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This weblog was developed and is supported by the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute, Baruch College, CUNY
Apr
21
Trouble brewing on the field
Posted by Vera Haller on Apr 21, 2008 under: blogs, multimedia, newspapers, online news, sports, video | 3 Comments
A New York Times article today describes an interesting battle brewing between the sports world and the news world. Developments in the way sports stories are reported is causing tension between the teams and the news organizations covering them.
According to the article, with bloggers detailing every word and news Web sites posting slideshows and videos, sports executives are looking to limit this ever-growing coverage - and drive fans to their team Web sites.
So the Times asks, “Who owns sports coverage?” Some sources in the stories suggest that these disputes may end up in court.
Mar
26
Aggregating the news
Posted by Vera Haller on Mar 26, 2008 under: multimedia, newspapers, online news, politics, television, video | 3 Comments
An area I haven’t touched upon yet in this blog is the ability of the Web to aggregate news by subject matter. This may seem very obvious to some of you, but I wanted to draw attention to the way it affects traditional news Web sites.
More and more people are using searches such as Google and Yahoo news, which organize the news by topic and then list links to stories written by different news organizations. When you can see the top news stories from a selection of outlets, why go to just one site for your news?
This means that people are entering news Web sites through larger search engines, not by going to the home page and seeing what the editors have posted and chosen as the top stories. It also means people might not have the same attachment and loyalty to “their” news Web site like they used to have to the local newspaper. Just another example of how news consumption is changing.
Another type of news aggregator to watch are sites such as digg.com, which post stories, photos, videos and podcasts based on the number of times they are recommended by readers. I find these lists interesting but often skewed heavily with stories about technology, politics and the weird and whacky.
Mar
18
Checking the pulse of online news
Posted by Vera Haller on Mar 18, 2008 under: blogs, community journalism, multimedia, newspapers, online news, television, video | 6 Comments
Each year, the Project for Excellence in Journalism releases a report that analyzes the status of journalism in the U.S. So obviously, I clicked straight through to the section abut news on the Web.The findings aren’t surprising. More people are going online for news, more people are watching video online and no one has figured out yet how to make a lot of money off of news Web sites. News about foreign events (particularly the war in Iraq) filled a larger news hole on major news Web sites than in other news outlets.
The editorial part of news organizations were credited with being innovative in finding ways to use new technology. The report criticized Madison Avenue for not moving more quickly to find ways to make advertising pay on news Web sites.
The section on the major trends identified by the study is important reading for all who work - or those of you looking to work - in the news business.
Mar
11
When a big story breaks
Posted by Vera Haller on Mar 11, 2008 under: multimedia, newspapers, online news, video | 5 Comments
That blockbuster of story – the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal – has spurned a million stories, blog entries, photo galleries and interactive features.
As an exercise, I scrolled through the local online coverage and pulled out a few links that illustrate how the written word was augmented by many online features.
If anything, the breadth of coverage shows how a big story gets covered in the digital era.
Interactive timeline: Milestones in an Ambitious Career
Audio: Back story with Sewell Chan
Write your own Post headline (not censored)
Video: Spitzer’s apology
Photo gallery: Political career
Poll: Should Spitzer resign?
Video: Reaction on Wall Street
Photo Gallery: Inside the Emperor’s Club
PDF: Criminal complaint about Client 9
Predict the New York Post’s headline
Mar
4
A must-read
Posted by Vera Haller on Mar 4, 2008 under: multimedia, newspapers, online news, television, video | 6 Comments
A new poll shows that younger people (those under 30) are increasing turning to the Internet for their news. No big surprise, but this survey on the state of the news industry by Zogby International really drives home the point.
Feb
12
Bringing the story home
Posted by Vera Haller on Feb 12, 2008 under: blogs, foreign news, multimedia, online news, video | 1 Comment
What is sometimes lost in discussions about the current state of the news industry is how the shift to the Web has created opportunities for powerful storytelling. The ability to report using words, images, video and audio means news organizations can draw people into a story like never before.
To find compelling coverage on the Web, take the story in Kenya. For many people in the United States, a news story from Africa may seem remote and, perhaps, not of the highest interest. But spend time on the YouTube channel created by NTVKenya, a television news station, and the importance of the story will be driven home. There are heartbreaking reports such as this one about children being separated from their families because of the violence.
Other interesting Web coverage is being done by a young photographer/blogger, Lameck Nyagudi, whose photos are featured on the BBC’s Web site. Nyagudi also has a blog and supplies photos to africanews.com.