Get with the times!

I have spoken previously about speed and accuracy’s place in online news.  Getting your scoop out to the wide world before everyone else is paramount to becoming successful in the media industry. With a plethora of outlets, the online and tangible, it has never been a more competitive environment to get ahead in. It is survival of the fittest and certainly of the fastest. 

Online news and entertainment blogging is one of the most heavily saturated modes of journalism. It can also be one of the best ways to promote yourself as an avid journalist. With so many different blogs and online news sites the need for a cutting edge take on it has never been so important. 

Live blogging is something that is relatively new on the scene. It’s all about getting the news as you see it, (getting the front row seat to whichever event may be on the agenda) and grabbing the largest audience before any other bloggers/journslists do. 

The format can be interpreted in which ever way suits you. However, a live blog generally consists of time codes accompanies by a brief, snappy summary of what was said and what was happening at that moment. 

The aim of a live blog is to enable and engage the readers/viewers. Make them feel as though they are actually there and ultimately get the scoop as it is happening, thus being one of the first to cover it. 

I have encountered some great live blog’s, the notion being something that is still quite fresh and changing. I have also seen some poorer examples. The best ones all seem to integrate important information with obvious clarity in writing. 

A live blog that works doesn’t try and document absolutely everything, rather just the key information. 

The Brisbane Times now has a live blogger who often jumps online, though mainly for sports. It is great to see traditional news sources converting to online to widen their readership, hopefully there will be more news and current affair related blogs popping up on Brisbane Times. 

For many tech heads, if not at headquarters at the release of last weeks iPhone 4S, were poised by their computers for live updates of the big reveal. Apple did’t have an official live stream of the event so it was up to guests to keep the less fortunate informed. 

The Washington Post covered the event. Joshua Topolsky summed up the key moments, though I believe some were too brief. The information is at times too hard to decipher due to lack of detail. Summaries are great but for those who aren’t avid iPhone fans not every time stamp would hold a lot of meaning.

An even better example is the coverage by The Wall Street Journal. 

The appropriate use of visual and easier to read time stamps are more to my liking. There is a lot of unnecessary information at the start - but I guess that just comes with the genre and excitement of the event for many. Shorter but more frequent sentences also add to the clarity. There is also an icon to add a comment to the different time stamps. Overall, the more visual, legible and interactive a live blog is the more views it will (often) gain. Speed is of course an important factor. Live blogs are becoming more and more popular and have been utilized by a number of platforms, attracting an ever-growing audience

There are some great tools emerging to keep up with the changing ways of online news.

Wordfaire is a hosted service, similar to Blogger and Wordpress, but is purely devoted to LIVE blogging. It is an exciting new piece of the social media pie. 

The liveblogging platform is made to be easily read and very user friendly. Users can create simple and aesthetically pleasing live blogs for free. Just sign in using one of your existing social media such as Facebook or Twitter and create blog-style live updates. 

Coveritlive (cover it live) is a much more complex platform for the live blogging enthusiast. Used by world known organizations such as Sky News and BBC, it is another free service and is leading the way in blogging hosts. It is great for covering large scale events, and is up to dat with all embedding capabilities and reader participation such a crowd sourcing. 

A really good review of Coveritlive says using it couldn’t be easier and it has the ability to handle thousands of users online at a time. 

Blogging is already a hugely popular outlet of news and entertainment. Live blogging looks to be the next big thing online. Many blogging portals already have Apple and Android applications and the phenomenon looks to maintain and build its popularity and user-ship as technology continues to adapt and grow. 

The Empire that is Google

Your home screen. Your go-to news source when out and about. Your quick-fix fact finder. 

It is every where and it is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable names in the world. Google is one of the highest grossing companies that the world has seen and continues to grow by the nanosecond. 

Assisting this growth are the new programs and initiatives Google has come up with, cementing its place in our daily internet-ing routines.

Iv’e always had an bit of a grudge against these kind of multi-billion dollar corporations. Knowing full well that I frequently utilize them and that they help me in my day to day dealings, I just think that there is something not quite right about ginormous enterprises that have the potential to control and produce all the world’s information, infiltrating each and every aspect of our lives. 

But it’s a love/hate relationship.

Google News for example, being so brilliantly simple and informative is fast becoming many browsers’ go-to hot spot for whats happening in the world. Able to be tailored to your own personal taste, so that you see only stories which would be of interest to you, could there be an easier way to secure a snapshot of all the major news and affairs of the day? 

My only gripe with GoogleNews as a simplistic and on all counts reliable and accurate source is the notion of power to the powerful. The big name publications will always take priority over the smaller name publications when a user types in their news search. 

Founder and Chief scientist, Krishna Bharat commented on the revolutionary algorithm that Google uses to display unbiased search results, in the context of political reports.
"The algorithms do not understand which sources are right-leaning or left-leaning," Bharat said. "They're apolitical, which is good."

However, Google’s algorithm doesn’t assess the content, it assesses the ‘popularity’ or ‘most clicked’ factor in deeming something worthy of the top space of the search results. This means that the displayed news stories will be mostly those from the powerful, big names in media, excluding the minority and less known sources. 

On a whole, the innovation by Google is a smart one. What better way to get more people clicking on those six colored letters more that they already did. I can move past the fact that Google has encroached into all kinds of online and news territory. Google News really is a good news sight, compiling reputable news stories from a wide (ish) range of different sources. 


Able to select from local, nation or international news, a user really has a one stop shop for all the breaking news stories. 

YouTube Investigative

If we ever needed any more proof that online journalism has truly affirmed its position as a legitimate news platform than look no further than You Tube’s newest initiative and project. 

Finally, in response to the fall in quality investigative reporting, You Tube has approached the CIR (Centre for Investigative Reporting), a not-for-profit organisation based out of Berkley, California.

The organisation compiles thorough and revealing investigative reports and sells it to news outlets all around America. You Tube has sought out the CIR to compile stories and relevant material for its new platform to be named “YouTube Investigative.”

The channel is set to up the anti in the world of online videos and data - YouTube being an  outlet that is widely known for spoof videos and the internets ‘funniest home videos.’

YouTube has taken the form of a groundbreaking platform for citizen journalist who are often capturing important footage before reporters. As we reach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, you don’t have to go much further than Youtube to see some of the most haunting and surreal videos, filmed by civilians as the attacks were taking place. 

YouTube Investigative, in collaboration with CIR is set to add a credible and technologically advanced improvement to online news and reporting. This comes in response to the decline of in-depth reporting at traditional news outlets, according to ABC News.

Host to 35 staff already, the CIR churns out roughly this number of in-depth multimedia reports, focussing on injustice and a relevance to the wider public. 

Though nothing has been set in stone as of yet. 


The new channel will most likely consist of investigative journalism, fueled by the addition of crowd-sourcing and open multimedia contribution, which of course YouTube already employs. 

Executive Director of CIR Robert Rosenthal commented on the expansion of the online news realm. 

“As newsrooms cut staff and budgets, social media and new models of news gathering such as CIR are stepping in,” He said. 

Facebook has made a similar, (yet not really comparable) move towards bettering the online world of news and information and creating a dedicated service for journalists.

It’s general goal is to enable journalists to utilize Facebook as a means of research, linking users to relevant news and media sites and to access the growing Facebook demographic as tools and sources. 

Buzzom.com points out the shift as a wider attempt to generate advertising and revenue. How do you feel about journalists being able to access your details and information as a means of research?

Personally, I’m battling a slight conflict of interest over the whole idea, as someone very pro online news and research, yet intent on keeping all my private information exactly that. Private. 

Overall, the CIR/YouTube collaboration sounds like a very positive move towards the integration of citizen journalism and online news. I would be very happy to access a source that people can openly contribute to, monitored and guided by credible journalists who strive to inform the wider public. 

Fingers crossed the channel is erected asap  - I know I will be following it’s progress very closely.

Some mainstream and alternative online news sources. 

There are so many news sources that have moved to the online platform over the last 5 or so years. Wether it be on the morning commute on your phone or travelling with your ipad - the ease of access that modern technology offers has prompted the move.

Journalism.co.uk is a UK Online news site that I frequent. Not all the content is relevant to Australian's, however it offers a lot of information about journalists, the media and all things related to the industry. 


News.com.au is a fail-safe Aussie site which will guarantee you all the most topical stories of the week and day from a god variety of different stories.


Both are similar in style and layout - One being a UK and the other an Australian site. Both are acceptable go-to online news sources. With very condensed layouts that are surprisingly easy and aesthetically pleasing, the two platforms deliver that which they promise to - Breaking and daily news. 

Advertising is an obvious feature on both sites,  and would no doubt be one of the main generators of profit. 

Journalism.co.uk goes further than just news. It is also a website for writers, photographers and business people. There are many examples of crowd-sourcing - a job seek link, a forum calling for comments and an outlet to advertise your own freelance journalism. 

The Huffington Post  is a more left-wing news site that incorporates bloggers and other social commentators. 

There are links to other stories down the sides, though most are written from a slightly different point of view than would be found in the mainstream newspapers. 

The site navigates like a newspaper with a huge, lead story that takes up the majority of the front page on the biggest story of the day.

Crikey.com

I don't have a subscription to Crikey. It does cost money to be a member of - I only just realised that this one has been around for quite some time, and yes, it costs to get your news from Crikey. The website has a steady online circulation and is an independent, Australian publication. 

The site offers a free, 21 day trial during which the user will receive selected articles and independent journalism. The idea is that they will secure a paid audience after offering the 21 day subscription. 

From what I have read on Crikey the quality of journalism is high however some pieces are highly opinionated. It is after-all  an alternative news site. 

SEO - Search Engine Optimisation

Apple, Robert Patterson, Sex

According to Google Trends, I should now have your attention. Or at least for today.  These are words from the top three most searched topics on google all thanks to SEO. (Search Engine Optimisation)

SEO is definited by our good friend Wikipedia as;
The process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

The concept is simple. Create a headline that will attract the largest amount of readers, surfers and browsers according to what shows up first in the search bar. 

But unfortunately, in terms of journalism, the conept is indeed flawed.  

Why?

Argued is the idea that unecessary emphasis on SEO is taking priority over the quality of the content. Online newspapers and organisations are trending towards tabloid and spoof journalism in order to pull the greatest number of readers. 

SEO is a multi-billion dollar industry and in a struggling financial environment, online news platforms are latching on to one of the only ways to generate revenue and sustainibility.  Google being the largest and most widely used search engine is playing a huge part in what editors use as their headlines and indeed what stories they publish at all. 

There is nothing you can do about how many people are searching. But you can do something about the factors that Google takes account of in deciding the order of its results. 

So does this mean will see the quality of online journalism continue to decline? This article from ABC highlighted the role journalists must play to ensure the prosperity of their news organisation.

Conveniently, in a quick blogger search, I came across an insightful blogger, who devotes his work to SEO and all things journalism. Flicking through his work I came across this page, which offered some interesting hints and tips for good SEO

'Out with circulation staff, in with SEO' is an interesting summary of the current move to online news and to nabbing those online readers. 

Lets just hope that we can continue to find newsworthy articles online from our favourite online journalists.

How many SEO specialists does it take to change a lightbulb, light_bulb, light-bulb, light.bulb, light bulb?

Speed V Accuracy

Something that has been ingrained in us since we began down this winding, bumpy road that is the ‘journalism degree’ is that with great speed must come great accuracy.

 

No one, I repeat, NO ONE wants yesterday’s news on today news-site. Neither do they want today’s news reported incorrectly. So as the online world of news and information rapidly expands, at what cost is the need for the fastest and most up to date news post having on the quality and readability of online journalism? 

There is no doubt within the heavily saturated news environment that the web is, that there will always be conflicting stories and bogus scandals, something that I have previously discussed. However, with the same stations, sites and blogs covering the same stories, the need for speed and the hottest grabs to secure readers are pertinent. 

Take the recent ‘Choppergate’ scandal to rock the Channel 9 news team. In an embarrassing turn of events for the station, it was revealed that two live crosses regarding the Daniel Morcombe case were faked, the chopper being some 90 kilometers away from where they claimed it was when on air. Three staff were sacked following the incident, and the most senior editor in Queensland resigned after the scandal broke. Obviously, the loss of their jobs has severely shaken the three junior staff, whose future careers may have been brought to a premature end all thanks to the need for one sensational news story.  Choppergate journos seek legal advice

Clearly more than just healthy competition, news organisations may be going to extreme and even unethical lengths to secure the news story first, disregarding the need for accuracy and integrity. 

Rival news station Channel 7 were quick to point out the flaws in the news broadcast, reporter Peter Doherty bringing about first concerns over the story. Similarly, reports regarding a decline in viewers who have lost trust in the network can be read here . 

It is after all a dog eat dog world when it comes to modern news and rivals will always be quick to point out your blunders.

Unfortunately in regards to ‘Choppergate’, the need for a quick fix outweighed the need for an accurate story. Certainly this case proves that it was not worth the risk and further demonstrates to us why accuracy is JUST AS IMPORTANT as speed. (Maybe even more so...?)