Margy’s Journalism Blog

Hi folks  - read about this study somewhere and hadn’t had a chance to follow it up until now. How News Happens is a recent study from the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. The study examined news produced across a really broad array of platforms and then went in depth to track 6 storylines to see where they broke, how they spread for platform to platform etc. - Makes for fascinating reading.

“The study, which examined all the outlets that produced local news in Baltimore, Md., for one week, surveyed their output and then did a closer examination of six major narratives during the week, finds that much of the “news” people receive contains no original reporting. Fully eight out of ten stories studied simply repeated or repackaged previously published information.

And of the stories that did contain new information nearly all, 95%, came from traditional media—most of them newspapers. These stories then tended to set the narrative agenda for most other media outlets.”

enjoy,

m

Hi - just saw some great listings for events related to Exposure 2010 the Calgary/Banff photgraphy festival. you can get a full list of events on their website - http://www.exposure2010.ca/ .

enjoy!

m

Hi folks - a library publication I follow sent me to a really interesting article. Doing Journalism in 2010 is an act of community organizing, by Robert Niles took me back to a site I used to know well - Online Journalism Review - well worth a look around. Advocating..well ….advocacy journalism, as well as tapping into the drive to hyperlocal/niche content, the article explores a number of the threads I’ve seen as possible ’saviours’ of journalism. But… new??… hmmm. I think it may be more of a return to roots of the profession.  Could be a good research topic….

cheers

m

In honour of a class some of you are about to take, and many of you have already taken, a few notes on law and ethics. You may have noticed a recent Supreme Court decision allowing the Press a new defence against libel. In trying to find a good link on this, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of information on the CAJ site. Fortunately, The Globe and Mail, and Canadian Press both have more extensive articles. The full decisions of the two cases allowing “public interest responsible journalism”, Grant v. Torstar, and Quan v. Cusson are available on the Supreme Court site. One of the key aspects of the new defence is “Second, the defendant must show that publication was responsible, in that he or she was diligent in trying to verify the allegation(s), having regard to all the relevant circumstances.” - so good research skills are important!

I was thinking about this new protection for journalists when I read an article by The Globe and Mail’s Ian Brown on ‘Pay for Play’ journalism, and the ethics of paying people for their stories.  In “Talk isn’t cheap, but our heroes are cheaper“, Brown describes recent incidents where substantial payments were demanded and made to secure exclusive rights to stories. I wonder if paying for stories makes news outlets more or less diligent about checking facts… I know what the answer should be (and what the Journal’s code of ethics would say about paying thousands for an interview)  - but the 24/7 news cycle, and commercial interests wishing to get the most/fastest bang for their pay-for-play buck may  compromise that. I’m sure the discussions in Robert’s class will be most interesting!

Happy New Year

m

PS - I also found a Special Report on Media and the Law -by Edmonton lawyer, Matthew Woodley -  this predates the current decision, but has good background info.

Hi folks - just had a chance to reacquaint myself with Calgary Public Library’s Local History and Geneaology collections. I really recommend spending a little time on the 4th floor of the Central Library downtown. The print collection has everything from Henderson’s directores - find out who owned which building when, to high school yearbooks. There are clippings files on events and prominent Calgarians and a collection of local history books, periodicals and maps. They’ve also put some very important collections of images online in the Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library. Three collections are available - the postcard collection, which includes some really early images, the Alison Jackson Photograph Collection - Calgary scenes and buildings from the 50s to the 70s and the Judith Umbach Collection that brings it to the present day, including a photo record of the construction of the Bow building - incidentally the Local History collection has the plans for the structure! The print materials are searchable in the CPL catalogue, but to appreciate the full range of what they have you really should go there. That way you can access both the collections and the expertise of librarians anad staff who are fabulous. They can also help you with clearing copyright on the images if you want to use any in publications. You can contact them through their great blog or at 403-260-2785, or hum1@calgarypubliclibrary.com.
enjoy

m

Hi - my usual trusted source highlighted a report in the Globe and Mail of a survey indicating slightly more than half the 5000 people asked would be willing to pay for online news. The press release on the Boston Consulting Group site gives a little more detail, including what kind of content people would be most likely to pay for:

• “ Unique, such as local news (67 percent overall are interested; 72 percent of U.S. respondents) or specialized coverage (63 percent overall are interested; 73 percent of U.S. respondents)
• Timely, such as a continual news alert service (54 percent overall are interested; 61 percent of U.S. respondents)
• Conveniently accessible on a device of choice”

Interesting…

enjoy
m
PS: Congratulations to all scholarship, bursary and award winners!

Okay - more than two, but two that concerned journalism directly. Craig Silverman, in All the news you can produce: Citizen journalism goes semi-pro, describes a venture by an outfit called Examiner.com that’s moving north from the States to provide local content. Apparently they’re looking for Calgary writers and according to the site, they pay.They’re also running a photo contest.

Which brings me to the other article. What’s wrong with these pictures, by Steven Chase, describes the tight control by the PMO of images of Stephen Harper and his government. When i went looking for this on the Globe’s site, I found an earlier slide show with the same name and much the same pictures, as well as today’s article.

enjoy

m

Hi folks - catching up on some reading (not to many hallowe’eners at my place) and it looks like the dabate about science in the media has been heating up in the UK. So much so that Times Higher Education sponsored a debate between Dr. Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science and Science Minister Lord Drayson. -As well as the debate, which you can view in its entirety here, there’s a pretty lively conversation - on Twitter and in the comments to the articles about the issue. Incidentally, this is a really nice example of a print magazine engaging its readers onlne.

enjoy

m

Hi folks - thanks to a different trusted source for this link to an interesting graphic of US newspaper circulation on the AWL blog - the comments are fun too. Please note - the Canadian newspaper readership story is rosier - While Nadbank still hasn’t published the full study, there are numbers in this press release.

enjoy

m

A trusted source led me to a great site that discusses great photos. In covering the winners of the Veolia Environment annual photography contest, BBC includes remarks from the photographers on how patient and careful they were in setting up fabulous, spontaneous-looking photos. Professional photography isn’t just about being in the right place at the right time, it has a lot to do with anticipating where and when that will be. Enjoy this -  more photos and info at the Natural History Museum.

cheers

m