A new media take on, well, new media; It brings some light to political bias

The new media has brought forth upon this continent a totally different news landscape -- one that is often fresh and invigorating. Let's spend a minute to look at a couple of elements of that landscape today, both sparked by a fascinating article in the current Shepherd Express alternative newspaper.

The first is the substance of the article, titled "Have 'independent news service' groups crossed the line?" It's a substantive look at the nonprofit news groups such as Wisconsin Reporter, Media Trackers, Wisconsin Policy Research Institutes and the MacIver Institute. All purport to offer news, that, the article claims, is solidly affiliated with right-wing, mostly Republican organizations, including everybody's favorites: The Bradley Foundation and groups affiliated with out-of-state conservative business-tied groups.

While it goes too far at times (not all the stories are slanted), the article does the best job of anything I've seen at publicising the financial ties between the groups and political operations. It's to be commended -- and read -- because so much of the new media seems to be accepted on faith, without looking at whether there is an agenda.

The news organizations, by the way, are finding welcome ground since so much traditional media has pulled back in coverage that news-hungry citizens are so open to any coverage of things like state news that they often accept stories as fact without looking for the slant.

The second element of interest is that it was written by Chris Liebenthal who honed his skills on several blogs, especially at cognidissidence.blogspot.com. Liebenthal is as dependably left as the above listed groups are right, but he is a wonderful example of how one can use a blog to establish a presence in the community. We have a host of blogs, both left and right, that bring spice -- and often facts -- to the public discussion. It's what new media does best, and it's a good thing.

First a chuckle, then more sobering thoughts

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel business blog reports that news of a new Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee is sweeping there world. The only problem is that the world-wide reports are based on a recently-reprinted 1918 magazine report.

At first, the instinct is to chuckle at it -- as we did with the Chinese news reports quoting a story in The Onion as fact. But it does point to a continuing problem. News in the digital university looks alike, so it's sometime hard to separate "real" news from "fake news" or old news. Mediation makes a difference.

Guardian moves ahead into new media realm

Few newspapers have embraced "new media" models as eagerly as London's Guardian, which has long worked to integrate its traditional reporting/writing/publishing with new, digital forms of journalism. It's going farther, according to CEO Andrew Miller.

The Guardian is going to reach out to its audience using what he called the papers "Open Newslist." "We encourage people to interact with it, and we are also trying a live blog of what we are discussing during the day," he said. Miller said the Guardian has going from "being a UK paper with 3000,000 readers to a global news organization with 65 million unique users, according to a story on editorsweblog.org. It's still an experiment, but a lively one.

Miller's talk at a digital media conference in London laid out the paper's plans for its future. It looks like a good plan, at that.

A nice newspaper success story -- using new media

We don't really need more proof that content drives online viewership, but it's instructive to examine what the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal World is doing. According to a story on NetNewsCheck, this small newspaper of 16,000 subscribers has approximately 477,000 monthly unique viewers because it has worked hard to bring them in with unique content.

Most, naturally, come for its strong sports site, along with a strong health site. But some of the content shows how far down a media outlet can drill. For example, the site boasts individual baseball cards for every area Little League player. It's the kind of content that draws readers -- names make news -- that a local newspaper can provide without much fear of competition.

As the NetNewsCheck story says, a quote from longtime editor and member of the family that owns the paper, Dolph Simmons Jr., in 2005 is just as applicable today: “Information is our business and we’re trying to provide information, in one form or another, however the consumer wants it and wherever the consumer wants it.”

Information equals content, and content equals information. It's an idea that works.

Some thoughts on Keith Olbermann

There's not been much news over the weekend in the battle -- now legal -- between Keith Olbermann and Current TV, the latest media company to fire the controversial personality.

Over the years, I've enjoyed watching Olbermann who sort of epitomised the current cable TV host -- engaging, outspoken, often insightful, and always opinionated.

At the same time, I've realized, mostly from good reporting, that he could be extremely difficult to work with. He also was, at times, pompous, vain, guilty of overreach, and seemingly unfair. All words that apply equally to many in both old and new media.

But, above all, to the viewer, he was generally entertaining -- I'd make that always entertaining except for his "special comments," which often were exaggerated to the extent of being boring.

Still, there was a lot said over the weekend about the current battle, and it helps put Olbermann into perspective. One of the best was Sharon Waxman's analysis here, which called him an "arrested adolescent." New York Times is here.

Even though I never could find Current TV so I haven't watched his current iteration, I'll miss Olbermann.

Some thoughts on alternative media and its role

As a long-time follower of (and believer in) alternative newspapers, I'm heartened by a column in Baltimore's City Paper in which its editor says in a column summing up 35 years, that his paper needs to define itself better.

That's the secret to alternative media, how you define yourself. The Shepherd Express can't define itself as being the not-Journal Sentinel, because there is lots of competition out there doing just that. The more alternative media defines itself on its own terms, the better positioned it will be to take a constructive role in the vital job of disseminating information.

And I still remember a Marquette student when we were discussing "alternative media" who said, "The Journal Sentinel is my alternative media." It's a great point

Here's what happened when a Seattle newspaper went only-only

One of the continuing stories of old v. new media is that of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, once a Pulitzer-winning newspaper, now living only as a website, SeattlePI.com.

It's been three years since the newspaper went online-only, and its story demonstrates just what can happen when a newspaper goes online-only. The short version of the story is that it immediately loses readers/viewers -- lots of them. And, of course, it loses staff -- lots of staff.

But, the bottom line is that it still exists, even if only a shell of its former self.

An apology from Spike Lee, and a few thoughts on ethics

It was a short little news item this morning. Spike Lee apologized for retweeting an item giving George Zimmerman's address. The problem, he said, was that it wasn't the Trayvon Martin shooter's address but that of an elderly couple. "I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address. It Was A Mistake. Please Leave The McClain's In Peace. Justice In Court," Lee tweeted.

The much bigger problem than the fear Lee's tweet caused among the McClain family, who received threats, is that the new media allows amateurs to spread news, sometimes without thinking. There's a group that's offered a bounty for Zimmerman, and I'm sure there are many people who want him dead. Unfortunately this is America today, which means many of them are armed.

Journalists are taught first to get the facts right, and second to put their messages in an ethical context. Lee -- and the millions of others using new media and social media to spread messages -- are far too often inclined to write first and think later.

Wired tries out a new, maybe-intrustive ad technology

Remember that scene in "Minority Report" when Tom Cruse enters a store and is inundated with advertising messages. There's a new advertising wrinkle that seems to offer the potential of something similar happening when you get near a magazine.

Wired magazine reportedly is placing a new technology called near field communication chips in it's April issue. If your mobile device (that's the umbrella term for smart phones, etc.) gets near the magazine, it'll suddenly be showing a demo of the new Lexus and it's fancy electronic apps.

I realize I'm old fashioned (heck, I'm just plain old, at least in terms of digital generations), and I love QR code technology, but I think I like me choosing what ads to watch, not the magazine.

Layoffs all over the place, but not newspapers -- today

Not a lot of good news out there today. Actually, there's a plethora of bad news with layoffs at CNN (cuts seem to be in long-form TV journalism as the network readies outsourcing and acquisition plans), Bloomberg (switching to a "digital-centric" model, which means replacing TV jobs with digital ones), and AOL (not many details yet, but it's the second wave of layoffs this week).

What's it all mean? Just that the industry shakeup continues with no segment stable.

How much online video should newspapers use?

There's an interesting discussion on PaidContent.org about the philosophical differences among newspapers on how to use video. Using the Wall Street Journal, which is spreading video all over the place, and the New York Times, using two stories a day, as bookends, the story discusses the pros and cons of newspapers getting into the video business.

The reason behind it, of course, is money. The story says ad dollars are flowing to the video-heavy sites.

I'd pick up on a point deep into the PaidContent story to suggest a reason why some news organizations might be leery of too much video. The story says one potential problem is that "much of the content is virtually unwatchable. While viewers may accept a clip that lacks studio-style polish, they will probably balk at a six-minute clip of a fidgety print reporter who can’t make eye contact with the camera."

Given that professional sites are attempting to build on their professionalism, poor video seems to me to be a very bad choice.

Traditional news sites outshine social media sites

Despite what you might have heard, social media has not taken over the news business. In fact, only 9 percent of American adults say they get their news direction from Facebook or Twitter. Most continue to go directly to news websites, use keyword searches or aggregators.

That's really not much of a surprise to me. Admittedly I'm older than many in the Pew Research Survey, and the survey has much, much more than just this number (frankly, the spread of mobile technology and the somewhat surprising fact that is building on loyalty for traditional news sites are much more important), but we hear so much about social media -- which is gobbling up so much of the advertising dollar -- that it's welcome to have some sanity returned to the business.

In short, readers trust old brands for news. They also like news-specific sites for their news reporting while leaving the latest friend checking in at Appleby's or niece needing a piece for Farmville to social media.