Links and news from around the internet focussing on journalism, curated by @ukcameraman
When Justice John Saunders opened what has been called the "trial of the century" he told the jury: "In a way, not only are the defendants on trial, but British justice is on trial."
To say the defendants in the case are prominent in the world of journalism would be an understatement of gigantic proportions. Charged with conspiring with others at The Sun, where she was editor, to intercept communications by listening to mobile phone messages, plus two further counts of allegedly making corrupt payments to public officials and two final accusations that she allegedly conspired to pervert the course of justice by removing and concealing evidence is Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, former editor of the News of the World and The Sun and, famously, a close friend of David Cameron.
http://theconversation.com/journalism-in-the-dock-first-month-of-phone-hacking-trial-20737We've been writing a lot lately about online journalism startups like Matter — which was acquired by Medium and just dropped its paywall — and NSFW Corp., the Vegas-based venture that just merged with Pando Daily. Both have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and gotten a fair amount of attention, even though they have both failed to remain independent.
But there is an online media startup that is substantially larger than Matter and NSFW put together, both in terms of funding raised and in number of subscribers — and yet it gets surprisingly little attention. That's because this particular crowdfunding success story is based in Holland. Known as De Correspondent, it launched in September, having raised a relatively massive $1.7 million in donations from almost 19,000 people.
http://gigaom.com/2013/11/29/this-online-journalism-startup-raised-1-7m-in-crowdfunding-and-youve-never-heard-of-it/A reporter's experience covering a parish council meeting earlier this month exposed an apparent gap in government guidelines on live blogging.
Stuart Littleford, editor of the Saddleworth News, asked for permission to do live tweets from a special meeting of Saddleworth Parish Council, called to discuss controversial plans for a new school.
The chair, councillor Graham Sheldon, agreed. But he called for a vote after another councillor objected, claiming that Littleford should have given the council one week's notice about his plans to tweet.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/know-your-rights-journalists-dont-need-permission-live-tweet-council-meetingsEver since WikiLeaks and its controversial leader Julian Assange first caught the eye of the U.S. Department of Justice several years ago, we and others — including NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen — have been arguing that the organization is effectively a journalistic entity, and therefore deserving of all the protections that the First Amendment and freedom of the press entail. Now it seems as though that message has finally gotten through to the DoJ.
According to a piece in the Washington Post that quotes unnamed officials close to the Obama administration, the department has decided not to pursue charges against Assange for releasing classified documents that were given to WikiLeaks because "government lawyers said they could not do so without also prosecuting U.S. news organizations and journalists." Justice officials apparently referred to this as their "New York Times" problem, according to the Post.
http://gigaom.com/2013/11/26/doj-admits-assange-case-is-doomed-because-wikileaks-is-a-journalistic-entity/Twitter: a dangerous place for journalists?
Twitter is a good example of a social media network tool that can make journalism much more efficient and also more open. It improves journalists' connective potential, both to gather news, opinion and attention but also to disseminate their own content and improve the profile of their brand. But like any new technology or media innovation, it has dangers as well as delights.
I usually write a lot about the opportunities of networked journalism, but here are some of the possible negatives when using twitter.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2013/11/27/twitter-5-dangers-for-journalists/Speaking at the NCTJ's Journalism Skills Conference at Bournemouth University, a panel were asked to give advice to journalists, particularly those entering the field.
The panel featured Peter Bale, vice president and general manager of CNN International Digital; Pete Clifton, executive producer for MSN UK; and Liisa Rohumaa, a journalism lecturer at Bournemouth University.1. Build your own brandJournalists were encouraged to work on building a brand, rather than just being an entity of the news outlet they work for.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/5-tips-for-new-journalists-in-digital-journalism-world/s2/a555239/The browser-based app allows you to upload audio and then use keyboard shortcuts to play and pause, add time stamps, and slow down and speed up the recording. The transcription is auto-saved so if you lose internet connection or close your browser, the text is not lost.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/journalist-creates-web-app-for-audio-transcription/s2/a555258/Two recent blog posts raise this question: Just how often do news organizations actually listen to their communities?
In his post, former News & Record editor John Robinson argues that his paper doesn't dedicate time or resources to the issues he and many other readers face on a daily basis. And the News & Record isn't unusual. In fact, Robinson says this problem isn't limited to newspapers: "TV news has the same news diet," he writes, "and it's not in touch with mine."
In a response to Robinson, Kevin Anderson notes that many newsrooms are "subsisting on the fumes cast off by official life: crime, council meetings and planned events." They're spending much less time, Anderson says, on "the lived experience of their communities."
http://stearns.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/empathy/It began with the 50th anniversary of the day 'the burning monk' Thich Quang Duc, set fire to himself in protest in June 1963. As the anniversary approached, the creative team along with the corporate archives team considered ways they could make use of the "ton of terrific content" they had access to from years gone by, to re-tell the story as it happened.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/how-ap-builds-deep-dive-explore-pages-from-the-archives/s2/a555221/Journalism is one of those industries where the very best jobs are rarely advertised. Whether you are just looking to get a foot on the ladder or your favourite publication is openly looking for applicants, your CV needs to be well prepared and eye-catching to stand out from the rest.
http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/2013/11/25/tip-remember-these-cv-tips-for-journalism-jobs/STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two Swedish journalists were abducted in Syria as they were trying to leave the country, Sweden's Foreign Ministry said Monday.
The men were "taken" on Saturday as they were on their way out of Syria, spokeswoman Catarina Axelsson said. She declined to give other details, and said Swedish diplomats in Beirut were trying to get more information on the situation.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2-swedish-journalists-abducted-syria|
Paul Martin shared with you:
|
Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well I'm afraid you don't have much choice in the matter, but because I'm an optimist it'll be the good news.
It turns out that despite the steady stream of warnings from various career people, and the scoffings from countless snooty columnists, studying for a media-related degree may not be the employment suicide that it's thought to be.
http://wannabehacks.co.uk/2013/11/22/media-degrees-arent-career-suicide-after-all/A former regional newspaper chief sub believes he has found a way for redundant journalists to make money from their skills.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/nov/21/local-newspapers-mediabusiness
We've talked a lot on the blog about how Twitter for journalists can be a blessing and a curse.
It can be used for finding sources, breaking news and making connections regarding potential work — but for announcing you've been laid off?
Laurie Muchnick, who was the highly-respected books editor at Bloomberg up until Monday, tweeted this to her nearly 6,000 followers:
"Not sure how to put this so here goes: Bloomberg is cutting arts coverage, including books, so today was my last day there."
http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/journaliststwitterlaidoff_b24525All journalists working for local newspapers have been bullied, harassed or discriminated against, a new survey has shown.
Worse still, some female reporters were offered promotions in exchange for sexual favours.
Cathy John, senior lecturer in cultural theory and policy at Arts University in Bournemouth interviewed more than 4,000 people working across a range of creative industries, including journalism.
At national newspaper level, three out of four journalists have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination.
John said bullying within newspapers was "exceptionally high" compared with other industries.
She said: "All survey respondents working in local papers had been bullied, harassed or discriminated against."
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/new-survey-claims-all-local-newspaper-journalists-have-been-bulliedA string of prosecutions and the chilling effect of the post-Leveson era have plunged relations between British police forces and crime reporters into a deep freeze, according to new research.
A survey and interviews with crime reporters and media relations staff, or "police communicators", conducted as part of a personal dissertation project by BBC London home affairs correspondent Guy Smith, has revealed that both believe the relationship to be strained. But the research flags up a gulf in understanding between the two groups, indicating that police media staff little appreciate the level of despair displayed by journalists.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/20/police-crime-reporters-leveson-inquiryOnly 15 universities in Britain are listed as offering NCTJ accredited undergraduate degree programmes. That's not actually very many considering the amount of universities there are. It's something I had no idea about when I was thinking about applying to do journalism at university, and I imagine there are many young people in the same position.
http://wannabehacks.co.uk/2013/11/18/nctj-and-bjtc-accredited-courses-whats-the-deal/There is no quicker way for old institutions to look irrelevant than to insist on their relevance. Today the Australian did just that by publishing an editorial not only bragging about its superiority, but underlining the "path to ruin" that is (other) journalists using Twitter.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/13/so-twitter-is-ruining-journalism-reallyA young acquaintance was applying for an online reporting job at an internationally renowned news organization.
But the interviewer did not focus on the job candidate's articles. He wanted to know more about the metrics of audience engagement with the candidate's stories -- time spent, social sharing, search traffic.
http://ijnet.org/blog/why-journalists-must-use-social-media-promote-their-workThe Sun editor David Dinsmore said his paper's journalists had gone back to "knocking on doors" in a more tightly-regulated era in which it was more difficult to pay for stories.
Dinsmore said a "lot more consideration was given to things" in the post-Leveson era, but said the biggest impact had been the 2010 Bribery Act.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/11/sun-editor-journalists-david-dinsmore?CMP=twt_guThe dead tree press is dead, all hail the new journalism.
The publishers' grasp is loosened now that a legion of bloggers and tweeters can break news and break the monopolies over it.
Up to a point.
Looking at the reporting of the phone hacking trial you would be forgiven for thinking that old models of reporting the news had been swept aside by something altogether more immediate and democratic.
http://www.newstatesman.com/media/2013/11/has-phone-hacking-trial-created-new-form-journalismNow, if I were the sort of lazy, formulaically minded, indeed "garbagic" journalist that Alastair Campbell so understandably despises, this article would be very easy to compose. It would go something like this:
"Alastair Campbell teaching journalism to students? Oh, that's like putting Dracula in charge of the blood transfusion service. Or making Tony Blair a Middle East peace envoy… The man who gave us the dodgy dossier? Maybe he can tell the students how to make up stuff about chemical weapons… 45 minute warning… sexing up… conspiracies… Dr David Kelly… blood on his hands… Tony Bliar… you couldn't make it up… who does this man think he is… time will tell… I think we should be told…"
I very frequently get emails from young people, usually studying now at one of my alma maters, asking me for advice on how to enter journalism. Obviously, their hope is that I have an internship or something even better to refer, but I just don't. And really, I don't. But I do try to respond honestly with my advice.
http://andreaskluth.org/2013/11/07/advice-to-young-people-trying-to-get-into-journalism/The related report, published today, states that out of the 589 journalists from the UK who took part in its worldwide 2013 Social Journalism Study – carried out by Cision and Canterbury Christ Church University – 96 per cent interact on social media "on a daily basis", and 92 per cent do so on Twitter in particular.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/study-96-of-uk-journalists-use-social-media-each-day/s2/a554687/Three young journalists from developing countries have been shortlisted for a prestigious press award.
The reporters, two from Africa and one from India will be flown to London for the UK Foreign Press Association Award
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/three-young-journalists-shortlisted-uk-foreign-press-association-awards
![[thumbnail]](http://cdn2.worio.biz/d/2013/11/25/-/sd=286/-59414650507585443700.jpeg)
