Murrow Awards for best Web sites
November 27, 2003
This year’s Radio-Television News Directors Association’s Edward R. Murrow Award winners for best Web sites include:
• TV Large Market: WFLA-TV, Tampa, FL — www.TBO.com
• TV Small Market: WQAD-TV, Moline, IL — www.WQAD.com
• Radio Large Market: WTOP-AM, Washington, DC — www.wtopnews.com
• Radio Small Market: New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH — www.NHPR.ORG and www.MyNH.ORG
Free holiday recipes archive
November 26, 2003
The fourth most popular topic that people follow with The New York Times News Tracker is “Recipes.” As a marketing ploy, The New York Times is offering readers free access to an an archive of favorite holiday recipes from The Times Archives, “from a Thanksgiving feast with Alice Waters, to an oyster extravaganza with Eric Ripert.”
What blogs can do for you
November 25, 2003
California politics blogger Dan Weintraub was at The Poynter Institute recently to participate in an election coverage workshop. He spent several hours talking to the group about his Weblog and what it’s done for him and the Sacramento Bee, where he works as an editorial columnist, writes Poynter’s Julie Moos in Lost Remote. Among the things he says its done for him (and thus can do for you):
•Built readership for the website
•Created buzz about the paper
•Spoke to a niche audience without alienating the broader readership
•Expanded audience beyond circulation (or viewing) area
•Created a feedback loop that brought him more sources and tips
•Lured readers to the print product
•Connected with a younger demographic
•Allowed him to try a different writing style and develop more consistent writing habits.
Betrayal in the ranks
November 24, 2003
The Denver Post recently published a very, very impressive investigation of sexual assault and domestic abuse in the U.S. military in partnership with 9News. The 3-day series prompted members of Congress to call for an investigation how the military handles sexual assault and domestic violence.
The online package is a model example of what a converged project should look like on the Web — packed with online extras including audio, video, victim profiles, slideshows and relevant documents. This really shows how well the Web’s depth can be used to enhance a story.
And for a story like this, that’s garnering national attention, having a strong Web package can really make a big different, as most folks around the country will be reading it online.
Top news sites for Oct. 2003
November 24, 2003
Here’s the Nielsen//NetRatings top online current events & global news destinations, at home and work, for October 2003.
Editor & Publisher: “Prepare Now for Better Online Election Coverage”
November 23, 2003
“At the Journal-World in Lawrence, Kans., the paper’s LJWorld.com also ran a Candidate Selector prior to last week’s election. Questions for the quiz were taken directly from the paper’s voter’s guide. Candidates’ answers were presented verbatim, but with no name attached and randomly sorted. Online users selected the candidate statement that most matched their own views, then at the end learned who said what. That approach is probably the smartest and safest, says Jonathan Dube, managing producer for MSNBC.com. Where you can get into trouble, he says, is in trying to paraphrase and categorize candidate positions — a practice that’s fraught with the danger of bias creeping in. For an example of what he’s talking about, take a look at the Politics Blind Quiz application of SelectSmart.com. This is a nifty application that helps you decide who to vote for — with more sophistication than the newspaper examples cited above, but it’s a more dangerous approach for media outlets which tout their objectivity….
“They’ll play a huge role in the 2004 elections, says MSNBC.com’s Dube. He especially likes the way they can focus on the intricacies of campaigns. Details that get reported in journalists’ political blogs often are not what would make it into a printed newspaper edition or on a TV newscast. They deepen political coverage, are interesting and often entertaining, and sometimes engage readers better than traditional inverted-pyramid style news writing.
“Dube, who in addition to his day job at MSNBC.com operates online-news industry resource Cyberjournalist.net, also suggests that blogs used in political reporting are great for smaller news organizations with modest staffs. A couple of reporters with duties other than covering politics can submit short items to a political-news blog, which doesn’t take as much time yet looks substantial. One small-paper editor told Dube recently that the blog format makes it easier to compete with larger news outfits with far greater resources. It looks like the small paper is doing more.
“Of course, large news organizations also will deploy blogs. MSNBC.com has been experimenting with “embedded” correspondents who tag along day to day with the presidential candidates — filing TV reports for MSNBC cable, and maintaining blogs about life and news on the campaign trail.”
? Steve Outing
Murrow Awards for best Web sites
November 23, 2003
This year’s Radio-Television News Directors Association’s Edward R. Murrow Award winners for best Web sites include:
• TV Large Market: WFLA-TV, Tampa, FL — www.TBO.com
• TV Small Market: WQAD-TV, Moline, IL — www.WQAD.com
• Radio Large Market: WTOP-AM, Washington, DC — www.wtopnews.com
• Radio Small Market: New Hampshire Public Radio, Concord, NH — www.NHPR.ORG and www.MyNH.ORG
CBS News: JFK Remembered
November 23, 2003
CBS’ interactive look back at the life of John F. Kennedy and the day he was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, includes a timeline, slide shows and a clickable Flash map of the Dallas area where he was shot, with related video links embedded.
Forums are 1/3 of Advance.net traffic
November 21, 2003
?Advance.net president Jeff Jarvis said at the Online News Association conference that “forums are a third of our traffic, up to 100 million page views a month, up to 1 million page views in one day in one market in just one forum. In forums, the audience exchanges news, information, and viewpoints. They also make connections. They give us content.”
Defining convergence
November 21, 2003
The term “convergence” comes up all the time, but it means different things in different contexts. So Northwestern professor Rich Gordon has tried defining the various meanings of the word in a journalism context. His definitions:
Ownership convergence: “At the highest level of today’s media conglomerates, “convergence” means the ownership of multiple content or distribution channels.”
Tactical convergence: The most common model is a partnership between a TV station and a newspaper, in most cases (but not all) under separate ownership. In most markets, the primary motivation for — and initial results of — these partnerships is promotional.
Structural convergence: Job descriptions and organizational structures change. TV’s sit in print newsrooms and print reporters go on-air, among other things.
Storytelling convergence: Individual journalists to report a story using multiple media tools.