links for 2007-01-04

The former directors of the now-defunct Danish International Centre for Analytic Reporting have set up their own consultancy.

“They say Flickr is like Crack. Facebook, Twitter, all of these sites designed to give you little rewards every time you come back.”

BBC interactivity editor Vicky Taylor explains how pictures sent to the BBC by a user led to a story on the One O’Clock News.

“Running stories based on bloggers’ accusations can backfire for mainstream media,” a case from Sweden shows.

Lloyd Shepherd: “Simon Hoggart’s diary in the Guardian on Saturday is a blog. It’s printed in a newspaper, and he’s paid hugely for writing it, but in tone, content and attitude, it’s a blog.”

The man overseeing the changes at the Wall Street Journal explains.

One of China’s largest newspapers is suing a leading Internet portals over “massive copyright violations”.

“More than 69% of UK net users have broadband connections according to the latest figures from the UK’s Office of National Statistics.”

BT opposes “plans to force it to make broadband available to every household in Britain … According to BT, more than 99.8 per cent of the UK population can access broadband. More than 40 per cent of homes have an “always-on” connection, compared wit

One participant in Google’s newspaper ad trial has their results back: “Overall the newspaper test delivered a small set of visitors who had metrics that were below average when compared to PPC traffic.”

“The big question is whether the media organizations will see [user-generated content] as a cheap way to get “free” content or help create an ecosystem that rewards people who are contributing the information.”

The Guardian highlights another absurd situation where an impressive research project cannot be made public because it uses material subject to Crown Copyright.

In a big test for the “public interest” test in the Freedom of Information Act, the DfES is today appealing to the information tribunal against the ICO’s decision to overturn an exemption applied to a request by the Evening Standard.

Steve Rubel: “The Wired News story on the Best Blogfights of 2006 is honestly an embarrassment to bloggers everywhere. … In 2007 our challenge, as bloggers, is to up our game.”