Archive for August 29th, 2006
“Sean McManus asked me to stay until 2008,” said outgoing CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer in an interview with Hollywood Reporter. “I told Sean, ‘If you want me to stay, I want to stay,’ and that’s what I want to do, but on my 70th birthday, I want to just review the bidding, and he said fine. So we’ll revisit that. But right now, my plans and Sean McManus’ plans are for me to be there until 2008.” For the record, Schieffer has done a remarkable job at the CBS News anchor desk. Better than anyone predicted. Katie Couric takes over on Tuesday.
August 29th, 2006
A week or so ago, Stephen Colbert aired a segment of himself swinging a lightsaber in front of a green screen. The idea was to encourage fans to create their own video mash-ups. Well, despite some funny entries, I think we have a clear winner.
August 29th, 2006
ESPN’s branded phone service plans to offer subscribers video of full-length college football games — as many as 25 a month. ESPN has received plenty of criticism in recent months for having “little luck landing paying subscribers.” Time will tell how many will enjoy watching football games on the small screen. We expect ESPN will offer more details on Wednesday.
August 29th, 2006
Let us gather, dear friends, to remember Perspective. He was a good and gentle leader whose recent death, though inevitable, is a loss to journalism. I am honored to write this eulogy for Perspective, and I hope you will take a moment to remember him as I do: a meaningful word from a bountiful language who once helped us understand the news. (Read and weep, following the jump.)
Read the full post August 29th, 2006
Readers are invited to edit Wired News writer Ryan Singel’s story on the wiki phenomenon (what else?) in an experiment in collaborative journalism. Readers take on the job of editor and are allowed to cut or smooth at will, but can’t change quotes. Wired plans to publish the article on September 7, if “the whole thing doesn’t turn into a disaster.”
August 29th, 2006
Eric Schmidt is joining Steve Jobs and Al Gore on the board of directors of Apple Computer. “Apple is one of the companies in the world that I most admire,” Schmidt said in a statement. “I’m really looking forward to working with Steve and Apple’s board to help with all of the amazing things Apple is doing.”
August 29th, 2006
A tipster to TVNewser revealed two photos with some striking differences. The one on the left is the first official photo of Katie Couric as part of the CBS family. The one on the right is the same photo from the September issue of Watch magazine, which is owned by CBS. “The editorial staff of Watch magazine retouched the photo without the knowledge of Katie Couric or CBS news management,” said a CBS spokesperson. The editorial staff is CBS’ own communications department. When asked about the photo discrepancy, Couric said she prefers the original photo “because there’s more of me to love.”
(Photo from TVNewser)
August 29th, 2006
Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox looks at the art and science of writing content in such a way that stories are easily discovered in search. The biggest tip: Use “old” words. “Familiar words spring to mind when users create their search queries,” Nielsen writes. “If your writing favors made-up terms over legacy words, users won’t find your site.”
August 29th, 2006
This sounds very cool. When MTV’s Video Music Awards goes to breaks, it will somehow transition to teens in a bedroom watching and interacting with the show live. It’s part of an integrated advertising deal with J.C. Penney. “We are looking to blur the edges between advertising and show content,” said J.C. Penney VP Michael Cape. “By making viewers feel more integrated into our advertisements, we are able to achieve a deeper emotional connection with our key audience.
August 29th, 2006
Slowly but surely, the portals continue their lucrative march into the local markets. Yahoo’s new real estate section, which relaunched today, features deep MLS listings, interactive mapping and an integrated partnership with Zillow.
August 29th, 2006
Bebo.com is a high school social networking site, and NBC has inked a deal to promote its upcoming show, Friday Night Lights. Users will be able to upload video, photos and blog posts about their own high school football experiences. Plus, NBC is sending “school spirit” kits of show-branded goodies to 1,000 high schools in the top 100 markets.
August 29th, 2006
To get fans caught up before season three’s launch, Sci Fi has produced a 44-minute wrap-up of the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica. It’s now available on most VOD systems, but Xbox Live subscribers can download and watch the video via their 360s. “This marks one of the first times that a complete TV episode has been digitally delivered to your Xbox 360 over Xbox Live,” writes Major Nelson from the Xbox team. And who thought the 360 was just for video games? (Thanks for the tip, Jeff!)
August 29th, 2006
So what do you do if you’re a video site that wants to compete with YouTube? Start handing out cash. Guba has started a reward program that gives active users .25 for each person they refer that signs up for a free subscription. The idea is to build up users who contribute content and hopefully convert them to frequent contributors — the lifeblood for user-created content sites. Sounds similar but not as nefarious as Netscape’s recent stunt to pay top contributors from sites like Digg to make the switch.
August 29th, 2006
MSNBC, NYTimes, StarTribune, USAToday and WashingtonPost are OJA finalists in general excellence in the large site category. For medium category sites, NewWest, OrlandoSentinel, Roanoke and SpokesmanReview are the general excellence finalists. Scanning the list, there are quite a few Katrina-related finalists, as you can imagine. And I could find only one pure local TV finalist: WTHR.com in the enterprise journalism category for small sites. While I understand that few local TV sites entered, I’ll say the same thing I did last year — the ONA needs to create categories that give local TV sites a chance, such as video reporting. Lose the newspaper mindset and we’ll enter. Anyway, congrats to all the finalists!
August 29th, 2006
We’re collecting links to expanded online coverage of the Katrina anniversary:
WWLtv.com is streaming wall-to-wall coverage all day
MSNBC.com revisits the lives of six people it’s been following since the disaster
CBSNews.com’s “After the Storm” interactive features photos, video and resources
An interactive on CNN.com tracks the progress of New Orleans’ recovery
NOLA has posted a “Voices of Katrina” blog updated by New Orleans residents
NYTimes.com integrates video with a draggable map of the city
NBC’s Brian Williams and CNN’s Anderson Cooper blog about their memories
The Internet Archive has a long list of archived web pages of Katrina coverage
Please let us know in comments if there’s something else we should add.
August 29th, 2006
Even those of us who weren’t covering the story on the Gulf Coast a year ago were livid. I remember yelling at the television. And then my laptop. How in this age of sophisticated, instant communication was the government caught completely off-guard, both before and after the storm? Of course, that was the theme of Katrina, along with the horrible suffering. And many journalists, angry and desperate, demanded answers live on the air. Here was a rare occasion in which it was entirely appropriate and necessary for journalists to engage their emotions and make a statement. The most notable of which was CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who let loose on a politician on the air. Later, he was seen on camera with tears streaming down his face. Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz wrote, “I think viewers are so tired of cookie-cutter anchors with perfect diction and haircuts that there’s a growing market for television journalists who seem like real human beings, and Anderson Cooper is in that mold.” Now the question, one year later, is what’s the balance between “real” and regular coverage? When is it appropriate for emotions to come into play, on TV or in a blog? And how can we avoid the inevitable TV news trap of overdramatizing everything, especially during slow news periods? All are important questions that will play out in the months and years to come. Your thoughts?
August 29th, 2006
