assaults, or other reprisals?
• Do bloggers self-censor to protect themselves?
• Does the government limit connectivity or restrict access to the Internet?
• Are bloggers required to register with the government or an ISP and give a verifiable name and address before blogging?
• Does a country have regulations or laws that can be used to censor bloggers?
• Does the government monitor citizens who use the Internet?
• Does the government use filtering technology to block or censor the Internet?

Based on these criteria, CPJ regional experts nominated countries for this list. The final ranking was determined by a poll of CPJ staff and outside experts.

The "worst" list here.

Also read: Pew study contrasts blogs v. legacy media sites v. citizen sites
And: Community blogs, "a new breed of watchdog"
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
And: Hyperlocal Web journalism meets "civic, intellectual and social needs"
Finally: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists

Press freedom in dire straits the world over, U.N. expresses concern for journalists

Sunday May 3 is World Press Freedom Day.

Only 17 per cent of the world's population lives with a press completely free of government/party control.

According to a Freedom House survey released today, the times grew tougher for press freedom across the world in 2008 for a seventh year in a row.

The muzzling of the press is "particularly worrisome" in countries of "East Asia, the former Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa."

The worst rated countries continue to include Burma, Cuba, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea and Turkmenistan. In the Americas, 2008 saw a downward spiral of press freedom in Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Of 195 countries/territories surveyed,

70 (36 percent) are rated Free, 61 (31 percent) are rated Partly Free and 64 (33 percent) are rated Not Free. This represents a modest decline from the 2008 survey in which 72 countries and territories were Free, 59 Partly Free and 64 Not Free.

Must-see details here.

In response, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon spoke (via an aide) in concern for journalists in New York today.

[A]ttacks on journalists remain shockingly high in number and . . . murder and detention are only the most blatant ways that journalists are silenced. Often . . . fear leads journalists to censor themselves. . . . [S]ome Governments are suppressing Internet access and the work of Internet-based journalists and others using the “new media”. . . .

Let us renew our resolve to protect their freedom and safety . . . and . . . proclaim again our commitment to free and independent media as an essential agent of human rights, development and peace.

How many journalists were killed in harness? 41 in 2008, according to the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists. And 11 in 2009 so far.

According to the CPJ "some 45 percent of all media workers jailed worldwide are bloggers," to which Mr. Ban said,

I urge all governments to respect the rights of these citizen journalists, who may lack the legal resources or political connections that might assist them in gaining their freedom.

But there's a silver lining, as always. While the Freedom House study records "twice as many losses [for press freedom] as gains in 2008, with declines and stagnation in East Asia of particular concern" it also reports some regions have made good on their history.

The Maldives made the study's largest jump, moving to the Partly Free category with the adoption of a new constitution protecting freedom of expression and the release of a prominent journalist from life imprisonment. Guyana regained its Free rating with fewer attacks on journalists and a government decision to lift a boycott on advertising in the main independent newspaper.

Ban Ki-Moon portrait courtesy of the United Nations

Also see: "Public journalism has created an extra-press authority"
And: Criminal charge slapped on Orkut activist in India
And: Asia's social media use zooms
And: Can citizen journalism restore a sense of autonomy?
And: Pulitzers, a humbling experience for Internet journalists
And finally: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists

Can watchdog Netizens bark or bite outside of the Internet?

Some twelve years ago Ronda Hauben and son Michael co-wrote a pathbreaking book which introduced the notional "Netizen."

Today Ms. Hauben has posted a thought-provoking comment, culled from a 2008 lecture based on the book, at the pioneering citizen journalism site OhMyNews. Check it out.

[Michael] Hauben explained that those in government will abuse their power if they are allowed to do so. He proposed that "people need to keep a watch over those in government in order to make sure they are working in the interests of the many."

The question raised, then, is whether the Net and Netizen are able to have an impact on the offline world, on the power of government and of the mainstream media.

More here.

Picture courtesy of cnii.com.cn

Also see: "Hyperlocal Web journalism meets civic, intellectual and social needs"
And: Mainstream media sites increasingly welcome citizen participation
And: Community blogs, "a new breed of watchdog"
And: Citizen journalism will complement "public media 2.0," says white paper
Finally: A sustainable model emerges: Use collective intelligence but fact-check with journalists