Markmedia

sökmotorer allt viktigare

Allt fler använder sökmotorer dagligen enligt en ny rapport från Pew research.
På en typisk dag använder sig fler än 60 miljoner amerikaner av sökmotorer. Det innebär att de märmar sig eposten som den mest använda verktyg på nätet.

Läs en sammanfattning av rapporten eller hela i PDF-formatet.

resource for war and conflict reporters

The Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma is a global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals  dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy. The Center also addresses the consequences of such coverage for those working in journalism.

There is a blog (no comments unfortunately) which contains links to timely subject information and an excellent book review section.

ny webbtidskrift om teknik- och naturvetenskapliga forskning

Tentakel, som ges ut av Vetenskapsrådet, ämnesrådet natur- och teknikvetenskap, är en ny tidskrift/webbplats om aktuell forskning, forskningspolitik och forskningsfinansiering inom teknik och naturvetenskap.
Innehållet är kommenterbart.

En av de första debatterna handlar om varför det är så få kvinnliga forskare på hög nivå inom ämnet. Skriven av tre avhoppande kvinnor från lunds universitet, med ca 20 års erfarenhet inom teknikforskning är den ingen rolig läsning:

Det hävdas ofta att denna beror på en utvecklingsfördröjning: när kvinnorna ökar i rekryteringsbasen kommer det automatiskt att leda till fler kvinnor på fasta lärartjänster. Men statistiken visar att trots att andelen kvinnor bland de forskarstuderande stadigt ökar så motsvaras inte detta av en ökning högre upp i karriären.

Pacific Journalism Review

The Pacific Journalism Review, founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994, is a peer-reviewed journal covering media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. It is now published by the School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology, and has links with the University of the South Pacific.

 

Themes: While one objective is research into Pacific journalism theory and practice, the journal is also expanding its interest into new areas of research and inquiry that reflect the broader impact of contemporary media practice and education.

The latest issue has a very interesting discussion around ethics and accountability with a focus on plagiarism and fabulism. A subject not unfamilar to us here in Scandinavia.

Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC)

As (all too) much of the litterature in Media & Communications studies and journalism education is written from a "developed world" (read anglo saxon) perspective, it should be of interest to all involved in the area to obtain materials from other perspectives.
One place to look is the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).
As a resource center, AMIC has published a wide range of valuable material on communication issues in Asia gathered from its own conference papers, workshops and research reports.
The Asian Journal of Communication is a joint research publication of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Singapore and the School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.
They also organize workshops and conferences of importance to us all such as;
The Asia Forum on Health Communications, 23 - 24 February, next year in Singapore and "100 Years of Radio: The Journey Ahead"  in Singapore, on the 21 - 23 June, 2006 as part of Broadcast Asia.

wanna be a Blog Producer?

CNN söker nu en "blog producer". Åter ett bevis på att bloggandet börjar bli en integrerad del av mediaproduktionsapparaten. När kommer journalistutbildningar att integrera bloggandet i sina kurser? Kanske om tio år eller så. JMK har fortfarande ingen journalistikkurs som koncentrerar sig på ny media produktion.

CNN is looking for a "Blog Producer":

Producer will cover web-logs (blogs), pod-casts, and other internet-based forms of new media. The web producer will locate, research, and report on blogs and web sites that include news, politics, policy, commentary, and other information of value to our viewers. The results will be daily television segments reporting on this area of the media. This person will be responsible for producing both the editorial content and also the graphic and video elements necessary to develop each segment. This person will also report on-air as needed.

disappearence of investigative journalism

The Press Gazette has an interesting article about the disappearence of investigative journalism form the regional newspapers in the UK.
Journalist Don Hale (the British equivilant of the Swedish Trond Sefastsson) is quoted from a speach as saying
"Investigations have almost disappeared without trace in the regional press and, to a large extent, in the nationals ... True: journos can still mislead and infiltrate Buckingham Palace, airports or the police. But what has happened to real-life investigations? Most journos seem content with sitting ontheir backsides and using email, the mobile phone, or the internet for misinformation ... Gone are the local contacts built up over years — the personal touch, knowing the councillors, police contacts and community gossips."

stratigic problems in the digital media age 1

This is the first in a series of rants/internal debates occasioned by a challenging project I am starting. It is a way for me to put down ideas I will need to refine as the project progresses. These are unfinished thoughts but represent my thinking at the moment of writing. I welcome input, critical or positive.
                                                                               

I am in the process of starting a skills upgrade in digital journalism (for want of a better term) for one of Sweden's major newspapers.
I will be giving a number of "inspirational" talks,  a series of hands-on practical workshops and being an "on-call" research problem solver.
As is so often the case there is a huge spread of knowledge about using digital resources, both on the research side (collecting and managing the information) and on the distribution side (publishing in differing digital forms). There are a small number of very advanced users, a larger group of users who have amassed a good degree of competence in specific areas - lists of German cultural sites and magazines, sites which have addresses and telephone information in individual countries etc. - and a majority with a surprisingly low level of digital literacy.

This is slightly worrying. Journalists have been using the Internet now for almost a decade. The branch perception seems to be that as we have had access to the Internet for so long, then we must be able to use it. Also, the younger generations have grown up with the Internet and therefore know how to use it. Both perceptions are deeply flawed. Just because you grow up in a society where motor cars are prevalent does not make you a driver.

Swedish journalists (and journalists in general) have a shockingly low level of mid-career further education. In times when media organizations are being squeezed on the one hand from owners looking for a higher level of profit and on the other by ever decreasing advertising revenues (due to increased competition from Interned based classified advertising amongst others), upgrading the skills level of journalists seems to be one of the first things to go.
This is a very short sighted policy. Unless your workforce is up to speed with the latest advances in your field then you are going to fall behind new players.

The problem, whilst most obviously manifesting its self on the "factory floor" of the editorial rooms, is a management problem.
Too many of the managers have no real idea about the serious and speedy changes in the information world they operate in.
As Rupert Murdoch, who whatever your views on his politics may be has undoubtedly an extraordinary nose for business trends, said to a meeting of editors and publishers earlier this year that editors needed:

to apply a digital mindset to a new set of challenges.

We need to realize that the next generation of people accessing news and information, whether from newspapers or any other source, have a different set of expectations about the kind of news they will get, including when and how they will get it, where they will get it from, and who they will get it from.

This mind set needs to permeate the organization. And it needs to be understood that it will cost money to achieve both a level of understanding around necessary strategic digitalizing aims and practical uses.
Board members and managers need an elevated level of  understanding of the changing digital landscape from both a technical and ideological or journalistic cultural point of view. This entails an understanding that the megaphone model of media communication - one authoritative voice to the many- has played out its role. The new consumer wants a dialog or a conversation, not a monologue.
This is a hugely difficult lesson to learn and an even more difficult lesson to put into practice.
It demands serious thinking around issues that go to the core of both the business end and the journalistic end of publishing.
How to involve audiences in not just the consumption of news but in the production of it.
Do we pay them? If so how and for what?
How do we make money from this?

What differing standards do we employ in publishing to different platforms? Or do we?
What are the legal implications of audiences participating in content creation.
What are the ethical implications?

If the implications of such a discussion are to be taken seriously then the staff - editors, production journalists and journalists - need to be involved in the discussions and to be trained to use the new tools of the trade. From search engines [it is amazing how few people know how to use Google despite the fact that it is their primary source of information -which is a problem in its self] to pod-casting, from databases to collaborative encyclopedias.

OK enough for now. More to come.

 

 

Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information

The October 1, 2005 edition of the "Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information" is available at:
http://library.usask.ca/~dworacze/SUBJIN_A.HTM

The page-specific "Subject Index to Literature on Electronic Sources of Information" and the accompanying "Electronic Sources of Information: A Bibliography" (listing all indexed items) deal with all aspects of electronic publishing and include print and non-print materials, periodical articles, monographs and individual chapters in collected works. This edition includes over 2,157 indexed titles. Both the Index and  the Bibliography are continuously updated.

Introduction, which includes sample search and instructions how to use the Subject Index and the Bibliography, is located at:
http://library.usask.ca/~dworacze/SUB_INT.HTM

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey: London, 1674-1834

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey: London, 1674-1834

A project to digitize "accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court." The first stage, completed in 2003, has over 22,000 trials for the period 1714 to 1759. Searchable by keyword, date, name, place, crime, and more. Also find historical background on the era's legal issues, architectural history, and minority communities of London, such as gypsies, homosexuals, Jews, and other diverse groups. Includes tips for teachers, and a glossary.    

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/