Can media companies figure out wikis?
December 31, 2005
IBS’ Rex Sorgatz predicts that in 2006, “Despite the L.A. Times’ dismal failure, several media organizations will release successful wikis — this time, in areas that actually make sense.”
Horse sex and fluff are online hits
December 30, 2005
Seattle Times editors published a list of the most clicked online stories of the year and found that the top story — and five of the top 20 — were about a man who died from a perforated colon while having sex with a horse .
Top online media stories of 2005
December 29, 2005
Here is CyberJournalist.net’s annual list of the top online journalism stories of the year, based on the most popular entries on CyberJournalist.net in 2005.
The number one story might seem surprising, in a year in which Hurricane Katrina struck and the aftermath of the Asian tsunami was felt. But CyberJournalist.net’s readers have spoken.
Top online media stories of 2005
1. New sites tap into Google Maps to create new ways of conveying information
2. Tsunami: Citizen videos and photos help tell story (Even though it occured at the end of 2004, major traffic in 2005 makes it one of year’s top stories)
3. Hurricane Katrina: TV, newspapers rely on Web to distribute information
4. Online missing persons lists play major role in disasters like tsunami, Hurricane Katrina
5. Citizen media initiatives sprout up across the world and news sites begin soliciting citizen photos regularly. Here is CyberJournalist.net’s growing list of Citizen Media Initiatives.
6. RSS goes mainstream
7. Podcasting takes off
8. Story broken online wins Pulitzer. And then Pulitzers change rules to include online entries in all categories.
9. Wikipedia loses trust
10. Fake tsunami photos fool media
Tsunami video podcasts from washingtonpost.com
December 29, 2005
washingtonpost.com’s award-winning online videojournalist Travis Fox recently visited Aceh, Indonesia, and produced a series of video and panoramas for on the anniversary of the tsunami. The four videos and 12 panoramas were rolled out this week.
Fox is not only one of the best online videojournalists out there — now he’s figured out a few clever ways to make it easier for fans to follow his work. He’s set up a URL, travisfox.com, that redirects to the page on washingtonpost.com with all of his work. And he’s set up an iTunes Video Podcast with all of his work.
“Even if you don’t have the new video iPod, watching video in iTunes is a good user experience,” he says in an e-mail. “To subscribe, follow this link: www.travisfox.com/podcast/. I will be updating the podcast with new videos and many pieces from my archive are already there. Leave your comments in the comments section in iTunes.”
On a related note, one of Fox’s videos, “Making Space for Democracy“, recently won a CINE Golden Eagle. The piece looked at the democratic process in Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon. You can watch it on the podcast as well.
L.A. Times prints quote from fake release on page 1
December 29, 2005
A quote in a fake news release that was intended as an April Fool’s joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press reports. The story in the Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial. “In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force and that the state ‘now considers the wolf as a federal dog,’ unworthy of protection,” the story read. The Times printed a correction acknowledging the news release was a hoax.
“The reporter saw it on the Internet and had talked with the governor in the past, so she was familiar enough with the way he talks and writes that she thought it sounded authentic, and she didn’t check, which she should have,” Times Deputy Metro Editor David Lauter told the Casper Star Tribune.
Here is the online version of the article, including the correction.
Google Zeitgesit for 2005
December 29, 2005
A look at how searches spiked for a few major newsworthy events in 2005.http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2005/worldaffairs.html
Journalism’s highlights and lowlights
December 29, 2005
It was a tumultuous year for the media industry, with network anchor changes, newspapers bought and sold, journalists in jail. Here’s a look at what some of journalism’s leaders thought about 2005 and their hopes and predictions for 2006.
Witnesses report from on plane
December 28, 2005
The scene inside an Alaska Airlines plane that made an emergency landing at the local airport was captured by several passengers, one of whom blogged about it and took pictures and another of whom videotaped it. Seattle media then wisely tapped those sources and published and aired the footage.
Paul Grabowicz reports on E-Media Tidbits:
Passenger Jeremy Hermanns posted on his blog photos he took with his cell-phone camera, along with a narrative about what it was like inside the cabin (which also prompted a big discussion in the comments section of his blog).
Local news outlets, such as the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, published some of Hermanns’ pictures with their news stories.
Another passenger, Damon Zwicker, shot scenes inside the cabin on his video camera. That footage was aired on TV station KOMO.
New York Times Maps Citizen Journalism
December 28, 2005
As part of its comprehensive coverage of the New York City transit strike last week, the Times plotted citizen reports on a Google Map and called for stories here. (via Steve Rubel)
Bloggers’ top media sources
December 28, 2005
Here are the top media sources bloggers linked to in 2005, according to BlogPulse:
| 1 | Yahoo! News |
| 2 | BBC NEWS |
| 3 | The New York Times |
| 4 | CNN.com |
| 5 | Washington Post |
| 6 | MSNBC |
| 7 | Guardian Unlimited |
| 8 | SF Gate |
| 9 | USATODAY.com |
| 10 | Yahoo! Finance |
| 11 | Los Angeles Times |
| 12 | ABC News |
| 13 | Reuters |
| 14 | Boston.com |
| 15 | Wired News |
| 16 | Times Online |
| 17 | BBC |
| 18 | CNET News.com |
| 19 | Fox News |
| 20 | ESPN.com |
| 21 | The Washington Times |
| 22 | Forbes.com |
| 23 | Business Week |
| 24 | Newsday.com |
| 25 | Houston Chronicle |