Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

It’s great to see a dialogue on new definitions emerge. We need them to seperate bloggers from the journalists that aren’t necessarily part of the big media machine.

Stand alone jounralist is a a term coined by Chris Nolan. Here’s his definition:

is someone who works to get the stories they find interesting told in an honest and forthright manner without the benefit of working for a larger news outlet. That doesn’t mean they’re objective or impartial; it means they’re honest about their points of view or assumptions. A stand alone journalist understands that the main job is to inform readers; and the ethics that salaried journalists have when it comes to fairness, accuracy and honesty aren’t just phrases. They’re a discipline for doing the work that needs to be done: getting your facts right, your assumptions validated, your arguments well grounded.

She goes on to say:

Stand alone journalists are the next iteration of on-line news professionals. They stand alone because they aren’t salaried by existing news outlets. They aren’t part of an institution but seek to become one. They may be freelancers–many are–but the work they do on the web isn’t under contract for a larger entity.

For more, Jay has the definitive guide over at PressThink.

James hits on a key point that I keep debating with others (but mainly with myself). Starting with the premise that radio will die (it might not but bear with me) you ask what killed it… What killed it was the device with 20,000 tunes on it in my pocket – and soon – my jukebox pf tunes and podcasts streaming to my phone. And the dozens and dozens of podcasts on that iPod that are as rich in diversity as they are shallow in content. But they are mine. I don’t have to listen to the same XM tracks over and over again. I don’t have to put up with lousy reception. I don’t have to listen to another predictable news story giving me the news I don’t want and that was generally printed yesterday. I simply subscribe to the Long Tail.

Here’s what James had to say…

The biggest problem for News Corporation may be Long Tail competition. The company’s approach is avowedly mainstream, which often means pandering to lowest common denominators, and certainly means building mass markets. In the TivoSkypoGoogleosphere sphere though, views tend to be fractured, diverse, legion. Perhaps i am mistaken but i feel the future will be about diversity. It will be about lots and lots and lots of niches. It will be about the nouveau niche (via Doc, his stuff rocks of course, even if i do have to drive over a bump in the road to get it).

BusinessWeek’s Tech beat ports to a blog format. Take a look at this posting from Justin. This is great. If all tech stories posted over here it would be even better. The posts are also under-hyperlinked. I guess to keep us in the site – which is Ok given they ahve to earn money doing this.

Chris has a story worth reading…

Journo being paid to do political reporting on the side is busted and fired. Apparently Purcell disclosed his ‘night job’:

He said he disclosed the environmental state contract to the Herald and got clearance from the state ethics commission. His state contract pays $60 per hour, with a maximum of $10,000.

So what’s the problem?

If Purcell was reporting on the people or organizations paying him to also craft op-eds and assist in other writing then there clearly is a massive conflict of interest. A bit like an industry analyst being paid for consulting by a company and then writing independent reports on that company and the industry.

But if Purcell wasn’t, what’s the harm in taking a ‘night job’ – I think they call it freelance work. (I’m being facetious). Is the implication of much of the commentary on this that a journo can only do freelance work inside the profession – other reporting?

Where this is different – and Malkin gets at this albeit with an extreme parallel – is that this is in effect a Government subsidy. She says,  "government subsidies for conservative columnists are as odious as government subsidies for crucifix-defiling "artists". She’s getting at the perception issue:

Do we really need another paid partisan hack to confirm what the liberal MSM already unfairly assumes of all conservatives in the media–that we’re all on the payroll of the Republican Party and incapable of independent journalism?

Dan is pretty clear on his POV:

Two things here. First, the Herald’s initial response was shameful. This guy should have been shown the door the second his government payoff became known.

Second, the conservative wing of the blogosphere has been all too silent to the poisoning of journalistic integrity represented by this example and others like it. (There are exceptions, I’m glad to say.)

This needs to stop if the media – the whole media – are to retain credibility. And the same standards need to be extended to the world of analysts. The same rule applies whether it is a corporate or government subsidy.

There is a difference between transparency and opacity. Behavior like this drives opacity, even when disclosing the details in advance with the intent of being transparent and ethical.