200 Transformational Moments

In a recent article at Poynter Online, Bill Mitchell writes about "200 Moments that Transformed Journalism," as compiled by David Shedden, Poynter Library director.

Shedden selected 200 moments that occurred in the years 2000 through 2009, using the New Media Timeline; a resource he created and has maintained to track the evolution of news since the invention of the Internet in 1969.

As Mitchell said in his article, "there's often no way to tell, in the moment, whether any given development signals a passing fancy, a seed of destruction or a glimpse of tomorrow. But there's nothing like a little hindsight to provide some context."

"Not all of Shedden's 200 moments are as consequential as his first entry for the year 2000 -- the acquisition of the Time Warner media empire by that once feisty startup known as America Online."

It's an interesting list and I have to agree with Mitchell. Some selections, "seemed to have little to do with the news at the time," but you be the judge. Take a look and see what you think. At the very least, it will provide some interesting conversation around the office water cooler!

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Halt Opinion-Hurling Journalism

Today's Poynter Online, features an article about a speech given recently by Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Goodman. It took place at Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism, in celebration of the winners and finalists for the J. Anthony Lukas book prizes.

In her speech, Goodman commended the writers for
their "work against the very strong tide of the times, against food fight journalism. We live in an era of opinion hurling, where there are villains and heroes. Everything is required to be far more simplistic than the problems we face."

I say, "Bravo!" to Ms. Goodman. In this age of "Faux" News and others, I find her perspective very refreshing.

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Journalism..what do we want?

During the last 8 weeks I have paid more attention the journalism. One thing that I have notice is that yes everyone can be a journalist, but we no longer have to wait for "certified" journalist to supply us with information any more. I don't have to watch a game or news cast to see who won anymore. Facebook and Twitter can give me up-to-date information faster then a journalist can load it onto a website. I can find out traffic delays, hotel selections, sports scores all on my blackberry.
Today we don't have to wait for People Magazine to come out, celebreties Twitter they thoughts and events with us daily. To me this is a subject of wanting the cake and the ability to eat it also. We want to save the journalism industry BUT we want everything at out finger tips also. We are going to have to all get on the same page or it might be too late for the journalism industry as we knew it growing up (for those of us over 40).

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Good night, and good luck

Journalist, Public Commentator, and Broadcasting Legend Bill Moyers signed off from his weekly PBS series for the last time Friday night. Moyer's departure was unsurprising, but Craig Aaron, Managing Director for Free Press, stated that his absence marks a turning point for journalism in America.

For the EWG Students in BNR this term, the topic of Aaron's blog post echos sentiments we heard in a speech by Free Press founders John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney. The media is in crisis; thousands of journalists are losing their jobs and local newspapers are becoming a thing of the past. Big media companies that overtook smaller media outlets are now drowning in debt and taking the public's access to local stories and media down with them. Eight weeks ago, I would have considered the word using the word "crisis" to describe this situation a bit of a misnomer. But, as I have become more aware of the news around me and the effect it has on my opinions and my responsibility as a citizen, I now think the term is accurate.

Aaron's article explains that America, which is considered by many the greatest democracy in th eworld, only spends $1.43 on it's media sources. Those media sources are our link to each other, to citizens in other towns across the state, to our capital and to the world. $1.43 will buy you a small french fry or a hamburger at McDonalds. $1.43 is all the public money available to fund a public media. In comparison, each U.S. taxpayer spent $565 to bail out AIG. I'm not sure about you, but something seems off here. There is more money available to bail out a bunch of CEO's whose bonus' equal more money than I will see in my lifetime than there is to pay someone to go out and investigate the truth for me?

It's hard in an economic downturn to think of funding something as small as journalism. But if I've learned anything in BNR this term, it's that journalism isn't small. It's size depends on where we can send it, where we can make it reach; be it the far corners of the Earth or just down the street, I've realized that there journalism offers us a chance to reconnect to each other in a world where we've completely disconnected.

Aaron provides details in the blog on his testimony to the FCC, in which he gave several possible solutions to the crisis in journalism. Though he cited a few kind words spoken by FCC representatives and others regarding Moyers' retirement, he stated that finding a way to get journalism back on it's feet to help America build a stronger democracy would be the best tribute we could all give him.

And I think that after over 50 years of service to us, a tribute is in order.

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Politician to Jail to Broadcaster?

The New York Times reported that in Illinois, breaking the law seems to lead to a guaranteed opportunity as a political broadcaster. The city has three politicians that have been convicted of crimes from accepting bribes to corruption charges, done jail time, and now have their own shows as radio broadcasters.

While Chicago or Illinois is not the only place this happens, the city has numerous tainted politicians turned professional talkers.

Local television stations explain that they always recruit ex-politicians on election night, and they don’t differentiate the honest from the dishonest. It seems more important to have the insider awareness, and who better knows what is going on?

Listeners are also drawn to big politicians that have been brought down, convicted, and now they are out and have lots to say. Prior broadcasting or radio experience isn’t necessary.
While these individuals obviously aren’t trustworthy, maybe they are the best source to tell what really happens in the political world.

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Social Media for Recruiters

Social media and social networking are becoming hot terms in the HR world. Companies are realizing that there is a significant opportunity to reach candidates through the various social media avenues.

1. Go where candidates would hang out on the web. Surround yourself with people smarter than you are. See which site fits your niche and join by creating a profile. Options include RecruitingBlogs.com, HRM Today, and The Fordyce Letter Network.

2. Learn how to use LinkedIn. This site is a must for business professionals. It is a great tool for personal branding, job searching, and business development.

3. Read more blogs by subscribing to an RSS such as Google Reader. This allows a reader to skim through material and read content at a more efficient pace.

4. Try Twitter and connect with thought leaders who share what they’re working on, resources, tips, and links. Potential candidates and clients may follow you on Twitter.

5. Use Facebook to recruit. It offers some cool tools for recruiting and employment branding, and you can effectively connect with and recruit young professionals as well as senior level talent.

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Time to Review Online Privacy Laws

The New York Times reported that the push to strengthen online privacy laws was backed by a coalition calling itself Digital Due Process. The coalition wants to ensure files and documents remain protected from easy access by legal and government authorities.

The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology. The coalition also includes technology companies such as AT&T, Google, and Microsoft. The group wants to safeguard information and require law-enforcement agencies to use a search warrant rather than a subpoena to obtain online data.

Under current law, information on Facebook and other social media sites is accessible through a simple subpoena, which can be issued easily. The group wants Congress to update the current Electronic Communications Privacy Act written in 1986, a decade before Internet became mainstream.

While advocates say new rules are merely intended to ensure protection enjoyed in the past as technology evolves, they acknowledge they will face resistance from law-enforcement agencies.
It seems clear that the electronic privacy laws are outdated and need to be reviewed. Whether you store a file in a cabinet at home or on your laptop, your privacy should remain the same.

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Hawaii Loses a Newspaper

Hawaii will only have one newspaper following Gannett's sale of The Honolulu Advertiser to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Owner, David Black, of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin signed the paperwork this morning. This means the loss of at least 300 jobs for employees of The Honolulu Advertiser. Gannett said the poor economy in Hawaii has led to declines in readership and advertising.

Many people worry how the consolidation will impact the community with fewer news stories will be produced each year.

"It's a real tragedy," said Gerry Keir, who worked at The Advertiser for 27 years, rising to editor before leaving in 1995. "I don't think there's any question that the community is the loser."

Mark Platte, editor of The Honolulu Advertiser, will become the news director of Hawaii News Now. He starts in his new role May 10.

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Thousands of Online Newspapers!

With all the chatter of online news, and its effect on the newspaper industry, I thought I would share a website that gives you the opportunity to find thousands of online newspapers. This gives you the opportunity to find U.S. newspapers, world newspapers and magazines. You can even update the site if it does not contain one that you know of.

According to http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/, these are the current top 10 of the top 50 newspapers in the United States.

1. The New York Times (New York)

2. The Washington Post (Washington D.C.)

3. The Los Angeles Times (California, Los Angeles)

4. The Daily Fulki (Dhaka)

5. New York Post (New York, New York)

6. Daily News (New York)

7. Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)

8. The Boston Globe (Massachusetts)

9. Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

10. Chicago Tribune (Illinois)

This is an interesting site to check out! Who knows, this site could be used as your future career lead list.

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Good Bloggers and Bad Bloggers

The recent events in the case of the Apple iPhone acquired by Gizmodo has the potential for a significant legal precendence on whether blogger's can be protected by shield laws the same as journalists according to Jeff Neuburger, legal correspondent for MediaShift.

First there has to be determination on whether or not the iPhone that was abandoned in the bar is considered stolen property.

Brainstorm Tech names Brian J. Hogan of Silcon Valley as the person who found the phone. They also report that it was Apple who contacted the district attorney to report the iPhone as stolen. Hogan said he tried to return the phone to Apple, but was ignored. Then he realized what he had and started peddling it on the Internet. However, Hogan may still be charged with theft.

Gizmodo's editor, Jason Chen's home was raided by police last Friday and computer equipment, hard drives, phones were seized as police carried out a warrant that stated the equipment was used in the commission of a felony. That means that the San Matteo district judge sees it as stolen property.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the situation. Jon Stewart thinks that Steve Jobs of Apple is overreacting. Letterman says it comes under the category of "who cares."

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, there is also an element of journalistic integrity that should come into play. Jason Chen paid $5000 for this iPhone prototype. He gave it back, but not before disclosing all of Apple's proprietary technology over the internet. Is that news? Should that really fall under the category of journalism and be protected by shield laws?

Shield laws are meant to protect the journalist from having to testify to reveal their sources of confidential information. Information that is gathered because the public has the right to know and disclosure of the information is for the public good. I would argue that would not include the right to know trade secrets of an organization.

I think some bloggers are journalists and I think others are not. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think this will be the case that decides the issue.

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