March 2012
28 posts
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New York Times wants to reduce pension plans for... →
After the encouraging news that almost half a million people have become digital subscribers to the Times, here comes the bad news: Revenues declined 22 percent between 2003 and 2011. As a result, the Times says its pension plan is no longer affordable.
Via Future Journalism Project, Jim Romenesko
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“The fight over Obamacare is about freedom. That’s what we’ve been told since...”
– Very true, and difficult for Europeans to grasp, especially Germans used to mandatory health insurance (why wouldn’t people want that? goes a common question). But yes, for Americans, this debate is about freedom. The Court now has to decide whose definition of freedom aligns more closely with...
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Romney "Etch A Sketch" gaffe mainly popular among... →
This is exactly the problem with campaign coverage in D.C.: Reporters and politicians create their own bubble where anything can become a “major gaffe” that “drives the day”. The rest of the country mostly doesn’t care, which is a problem as the rest of the country are the voters. As Michael Calderone noted recently on the Huffington Post, social media can exacerbate...
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Even the ads in Newsweek's Mad Men-themed issue... →
That’s sticking to a theme.
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State of the News Media: Doing more with less →
The annual survey shows that “the needs and demands of the audience are growing and fragmenting”, but at the same time newsrooms have fewer resources as advertising revenue shrinks.
“They must simultaneously maintain an excellent website, optimize for search, solicit beneficial aggregation, engage social networks, build smartphone apps and design tablet Web apps. No audience on...
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Hacked emails reveal gilded lifestyle, iTunes...
The Guardian obtained what it says is a cache of emails sent to and from accounts used by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma. The emails detail how Assad sought advice from a businessman with connections to Iran on how to handle the uprising in his country. About 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the bloody battle that’s been going on for a year.
The emails...
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Is Pinterest the next Napster? →
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the copyright issues surrounding popular new social network Pinterest. As the site’s traffic has exploded, those issues have come into sharper focus. The legal situation is murky.
“The first person who sues is going to make the law, and as a practicing attorney I don’t want to be the defendant in that case,” (Pinterest user) Ms....
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“Niemand kommt wegen des Ketchups in ein Restaurant. Aber jeder erwartet, dass du...”
– Meredith Artley von CNN über Breaking News- Berichterstattung.
Web Journalist Blog » My proof, my metrics, my ROI... →
The best!
daniscalifornia:
Fantastic. An example of when metrics are not the best measure. Social media relationships are so much more productive AND meaningful than any numbers.
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the base where the... →
shortformblog:
Four Lewis-McChord soldiers have been convicted in connection with the deliberate thrill killings in 2010 of three Afghan civilians, according to the Associated Press. The “kill team,” as the soldiers were called in the media, was charged with randomly targeting and killing unarmed Afghan civilians for sport. The base has also had a spate of suicides among soldiers who have...
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Knight News Challenge: A Google News for the... →
This sounds like a really cool idea, one of the kind where you wonder why it doesn’t exist yet. The project would show “Top news stories on the web, curated by shares across social networks. View by date, news source, network, and topic.”
Read more at newschallenge.
German Leader and I.M.F. Chief Split Over Debt →
Fascinating account of the relationship between Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, as they wrestle with how to control the European debt crisis.
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Data scientists amaze me
Hilary Mason, who works for link shortener bit.ly, describes how she gets her news:
I have some tools I’ve written on my GitHub page for going through Twitter. Really simple things, like, “Show me any link that’s been tweeted by more than two people I follow in the last 24 hours.” It’s configurable, so I can tag things by category. I’m able to go through all the tweets really quickly, filter out...
Joseph Kony, Invisible Children and the rise of... →
shortformblog does an excellent job summing up the story of Invisible Children and their viral video.
KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
There’s something strange about the sudden surge in interest in the story of Joseph Kony. This is not to say that the Ugandan figurehead, tied closely to the Lord’s Resistance Army, isn’t worth wide notice (it certainly is). But we’ve gotten numerous...
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“Romney is too rich, Santorum is too religious, Ron Paul is too old, and I just...”
– Ohio voter Robert Reed, to the AP. This has to be the quote of the day.
Read the story at NPR.
Update: Newt Gingrich is the runner-up for calling himself a tortoise. That’s the image you want to be going for.
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Strong moral character
Dirk: Exit polls: Gingrich won every demo in Georgia except those who said strong moral character was most important.
Sent at 1:15 AM on Wednesday
me: wait is this real or are you making this up?
Sent at 1:17 AM on Wednesday
Dirk: https://twitter.com/#!/foxnewspolitics/status/177184801596514305
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WatchNow that the cameras are gone, Conroy says, we don’t know what’s happening anymore.
thepoliticalnotebook:
“As I’m talking to you now, they’re dying.” Injured Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy gives Sky News an interview from his hospital bed. This is a really important interview. His descriptions of what’s happening in Homs are painful and terrible. He spoke of the scheduled...
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Facebook wird zur neuen Startseite des Internets →
Zwei von drei Internetnutzern steuern laut einer Umfrage die Startseite ihres Netzwerkes (FB, Xing, YouTube) häufiger an als die von Homepage von Google. Das weiß auch Google selbst: Bei einer Sitzung des Bundestags-Unterausschusses Neue Medien sagte ein Google-Anwalt, Facebook sei ein wichtiger Konkurrent.
“Viele Leute, die Facebook nutzen, nutzen Facebook als Einstieg ins Internet”,...
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... and the new favorite Tumblr award goes to: CNN... →
Tumblr-discovery of the week. If a blog can make you laugh at business news and posts pictures of cats waiting for Facebook’s IPO, it’s a must follow.