"Citizen Journalism" loses big (so does CNN)

The problem was an absolutely false report filed by a "citizen journalist" on CNN that Apple's Steve Jobs had a heart attack. It was taken down by CNN after it was found to be false. 

That's one of my problems with the term, "citizen journalist." I think journalism means checking and verifying -- before you run a story. That's where CNN went wrong. Sure, it wasn't filed by a CNN reporter, but the network's name was on the line.

Sure it's stupid, but. . .

A radio reporter in Detroit was fired for wearing an Obama shirt while covering an event. Of course, it's stupid and unethical. But it's a reminder to us all not to let ourselves get carried away. This, of course, is something student media reporters and editors must remember, especially on campus politics.

Some thoughts on redefining news

Editor & Publisher's Steve Outing has some interesting thoughts on just what should constitute news today and in the future. One though, melding the social networking experience into your website. It's not that I agree with everything he proposes, it's that he is looking at the problem the correct way -- from the audience back toward the publisher. Define what news should be, then figure out how to create it.

As someone who regularly uses both old and new media (it's fascinating to see that one niece just finished a long visit to Australia while working on a cruise ship), I understand the appeal. Perhaps better (easier, less porous) filtering will halt the outpouring of excess information (not just spam, but too much information) that is brought to us by the Internet. As I teach, I talk about one role of journalists is to put facts into perspective. Another is to select which facts are most relevant to the story. New media delivers a lot of facts. As someone with 67 unread emails awaiting action as I speak (I've already dealt with at least 50 this morning), I know that keeping ahead of facts on new media is hard. Maybe that's an area for old media.

Practical tips: Interviewing

I'm going to start posting some practical tips for student (and professional) journalists. Here are some great observations about reporting, including the observation that 93% of human communication is nonverbal upon first impressions. That means it makes a huge difference in approaching an interview subject on how you are dressed, the tone you use, even the personal space you choose.

What do readers want? You don't want to know

OK, let's let the pessimism flow:

A former L.A. Times newsman blogs about his doubts about the future for newspapers. Why is he pessimistic? It's what the readers want. A thoughtful blog.

Meanwhile, an Internet guru speculates that the future hold less print -- and it's been very, very different (think magazines). An interesting take, and I'm not sure he's wrong. Incidentally, he thinks blogging will continue to drive communication. Does that mean I have to keep this up?

Finally, you can read here about how the banking industry is going to "disembowel" the newspaper industry. 

The new Chicago Tribune

The new design for the Chicago Tribune hit the streets today. At least one online design expert offers instant analysis of the new, magazine and Internet-inspired design which featured lots of big pictures, promos and a new "you are here" inside guide. I liked it; my student editors from Chicago hated it. One of us is wrong; but the paper is different, and it is nice to see something different from a newspaper company. It also has new features, as opposed to those newspapers cutting features. And it's not your father's Tribune.

The folks at newsdesigner.com also weigh in on the new Tribune, with lots of links.

Meanwhile, Editor & Publisher posts reaction from the other side -- those cut by the Tribune Company.

On Tuesday, 72% of Crain's Chicago Business readers said they hated the redesign, a poll reported.

What'll replace metro dailies?

Business Week columnist Jon Fine offers his view, and it's depressing. By the way, he's predicting the demise of "big city dailies," not national or local ones. Among winners? Local TV, glossy free monthly pubs, and online sites (lots of them).  

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch took a statesmanlike stand and rejected the anti-Arab DVD advertisement, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," saying it exercised its right not to distribute the film, which has been attacked by various Muslim groups in the past two years. The News and Record in Greensboro, N.C., a community that has seen hate in action, also refused to distribute the film. It was distributed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, publisher Elizabeth Brenner saying it was a free speech decision.

The JS also published a column by its local conservative columnist Patrick McIlheran defending the film, saying that it clearly labels the anti-West attacks by Muslims as fringe, and that we should "take a look" at the film." I have a friend who is an expert on right-wing hate groups' web presentations (think American Nazi party, KKK, and skinheads). He has a wonderful site on Christian music that is used to lure people into the skinhead movement. On the surface, it just nice, Christian rock. Then the discussion groups draw people into private chats and the topic of how this music is good because it doesn't have any of those "Afro-Carribean" influences that mess up regular rock. Then, if the person is receptive, the discussion shifts to "good, white-oriented" music. You can guess where it goes next. As, I guess McIlheran would say, we should "take a look at it." I did both at the DVD and the web site. Hate is hate, and anyone distributing that DVD should take a long look in the mirror, then go wash their hands again.

A pet peeve about the new media

I've long promoted the excellent content that Jim Romenesko puts together each day reporting on media for the PoynterOnline web site. I go there first thing each morning, and check again throughout the day. I advise my students to do the same, and, frankly, I would hope anyone interested in journalism would do the same. It's the place to find out what's happening in the media world. I highly recommend the site.

Nevertheless, the site was recently redesigned, and its designers fell into the trap of "because we can, we do" with a window that opens as you roll over the "bookmarks" area at the end of each item. It opens a window with 11 choices plus a "more" option button. Because Jim's posts are generally quite short, since he operates a linking blog that serves as a portal to the nation's reporting, the rollover windows obscure the items. Interesting enough, ad agencies have found these rollover popups are not only intrusive but very annoying, and some are warning their customers to ignore this capability.

I wish Jim's designers had done the same since I tend to scroll rapidly through his list with my cursor apparently on the very spot needed for these "blog spam" inserts to annoy me. The more cluttered media gets, the harder it is to easily read, and the easier it becomes to ignore it in favor of leaner, more user-friendly media.

Shape of things to come?

The New York Times is reporting that politico.com, the online politics site, plans to expand after the presidential election, adding reporters, content and boosting its advertising. Watching the old media seemingly in freefall while observing that the new media relies mostly on old media reporting for the facts that it comments on, I've long waited for signs the new media is maturing into something more responsible. Responsible reporting by new media sites becomes more and more important as the old media cuts back. Seems to me that this is a maturing media response to changes in the landscape.

Facts aren't always believed, study finds

A Duke University study found that even if the media corrects misstatements, the public isn't likely to believe. So much for all the factcheck.org- like groups.

Minnesota drops charges against media

Following the pattern established the past few years of mass arrests, including media, at political events followed by dropping charges, Minnesota has decided it's not going to charge any of the media people (including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman) who were arrested at the Republican National Convention.

As I mention every once and a while in class, the anti-press ploy in the 1960s was merely to tear gas we media types who were covering events. It's moved now to arresting anyone attempting to cover demonstrations. Then, they get released later when the charges are dropped. So far the City of New York has paid more than $2 million to settle lawsuits arising from the 2004 convention (media arrests were only a few among the thousands arrested there). I'm sure we'll read tiny stories about taxpayers settling lawsuits from this year's conventions and phony arrests during the campaign, and four years from now will see more arrests, then dropped charges, etc.