tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87379360083760110732024-02-07T06:24:59.718-06:00GlobalMattersPost.comHow does news shape our world? This blog will explore what is happening in technology and media (both the amazing and absurd) regarding global news, journalism, crowd sourcing, storytelling, social media, online movements, and occasionally touch on other topics of interest. Join me!Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-15669599870548617592013-03-04T14:33:00.001-06:002013-03-04T14:33:31.260-06:00It's been awhile!Hi everyone. It's been awhile. I have taken a hiatus but hope to begin posting more soon. In particular, more on storytelling and impact. Coming soon.Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-34076026404277852502011-05-23T16:53:00.001-05:002011-05-23T16:58:10.797-05:00Corruption Index -- Melding Journalist, Citizen Cooperation for Investigative Journalism!It has been a little while since I last checked in, but I do have something exciting to share. PRI, in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity (www.CPI.org) and Global Integrity (ww.globalintegrity.org) is embarking on an adventure combining investigative journalism, crowdsourcing, and government transparency and effectiveness, all in one package, the Corruption Index. (We <a href="http://www.pri.org/about/press-releases/new-grants-fund-50-state-corruption-risk-index2624.html">announced</a> this project a couple of months ago and are currently hiring positions to help make this happen.) The Omidyar Network and the Rita Allen Foundation are our primary funders for this project.<br />
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The Project will hire political reporters in every state capital and rank the 50 states for susceptibility to corruption and will use the <a href="http://www.globalintegrity.org/report/methodology">methodology </a>developed by Global Integrity which previously developed a ranking system at a nation-state level, evaluating countries on key indicators that are essential to mitigate corruption. These learnings will be translated at a state-level. For example, political financing laws, civil service management and state budget processes will be reviewed. The project team will also create online data, reporting and technology tools to empower citizens to demand greater transparency and effectiveness.<br />
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PRI will work with its 880 partner radio stations and key national programs like <a href="http://www.theworld.org/">PRI's The World</a> to inspire people through crowdsourcing and social media to take part in the project and spread the results. <br />
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Its like an evolving, organic and living investigative journalism project in partnership with the public. I will give updates as we learn from this ambitious effort and will share the victories, failures, and learnings!Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-73651302461284212332011-01-05T14:57:00.017-06:002011-01-05T20:10:50.685-06:00Mobile Texting to Tell Stories May Be "Mightier than the Sword" - Update<script src="http://www.freefoto.com/imagelink/?ffid=04-19-62&s=t" type="text/javascript">
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If you regularly read my blog, you understand my desire to break new ground in the use of technology to transform who is telling stories (new voices) and how these stories can be told in the news media in powerful ways.<br />
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In terms of texting, this desire goes far beyond the way that some content creators are using this two-way communications vehicle to ask if the "audience" likes something, or to vote this way or that. I am interested in how texting can be used to ascertain stories, perspectives and data that we would not have had otherwise, i.e., texting for crowd sourcing to add voices, context and relevance.<br />
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In our program <em>The Takeaway</em>, which is co owned and produced by PRI and WNYC in collaboration with the BBC World Service, The New York Times and WGBH Radio Boston, made great strides in pushing this forward in 2010, through its Detriot and Miami texting projects, and won a Knight-Batten Award for Innovation for these efforts.<br />
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To read more about the details of these projects, see my post from last year here.<br />
<a href="http://globalmatterspost.blogspot.com/2010/07/knight-batten-award-and-broadening.html">http://globalmatterspost.blogspot.com/2010/07/knight-batten-award-and-broadening.html</a><br />
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Now for the update that I have been meaning to post for some time. As you may recall, the big issue unearthed by our texting project in Mexicantown in Southwest Detroit was the fact that illegal truck traffic regularly barrelled through this neighborhood that sits on the border of the US and Canada, with the Ambassador Bridge as the primary artery. The neighborhood community has blamed the bridge and truck traffic for significant noise, congestion, high asthma rates, accidents/safety hazards and other quality of life issues.<br />
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Trucking companies and the company that owns the bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Company, had come under some pressure, in part from our work to ascertain this issue, which had not been extensively covered in the media. <i>The Takeawa</i>y and the local public radio station, WDET, got people together and used texting over the course of the project to text in license plates of trucks which were causing the issues so the community could develop plans to address and dialogue could begin. We told stories locally in partnership with WDET, and nationally had a dialogue on our program about transportation, affects on communities, and heard from voices on the ground.<br />
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<strong>UPDATE: Last summer it was announced that the Detroit International Bridge Company, "extended an olive branch" by donating over $200,000 to open an expanded health center in the community.</strong><br />
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<strong>This is a great example of how technology can be an integral part in creating a virtuous loop of storytelling, discovery and data that can enlighten, inform, and impact the world for the better.</strong>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-22637253357635624392010-12-30T19:50:00.012-06:002010-12-30T21:09:44.774-06:00How Can Journalism Regain Public Trust?<em>The following presentation was made at the MediaTenor Agenda-Setting Conference in Rappersvil, Switzerland in October 2010. </em><br />
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Good morning! I’m Alisa Miller, President and CEO of PRI, Public Radio International. PRI is best known as a creator and distributor of radio content in the United States. <br />
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But we are really an organization that creates news and storytelling content to help people successfully navigate our interconnected world. We recognize that it is imperative that people understand the rich diversity of our world in order to create a vibrant global society. Since 1983, we have provided different perspectives to ensure that our listeners had context for interpreting the news and making decisions. We are a leading provider of global news in broadcasting in the USA.<br />
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We work in close partnership with the BBC World Service, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and 19 other US-based production partners. Our content is heard by 13 million people each week on over 880 public radio stations in the US, on Radio One in Canada, and right here on World Radio Switzerland. If you aren’t in the US, Canada or Switzerland, you can stream our content at pri dot org, download our podcasts or listen through our iPhone app. <br />
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<b>We all know that fair, quality journalism feeds people’s ability to make good choices in their lives. </b><br />
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<b>It lays the groundwork for action and potential for change.</b><br />
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In our 27 year history, PRI has experienced a number of challenges and opportunities as media consumption changed, audiences’ needs evolved and new technologies were introduced. And now, like all of you, we are in an extraordinary environment that, every day, encourages us to think about how we can better serve audiences. Now, I’d like to talk about the environment in which we work, why journalism is more important than ever, and ways in which we can remain relevant as the world changes. <br />
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As we all know, today’s media world can be discouraging. The unprecedented global recession applies budget pressures that have resulted in many for-profit media organizations, especially print publications, to fail; even organizations as prominent and established as the BBC are looking for new ways to do more with less. We also see an erosion of trust in the news media overall.<br />
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<b>For the fourth straight year, the majority of Americans say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. The 57% who now say this is a record high by one percentage point.[1]</b><br />
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On top of economic challenges, our consumers’ attitudes and expectations are changing. News users over 35 expect media to deliver the news from a position of authority; younger news users question that level of authority. According to a global survey of 18-35 year olds by the AP [2], and research by Christopher Sopher and his blog "Younger Thinking." cited by the Neiman Journalism lab at Harvard, <b>younger news consumers want context for what is happening but may not see a consistent connection between regularly “getting the news” and staying informed about the issues that interest them.[3] </b><br />
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Advances in technology present another challenge: even as our traditional media is under pressure, we have to find a way to participate in all sorts of new distribution mechanisms: web-sites, podcasts, iPhones, iPads, mobile… it seems there is a new platform launched almost every day. <br />
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<b>These challenges are also the silver lining: our audiences DO want to know what is going on in the world around them. They are hungry for news. They want to be ACTIVE news users, and they have to technology to do so. What a great opportunity! </b><br />
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First, let’s look at the demand for journalism: <br />
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A recent Pew report shows that Americans follow news most of the time. In fact, the demand for news according to a recent Pew study is at least in the U-S is the highest it has been in the last Decade [5].<br />
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And finally, there is a growing contingent such as bloggers which is eager to create reports or POV content.<br />
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A recent report in the Wall Street Journal says more Americans are now making their primary income from posting blogs online than those who work as firefighters or computer programmers.<br />
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They have the ability to spread the word or be eye-witnesses to the news that is happening in their communities as we could see during the Iranian Elections and the Haiti Disaster. <br />
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And 30-somethings around the world are consuming media 24.7. This graphic shows a day in the life in terms of the 30-something demo; It tells us when they want what, and why. You can see they use all kinds of media throughout the day to satisfy specific and different needs that change. The user moves from wanting information to building understanding. Note how the evenings provide a unique opportunity for multi-platform consumption – at the same time.<br />
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The way users consume news is changing, but the desire to be informed and to know what is happening in the world is not going away. <br />
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As a group, the next generation is more diverse and savvy technologically; their needs and demands as news consumers differ from previous generations.[6] <br />
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These listeners expect news on-demand, as well as the option to discuss or even shape the content of the news itself. They have preferences to share and comment and engage at higher percentages.[7]<br />
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Technology makes it easier for people to contribute to and consume news content. As users move from dial-up internet access (typical in America up until the beginning of this century) to broadband connections to integrated networked media, the content we create will be more and more accessible. Our media will be more driven by handheld devices and wireless networks. The challenge and the opportunity for our industry will be to figure out how to use this networked world to advance public service. <br />
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This strong demand for news is encouraging, for it means that in the face of economic stress, people value journalism. Unfortunately, in the face of this demand, journalism is not meeting our users’ expectations. For example, US commercial television networks have cut the number of foreign bureaus by over 50%. <br />
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<b>The result, aside from one-person mini ABC bureaus in Nairobi, New Delhi, Rio, and Mumbai there are no network bureaus left in all of Africa, India or South America — places that are home to more than 2 billion people.</b><br />
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And with respect to the web – that vehicle that the younger demographic relies on – the most popular news sites don’t do much better. Pew and the Columbia Journalism School analyzed 14,000 stories that appeared on Google News’ front page in one day. These stories were essentially covering the same 24 news events, creating merely an echo chamber which implies abundance but does not deliver. [8]<br />
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Similarly, a study featured in EContent showed that much of global news available from U.S. news creators is recycled stories from the wire services and presented without a U.S. context<br />
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Finally, a number of topics that really matter when it comes to how our society works and functions – education, science, the environment, race & ethnicity, women & children – often represent less than 5% of the total news output combined. <br />
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<b>This shrinking supply of comprehensive news journalism imperils our society, and our inability to meet audiences needs inhibit the level of trust between us. On a daily basis, we see an increase in the polarization of where people go for news, perhaps indicating a decreased desire to deeply understand our fellow citizens. </b><br />
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In the U-S, as Pew recently found, ideology continues to be closely associated with people’s choice of certain news sources. Eight-in-ten Americans (80%) who regularly listen to Rush Limbaugh or watch Sean Hannity are conservative – roughly twice the national average of 36%. And at the other end of the spectrum, the New York Times, Keith Olbermann, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report and Rachel Maddow have regular audiences that include nearly twice the proportion of liberals than in the public.[9]<br />
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Many recognize this increasing polarization as a problem, and are working at an individual or organizational level to further understanding and compassion. As journalists, we have the ability, because of our reach and our historic role in society, to address this problem, by reaching out and engaging people across the spectrum. <br />
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<b>So, this is the crossroad which offers incredible opportunity for success: Demand is great, but media organizations are struggling to meet that demand. The increasing intolerance for different points of view requires action. Technology offers new ways to reach more people and encourage understanding. How do we take advantage of this convergence? I’d like to share some ideas for how journalism can succeed in this new landscape. </b><br />
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<u>First, we must re-establish trust with our existing audiences, and build it with new audiences by listening more and talking less. </u><br />
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At the heart of journalism’s ability to give audiences the information they need to make informed choices about their societies is a level of trust. Unfortunately, this trust is not as strong as it has previously been, in part because of failures in journalism as mentioned above, and because of changing audience expectations. We have the ability to rebuild this trust by reaching out to better understand our audiences and make them a participant in our end product. <br />
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At PRI, we have been turning outward to the communities we serve to learn more about the topics they deem relevant, and to understand more about their needs. This customer focus led us to create content that has attracted new audiences and expanded our reach. For example, in the early ‘90’s, PRI did research and found that Americans were hungry for international news, but the only international news they could find was lacking: it didn’t connect the dots between what happened abroad and what was happening in their communities. So PRI created, in partnership with the BBC World Service and WGBH Radio Boston, “PRI’s The World,” broadcasting’s only daily international news program that helps Americans understand how they affect and are affected by global events. “The World” is now heard by over 2.6 million people each week. <br />
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More recently, four years ago we conducted research among younger and ethnically diverse populations to learn why they didn’t consume public radio’s news content. They told us that the style was too formal, and that it was too academic. They wanted to know about the economy, the war, immigration policy and all the other news we typically cover, but they wanted it presented in a way that let them to connect to the story by offering their perspective. Once again, we responded, and created a morning drive news program called The Takeaway. The Takeaway uses broadcast, a web-site and social media (including Facebook, Twitter and mobile texting) to get listener feedback on the news reported by our journalists, and creating a conversation about the news of the day that goes far beyond the broadcast. This approach is attracting new audiences – younger and more ethnically diverse – to the program, and spurring the kind of response that good journalism is known to do. We are also seeing other in the industry respond in the last six months, with their own research, that confirms our findings from four years ago and shows that our efforts have catalyzed others. [10]<br />
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Based on what we’re learning from The Takeaway, and as a result of new technologies that allow citizens to contribute to content creation, PRI is looking at ways of incorporating eye-witness accounts or crowd sourced fact finding and aggregation from listeners into our content. NOT as a replacement for the reporting from journalists, but as a new way to add context and relevance. <br />
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<u>By responding to our consumers’ interests and concerns, we are beginning to re-establish trust. They recognize that we want to serve their needs for in-depth news reporting and that we want their perspectives to flesh out our reporting. As a result, they are more engaged with us, more active and consuming more of our content. We are more relevant to, and more trusted by, our audience</u>. <br />
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<u>We also need to deliver a more complete picture of the news that includes leveraging a news ecosystem that is far larger than our respective newsrooms. </u><br />
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As we know, resources to support the creation of journalism are under significant stress. One way to address these constraints AND improve the quality of our reporting is by reaching out to a diversity of contributors and working with other media organizations that bring a different perspective. For PRI – a national organization – that means looking to neighborhood, local and regional media organizations. By collaborating with each of them, we have access to more capacity and are able to show the broader picture of any community. And our local partners, at their best will also tap into national and international coverage from providers and help to provide LOCAL CONTEXT to these larger stories. We also will actively partner with peer organizations at a national and global level as we have proven that combined resources and best thinking leads to the best product -- almost every time.<br />
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<u>We also need to challenge ourselves not to just go to the extremes in perspectives to tell the story from the left and/or right. </u>This often leaves many trying to figure out what and who is the middle, which is another place where the facts and solutions could lie. This is counter culture to our coverage, particularly of policy.<br />
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<u>We also need to be serious about embracing civic reporting as part of our quiver to report and provide context of the news.</u> People who are in our audience can and should be engaged to help us create our product, more than just supplement it. This will foster trust and will allow us to focus our efforts on work that we alone can do. Where are the spaces where we can pursue unmet content needs and let others do the rest. We need to be asking ourselves these questions.<br />
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<u>And we need to be providing tools that give people the opportunity to use the news and apply it to their lives.</u> This will be the next wave providing relevance and breaking new ground in knowledge.<br />
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<u>And we need to harness the power of both actual and virtual communities to connect people at a personal level to the news, new ideas and each other, wherever they may be</u>. Through the power of code and algorithms and user engagement, we need to create spaces for people to personally find relevance and connect with each other around content.<br />
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For example do we even consider adjusting our approach and tone to new places, so as institutions, become members of those communities. For example, do you look at YouTube as a distribution outlet or a community in which your institution is a member, bringing your unique craft and perspectives. This difference how we see ourselves could dramatically change how people connect with your organization as a purveyor of knowledge and story telling. <br />
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Or do we actively provide tools that give people the ability to find personal relevance of stories for their lives? Is this an integrated part of our editorial process today? It needs to be.<br />
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As journalists, we provide information and context to help citizens make informed choices. Today, demand for our reporting is great… And so is the desire to identify issues of importance and engage with and contribute to traditional reporting. By listening to our audiences, we can re-build the trust needed to inform and support robust conversations about our world. This is our duty, and our opportunity. Let’s not fail to meet it. <br />
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Thank you.<br />
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<u>Footnotes:</u><br />
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[1] Distrust in US Media Edges Up to Record High, Gallop, September 2010. <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/distrust-media-edges-record-high.aspx">http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/distrust-media-edges-record-high.aspx</a><br />
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[2] <a href="http://www.prweekus.com/young-news-consumers-want-convenience-and-context-says-study/article/153889/">http://www.prweekus.com/young-news-consumers-want-convenience-and-context-says-study/article/153889/</a><br />
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[3] <a href="http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/08/the-kids-are-alright-part-2-what-news-organizations-can-do-to-attract-and-keep-young-consumers/">http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/08/the-kids-are-alright-part-2-what-news-organizations-can-do-to-attract-and-keep-young-consumers/</a><br />
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[4] Key News Audiences Now Blend Online and Traditional Sources", Pew Center for the People and the Press, page 38 in the PDF. <a href="http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1356.">http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1356.</a><br />
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[5] Pew Research Center June 8-28, 2010<br />
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[6] Audiences (18-34 year olds) increasingly rely on the Internet as a primary news source (“Abandoning The News,” Carnegie Reporter, Spring 2005).<br />
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[7] "Revealing the Digital News Experience -- For Young and Old". Nieman Lab, Harvard.<br />
<a href="http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitemprint.aspx?id=102406">http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitemprint.aspx?id=102406 </a><br />
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[8] The State of News Media 2009. Online content analysis. <a href="http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/narrative_online_contentanalysis.php?media=5&cat=1">http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/narrative_online_contentanalysis.php?media=5&cat=1</a><br />
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[9] "Americans Spending More Time Following the News- Ideological News Sources: Who Watches and Why", September 2010. Pew Center for People and the Press.<br />
<a href="http://people-press.org/report/652/">http://people-press.org/report/652/</a><br />
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[10] "Study sees growth if NPR loosens up, sounds less elite." Published in <i>Current</i>, September 20, 2010.<br />
<a href="http://www.current.org/audience/aud1017npr-opportunities.shtml">http://www.current.org/audience/aud1017npr-opportunities.shtml</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-66568098362301030622010-07-19T12:36:00.025-05:002010-07-20T11:56:23.659-05:00Knight-Batten Award Winner, Sourcing Through Texting and Broadening the Conversation in Storytelling<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the years, a great passion of mine has been the power of storytelling in media and how it can engage people. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi147xi-bwo07ZvX_FeKT-nbn8Cu9_M3wmKkYf4VrZ917uYBCrR2t_HSG61wQmeLjXXvXTUjJPbcjYxulrRZuy3kE9JEw-Dhi3dajAZOszGkP8GJw3Qbp9KSWoDNkrm7l3pP3D0GZmznm4/s1600/iphone3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi147xi-bwo07ZvX_FeKT-nbn8Cu9_M3wmKkYf4VrZ917uYBCrR2t_HSG61wQmeLjXXvXTUjJPbcjYxulrRZuy3kE9JEw-Dhi3dajAZOszGkP8GJw3Qbp9KSWoDNkrm7l3pP3D0GZmznm4/s200/iphone3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, I have been particularly excited by how the momentum of social networking and mobile technology can/could change who is telling the story, to whom and who can be moved by it. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A</span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nd I have some exciting progress to report!</span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First a bit of background:</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is quite a bit of angst within some media circles that given trends in social media, and how quality journalism and storytelling is often practiced, that the American conversation on important topics (or any conversation bounded by a geographic or issue boundaries) doesn't become a medium of the elite, or speaking to the choirs, but a place where diverse people and points of view on the world can come together and enlighten us all in new ways.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ethan Zuckerman in his recent TEDTalk at TED Global, points this problem out very eloquently, <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_zuckerman.html">Listening to Global Voices</a>. </span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now the progress:</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last fall, I began looking for a way to combine texting and content in public radio and reaching new users and listeners in new ways.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lets be clear, I LOVE smart phones and apps a plenty (I have too many to count). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if we talk about how to really open the flood-gates to add people to the conversation, regardless of status in society, texting is a much more equalizing medium. Nearly 300 million US mobile phones have the ability to text. So how can we incorporate a texting component into our story telling and engagement process, that is more than just,"tell us if you like something or vote for this or that"? It was a creative challenge that I was really intrigued with tackling.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is when I met <a href="http://www.mobilecommons.com/about-us/our-company/management-team/">Jed Alpert</a> of <a href="http://www.mobilecommons.com/">Mobile Commons</a>, a platform for mobile phones and texting. We got talking, and I was impressed with their work, which included working with content creators. But given PRI's role as innovator in content in public media and an organization that is built its operating model on partnership, I thought there could be ways that we could take this platform and take it to the next level, across PRI's programs, including The World and The Takeaway.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We entered into a deal with Global Commons earlier this spring. Most recently, our program The Takeaway (co produced with WNYC and in collaboration with The New York Times, the BBC World Service and WGBH Boston), developed a pilot to reach out and engage new people into public radio, build community, and tell stories not told before first in Detroit and then in Miami.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/2010/jul/06/detroit-txt-mightier-sword/">Detriot SMS might be mightier than the Sword (original story)</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/releases/texting/">Little Haiti and Sourcing through Texting</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here are some blog posts written by Michael Skoler, PRI's VP of Interactive Media on both of these pilots:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/leadership_blog/comments/20100628_the_takeaway_seeks_to_engage_diverse_communities/">The Takeaway seeks to engage diverse communities</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/leadership_blog/comments/20100701_using_media_to_create_shade_in_miamis_little_haiti/">PRI using media to create shade in Little Haiti in Miami</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is a link to a video of a prototype idea we uncovered working together with the community in Miami. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl1F6n5dZd4">Texting Prototype 5</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See more of these on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.youtube.com/pri">PRI's YouTube Channel</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">And it was just announced that our work received a <a href="http://www.j-lab.org/awards/category/2010kb_winners">Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism!</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sourcing Through Texting</b></span></blockquote><div><div class="no_top no_bottom" style="color: #1b1b5e; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><blockquote><a href="http://www.thetakeaway.org/" title="http://www.thetakeaway.org/"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1b1b5e;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.thetakeaway.org/</span></span></span></span></a></blockquote></div><div class="no_top" style="color: #1b1b5e; font-size: 12px; margin-top: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Takeaway, WNYC and Public Radio International, New York, N.Y.</span></blockquote></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Special Distinction Award</i></span></blockquote><div class="caption" style="background-color: #bfd4e1; background-image: url(http://www.j-lab.org/images/bk_images.gif); background-position: 50% 100%; color: #1b1b5e; float: right; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 9px; margin-right: 9px; margin-top: 9px; padding-bottom: 9px; padding-left: 9px; padding-right: 9px; padding-top: 9px;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #444444; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #444444; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #444444; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></blockquote></span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A team from The Takeaway radio show joined journalists from WDET Detroit in a successful experiment that prompted residents to text tips about particular stories from Mexicantown in Southwest Detroit. Residents texted information about trucks illegally barreling down their side streets, and in another experiment, they sent keywords describing their neighborhoods. The result: non-listeners became engaged and more informed. The experiment has continued in Miami’s Little Haiti.</span></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #008888; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the judges: “The experiment opened doors for engaging non-listeners in ways they liked.”</span></div></div><div><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is exciting to see how a small idea or hypothesis can come together fairly quickly and show promising results and perhaps more importantly, expand our learning. We obviously have more work to do, but it is great to see that this new way of reaching out and building stories is gaining recognition.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We look forwarding to testing this further!</span>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-1363116574748752992010-04-08T13:46:00.001-05:002010-04-08T20:59:05.260-05:00Leading GOP Conservative Cautions Supporters about Fox NewsPerception of bias or not is often in the eyes of the beholder. I thought this recent comment by GOP Conservative Tom Colburn (R-OK) re the reporting of Fox News was of particular interest.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pri.org/politics-society/top-gop-conservative-coburn-slams-fox-news1940.html">Top GOP Conservative Colburn Slams Fox News</a><br />
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What do you think of Fox Coverage, or others?Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-40709134330229780112010-04-07T11:00:00.000-05:002010-04-07T11:00:38.473-05:00Tiger Woods, WikiLeaks and the killing of a Reuters photographer by US ForcesA picture can be a thousand words. I came across this compelling statistic. On Monday when WikiLeaks story/video on the killing of Reuters photographer by US forces in Iraq check out the comparison of coverage. Only 8 news stories appeared in Google News of the Reuters Photographer and there were 3389 article on Tiger Woods returning to the Master's Golf Tournament. See link for image of Google results.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/uBVtN.jpg">Google News Shapshot</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-42182377077668700022010-03-24T20:33:00.043-05:002010-07-20T13:55:00.605-05:00Patrick Kennedy Rants re Afghanistan News Coverage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu7ZVlylXPnv3CJWaw4WhHqpWXjCbZCTxPTv5-ySoosRUW9BQ_1Ovc1LSSIBkhMCWEK0OtpOkuHs7rB2i8Z7n5THxmsQTd5WxZC-lygXYWbNvIrXvdN9gk8pcxyXrz8Raj_MtCiafRUA/s1600/afghanistan.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDu7ZVlylXPnv3CJWaw4WhHqpWXjCbZCTxPTv5-ySoosRUW9BQ_1Ovc1LSSIBkhMCWEK0OtpOkuHs7rB2i8Z7n5THxmsQTd5WxZC-lygXYWbNvIrXvdN9gk8pcxyXrz8Raj_MtCiafRUA/s200/afghanistan.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Did you see all the hubabaloo last week regarding Patrick Kennedy and his "rant" regarding the fact that the news media appeared obsessed with Former Representative Eric Massa and not with the House debate on the Afghanistan War? <br />
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I have thought a bit about this. And it is true, it is unlikely the resolution under debate would have had a chance of passing, so perhaps that was reason enough for the limited press presence. <br />
<br />
As Kennedy yelled:<br />
<blockquote> ".... two press people in this gallery. We're talking about Eric Massa 24/7 on the TV. We're talking about war and peace — $3 billion, 1,000 lives, and no press! No press! ... It's despicable, the national press corps right now."</blockquote>But if you step back, the important point is that our commercial media does seem, way too often, obsessed with the shiny objects like Tiger Woods, or Representative Massa's antics, and not important topics.<br />
<br />
In fact, last week, according to the Pew Research Center's News Coverage Index, for the week of March 8-14th, the Massa story was the 5th most covered story of ALL news topics. And in terms of newsmakers (individuals in the news), Massa was only second to President Barack Obama.<br />
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<a href="http://www.journalism.org/index_report/pej_news_coverage_index_march_814_2010">PEJ News Coverage Index March 8-14, 2010</a><br />
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Did you also notice that it seemed that much of the cable media's commentary on Kennedy's comments seem to center on his RANT than actually address the SUBSTANCE of the criticism? As a friend of mine recently said, "Why wasn't a journalist from CNN interviewing the head of news of CNN on why they covered so much Massa.... on CNN?!"<br />
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DeWayne Wickham wrote a well-put Op Ed last week in USA Today on this topic, take a read here...<br />
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<a href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/03/column-kennedy-has-a-point-in-his-tirade-over-afghanistan-coverage-.html">USA TODAY column "Kennedy has a point in his tirade over afghanistan coverage"</a><br />
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And of course, Steve Colbert also took a crack at the Massa-Afghanistan rant and he really nails it in the entertaining piece:<br />
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<a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/267525/march-15-2010/the-word---afghanistan">The-Word---Afghanistan</a><br />
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But don't take my word for it, or DeWayne Wickham's or even Steven Colbert's.... take the Pew Research Center Project for the Excellence in Journalism's word for it.<br />
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Each year Pew puts out a report on the state of journalism that scans thousands of sources and analyzes the content covered in American journalism. So I decided to go take a quick look and see what they found as it related to Afghanistan coverage over the last few years. So starting in 2007, followed by 2008 and 2009, how much press did Afghanistan actually get?<br />
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In the 2008 report (which looks at the 2007 news year), the State of Journalism had a section entitled, "A Limited Diet of Global News", and among facts it points out that the percentage of Afghanistan coverage was <strong>(0.9%).</strong> And at the time, 2007 was<strong> "the deadliest for American forces in Afghanistan since that war began in 2001."</strong> For more see the <a href="http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2008/narrative_overview_contentanalysis.php?cat=2&media=1">Content Analysis in the report</a>.<br />
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The 2009 report (which looks at the news year in 2008), the State of Journalism had a section entitled, "Other International News Drops Even More."<br />
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And it said:<br />
<blockquote>Iraq was not the only important global story to be crowded out of the American news in 2008. Coverage of international affairs generally, whether it involved the U.S. or not, fell by more than 40%, to 17% of the newshole studied in 2008, compared with 29% in 2007. Combined coverage of Pakistan and Iran—two countries that present major strategic challenges to the U.S.—fell by almost two-thirds (dropping to 2% of the newshole studied in 2008)</blockquote><div><blockquote><strong>Coverage of the other war in which U.S. troops were fighting—Afghanistan—remained at the same low level (1%) in 2008 as 2007, but it had already almost disappeared. That despite a 2008 American death toll that was the highest in the six-year history of that conflict and continuing signs that the fighting may escalate. (bold added)</strong></blockquote></div>For more see <a href="http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2009/narrative_yearinthenews_intro.php?media=2">The 2009 Report</a>.<br />
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And finally, what about the 2010 report (which looked at 2009 news year). It was a year when there was debate in Washington and around the country about what strategy we should take regarding the future of the War. What happened? Well, coverage did increase, but given its importance.... does this seem like the right percentage to you?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FEmJDqu_IqdHaSMltIHrMDgnjscc0DENmbVL3oZREap1fhHT3SCvUP-pGuRqtphc6HW7swOUXv5x4ggHbKs4vSEqBajJ4IA2nNt3D6eHCB1Z1UrerH5UAVNfn2gFWpb_vfOv1Opshl8/s1600/All+Media+2009+-+Coverage+of+Afghanistan.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FEmJDqu_IqdHaSMltIHrMDgnjscc0DENmbVL3oZREap1fhHT3SCvUP-pGuRqtphc6HW7swOUXv5x4ggHbKs4vSEqBajJ4IA2nNt3D6eHCB1Z1UrerH5UAVNfn2gFWpb_vfOv1Opshl8/s400/All+Media+2009+-+Coverage+of+Afghanistan.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<strong>Afghanistan received 4.6% of ALL coverage.</strong> Was all 95.4% of the coverage on other topics really more important than a war that has been going on since 2001? Whatever your view on the War itself, I think we can all agree that this topic is more important than the level of news coverage it is receiving in commercial media.<br />
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On this one, Patrick Kennedy had it right.Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-52874730378218422262010-03-19T12:01:00.006-05:002010-03-30T09:26:45.468-05:00How many news organizations originally cover the news anymore... not many.I wanted to call your attention to a very interesting piece of research regarding coverage of China that I recently came across. It is about the Google Hacking case and appears on the Neiman Journalism Lab website.<br />
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Jonathan Stray points out in "The Google/China hacking case: How many news outlets do the original reporting on a big story?" how little ORIGINAL reporting on this topic occured and it is a GREAT example of how the web can be an echo chamber. In other words, many may write or opine about a topic as part of the news/media ecosystem, but it oftentimes, it is a limited number of source "springs" that generates the core story and provides all the base of the activity. The analogy I like to make:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Its like holding junior high school dance, a Beyonce song is blarring, lights are strobing, and there are 100 boys all having to take turns dancing with the same girl. It might be fun, but perhaps a bit more variety and a bit more attendance could help the whole event work.<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span> </blockquote>All these iterations should not be confused with MORE journalism. It is MORE commenting and derivatives of the same story. <br />
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What is the impact of this lack of diverse voices and editorial POV? Potentially a lack of understanding or at its worst, fostering misunderstanding. If there is only a couple of organizations that are taking the time, or have the commitment to get to the story, it leads the public with limited options to figure out their own "truths", or they believe that they are getting multiple takes, and in fact they aren't. This only underscores the need for a continued focus on journalism innovation to fund and support original sources, that will give everyone else something to talk about and learn from. It also underscores the need for real time transparency to understand what is actually derivative of what in a holistic, and aggregated way.<br />
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As Stray says, "Out of the 121 distinct versions of last week’s story about tracing Google’s recent attackers to two schools in China, 13 (11 percent) included at least some original reporting. And just seven organizations (six percent) really got the full story independently."<br />
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WOW.<br />
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For more please see the complete article.....<a href="http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/the-googlechina-hacking-case-how-many-news-outlets-do-the-original-reporting-on-a-big-story/">http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/02/the-googlechina-hacking-case-how-many-news-outlets-do-the-original-reporting-on-a-big-story/</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-59527972968814183712010-01-10T14:18:00.003-06:002010-01-10T17:08:14.485-06:00Journalism for Sale to the Highest Bidder -- Get Out Your Checkbook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa67enLjZSITEFwcALR8RHyOlpCmzYRiOCO0wYt7MSK9gyLHacWjKRqGBMvndW_tXeShdEKJVMsXCQ_egRgHnY6eqTYVgC4lucY2Yt129Sni7mPLH6yRRMQD7pVeYJyWMemU6slclc3E/s1600-h/checkbook+image.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGa67enLjZSITEFwcALR8RHyOlpCmzYRiOCO0wYt7MSK9gyLHacWjKRqGBMvndW_tXeShdEKJVMsXCQ_egRgHnY6eqTYVgC4lucY2Yt129Sni7mPLH6yRRMQD7pVeYJyWMemU6slclc3E/s200/checkbook+image.bmp" /></a><br />
</div>I wanted to call your attention to a column on the disturbing rise in "checkbook journalism." I hope this is a blip and not a trend, but unfortunately it may be the latter. <br />
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The <i>Washington City Paper </i>recently published an column by <a href="http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=38291">Dave McKenna</a> on the subject. Inspired by the latest case when NBC News chartered a private jet for David Goldman to return with his son from Brazil after a long, drawn-out custody fight. NBC says this isn't checkbook journalism, because they technically did not pay for the story itself, but only paid thousands of dollars to charter a private plane and then got an exclusive or two... hmmmm, interesting logic. <br />
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Then he talks about the recent payments by ABC and CNN for photos from Jasper Schuringa, a passenger on the XMAS Day Northwest airlines flight where the passengers thwarted a bomb that happened to be located in the underwear of a would-be terrorist. Schuringa apparently gave his first interviews to the new organizations who bought his photos. <br />
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McKenna makes the point that "Checkbook journalism" is a term coined in the 70s, has been around in some form or another for some time. With that said, perhaps we are entering into some kind of resurgence of the practice, through tangential payment schemes.<br />
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It is important in terms of transparency that IF news organizations are doing this (which they shouldn't at all!), they should AT LEAST be transparent about what transactions might be underlying their content. Otherwise, it is only through other sources that this is leaked, or comes to light at all. <br />
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The entire practice of checkbook journalism will damage all organizations who proactice journalism. It should be completely avoided. However, if an organization does do this in some form, not disclosing these versions of payments make it even worse, as people are left to wonder if EVERY story has some underlying payment attached it. <br />
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So, if major journalism organizations are going to engage in payment-like practices (calling into question their long term viability to call themselves journalism organizations), the least you can do is disclose it. If you don't think it is something to be embarrassed about, then why hide it. This is important to media literacy and letting the consumer put the pieces together and giving them the right to make their own call.Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-66191421626049299402010-01-01T21:33:00.004-06:002010-01-01T21:46:13.731-06:00The "Missing" News Stories of 2009Recently, PRI's program <i>To the Point</i> hosted by Warren Olney and from KCRW in Los Angeles tackled this important subject and interviewed Joshua Keating, Associate Editor at "Foreign Policy" magazine, which created a top 10 of missed stories for 2009. These are stories that could impact America and the world in potentially profound ways, but they were no where to be found. For whatever reason, whether it be a preoccupation by the commercial press to cover celebrity or controversy, etc., these stories went "missing." As Joshua said, "These are ... the kind of stories that tend to linger in the page four section of the daily newspapers, but never make it on to cable news or the blogosphere."<br />
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The top three:<br />
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#1 The new shipping route that has opened between Russia and the Arctic due to global warming.<br />
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#2 Growing fears of conflict between the Arab and Kurdish populations in Iraq.<br />
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#3 A border dispute between India & China, "and the hotline established between the two countries to avoid possible war."<br />
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Pretty interesting take. Do you remember hearing about these stories? Do you think they are a big deal? Would be curious what your take would be too... what important stories, either national or international or global do you feel the news media missed due to preoccupation with other subjects? Would be interested in your views!<br />
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For more background on this topic and interview on To the Point, and to see a link to the entire top 10 list, please visit, PRI.org, here:<br />
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<a href="http://www.pri.org/world/missing-stories-2009.html">"Missing Stories of 2009 | PRI.ORG </a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-67042684179592565612009-12-20T16:21:00.002-06:002009-12-21T18:44:35.730-06:00PRI's The World Geo Quiz Challenge Online Game!Hi there. If you are interested in things global, have to put in a plug for a new online game that PRI has developed that was inspired by the Geoquiz segment on PRI's The World. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.pri.org/geoquiz.html">PRI: Public Radio International: National and World News, Talk, Arts, Entertainment and Music - PRI's The World Geo Quiz Challenge</a><br /><br />How much do you know about places and events in The World, test your skill and see how you rate amongst all who are playing!Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-43496120556247852472009-12-18T13:05:00.009-06:002009-12-18T13:20:08.130-06:00A Rap on Public Radio and an Ode to Ira Glass!!!How can Rap and Public Radio be in the same sentence? (and I am NOT talking about a public radio story about rap but a rap about pubilc radio!) <br /><br /><em>Yes, it is true! </em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUFHc4dZzXlLp81cYEgMb86Y11eb6zWXVWABaiKyfoa6Xv7X36AHoXTgKX7kBvm8lIjyyTz2mcBq4rrvdCjltwFxNBIFdZgNDI3RTDL2vJ0PN88KiaGi4vN4eQ8Y87mHT9ArHWryE5HU/s1600-h/IraGlass.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUFHc4dZzXlLp81cYEgMb86Y11eb6zWXVWABaiKyfoa6Xv7X36AHoXTgKX7kBvm8lIjyyTz2mcBq4rrvdCjltwFxNBIFdZgNDI3RTDL2vJ0PN88KiaGi4vN4eQ8Y87mHT9ArHWryE5HU/s400/IraGlass.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416657900254697954" /></a><br /><br />Something fun for the weekend. Check out this cool rap by Adam WarRock about public radio, Ira, This American Life and how story telling is powerful in all our lives! The link includes story of how this came into being too...<a href="http://www.adamwarrock.com/?p=172">Ira Glass Rap!!!</a><br /><br />Enjoy!!!<br /><br />Thanks Adam! Feel free to Rap about any PRI Show anytime! How about The World for an encore!? <br /><a href="http://www.theworld.org">www.theworld.org</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-51894526363689257662009-12-14T04:00:00.007-06:002009-12-14T15:34:28.414-06:00Ebook and Iran Vs Michael<strong>Welcome! </strong><br /><br />I am officially launching my blog publicly today! You will see I have been populating this with posts over the last month so there is some meaty stuff to read. Thanks for coming! <br /><br /><strong>What Matters Now </strong><br /><br />You have likely found your way to me based on my page in Seth Godin's "What Matters Now" ebook. See that PDF here: <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/12/what-matters-now-get-the-free-ebook.html ">Seth's Godin's Ebook, What Matters Now.</a><br /><br />I chose the word "Knowledge", because I am so passionate about building knowledge and insight through media. And so much of knowledge media is in trouble, so we must make change and now! <br /><br />I think many of the ideas and insights in the ebook are pretty incredible, but there are a few that I really connect with, including: Dignity -page 8, Enrichment -page 16, Most -page 21, Power -page 29, Harmony -page 30, Compassion -page 33, Forever -page 37, Empathy -page 38, DIY -page 41, Dumb -page 43, THNX -page 47, Leap -page 64, Women -page 65, Mesh -page 71, I'm Sorry -page 76.<br /><br /><br /><strong>So, what about my essay and how does news shape our world? As I said, it is quite distorted, in fact, see below...</strong> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXTAWv-OFLBgCUNrTjiOG2IcbmJSJq153bPT_b6wnvKH5PGe5f-kpMgIWOqhiR4b73dViJhoT2zvVlK8zIKt5Xes5R_CTMT6ElQytCAbw-J8KCdg4QRLdIXuRLLDpQyC7lxIknhqY64I/s1600/1034_seconds_of_national_TV_news_coverage_feb_2007-ea-cart.GIF"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXTAWv-OFLBgCUNrTjiOG2IcbmJSJq153bPT_b6wnvKH5PGe5f-kpMgIWOqhiR4b73dViJhoT2zvVlK8zIKt5Xes5R_CTMT6ElQytCAbw-J8KCdg4QRLdIXuRLLDpQyC7lxIknhqY64I/s400/1034_seconds_of_national_TV_news_coverage_feb_2007-ea-cart.GIF" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408619555087359970" /></a><br /><br />Pretty disturbing, eh? This map is based on my original research which was then fed into the cartography program created by Worldmapper. Check them out. <a href="http://www.worldmapper.org">http://www.worldmapper.org</a><br /><br />I developed some original analysis of TV news broadcast coverage in March of 2007 by CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC using the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. <br /><br />The map represents the total number of seconds of coverage dedicated to particular countries of the world, by reviewing and aggregating the stories told. The map's shape changes based on the volume of coverage. The Vanderbilt database includes coverage from the networks during the network evening news programs, and the "hardest" news program in the prime time on CNN, Andersen Cooper's 360. This data and analysis was then plugged into the Worldmapper algorithm, and voila, how news shaped our world that month! <span style="font-weight:bold;">If you check out my TED speech, from </span><a href="http://globalmatterspost.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-news-shapes-world-ted-talk.html">my post on November 26th, 2009</a>, <span style="font-weight:bold;">and you can learn more about what that analysis and meta-research uncovered. Pretty shocking. </span><br /><br />IMPORTANT NOTE: I will also be updating the "How the News Shapes Our World" map shortly. It will demonstrate how Michael Jackson's death, for the month of June (despite passing away at the end of the month), in fact, impacted the OVERALL average of what was reported on for the ENTIRE month. Become a follower of my blog and you will receive a notice when this important research and visual is posted.<br /><br /><strong>IN THE MEANTIME, IRAN Vs. MICHAEL Coverage. (Iran Loses)</strong><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Recently, I used this same database to zero in how one news event can potentially affect the amount of coverage another event receives. So I did a piece of original analysis. In this case, how did Michael Jackson's death effect the coverage of Iran during the 48 hours before and after Michael's death.</span> Really quite disturbing, to see how Iran coverage literally dropped of a cliff, despite important developments occurring there during that time. I will be looking at other major stories of that period as well to see whether Iran got the shaft more or less so. I would also be curious how social networking responded during this same period.... was the drop-off just as pronounced? Or did Iran hold its own better... thoughts anyone?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGwdIMf5g5YqV_FesjtyOmml6bsWws8Hp21tY36TiTjvop7_knl2lJAS0pY36k6n4Iu1BosKtvvENFY2u7W-PwHGpI7Zj076v93bDU4Ml6aLrtk4wqwaRBEFaEei9Wf_YOdwZhZ0wrUA/s1600/iran+versus+Michael.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEGwdIMf5g5YqV_FesjtyOmml6bsWws8Hp21tY36TiTjvop7_knl2lJAS0pY36k6n4Iu1BosKtvvENFY2u7W-PwHGpI7Zj076v93bDU4Ml6aLrtk4wqwaRBEFaEei9Wf_YOdwZhZ0wrUA/s400/iran+versus+Michael.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408271562222906642" /></a><br /><br />In terms of background, as you might recall, late June continued to be a critical time in Iran. The world was watching all that unfolded -- Twitter and Facebook were used to get information out, and news organizations scrambled to cover the elections and the protests in this incredibly important country to America's security and future. <br /><br />And then, on June 25th, Michael Jackson died. As you would expect, this event took precedence over the continuing Iran story... but the overall decline of Iran coverage is absolutely shocking! This chart shows the number of seconds dedicated to Michael Jackson's death and Iran, two days preceding the death and two days afterwards. The data set: a minute by minute account, looking at the evening news and prime time CNN. The number of aggregate seconds of coverage across NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN are added together. This original analysis uses the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive data set. <br /><br />Now you might say, but perhaps there wasn't a lot going on in Iran at that point? In fact, it remained a critical period in the crisis. And was just days before the Iranian Guardian Council certified the results of the controversial election (June 29, 2009). See the timeline of this critical period...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXWOONpcit98uwteHEnXYIkN8sA-QvqBLnHdHDOcRgfzcX7G60QODsfRhOx58QFjQYnvdTC7lzSpBBQYzqBU3uAkte31OY-JRLMEsnlnCVegGsjdfXWLTI7zOjirFq3ffNmScZONLGcI/s1600/iran+timeline+2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXWOONpcit98uwteHEnXYIkN8sA-QvqBLnHdHDOcRgfzcX7G60QODsfRhOx58QFjQYnvdTC7lzSpBBQYzqBU3uAkte31OY-JRLMEsnlnCVegGsjdfXWLTI7zOjirFq3ffNmScZONLGcI/s400/iran+timeline+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408625224812364306" /></a><br /><br /><strong>What will you find on this blog?</strong><br /><br />More broadly, what can you expect to find here? I look forward to blogging with you and talking about global news, journalism and storytelling that can change our world. I will also post original research or insights as I can. I have been working on these issues for some time. It is clear that models for objective journalism are in trouble. What is also clear is that much of journalism as we knew it, didn't do us justice in the first place. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Please join me!</strong><br /><br />I hope you enjoy browsing and will become a follower and contributor through commenting and suggesting ideas. <br /><br />Most importantly, I look forward to our ongoing dialogue <span style="font-weight:bold;">and I look forward to learning from you and problem solving together</span> so we can make a difference!Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-37500113013640967192009-12-05T16:29:00.003-06:002009-12-13T18:30:05.013-06:00Journalism and TransparencyI am wondering why so much of journalism doesn't exhibit the transparency it seeks in others.....Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-53016588098392715982009-12-04T09:42:00.002-06:002009-12-13T18:31:06.344-06:00FTC Opening Comments...Here are my opening comments from the panel on the future of journalism that I participated in earlier this week....<br /><br />Opening Comments by Alisa Miller<br />“How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?” Workshop<br />Reducing the costs of journalism panel<br />The Federal Trade Commission<br />Wednesday, December 2, 2009<br /><br />Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to talk about what I believe is a incredibly important time for our democracy – how can we sustain quality trusted journalism in our county and the important role journalism plays in our society to inform, enlighten, hold power structures to account, and at its best, inspire people based on powerful story telling to live their lives better.<br /><br />I am CEO of PRI, the public media network and organization focused on providing and creating global news and cultural perspectives, reaching millions each week. <br /><br />In this role, I have listened to and participated in many sessions over the last year about the future of journalism, and I would like to underscore a key point that I think is missed in some of these discussions. I believe that we are not just facing a journalism business model problem, but that we are currently suffering a journalism scope and quality problem in America. Why? Because even when profits were high, the fact is that in many communities and even from mass media news sources, key beats have not been represented for years. And certainly not at levels that are sufficient given these topics importance to our society. This had much to do with what incentives were present in the commercial sector and the mass consolidation of sources and channels over the last decade or so.<br /><br />With that said the impact of new media, shifts in advertising revenue and the economic downturn have only accelerated the decline.<br /><br />So what can we do? I am optimistic that much is possible. I believe the future is about how we can strive to practice more what we call at PRI, “Galvanizing Journalism” PRI’s Galvanizing journalism model is driven by five major principals and is more possible than ever in our digital world:<br /><br />Number one, Meet the need. It starts from asking ourselves, what are the unmet content needs that Americans have in terms of functioning in our democracy and living successfully in our interconnected world. <br /><br />For PRI, this means making the local to global connection and have content that reflects the changing face of America and diverse and robust voices.<br /><br />Number two, Focus resources and provide context. Focus resources on contextualized journalism and producing this journalism in a sustained matter, each day and week, responsive the news cycle and also responding to user needs<br /><br />Number three, Leverage the power of partnership to tell stories differently. <br /><br />This means featuring diverse voices and focusing on non-duplication of resources. We believe partnership, done right and with experience, can lead to a model that can be 3-5 times more efficient than traditional vertical journalism operations. We are a complement to and very different from these institutions. I look forward to sharing some examples as we get into our discussion.<br /><br />In other words, don’t look at your editorial capacity as the beginning and end of your editorial capacity. As Jeff Jarvis said in the web world, cover what you do best and link to the rest. That should just be the start.<br /><br />We can also partner far more with our public and blogs. They can provide I-witness accounts, highlight and bring issues to the fore, and crowd source to attack complex topics together with journalists.<br /><br />Number four, Operate as a catalyst /galvanize organizations and resources. It isn’t just enough to create the content anymore. How are you helping and leading others to create the content too. In PRI’s case we use and create both broadcast and increasingly digital platforms to publish content and spark engagement. All at a relatively low incremental costs in order to reach people where they are.<br /><br />And finally, Five, Model the transparency we seek. Use semantic web to help people make connections and understand our content better and use it to improve their lives and their communities. We also believe this will help people trust the sources of their news more.<br /><br />I look forward to our discussion today and thank you again for the opportunity.Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-60258442256741066192009-12-02T11:31:00.003-06:002009-12-16T12:49:09.480-06:00Education Coverage in the News... Grade: FThe Brookings Institution released its study December 2nd on news coverage of the education beat in national media. <strong>The overall finding: Only 1.4% of coverage is dedicated to education as a topic. Seems like a failing grade! </strong><br /><br />Based on the research, during the first nine months of 2009, "only 1.4 percent of national news coverage from television, newspapers, news Web sites, and radio dealt with education. Coverage is defined as the percent of space devoted to a topic as a percentage of the overall space available for content (number of words for print and online, amount of time for radio and television)."<br /><br />Given that education is arguably one of the most critical ingredients to how a society functions (or doesn't function), it is concerning that this is the level of journalism dedicated to this important subject. The report states that over 50 million students are currently attending public pre-kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools, another six million in non-public k-12 institutions, and 18 million in post secondary institution.<br /><br />The report goes on to make the important point that, "Citizen-initiated journalism such as blogs, YouTube videos, Facebook postings, I-comments, and the like are helpful with breaking news and commentary on events ranging from shootings to flu outbreaks. Local blogs can encourage substantive debate on education issues, and school systems have used new technologies to keep parents in closer touch with their children’s schools and educational progress. But none of these can replace regular, systematic and ongoing coverage of education by news outlets."<br /><br />I was curious about the data set used and methodology. Brookings commissioned the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism to see how the media covered education. Pew looked at reporting by television networks, cable TV, talk radio, leading web sites, and national newspapers. This translated to reviewing 551 education stories from January through September 2009 and also compared news coverage in 2007 and 2008. Also, Brookings also reviewed AP stories itself and also reviewed case studies of blogs devoted to local newspaper/education coverage, picking geographic diversity, in four communities: Phoenix, Arizona; Providence, Rhode Island; Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. <br /><br />MORE ON THE FINDINGS ON COVERAGE: The 1.4 percent of coverage in 2009 means that this small percentage had to encompass all coverage about preschools, elementary, middle, secondary, schools and higher education. This was only marginally higher than in 2008, when only 0.7 percent of the newshole dealt with education, and 2007, where the figure was 1.0 percent. <br /><br />A fringe benefit of this research: In the course of tracking education beat coverage, Pew and Brookings also compiled data on the amount of coverage dedicated to other beats. <br /><br />HOW THIS RELATES TO OTHER RESEARCH I AM FOLLOWING: Similar to what we find with global news coverage research that I have reviewed, the issue with education coverage is that it is episodic, reactive, and focused on major events. This is likely due to the fact that less and less professional journalists that are able to give this topic sustained coverage and effort actually exist anymore.<br /><br />RUNDOWN: Here is the rundown of coverage overall, with Education framed in context. Note the other important subject areas that also received, little to no coverage...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTlmf6yYZu5kngOAEvP3ATPuBYEkI6WuUaSVUdS01w7e9VfhcsEFQVuqtU9BRnSPzqq_1M_1-JKFlhcxDXHhkIgXfaj-YT4C-HO9QPHuzL4VsydSqjigylRtkTXMP02D84lHqH3wtCIs/s1600/pew+brookings+research+2009.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTlmf6yYZu5kngOAEvP3ATPuBYEkI6WuUaSVUdS01w7e9VfhcsEFQVuqtU9BRnSPzqq_1M_1-JKFlhcxDXHhkIgXfaj-YT4C-HO9QPHuzL4VsydSqjigylRtkTXMP02D84lHqH3wtCIs/s400/pew+brookings+research+2009.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410115288372597858" /></a><br /> <br />SOLUTIONS: The report outlines a number of potential solutions. Based on my understanding of the journalism field, the following seem the strongest: <br /><br />#1 Having the education sector better understand how media impacts their work (Therefore, put out information in a digestable way, etc.)<br /><br />#2 Encouraging youth journalism and not relegating student to cover non controversial topics,"In fact, student journalism of this kind should be encouraged. Student newspapers often lead the media to important education stories."<br /><br />#3 Integrating "quality education blogs and forms of citizen journalism..." into traditional media. "Newspapers could develop their own blogs and community talkbacks, and also provide links to education blogs that already exist in the community. This could help fill the policy void left by staff cutbacks on education beats."<br /><br />#4 Not for profit media and their funders should move to fill this unmet content need void on a national and local level. <br /><br />Other suggestions, although well-meaning, may not address the underlying economic disincentive to cover education (not something that, given costs and dedicated resources, it will not likely be a priority for some time to come for commercial media)<br /><br />For example:<br /><br />#1 "Reporting should become more proactive and less reactive. Much of coverage today is episodic and driven by events. Focusing on long-term trends would help to inform communities about the content of education and ways schools are seeking to move forward." (Perhaps not for profit media will tackle this, but not sure for profits will).<br /><br />Or<br /><br />#2 "Newspapers and other media outlets that have cut back on education reporting should reconsider these decisions both on public interest grounds, and also because there is widespread interest in the issues surrounding education – on the part of parents especially, but also among employers and other community leaders. It is only through on-going, day-to-day beat reporting that journalists develop an understanding of the subject, gain a sure feel for the issues at stake, and develop sources who keep them informed."<br /><br />This last point is also SO true, that sustained coverage is the only way to lead to understanding of a topic, but again, I am not sure what the incentive of commercial news media will be to cover....<br /><br /><em>With that said, this report appears to be a strong piece of research that not only puts the education beat in context but also provides more data on numerous other beats.</em> <br /><br />To watch the webcast regarding the report, go to:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/events/2009/1202_education_media.aspx "></a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-13576199855874765452009-12-02T09:47:00.001-06:002009-12-02T09:47:23.291-06:00Check out my tweets today as I will be tweeting from the FTC convening How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age.Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-56072163013666917162009-11-26T15:53:00.000-06:002009-11-26T20:51:23.522-06:00How News Shapes The World TED TalkThis talk was a lot of fun to do. And I have been amazed at the feedback and the views of this talk over the last couple of years. I am in the process of updating it, but the original still rings true as much today as it did back then. I am putting a link to the original TEDTalk as well as to a YouTube slide show we did as well. In all, this video and the slide show version across the TED.com site, Youtube and PRI.org, has had well over 250,000 views. Can't believe it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_about_the_news.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/alisa_miller_shares_the_news_about_the_news.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/pri#p/u/1/KfiT3XqtcbE">http://www.youtube.com/pri#p/u/1/KfiT3XqtcbE</a><br /><br />It is followed up by a partial update to this talk with a discussions of potential solutions to the problem of how to get more quality global journalism and beat level journalism back into our news diets.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3jixRgCwEI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3jixRgCwEI</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8737936008376011073.post-38339427588826838392009-11-26T01:22:00.000-06:002009-11-25T23:22:30.479-06:00Women, News and Getting Satisfaction...I wanted to call your attention to a very interesting report that can bring good insights for the "new" news norms that have emerged, women, and social networking. The New Entrepreneurs, New Perspectives from American University’s J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.<br /><br />The study focuses on women creators and users of news, and a lot of great insights of how people get involved with news, why, and what traditional news alone may or may not be satisfying people. IT is a number of pages (sorry), but big ideas are highlighted. And it is an interesting read. <br /><br />"<strong>New J-Lab Research: New Entrepreneurs: New Perspectives on News</strong><br /><br />New forms of journalism are being created around the country where online local news sites have launched to report on their communities. The journalism is characterized by a deliberate shift in the definition of objectivity, a drive for community conversation and discussion, and broader definitions of “news” that seek to connect readers to a sense of the place where they live."<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.j-lab.org/about/press_releases/new_forms_of_journalism_emerge_in_new_media_ecosystem/">http://www.j-lab.org/about/press_releases/new_forms_of_journalism_emerge_in_new_media_ecosystem</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.j-lab.org/images/uploads/nmwereport.pdf">http://www.j-lab.org/images/uploads/nmwereport.pdf</a>Alisa Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13286014828327415744noreply@blogger.com0