What's the world's largest new site?

The examiner.com experiment is intriguing; a new report calls it the largest "news" organization in the world. Don't really trust these reported numbers, but it's certainly worth following. The link above takes you to the organization's Milwaukee site -- today featuring a story on M.U.'s Vander Blue. The site unfortunately is littered with old stories as well as credibility issues, but it's certainly interesting.

The great paywall debate -- part (x)

The planned paywall at the New York Times prompts frenzied (well, frenzied for journalists anyway) debate at the Nieman Journalism Lab's online newsletter, with many contributors saying it'll be a flop or won't happen at all with others saying it'll be a big success. Interesting reading. I'll go with one of the commenters -- I just won't tell you which one.

Press freedom and Wikileaks

It's interesting that the best discussion of the implications of the Wikileaks situation from the point of view of freedom of the press that I've seen so far comes from a German site.

Spiegel online's Thomas Darnstadt argues that press freedom has come under attack ever since 9/11 and that "the U.S. government has transformed itself into a huge security apparatus." He makes a strong case for fighting back in the article titled "Is Treason a Civic Duty?"

Press freedom is vital, he argues, and this essay will make you question some of our assumptions.

How far has CNN fallen?

Deborah Potter muses about how far CNN has fallen, and her short essay in the American Journalism Review online offers some sobering thoughts about how American news media is approaching news.

"Whatever happened to the CNN where the news once mattered?" she wonders aloud. It's something that the rest of us have also wondered as we watch 24-hour "news" channels fill prime time with opinion. As a certified news junky, I don't know how many evenings I've just given up -- driven to YouTube to find video of news (this happened yesterday when I wanted to see video of the dome collapsing in Minneapolis).

Potters looks at the CNN personnel for its evening lineup and finds them all wanting, at least one of them ethically challenged, and the only real newsperson among them, Anderson Cooper, planning a daytime syndicated talk show when Oprah Winfrey retires.

She closes with longing: "When I worked there briefly in the early '90s, the mantra ' news is the star' didn't seem laughable in prime time. Sadly, it does now."

Violence and the journalist

A Russian journalist writes of his being physically beaten in today's New York Times. Oleg Kashin listed three theories that abound as to who was behind the attack. In each case, though, the ultimate villain is the government itself.

It prompts some thoughts as to recent political campaigns in the U.S., where reporters have been verbally attacked not only by those attending rallies but, often, by politicians themselves. The intriguing part of Kashin's account is that it seems to be taken for granted that reporters are fair game for violence.

No comment needed

Gawker Media boss Nick Denton, as quoted on Yahoo news:

"I love paying for information because it's a great investment," Denton said, confirming that Gawker's sports blog, Deadspin, paid $12,000 for its scoop that revealed naked photos former Jets star Bret Favre allegedly sent to a "buxom" (Denton's word) female sideline reporter story. "The other thing I love about it is it gets the traditional media contorted," he said. "They're envious, but they're disapproving, and it's a beautiful thing to watch."

You get what you pay for

For years, I've been asking politely to see evidence that Internet advertising works. I've watched it race away from mainstream media to whatever new digital platform seems hottest at any moment. But I've always wondered if it works.

In part, that comes from my own experience with finding a new travel location. The beach that I've used in recent years has lost its appeal since the latest hurricane attack, so I'm searching for another. Used to be, travel sections were filled with great advertising making me think of this alternative or that. Today's travel sections are filled with . . . nothing. Where has the travel advertising money gone, I ask. Why to the Internet where it is targeted, I'm told.

Well I spend much of my life on the Internet, and I am actively seeking travel ideas, and newspaper and magazine advertising guided me repeatedly in the past. Not so today.

Finally some data seeps through: Americans ignore Internet advertising in record numbers. They ignore other forms as well, but not nearly as much as they ignore Internet advertising. What Internet advertising seems to have going for it is that it's cheap. So is television at 3 a.m. You get what you pay for.

FTC suggests "do not track" mechanism for Web

In a move that potentially has a lot of impact, the FTC is proposing a "do not track" mechanism for the Internet. It's yet another sign that consumer privacy concerns might be adding up to restrictions on the Internet. Leaving aside the practicality of such a proposal, it potentially could strongly affect advertising.

Print is dead -- Not!

More evidence that print isn't dead. Another survey finds huge readership of print magazines. Each month, 188 million Americans read print magazines, the survey says, with each averaging 6.1 titles.

Another clash between mainstream and non-mainstream media

I suppose it's part of the big news picture but this entertainment story is more important for what it says about how mainstream media continues to miss the boat on how to use non-mainstream sources.

In short, Jay Leno's show ripped off an Internet video after promising credit (not the first time, by the way). It got called on it, and basically did the right thing in giving credit for the video (a funny montage of Taylor Swift winning awards) the next day. But why did it have to wait a day? We're in a more collaborative era now, and giving credit is easy, adds to a medium's credibility, and is ethical. So do it from the start.

Is the obit dead?

Upon the death of a daughter's friend who had been instrumental in building G.M.'s electric car, columnist James M. Naughton tried in vain to interest a couple of influential newspapers in commemorating the passing of this interesting man.

Their lack of interest caused him to wonder if newspapers' dire straits has caused them to eschew the feature obit -- even for worthy candidates -- in favor of the paid obituary, and he rightly bemoans the loss. Naughton's correct. Once again, the newspaper industry misjudges its audience, costing it yet another area that could be used to attract subscribers.

Times looks at digital distraction

The New York Times visits the problem -- and I think it's a major problem that is growing worse -- of digital distraction today with a nice story (you may have to activate a free account to view this site) about how educations are using technology to battle technology.

To me, the distractions of technology continue to grow -- and I teach the stuff. I find it is affecting me personally. I can barely watch television without a laptop also scanning the web. If I'm without my cell phone, I feel uncomfortable. If I don't check email for a few hours, I think I've lost touch.

However, there is a good side. If I don't check several news sites for a while, I feel out of touch. For those of us in the news business, that's a good thing. We need to redirect our youth from Facebook to the news (and, yes, Facebook is a form of communicating news). My problem with the digital world is that it's a real distraction from the real life going on around us. When I'm scanning sites on my laptop, I'm not really paying attention to the television. And, even worse, I'm not learning as much as when I read ink on paper. I haven't read research, but I'd bet that our retention is not as good. I know news sites are far less satisfying than newspapers or magazines, and I also know that I don't learn as much. More stories like the one today may prompt the research needed to validate my gut feeling, or show that my concerns are unwarranted.