New Media Sales Manager, WSMV-TV
Nashville, TN
Read the full post May 5th, 2007
Archive for May 5th, 2007
NeighborsGo.com officially launches
I posted a blurb about NeighborsGo when it went into initial beta a couple weeks ago, and now it has officially launched. The site is run by Belo’s Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV, and it blends hyperlocal citizen journalism with a social network. “Our goal, essentially, is to become a very local and very newsy version of MySpace,” said Oscar Martinez, managing editor of the site. One look at the promotional video for NeighborsGo and you’ll realize that it’s not targeted to the MySpace demographic. Users can upload stories, blog posts, video and photos, and some of the content will be reverse-published into weekly community newspaper editions of the same name. (Full disclosure: I work for Belo in Seattle, the same company that launched NeighborsGo.)
7 comments May 5th, 2007
CBSNews.com turns off comments on Obama stories
CBSNews.com is turning off comment functionality on existing and upcoming stories on presidential candidate Barack Obama. “It’s very simple,” said Mike Sims, director of news and operations for CBSNews.com. “We have our Rules of Engagement. They prohibit personal attacks, especially racist attacks. Stories about Obama have been problematic, and we won’t tolerate it.” While CBSNews.com deletes objectionable comments after they’re posted, Sims said the “volume and persistence” of the racist comments made it difficult to keep up. “We’d like to be able to return to them, and I’m not ruling that out,” said Sims. “But at this point it’s not possible.” (Thanks James for the tip!)
Also, Howard Kurtz on WashingtonPost.com notes that his site is experiencing “a surge in offensive and incendiary comments.” Like CBSNews.com, WashingtonPost.com does not pre-screen comments before posting them — they receive some 2,000 a day and delete offensive comments when they’re alerted to them — but executive editor Jim Brady says he plans to devote more staff to the monitoring process and use new filtering technology. “The medium allows for readers and journalists to engage in conversation, and to say we’re not going to take advantage of that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” he says. “I’d rather figure out a way to do it better than not to do it at all.”
Adds Saundra in comments: “In and era of shrinking resources, what newsroom wants to devote full-time eyeballs to police the nut-jobs that persist in trying to spoil the comments area with offensive posts. I know you guys love the dialogue, but this is a real problem. I would much rather use my limited manpower to uncover real news rather than babysit the comments section of my website.”
17 comments May 5th, 2007
CNN to make debate video available to all
A few days after Barack Obama urged media companies to lift their copyright restrictions on the debates so the video could be openly shared, CNN announced today that it will do just that. “Due to the historical nature of presidential debates and the significance of these forums to the American public, CNN believes strongly that the debates should be accessible to the public,” the press release reads. “We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process. This decision will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire debates in June.” Kudos to CNN for making such a bold move, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all major media companies follow in the months to come. Press release follows below…
Read the full post 5 comments May 5th, 2007
A small gig, an international response
Occasionally I need a little coding help that’s beyond my ability. (I’m a dumb journalist, not a smart coder.) That’s when I post an ad on boston.craigslist.com under “computer gigs.” I recently posted and I heard from more international offerings than ever. I like to work with locals, but I have to say I was surprised by how many international groups are monitoring local boards. Some of the offerings are suspect, and some seem to be form letters from companies offering services way above what I was asking. But others were clearly personal responses from individuals. (No offers to help spirit money out of Nigeria, sadly.) Yes, I know that every note I get has the big Craigslist warning about avoiding scams and working locally. Just thought it was interesting how the world watches even the smallest offering from a guy outside Boston.
1 comment May 5th, 2007
