Blogs still rare, but foster community
February 29, 2004
44% of Net users create content online
One of the great promises of the Internet always has been that anyone can be a publisher online. Now a new study shows that promise is being fulfilled. CyberJournalist.net takes a look at how nearly half of all adult U.S. Internet users have created content online and finds that while Weblogs are still a very small — but growing — proportion of online content, they’re showing a remarkable ability to foster online community.
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NYTimes.com live blogs debate
February 29, 2004
The New York Times’ political correspondent Katharine Q. Seelye is live blogging today’s debate, posting live analysis every few minutes on a nicely packaged page that includes live streaming video of the debate.
Here’s an example:
2.29 | 11:46 AM
Here comes Dan Rather with his “Texas-ism,” asking whether John Kerry has “enough Elvis” to be likeable. Edwards turns it into a trust question, saying Americans want to trust their presidents.
This is a great example of how the Web can be used across-mediums to add value to a television-broadcasted debate.
The best campaign interactives
February 27, 2004
SPECIAL FEATURE: CyberJournalist.net takes a look at some of the best online presidential campaign features so far in 2004, from interactive graphics and multimedia slide shows to candidate selectors and Weblogs….
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Pit Bulls and Blood hounds
February 26, 2004
Pet stories are a natural for multimedia slide shows. Who doesn’t want to look at pictures of cute pups?
Newsweek publishes a fascinating package, “Pit Bull Paradigm Shift,” from a photographer arguing why he believes his favorite breed has gotten a bad rap.
USA Today, meanwhile, runs a nice narrated slide show, “Bloodmobile Program Collects from Canines,” about the first animal bloodmobile in the country.
Simple narrated slide shows that work because the stories are interesting and perfect for being told visually.
Salon.com, Rolling Stone converge
February 26, 2004
Salon.com and Rolling Stone launched the first in a series of collaborative special reports today. The story, “Bush’s war over gay marriage,” explores the subject of gay marriage as a wedge issue. Tim Grieve’s article will also run in the March 18th issue
of Rolling Stone magazine. The two publishers have partnered to produce investigative stories throughout the year related to the 2004 U.S. presidential
election.
CNN to stream live on mobile phones
February 26, 2004
CNN International is going to be streamed live on mobile phones in Austria starting in March. This is the first streaming mobile deal for CNN; other channels such as CNBC have been experimenting with streaming video clips. Here’s a sample.
Call for online news papers
February 25, 2004
The 2004 International Symposium on Online Journalism
at the University of Texas at Austin, April 16-17, 2004, will include presentations of original research into online journalism for the first time. Submission requirements: Academic papers should present original research into any aspect on online journalism including, but not limited to, changes in news content and presentation, business models for online journalism, shifting roles of journalists and readers, and the legal and ethical implications of globally accessible journalism. Deadlines for papers or three-page abstracts: March 1, 2004
Time Magazine archives to go online
February 25, 2004
Hewlett-Packard Co. is going to create a digital archive containing every issue of Time magazine published, which Time will then make freely available to subscribers on its Web site. HP said the digital archive would total more than 4,000 issues from 1923 to the present and be available in May.
The Center for Public Integrity
February 24, 2004
The nonprofit Center for Public Integrity is now one of the most prestigious investigative reporting houses in the U.S., breaking scandal after scandal on its Web site.
“You can put a report up on the Web and it can make news all over the world in two seconds,” Director Charles Lewis tells Mark Glaser in an interesting Q&A. “I think the ease of access and ease of dissemination is just thrilling.”
The center won the first George Polk Award for Internet Reporting last year for its “Windfalls of War” report on government contracts awarded to companies involved in rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan. The report includes detailed lists how much money contractors have given to the Bush administration.
Stay tuned: Lewis says CPI will unveil a fairly massive redesign next month and has some “very ambitious ideas.”
‘Passion’ coverage
February 24, 2004
Beliefnet.com has by far the most exhaustive coverage of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” from a religious perspective, including pieces by dozens of religious experts, a Bible Quiz testing how well you remember the gospels’ Passion accounts, and answers to some key questions about the movie, such as whether it is true to the Gospels.
BeliefNet also has a “multimedia” “Way of the Cross” package tracing Jesus’ passion and death, but it’s basically just words slowly moving in a Flash child window set to music — not a very effective use of multimedia.