A new media look at the new Daily

We're finally getting to look at Rupert Murdoch's new Daily, designed for the iPad, and I think it's appropriate to let the first review come from a new media. Guardian technology correspondent Jemima Kiss reviews the Daily via video. Her take? Visuals are good, navigation is clunky, but the big question is content. We still don't know what it will be, what it will be like, or whether it will be strong enough to make us pay for it given the completion is free content. She also quoted several Twitter comments. Let the new media rule.

Gawker redesigns three sites; more to come?

Gawker redesigns three of its sites, stripping out Twitter and Stumble Upon leaving only Facebook. The new designs for io9, Gawker TV, and Jalopnik go"beyond the blog," as Gawker says. On io9, Annalee Newitz says: "If you've stopped by io9 before, you'll notice that the front page looks quite a bit different today. We've got one big story that takes up most of the page, and a list of today's headlines in a column down the right side of the page. The page is a lot simpler and lighter, which means it will load quickly. And at last we have a way to display big, gorgeous images and videos on the front page of our site. That's the point."
More experimentation from one of the Net's more adventurous companies.

Could e-tablets save long-form journalism?

Interesting look at digital venture aimed at promoting long-form journalism on the Web. It's a way of getting around smaller and fewer magazines for articles 10,000+ words but not long enough for a book at publisher's prices. It's another way journalism is evolving.

Students to cover Brewers' spring training

Students from Arizona State University will produce coverage of the Milwaukee Brewers' spring training this year. As part of a class, the seven students will spend two to three days weekly producing multimedia news packages to appear on jsonline.com.

Egypt, the Internet and crowds

This world keeps getting more and more interesting -- and counter-intuitive. I just heard on Al-Jazeera English a discussion of the disruptions in Egypt. A guest was asked what he thought about the Egyptian government's blocking the Internet and cell phones. He laughed, and replied "They're crazy. Instead of being on the computer, everybody's on the street."

The world has changed; see Egypt for an example

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about how the media world is undergoing massive changes. In large part, that's because I'm teaching a class in alternative media, which focuses one's thinking. One of the key points is the question of what is alternative media? As one of the students said, to her and her generation, newspapers and magazines are alternatives.

But it really hit home today when reading of Egypt's shutting down the Internet. With new media and the communications possibilities of the Internet, alternatives abound, and the old world, like Humpty Dumpty, can't be put together again.

Was Olbermann fired just because his bosses could fire him?

Salon writer Steve Kornacki reasons that MSNBC doesn't need Keith Olbermann because he was successful in setting a new identity for the network.

Kornacki's thesis is that Olbermann brought a strong liberal voice to the network when it needed an identity. MSNBC responded by bringing abroad liberal hosts like Rachael Maddow (an Olbermann find) and creating a strong fan base.

On the other hand, the coincidence of the firing coming right before a right-leaning corporation takes over MSNBC's parent is almost too much to believe, and if Kornacki's right, then that makes it even more likely that Olbermann's firing is political in nature.

Bonnie Brennen gets civility right

Marquette Journalism Professor Bonnie Brennen gets it right in a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that looks at the state of discourse today.

The newspaper asked "six Wisconsin professors whose specialties are history, political science or communication" about the state of discourse. The other five -- including a couple of personal friends of mine -- correctly said that political discourse has been very unpleasant throughout our history, including duels and attacks on the Capitol floor. But Brennen brought the discussion to communication (which is really what we're all talking about)." There is seemingly no interest in having a rational conversation," she was quoted as saying.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater communications professor Richard Haven also looked at the question beyond merely discourse between political figures to discuss our public conversation, citing "instant communication" and extreme political positions as reasons for a sharp decline in politically civility.

When robots choose the news . . .

Interesting news item this morning in my Google News roundup. I have alerts there for stories about newspapers, and this one showed up under the heading "Cop Kills Wife, Child, Self." It's about a South African policeman who killed his wife, child and himself.

It had nothing to do with newspapers. They weren't mentioned in the story, photo captions, heading. Nowhere. So why was it listed under newspapers? Don't have a clue, but it does reinforce my suspicion of "news selected by robots." I can't depend on them to get it right. In fact, they're just as fallible as humans.

Radio was most effective in delivering earthquake news to Haiti, analysis finds

Along comes an analysis that reminds us that various forms of media have their own strengths and weaknesses. It's a story about the earthquake in Haiti. It concludes that radio -- really old media -- was the most import in getting the story out.

That's not shocking, if you think about it. Radio is free, can be independent of the need for electricity, and is immediate. All the other forms, especially the Internet, are deficient in at least one of those.

Maybe the Internet isn't really going to kill all forms of old media.

AOL move reminds us of need for journalism

The announcement by AOL that it is shifting more toward becoming a portal and streaming "content" provided by others actually makes a strong point for journalism education.

"Content" is written. And it's written by people. Journalism teaches students who to write and manage news, which is what "content" is all about. The techies are needed since someone has to set up and manage Internet sites. But the Internet is full of "content," and that needs writers. There's a bright future in journalism.

Survey shows Internet continues to gain among news consumers

I guess I have to admit that I have a fascination with numbers. I love being able to look at raw data in number form. And that led to a fascination with the newest Pew Research survey, which showed continuations of recent trends in media usage that has deep ramifications for society in general and the news business in particular.

For example, the Internet being cited by people as their main source of news is the only area to climb with 41% of respondents reporting this is where they get most of their national and international news. Television continues to lead with 66%, trailed by newspapers (31%) and radio (16%). Numbers are more than 100 since people could list two sources.

As you can see on the chart, "old media" is trending down and the Internet is trending up. These, especially when trends for young people are added in (Internet 65%, television 52, newspapers 21 and radio 15), cannot be ignored. Does it mean television, newspapers and radio are dead? Far from it. It does mean that "old media" must continue to rethink their roles, perhaps seeking strategies to change the trending dynamic as many already have. It's a continuing evolution of news.

If you're interested in news, please read the entire report summary.