British Journalism Review: How SEO is changing journalism
Monday, 1 December 2008, 18:12
Shane Richmond on SEO: "It’s a process that makes many journalists uncomfortable and that’s largely based on a misunderstanding. Columnist Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian earlier this year, suggested that 'your modern journalist is expected… to shoehorn all manner of hot phraseology into copy”. This, Brooker argued, was an attempt to 'to con people into reading it'. He’s wrong. SEO is about relevance. An irrelevant keyword does you no good at all and in some instances might be harmful because it can leave the search engine confused as to what your article is about."
Old Media, New Tricks: Old Media Interview: Aron Pilhofer, interactive guru, editor at The New York Times
Monday, 1 December 2008, 13:54
"You know all of those cool visualizations you see from The New York Times? Aron Pilhofer is the guy responsible. We asked him a few questions."
Press Gazette: CMS providers briefing: Webvision by Abacus E-Media
Monday, 1 December 2008, 13:29
"This is a fairly holistic system which covers for all print, online and mobile production. … It claims to have the most journalist-friendly editing and story-management facilities."
Press Gazette: Press Gazette’s guide to content management systems
Monday, 1 December 2008, 13:27
"Today, the interface between reporters, sub-editors, websites, news pages and mobile devices is so important that even in the current hellish downturn it is one of the few things that journalism organisations are spending serious money on."
Techcrunch: When Everyone Is A Blogger, Nothing You Say Is Off The Record
Saturday, 29 November 2008, 15:45
"There’s a lot of buzz here in the Belgian blogosphere and mainstream media about an incident involving a New York-based blogger, who was fired from her job as a bartender after publishing a post on the bar visit of a Belgian politician."
Nieman Reports: The Benefits of Computer-Assisted Reporting
Saturday, 29 November 2008, 09:03
Jason Method: "The beauty of computer-assisted reporting (CAR) is that, in this day of easily accessible data, computer expertise can be a great equalizer. It can allow smart reporters at any size news organization to saw wood on national or state issues and drill the story down, sometimes to the neighborhood level."
GigaOM: With Twitter, a Desperate Need for Context
Saturday, 29 November 2008, 09:01
Om Malik: "[E]very time there is an unfortunate tragedy — be it a raging fire or a terrorist attack – we geta torrent of stories heralding the legitimacy of Twitter as a news source. … The question, however, then becomes: How does one make sense of the torrent of information that comes with this immediate media? …"
Jon Slattery: Black day in British newspaper history
Friday, 28 November 2008, 09:01
"I covered the newspaper industry for 23 years at Press Gazette and in all that time I don't remember anything remotely as bad as this."
Photo District News: Editing And Impact In “Big” Photography Blogs
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 20:01
"We asked WSJ director of photography Jack Van Antwerp, "The Big Picture" editor Alan Taylor, and "Captured" editor Meghan Lynden to describe their editing processes."
Los Angeles Times: Databases, Lists, Maps, Rankings - Data Desk
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 16:23
The LA Times' data desk's server: "Maps, databases and other resources that help you dig deeper."
OJR: Building the data desk: lessons from the L.A. Times
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 16:19
Eric Ulken: "In this post, I'll try to squeeze some wisdom out of the lessons we learned in the process of assembling the Times' Data Desk, a cross-functional team of journalists responsible for collecting, analyzing and presenting data online and in print."
Bournemouth Echo: Collapse of High Street legend
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 10:50
Very nice use of Google Maps at the Bournemouth Echo, using it to illustrate where local Woolworths and MFI stores are located. Good to see maps used on a standard news story rather than a larger standalone feature.
CurryBet: Mumbai terrorist attacks show that search engines still can’t get breaking news right
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 09:24
Martin Belam: "We are used to hearing that search engines are one of the primary routes that people find news on the net, but I've just been having a scout around the three major search engines as news of the terrorist attack in Mumbai unfolds, and I have to say that they are not performing very well."
Window on the Media: The economics of comments
Thursday, 27 November 2008, 08:55
Nicolas Kayser-Bril: "My point is simply that a larger audience automatically leads to a conversation of lesser value, relative to the number of participants." (HT: Robin Hamman)
