Cincinnati convergence ‘Collision Course’
September 30, 2003
The Cincinnati Enquirer investigated the Brent Spence Bridge and determined it’s one of the most hazardous bridges in the nation. The Enquirer teamed up with partner WCPO and their joint Web site, Cincinnati.com, to put together a multifaceted package on the story. The package includes video segments that aired on WCPO and are online; stats and stories from the newspaper; a clickable map of the bridge’s hot spots that pops up video explaining the dangers; and a quiz asking readers to rate their “Fear Factor” for driving on the Brent Spence Bridge (most popular answer is “I feel like I’m playing chicken when I want to change lanes or merge onto the bridge.”)
Blogger: ‘Editors are committed’
September 30, 2003
Perhaps bloggers miffed by the Sacramento Bee’s recent decision to start editing the Weblog entries of columnist Daniel Weintraub before they are posted should take a cue from Weintraub himself, who doesn’t appear to be concerned that it will detract from his editorial freedom. “I think this is more of a logistical issue than a editing issue,” Weintraub tells The New York Times. “I’ve written nearly 500 columns for The Bee; all of them have been edited, and I can count on one hand the number that have been changed in any substantial way. I expect the same to apply to my blog entries.”
Weintraub’s excellent blog has now been edited since about Sept. 10 and there’s been no noticable drop in quality. “It might be slightly more difficult to be immediate and spontaneous, but the editors are committed to being available whenever I am ready to post.”
The newspaper’s editorial page editor David Holwerk, tells the ombudsman: “My aim as Dan’s editor is not to change his opinions or alter his viewpoints, but to make sure that his blog items are clearly written and adequately explained and do not engender reactions he does not intend. That is what editors do.”
Google News Espana launched
September 30, 2003
Google News has now added a Spanish edition to its growing set of international news sites it first launched in May — all great resources. Google now has 10 international news sites, including the new Spanish one and:
• Google News Australia;
• Google News Canada;
• Google News Deutschland;
• Google News France;
• Google News India;
• Google News India;
• Google News New Zealand;
• Google News United Kingdom;
• and the original, Google News U.S.
Using the Internet to drive viewership
September 29, 2003
WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, La., formerly the top station in the market and now No. 2, is hoping its newly launched Web site can help return it to dominance, TelevisionWeek reports. The ABC affiliate shares 2theadvocate.com with sister publication and local newspaper The Advocate. “WBRZ-TV’s experiment is noteworthy because of the weight and expectations it is placing on the potential of the shared site to drive TV ratings,” writes Daisy Whitney.
Starting in October, the Web site will introduce the first of its large-scale convergence projects linking the site, the station and the paper: coverage of photographer C.C. Lockwood’s houseboat tour documenting coastal erosion of Louisiana’s wetlands. The site will include an Internet journal from Lockwood, plus links, polls and photos. The TV station and the newspaper will contribute reports for the Web.
“I want to be No. 1 again and the Web site is a big part of your image,” said Hunter Manship, media convergence manager for 2theadvocate.com. “I feel if we have a site that’s a one-stop shop ? hopefully people will go there before the competition.”
The goal is to maximize the broadband platform with multimedia presentations, streaming video, slide shows, audio feeds and, of course, text. Mr. Manship also wants reporters at both outlets to use the Web site to break news rather than wait for the broadcast or the next day’s paper.
If successful, the coverage could be the model for convergence on 2theadvocate.com going forward, said Ms. Yarbrough. “We don’t want to do [convergence] after the fact, but work on it from the get-go,” she said.
Faces of the Recall
September 26, 2003
Los Angeles Times staff photographer Brian Vander Brug traveled California photographing recall election candidates and recording their campaign statements. He gave each one a chance to bring a prop or adopt a pose to symbolize his or her candidacy. Most of the major candidates passed, making this a great spotlight on the lesser-known candidates otherwise ignored by the media. See and hear about who will be on the Oct. 7 ballot in this Flash presentation.
Google News to improve on breaking news
September 25, 2003
Krishna Bharat, the developer of Google News, says the site will soon have a better response to breaking news. “Google News was originally intended as a tool to put together diversity of opinions beyond who, what, where. We are addressing the problem and soon we hope to be able to have a much fresher response to breaking news,” he tells OJR.
He also explains why the site includes press releases (which at times have been the lead item): “Press releases we don’t consider to be a news source, that’s for sure. Historically, we started out with a search where we believe all information is good to make accessible to people…. I don’t want to go and police all the news out there. I’ve seen lots of articles where the press release appears verbatim. Do we wait for that to show up hours late, or do we allow people to use it and act on it — especially when it’s a business item?
“There are no press releases on the browsable pages or news pages. We have a higher editorial responsibility on those because we’re telling you where you should look. On the news pages, we do not intend to use press releases. We would never do anything to compromise the objectivity of the product. We don’t even show advertising ? we do this because we think it’s useful. Making a press release available as part of the search results gives the full facts that were available to the reporter when they wrote it.”
Co-reported Tampa convergence project
September 25, 2003
The Tampa Tribune, WFLA and tbo.com published and broadcast an impressive package of convergence journalism this week. The three-day report on the Deeper Life Christian Church represents the work of three reporters and a researcher from The Tampa Tribune, and another reporter from WFLA — who at times went out on interviews together. Three more Tribune reporters assisted. The team spent three months in research and conducted more than 50 interviews, reviewed corporate records in all 50 states, examined hundreds of police reports, court documents and property records, and attended Deeper Life Christian Church services.
Monitoring the Recall
September 25, 2003
As the California recall race gets down and dirty, anyone monitoring the election ought to be following “Rough and Tumble,” a daily digest of links to stories about California public policy and politics…
Recall vote-by-issue quiz
September 24, 2003
KQED in San Francisco and WBUR in Boston have collaborated on a “California Recall Edition of the Vote by Issue Quiz.” You may remember that WBUR.org, Boston’s NPR affiliate, developed a useful “Vote By Issue” quiz for last year’s gubernatorial election by asking the state’s five candidates for governor to explain their positions on 10 issues.
Now, interestingly, WBUR is licensing “Vote by Issue” to stations that want to apply the tool to local races. WBUR has applied for a patent as well.
For the recall version, KQED asked the five top candidates to outline their positions on 12 key topics they’ll face as governor. Select the responses that most closely match your own opinions about each topic and at the end you get a report card revealing which candidate’s plan you chose for each issue. This is a great way to learn the candidates’ views on today’s most pressing issues and decide for yourself.
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“The quiz is an experiment in civic journalism aimed at reframing the
way voters evaluate those who run for political office,” says WBUR’s Will Thomson. “The answers are all from the campaigns, in their own words, and the
format has forced them to be more candid, more specific, and more
detailed in their responses than in many other formats.”
Here’s a similar interactive feature from SelectSmart.com, a site that specializes in tools like this. The SelectSmart.com feature includes 13 candidates.
Editorial board recall blog
September 24, 2003
The editorial board of the Sacramento Bee has joined the blogging game, starting a group Weblog debating the 12 questions voters submitted for gubernatorial candidates to answer in the Sept. 24 debate. “The editorial board of The Bee decided we should also debate those questions, to give us a benchmark for the candidates’ performance.”