New.Journalism.Review

Is Google News killing newspaper journalism?

2009-10-10T22:27:14+01:00

The Independent asks whether Google News is killing-off newspaper journalism. (http://ping.fm/9pZzp), as Rupert Murdoch has been arguing.

Murdoch sees three evils preventing him from dominating the entire world (!) - 1) The BBC (see previous posts) 2) Freebie 'newspapers' and lastly, Google News.

The Independent also has concerns about Google - it states in the leader:

"Google and other websites make big money from the audiences they attract for their content, which is Hoovered up from countless news sources all around the world. The creators of that content, meanwhile, earn not a bean from such aggregators – they often do not even give their permission for it to be taken – and are unable to sell it for themselves online because it has already been made freely available."

Google, on the face of it, contribute nothing to supporting quality journalism. It employs no journalists, just a massive database which pinches headlines from newspaper websites and prioritizes them to form a news page. We have no idea what its news biases are. Editorial selections are based on some top-secret algorithm.

But it's wrong to suggest that Google's influence on journalism is entirely negative. What Google do, rather well, is direct shed loads of traffic to news sites, at least that's the general idea. Problems arise if Google allows its users to read entire stories on its own website rather than encouraging people to click-through.

Google's dominance of search (dare I say, 'near monopoly') which is the problem here. We live in a world where few people care to use Yahoo!, Bing (or Bling! or Blip! or Blah! - whatever it's called), Ask or AltaVista.

Newspaper sites can easily remove their content from Google. Or they could simply put it behind a 'pay wall'. But as The Independent newspaper knows from bitter experience, 'pay walls' simply don't work for general news.

So if 'pay walls' have failed and sites need lots of traffic to generate ad revenue - what then? Shouldn't they be paying Google to carry news headlines? I think that probably summarises the debate as it stands today.

In an ideal world, it would be better to see some competition in search aggregation. Perhaps we should all start to use UK-based NewsNow (http://ping.fm/ok1sE) instead.

Until then, newspapers can learn from Google in so far as audiences these days want news content which is tailored to their individual interests. That's why paying £2 for a Sunday newspaper, only to chuck half of its supplements away into the recycle bin, just seems seems a bit of an odd activity in 2009.

How to monitor university student attendance

2009-10-07T14:09:48+01:00

Times Higher reports on the introduction of bar code readers to take registers at Derby University.
http://ping.fm/LowmR

Despite its problems, anything that can automate basic administration must be welcomed. Filling in registers of 100 students manually each week is the equivalent of doing the dishes by hand, when you could use a lovely Bosch dishwasher instead.

Lecturers already undertake crippling amounts of non-academic / 'house-keeping' work. Each year more hurdles are put in the way which prevents them from doing what they are paid to do - i.e researching, writing and teaching. From a human resources perspective (or, indeed, any perspective) filling in registers manually is a total waste of time and money.

The government now requires that academics have to take registers to keep tabs on those pesky overseas students (the assumption is that overseas students are all secretly plotting ways to stay in the country, rather than writing assignments).

I don't agree that lecturers should be asked to carry out what amounts to UK border control checks. If I have to do this, at least allow me to wear a nice blue uniform, with a hat and have some shiny metal handcuffs. But as it's now the law, let's at least do it vaguely efficiently.

Tories to curb BBC spending (and, yes, Rupert Murdoch will be very happy)

2009-10-03T23:39:07+01:00

It's Saturday and The Guardian is running yet another story about BBC funding. So what's new? Well, stories with an anti-BBC slant normally appear on a Monday and are confined to the Media section rather than splashed on the front page, so I'm already confused.

This time the Tories are saying that the BBC's growth must be curbed or it should expect the worst come the license fee renewal in 2012.

Tory spokesman, Jeremy Hunt, who The Guardian describes as an 'affable figure' and a 'moderniser' (so that's okay then - he's not one of those really nasty, right-wing types, who want to kill-off the BBC) says that the Corporation's growth represents a threat to democracy and there must be curbs placed on its websites and its executive's pay.

Of course, The Guardian reporters do NOT challenge him on the fact that the license fee remains incredible value at 39p a day ( You couldn't even buy a copy of The Guardian for the price). OR the totally unfounded portrayal of the BBC as being an evil predatory beast - which is just looking for new markets to expand into. This is a myth that is repeated time and time again.

I convinced that most normal people (i.e. those who don't work for national newspapers or media companies with commercial agendas) believe that, at 39p a day, the BBC offers pretty good value for money.

Well, there is the normal disclaimer... I am an avid listener to Radio 5 Live, I don't really care much for Radio 3 or, indeed, Radio 4. But I still want them to be there and at some stage in my life I will probably listen to it. I probably will never listen to BBC 1Xtra, but I teach some students who love it.

I've a feeling that when the Tory axe falls on the BBC, it will do so unevenly. The type of output that is loved by middle-aged white male MPs will stay, the rest will see cuts.

To give a recent example of some great BBC output, BBC Sport's Formula One Grand Prix coverage online is simply superb. I'm loving these interactive circuit guides. Even those without slightest interest in Grand Prix should check it out.

Tory-boy Hunt, backed by new mate Rupert Murdoch, would probably prefer that we didn't get to enjoy this. They would perhaps argue that a commercial provider, given the chance, will offer an even better service.

Well, in my view, this argument doesn't wash with F1 coverage - ITV had F1 last year after all. There are a lot of F1 sites out there and this assumption that they would all beneifit if the BBC didn't exist is just idiotic.

What is too often ignored is the fact that the BBC raises the game. To put it crudely, for websites to succeed they have to be good - there is nothing wrong with that when it improves quality. Anyone can create a really bad website and moan that it is terrible because we're in a recession and nobody is advertising.

When a terrible TV channel like Quest launches nobody watches it because we are used to decent TV in the UK. Although I realise that Quest has one good show - TJ Hooker.

Taken to its logical extreme, free market broadcasting would mean perhaps all TV channels will end up looking like Quest.... now that's scary. Only someone like Jeremy Hunt or Rupert Murdoch would want that.

In the highly fragmented online and broadcast media market, where advertising revenue is split between numerous players, the BBC is required now more so than ever to ensure quality.

Those who attack the BBC say that it limits commercial competition, as Hunt puts it "the BBC could be the only show in town". But this needs to be challenged.

This argument always ignores the work that the Beeb does throughout the UK in encouraging creativity and training talent (which the commercial sector benefits hugely from). And let us not forget it outsources much of its programme-making to independent production houses, which it has carried on doing throughout the recent advertising downturn.

I am convinced that the public really values the BBC and the huge variety of (mostly) high quality output. These arguments from the Tories just won't rub. But the Tory party will offer the 'carrot' to media companies of curbing BBC power in return for political support, something that The Guardian does highlight in its article.

But The Guardian has a duty to challenge Tory policy on the BBC, as it does brilliantly in just about every other area of policy. It can not and should not simply act as a mouthpiece for those critics of the BBC.

Come 2012 and the BBC license renewal, whoever is running the government will have the power to either enhance the BBC or, alternatively, cut its funding and legislate it out of existence.

How to appeal against a penalty fare notice from South West Trains

2009-09-20T01:03:45+01:00

This post is a little 'off-topic', so I'll keep it brief. I travel a lot by South West Trains [SWT}. Peak train fares in Britain are the highest in Europe (source: Campaign For Better Transport) and it pains me to think that I spend just over £4k a year of my hard-earned cash getting around by train.

And let's be honest, the service is patchy at best. Few can forget how the SWT network fell apart when snow fell in London and the South East in February 2009. And so I felt pretty cheesed-off to be given a £60 Penalty Fare Notice at Southampton station for not having a ticket recently.

A) The story:

I'll keep it brief, but I successfully appealed against the penalty fare notice. The reason being is there were no facilities to buy a ticket where I boarded the train at Woking (the ticket office was being refurbished) and I couldn't buy a ticket on the train (the ticket collector's machine was broken).

But it took bloody ages to sort out and involved a trawl through pages of rules and regulation about where and when penalty fares can be issued.

B) Receiving a penalty fare notice:

South West Trains takes an overly-aggressive stance on fare evaders in my opinion. It's embarrassing and, even, intimidating to be issued with a penalty fare on a packed train, when you may have just accidentally lost your ticket or left a rail card at home. But the general philosophy of South West Trains appears to be guilty until proven innocent, when it comes to dealing with its customers.

But a procedure exists for how penalty fare notices are issued and you need to be aware of your rights.

A penalty fare on South West Trains will be £20 or twice the full single fare to the next station at which your train stops. You will also have to pay the standard ticket cost, if you wish to continue your journey (they need to sell you the ticket that you should be in possession of). As the South West Trains sites states if you wish to appeal against a penalty fare you must do so in writing within 21 days of the issue date and send this to:

Independent Appeals Service, PO BOX 212, Petersfield, GU32 2BQ

Alternatively you can appeal online at:

Independent Revenue Collection and Support (IRCAS) www.ircas.co.uk.

This appeals service is independent of train operators. Indeed, SWT (and other train operators) has to pay IRCAS to investigate appeals (I think it's around about £8 per an appeal) regardless of the outcome. It is generally worth appealing, as you have nothing to lose.

C) What you need to pay when you get a penalty fare

As mentioned, there are two elements the penalty fare (a minimum of £20) and the cost of the ticket you should have bought. You do not have to pay the penalty fare there and then (and you should not do so). You have 21 days to do this (or make an appeal).

But you must pay the standard cost of the ticket to where you are going (or have come from). If you don't do this, then they will probably call the police. This article assumes (obviously) that you are not deliberately fare-dodging.

D) Appealing against a penalty fare notice from South West Trains

To succeed, you need to read two documents:

Penalty Fares Rules 2002

The Strategic Rail Authorities Penalty Fares May 2002 [PDF Link].

Don't bother reading the South West Train's summary leaflet of Penalty Fares Rules 2002. There are many potential ways you can appeal that this document seems to miss out.

For your claim to be successful, you will need to appeal on the grounds that a penalty fare was not issued according to the rules set by the Department For Trade & Industry- Penalty Fares Rules 2002. You need to be very specific about how one (or more) of these rules were broken or were not applied.

Incidently, I didn't find it at all easy to get hold of the full Penalty Fares Rules 2002 document. Staff at the SWT station didn't seem to know much about it and they should be able to supply a copy.

D) Penalty Fare Rules - some interesting grounds of appeal:

A lot of appeals are won on technicalities, so take note of the following:

A) Check display of warning notices:

Penalty Fare Rules: "An operator who wants to charge penalty fares must make sure that a warning notice is displayed at each entrance of each compulsory ticket area......be noticeable, easy to read and easy to distinguish from other notices and from the general surroundings"
The signs warning of a 'compulsory ticket area' are big and yellow. You should not be able to board a train without seeing one. So if you can't see them,then that is a grounds for an appeal. In my case, where I boarded, there was a temporary entrance to the station and it would have been possible to board a train without seeing one of the signs.
SRA Penalty Rules 2002 states that penalty warning signs should be "so that at least one notice can be easily seen by anyone joining a penalty fares train" - so that's quite strict!

B) On-board ticket inspector can't issue penalty fares

Penalty Fare Rules: "No-one except an authorised collector may collect penalty fares on behalf of any operator....Each authorised collector must carry, and produce if asked, identification which proves that he or she is authorised to collect penalty fares on behalf of a specific operator or operators."
- the average ticket inspector you find on just about any train can't issue penalty fares (they need to be a revenue protection officer, I think that is the correct terminology). However, weirdly, ticket inspectors can sell you a ticket if you don't have one. That's your 'get out a jail' free card. If you jump on a train without a ticket, make sure you go and find a ticeket inspector (more on this later!).

C) Do facilities exist for you to buy a ticket?

Penalty Fare Rules state that a penalty can not be charged when: "There were no facilities available to issue the appropriate ticket or other authority for the journey which that person wanted to make."
-Interpretation: If a ticket office is closed or there are less windows open than normal or you have to wait in line, you may have a case to appeal. Ticket offices are often closed at non-peak times, but there must be a way of buying a ticket with cash AND buy it using credit/debit card. But what is a reasonable amount of time to queue to buy a ticket? This is where it gets vague....
SRA Penalty Fares May 2002 states: "Where penalty fares apply, passengers must allow enough time to buy a ticket, including time to queue, if necessary. Under normal circumstances, passengers may still be charged a penalty are if they join a train without a ticket, even if there was a queue at the ticket office or ticket machine.
"However, we expect operators to provide enough ticket windows, ticket machines
and staff at staffed stations to meet the queueing standards set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement and their Passenger’s Charter under normal circumstances. This standard is normally five minutes at peak times and three minutes at other times."

D) You thought you could buy a ticket on the train - yes, you can!

One of the weirdest rules, is the fact that you can buy train tickets on-board a train from the ticket inspector. Indeed on-board ticket inspectors get a small bonus (around 5%) when selling tickets. You may not be able to get your normal rail card discounts, but they can normally sell you standard tickets.

Even the SRA seems to think this a bit strange: "The basic principle of any penalty fares scheme is that passengers must buy their tickets before they get on their train. If passengers find that they can buy their ticket on the train it undermines this message".

This confusion needs to be cleared-up. People will board trains without tickets if they know they can probably buy one on-board. Simple as that!

E) If the train service is disrupted that is grounds for an appeal.

Authorised collectors have discretion to not to issue penalty fare notices. This would apply to those with mobility problems, the elderly or heavily pregnant and "all passengers when the train service is severely disrupted." Special rules apply to children as well.

In short, there are many ways to appeal, but you need to read the rules carefully. It's actually well worth making an appeal as you have nothing to lose.

Also, if you think that the private train operators are the biggest thieves around (as opposed to innocent passengers), why not sign up to Campaign For Better Transport.

Useful links to external sites to help with appeals.

Guardian article - One train of thought about penalty fares.

(great advise about what to do if you queue to buy a ticket or windows are closed)

Penalty Fares Appeal Support Documents - useful docs

Consumer Action Group - forum postings

MoneySavingExpert-more forum posts

IRCAS - FAQ - but always read the full documents listed above, particularly Penalty Fare Rules 2002

Collaborative and participatory journalism - a list of journals, texts and links.

2009-09-08T21:00:43+01:00

In an analysis of how UK websites are embedding participation and collaboration, I found the following academic texts useful.

If you are one of my students, you may well have the pleasure of reading some of these articles.

Most of the journal articles can be found on Google Scholar or the usual databases. The ones highlighted focus on UK developments........

22 Journal Articles:

Bardoel, J. (1996). Beyond journalism: A profession between information society and civil society. European Journal of Communication, 11(3), 283.

Bennett, W. (2003). Communicating global activism. Information, Communication & Society, 6(2), 143-168.

Deuze, M. (2003). The web and its journalisms: Considering the consequences of different types of newsmedia online. New Media & Society, 5(2), 203.

Deuze, M. (2005). What is journalism?: Professional identity and ideology of journalists reconsidered. Journalism, 6(4), 442.

Dutton, W. and Helpser, E. (2007). Oxford internet survey: The internet in Britain. Oxford: OxIS.

Helsper, E. (2008). Digital inclusion: An analysis of social disadvantage and the information society. London: Department for Communities and Local Government,

Hermida, A., & Thurman, N. (2007). Comments please: How the british news media are struggling with user-generated content. 8th International Symposium on Online Journalism. Austin: University of Texas.

Hermida, A., & Thurman, N. (2008). A Clash of Cultures. Journalism Practice, 2(3), 343-356.

Marchi, R. M. (2005). Reframing the runway: A case study of the impact of community organizing on news and politics. Journalism, 6(4), 465.

Lasica, J. D. (2003). Blogs and journalism need each other. Nieman Reports, 57(3), 70-74.

Lasica, J. D. (2003). What is participatory journalism. Online Journalism Review, 7, 2003.

Nguyen, A. (2006). Journalism in the wake of participatory publishing. Australian Journalism Review, 28(1), 143–155.

NUJ Commission on Multi-Media Working. (2007). Shaping the future. London: NUJ.

Park, H. W. (2003). Hyperlink network analysis: A new method for the study of social structure on the web. Connections, 25(1), 49-61. Petersen, S. M. (2008). Loser generated content: From participation to exploitation. First Monday, 13(3)

Pavlik, J., Morgan, G., & Henderson, B. (2000). Information technology: Implications for the future of journalism and mass communication education. Report of the Subcommittee on Educational Technology Prepared for AEJMC Taskforce on Journalism and Mass Communication Educator at the Millennium,

Quiggin, J. (2006). Blogs, wikis and creative innovation. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(4), 481.

Schultz, T. (2000). Mass media and the concept of interactivity: An exploratory study of online forums and reader email. Media, Culture & Society, 22(2), 205.

Singer, J. B. (1997). Still guarding the gate?: The newspaper journalist's role in an on-line world. Convergence, 3(1), 72.

Singer, J. B. (2003). Who are these guys?: The online challenge to the notion of journalistic professionalism. Journalism, 4(2), 139.

Snyder, H., & Rosenbaum, H. (1999). Can search engines be used as tools for web-link analysis? A critical view. Journal of Documentation, 55, 375-384.

Thurman, N. (2008). Forums for citizen journalists? adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media. New Media and Society, 10(1), 139.

Wallsten, K. (2005). Political blogs and the bloggers who blog them: Is the political blogosphere and echo chamber. American Political Science Association’s Annual Meeting. Washington, DC September, 1-4.

20 Books:

Allan, S. (2006). Online news: Journalism and the internet. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Axford, B.,(2001), New media and politics. London: SAGE.

Bauer, M. W., & Gaskell, G. (2000), Qualitative researching with text, image and sound : A practical handbook. London: SAGE.

Benkler, Y. (2006). The wealth of networks : How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven, Conn. ; London: Yale University Press.

Burnett, R. (2003) Web theory : An introduction. London: Routledge.

Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society Blackwell Pub.

Castells, M. (2001). The internet galaxy : Reflections on internet, business, and society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Curran J., Morley D. (2006.), Media & cultural theory. London: Routledge.

Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed (New rev. 20th-Anniversary ed.). New York: Continuum.

Friend, C. (2007), Online journalism ethics : Traditions and transitions. Armonk, N.Y. ; London: M.E. Sharpe.

Gillmor, D. (2004). We the media : Grassroots journalism by the people, for the people. Beijing ; Farnham: O'Reilly

Jones, S. (1999). Doing internet research: Critical issues and methods for examining the net. Thousand Oaks, Calif. ; London: Sage Publications.

Keeble, R. (2005). Print journalism : A critical introduction. London: Routledge.

Kline, D. (2005), Blog! : How the newest media revolution is changing politics, business, and culture. New York: CDS Books.

Kovach, B. (2003), The elements of journalism : Bill kovach & tom rosenstiel. London: Atlantic Books.

McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media : The extensions of man. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Rheingold, H, (1994) The virtual community: finding connection in a computerized world, Secker & Warburg, London

Salwen, M. B.(2005). Online news and the public. Mahwah, N.J. ; London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody : The power of organizing without organizations. New York: Penguin Press.

Tapscott, D. (2007). In W (Ed.), Wikinomics : How mass collaboration changes everything. London: Atlantic Books.

Six LINKS

Anon. (2005). Bill gates: Free culture advocates = commies. Retrieved 18 Aug, 2009, from http://boingboing.net/2005/01/05/bill_gates_free_cult.html

Bowman, S., & Willis, C. (2004). We media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information. At Http://www.Hypergene.net/wemedia/, Accessed, 1

Bruns, A. (2007). Habermas and/against the internet. Retrieved Aug, 2009, from http://snurb.info/node/621

Economist,The (2006), Among The Audience, Retrieved 1 Sept 2009, from http://www.economist.com/surveys/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6794156

. Johnson, S. (2009). Are we on track for a golden age of serious journalism? Retrieved 15 Aug, 2009, from http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/05/areweontrackforagoldenageofseriousjournalism/

Kelly, K. (2009). The new socialism: Global collectivist society is coming online. Retrieved 15 August, 2009, from http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism

A review of free Content Managment Tools (CMS)

2009-07-22T22:00:39+01:00

INTRODUCTION - WHAT IS JOOMLA!?

Joomla! is an open source content management system (CMS). It's open source like the Linux OS, so that means it's free to use and people give up their spare time to develop it.

OPEN SOURCE IS GOOD NEWS

Open Source is generally good news for individuals, non-profit organisations and those companies on a budget. You can spend a lot of money on a commercial CMS, but there are solid reasons for going open source. To start with, your web site won't be in the hands of a software company that can go bust at any moment andyou won't be paying expensive maintenance contracts to idiots.

Static HTML or DYNAMIC site? Take your pick.

a) What is a good news site?

Put simply:

It has a 'front-end' (home page) that changes frequently
A template design that will appeal to the audience and is easy to navigate
It also has 'back-end' database that is stacked full of brilliant content generated by a team of journalists (or perhaps just you!).

All major news sites are built around a CMS. Some 'big beasts' include Tridion (used by Emap) and eScenic (used by Daily Telegraph, CNN, Informa and The Independent) - but you obviously pay a lot for these solutions.

b) Would you benefit from a CMS or are you better using straightforward HTML?

You don't have to be a big media giant to benefit from using a CMS.

Do you update your site more than once a week?
Do you have multiple contributors (e.g. writers) to the site?
Do you want to keep design separate from content?

If you answer 'yes' to any of the above - a CMS would definitely be worth a look.

JOOMLA! - FREE AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND

There is something about using a CMS that sounds:

A) Really complicated
B) Really expensive

You can certainly make expensive mistakes - particularly if you take the advice of Joe Blogs, the designer, who created a bespoke CMS back in 2005 and he still thinks it's REALLY great.

Or even worse (!), you take the advice of the IT manager who was taken to a lap-dancing club by a sales rep from a posh software developer called Contendium

So have a reason to reject open source solutions before looking to a commercial CMS.

There are a number of free CMS to consider, alongside Joomla!

Wordpress (yes, this 'blog' tool is increasingly being used for 'news' sites)
Drupal see a video of some well-known sites that use it
Xaraya see my post for more info.(this is used by sites like Handbag.com and Netdoctor.co.uk)

There are others worth looking at like:

Movable Type

Expression Engine,

Radiant,

TextPattern

DotNetNuke.

Having been round a few magazine and newspaper newsrooms, it's amazing the number of editors that seem to 'apologise' for using free tools and want to keep it secret. I won't name them, but they have each had a good look around and have concluded that Joomla!, Xaraya, or WordPress actually fit the bill just fine. So say it loud and proud - I USE OPEN SOURCE!

NOTE: There are some security issues with Joomla, which people need to be aware of. Some say these are very severe problems, but these tend not to be a problem if you keep an eye on the upgrades.

WE WENT WITH JOOMLA!

As a journalism lecturer, I wanted to teach my undergraduate students about content management. Students need the skills to write and produce great copy, take images and produce video for the web.

WARNING: JOOMLA! IS WEAK ON AUDIO/VIDEO INTEGRATION

Just a word of warning, when you download Joomla! all you get is really a basic shell of a CMS. All the exciting applications come via downloaded modules and extensions (and there are lots of them - many are free!) and you will need to install these.

Integration of some functions can be a bit weak compared to commercial providers (particularly audio or video content integration.

ALSO there seems to be no automatic way to 'strip' content from other packages (such as magazine pages made in InDesign).

LINKS:
Drupal and Joomla! CMS's Compared

Joomla! or Drupal which is best to create a site for journalism students

Choose the best free CMS (.Net Magazine - December 2008) (A great intro guide, but they shouldn't have included Blogger in the feature).

WordPress News Site - based on PRiNZ BranfordMagazine 2.51

2009-07-20T16:27:55+01:00

A NEWS SITE USING PRiNZ BranfordMagazine 2.51

I created a news site for level journalism students using WordPress and PRiNZ BranfordMagazine 2.51 template. From a user-perspective it looks pretty good, although it's less flexible than Joomla! at the back-end.

There are many other news-stye templates that you can tailor to meet your needs. (See Revolution 2 Theme and Bram.us has a good list of others).

SUPPORT FOR THOSE USING THE TEMPLATE

1. The creator of the template runs a support forum (this does not take any new support requests, but the database is searchable).

2. Download the excellent e-book - Sites that Soar - great if you don't know much about WordPress and it uses BrandfordMagazine as its example.

KEY STAGES FOR CREATING A SITE USING BRANFORD

The stages I went through to get the site right are roughly:

1. Change the website header (Logo),
You need to find the name of the existing header graphic in the template files (it is known as bg-branding.png) and it's exactly 625 pixels w x 100 pixels h.Then go into Photoshop and create your own version. Finally, upload your logo to the same folder that has bg-branding.png.

2. Navigation bars
There is a primary navigation bar that appears horizontally beneath the website header. To add sections to this you simply create a page (NOT A POST). This will automatically be added to the navigation bar.

The secondary navigation runs vertically on the left of the page. It orders posts according to categories It is not standard to have a nav bar on the left for a news site, so this is not great.

You need to understand that categories in WordPress have IDs. To get categories to appear in the left navigation bar, you need to type these numbers into the template code. Annoyingly WordPress 2.5 hides IDs. That said, it's possible to get them to appear again, but you will need to download a plugin which is appropriately called Reveal IDs for WP Admin

5. Joomla! has module positions. And Brandford based on WordPress has its own positions
Now is the time to write some posts (i.e. create some news articles). You will then categorise these and these categories will appear in various positions on the front page.

The positions on the front page are:

Lead Article (this is what appears beneath the tabbed section).
Featured articles
Right Column Articles

As with the left nav bar, you have to type in the ID numbers of the categories containing content that you want to appear in each position.

ADDING IMAGES TO THE FRONT PAGE

It's easy to get an image to go with a post, but you will also want any story that appears on the front page to have an image as well. Unlike in Joomla!, WordPress does simply not take the image from the post and stick it on the front page.

Instead any images you want to appear on the front page must appear in the CustomFields section of the post.

This is a complicated process. There is no easy way to change the order of what appears on the front page (to get a headline story, you would need to change the date on the post to make it the newest). This gets frustrating with large sites.

Joomla! has front page manager which exists so you can order front page content.

CONCLUSION:

WordPress is great for blogs and seems to be getting better all the time. But you may well outgrow WordPress quite quickly if you use it for a news site. Joomla! or Drupal could be a better bet!

WordPress versus Joomla! - which is best for a news site?

2009-07-20T16:15:20+01:00

WORDPRESS FOR A "NEWS" SITE?

WordPress just seems to be getting better and better all the time. Like Joomla!, WordPress is free and there is plenty of online community support.

Like many people, I thought that WordPress only produced sites that look like blogs. In fact designers have been coming up with templates that look like news sites for ages (and really sexy-looking news sites as well). Perfect for any small business, charity or university student project.

SOME GOOD WORDPRESS TEMPLATES FOR NEWS SITES:

Revolution 2 Theme

Bram.us (list of newsy WordPress templates).

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT WORDPRESS FOR NEWS SITES:

I use WordPress for a site that is used by Level 1 students. It allows me to introduce students to the idea of the CMS and how information is organised online.
WordPress allows multiple users
The Wordpress interface is far more intuitive than Joomla! (more on that later).
Like Joomla! it has loads of great extensions/ add-ons / widgets - whatever you want to call 'em!

WHAT'S NOT-SO-GOOD

Poor categorisation - WordPress only has a shallow hierarchy for organising stories. You can file stories into main categories, but that's about it. I don't believe (and I could be wrong) there is not the deep level of sub-categories you get in Joomla!
Adding sections to the navigation bar - This involves a trip into 'template manager' and you need to make changes to the code. In this area, one tiny slip or mistake and you are sunk. In Joomla!, it's very easy to adjust menus headings using menu manager.
Manage Posts in WordPress is weak - compared to article manager in Joomla! You can't sort posts or unpublish through this manage posts section (you have to go into each article - correction. This is now solved). When you have hundreds of posts and you need to locate some information, this can be a problem!

Links:
Creating a student journalism site on a tight budget - using WordPress to create a news site.
NewsWire.NZ - what can be achieved using a fantastic Wordpress template.
WordPress a CMS for Journalists (Andy Dickinson)

Journalism university degree course structures - finding a model

2009-07-20T16:06:11+01:00

I've spent a lot of time looking at journalism degree course structures. The following information will hopefully prove useful for those choosing a university journalism degree course. It may also prove relevant to any academics looking at revalidation, as it contains some journal articles that I have found personally very useful.

My bias is looking at the kind of technology we should be teaching, as this is my background.

Teaching the technology

McKean states that modern journalism is collaborative and students need to be open to 'constant change'.

On the technology front, he states:

"We do our best to train students in audio, video, photo, graphics and Web production. We emphasize strong writing skills. We put them to work in all of our news operations—a daily newspaper, an NPR affiliate, a commercial TV station, plus various Web sites and mobile services. Students blog, make podcasts, create Flash animations, design interactive databases, and widgets—things they have to know to find good first jobs in today’s media environment."

There is a lot of technology to learn and it obviously needs to be contextualised. As discussed at a recent AJE conference at City University, the 'widget cutter'- to- 'thinking journalist' ratio needs careful consideration.

Journalism as joint-hons only?

I particularly enjoy this quote from Mencher:

"Good journalism programs blend theory with practice, craft with substance. Their faculties realize that before the technology can be utilized and writing techniques applied, the reporter needs to be able to put the statement and the event in some context. Good programs teach the craft through content."

This is starting to sound like an argument for only allowing journalism to be taught as a part of a joint-honours degree.

It helps for students to have a subject specialism (i.e. 'context', 'framework', whatever you want to call it!), so why not study politics, economics, science or business etc with journalism? But in UK universities, unlike in the US, journalism is often offered only as single hons.

Mencher continues...

"The direction should be toward a required core curriculum that provides students with the general knowledge that helps the student see the patterns and relationships that underlie events, a set of courses that help the student understand the utility of Irving Kristol’s remark, 'A person doesn’t know what he has seen unless he knows what he is looking for.'"

The 'jack of all trades' challenge

McKean states:

"Our students typically decide how to solve their “jack of all trades, master of none” challenge. We don’t want them to leave Missouri until each has a strong grounding in at least one journalistic specialty."

McKean seems to be referring to a specialism in a media platform. This needs to be untangled. I’m finding that students should be operating ‘platform neutral’ these days (and I didn't come to that conclusion lightly.) They must be as equally skilled editing a podcast, as they are in banging out 500 words for the print edition by 4.30pm. But is this deskilling?

There is a different view - you could focus on a pathway approach - i.e. students choose their 'mother media' (e.g. magazine production) and become highly specialised in this area. Students will have teaching in a 'secondary media' (such as web or broadcast), but not very much. But the industry surely demands more flexibility than this?

Journalism degrees need a clear USP

Journalism degree courses seem to lean in one of the following directions:

a) Platform specific:
Degrees with names that include a platform (print journalism, broadcast journalism etc) worry me. Let’s not judge ‘books’ solely by their ‘covers’, but are these degrees really converged?

b) Genre specific (news/features/documentary degrees)
These are probably based around writing and technical skills. So prospective students must think about how transferable these skills are to new media platforms. In some cases, the answer is "very".

Pavlik, John, Gary Morgan and Bruce Henderson (2001) ‘Information Technology:Implications for the Future of Journalism and Mass Communication Education’, Journalism and Mass Communication Education: 2001 and Beyond. Columbia state:

"Among the things the group listed as those that should ‘never change’ were
‘defining what constitutes a great story’; verifying facts; asking hard questions;
behaving ethically; and ‘using balance, fairness and impartiality in presenting
the facts"

c) Subject specific - BA Sports Journalism, motoring journalism, fashion journalism, political journalism etc
These probably have the strongest future. Students on these courses can worry that they are too niche. But too niche does not exist! It is about having the expertise in a specialist subject, but taking a 'platform neutral' approach to output. As someone who teachers on one such degree, it provides the course some much needed focus. Students build up contacts and obtain a deep understanding of the industry they write about.

These students are just as likely to get PR work in their chosen industry, as they are traditional jobs in journalism. This rejects the old idea that students are trained as 'subject generalists' and output content exclusively to a 'single media' platform (e.g. newspapers). This came from the idea that entry-level jobs in journalism were mostly based in local newspapers, where a core requirement is often to be able to write about 'anything' on the patch.

D) Mainly theoretical (no practise)
Nothing wrong with these degrees as such, but they are often mis-sold to unwitting students.

In reality, the categories are not mutually exclusive. But there are so many issues to consider and we have not even started on whether journalism is actually a 'profession' or not.

Quark 8 versus InDesign CS4 - a review

2009-04-05T20:14:40+01:00

Mac User UK (13th March issue) did a comparison review of Quark 8 versus InDesign CS4.

It concludes:

"The question of which to buy is a tricky one. Certainly, XPress 8 will give the Adobe team something to worry about for their next release - but it's about time they had some real competition....There are now fewer reasons for Quark users to make the transition to switch to InDesign, although it's unlikely many users will make the transition the other way."

IMHO this seems to be a neat summary of the state of play. It's good to have competition in DTP. Mac User had more than a few criticisms to make about the Quark 8 clunky interface (no surprise). Also it states that InDesign CS4 is not a big upgrade, so CS3 users may want to stay put.

I don't think the full review is on the Mac User site, but I have a scan of the article from the magazine that I can email to anyone who wants it,. Just drop me an email (see my About Me page for email address).

Blog buzz:
Which is the most talked about DTP package on the blogs - it's "Quark (in Blue)" Versus "InDesign (Red)"

Daily Mail's outrage over new MA in Social Media

2009-04-05T19:42:41+01:00

A minor-storm erupted last week regarding the launch of the MA in Social Media by Birmingham City University.

Described inaccurately by the Daily Mail as a "Masters degree in Facebook" this was a cue for references to "Mickey Mouse degrees", "ex-Poly students" and "tax payers money + drains" etc etc......[Feel free to complete].

My favourite comment on the Daily Mail site was from "Paul", who (apparently) lives in Los Angeles. So incensed by the launch of an MA (not even from a university in his own country), that "Paul" forgot how to spell...

"What unbelievable bovine,equine and Yak excremnet! i guess this proves people can get more stupid than they are mow."- Paul, Los Angeles USA, 29/3/2009 22:31

"Paul from Los Angeles" is clearly an idiot (where are those moderators when you need them?). And whilst the Daily Mail's reporting could easily be dismissed as "lazy journalism", sadly, it reflects a wider misunderstanding of the role of higher education in the mainstream media which dates back to the 70s when universities were attacked for teaching sociology.

The reality is that an MA in Social Media is relevant to anyone who communicates with audiences online or needs an understanding of the importance of online communities. So that could include people who work in the: computer games industry, PR, marketing and just about any business with a website.

I'm no expert, but there has been a lot of interesting academic material on the rise of online communities, crowd-sourcing and the formation of social relationships coming out of the US and Australia in the past year. It is early days, but this is a subject that has a proper academic underpinning.

Whilst the volume of academic material and research is astonishing, one of the most common errors that students tend to make when discussing the Internet is to assume its impact is the same in all countries. In reality, whilst the Internet is (obviously) global in nature, its impact is not homogeneous. That's to say, for example, a young person in the UK does not always have the same experience of Internet communities as someone in the US, Singapore, Germany or perhaps China. We interpret online actions differently.

Some more comments from Daily Mail contributors...

In short, we desperately need a UK (or perhaps European) perspective on things. This is where the academics at Birmingham City University are leading the way.

I teach on a journalism degree course and often have friends in the industry ask me whether there is "enough" to say about journalism to fill a three year course.

The reality is that we're not short of things to teach. We obviously teach the basic writing skills, as we have always done. But there is also more technology to understand, ethics, law and business skills to learn. This is a sector that is changing beyond all recognition and we need to equip our students to understand this.

The same will be true for an MA in Social Media which lasts just one year. There will be a lot of academic theory to assimilate, as well as the practical development of new and, hopefully, groundbreaking online applications.I would be really excited to be a student on such a course.

I do have some criticisms. Birmingham City University says that the course comes from the angle of cultural studies, but I doubt if this will be enough. Running courses cross-faculty is always very difficult, but from my experience students want to know how things work from a technical stance. It can be tricky to decide where the cut-off point is, but it would be wise to make links with the computing department (as they have done on the excellent MA in Electronic Publishin at City University in London, which is run by two faculties).

But social media is a) important to the UK economy and b) something worthy of academic study. So let's drop references to "Yak excremnet" (whatever that is?) and the rather tiresome discussion of "Mickey Mouse degrees" (much loved by tabloid journalists) and lets have a serious debate about the impact of social media.

Teaching Second Life to journalism students

2009-03-08T01:09:57+00:00

We're introducing Second Life to L1 journalism students next week. I normally attempt to cultivate a cool, 'technological determinist' image. But in this case, I have had to work extra hard to explain the relevance of SL to our students.

The buzz surrounding SL was pretty high back in May 2008 when I was planning the teaching. Fast forward 10 months, and it seems about as academically sexy as receiving a £70 fine for spending five hours in an Aldi car park (thanks Parking Eye!)

Statistics - it's Second Life versus Twitter versus Britney - let battle commence!

In terms of blog coverage, SL was once the talk of the town. Now that young upstart Twitter is the belle of the ball. Just to keep it 'scientific', Britney is acting as our 'base' for blog buzz.

UK universities using Second Life

Like many UK universities, the place where I work has received research funding to create a cool-looking virtual campus and to investigate teaching possibilities (particularly in distance learning).

Eduserv released a detailed report of Second Life usage in higher education in Autumn 2008 which outlines some great examples of good practise.

As a journalism lecturer, I have to consider SL's relevance to unit outcomes.Fashion and interior design courses at the university are already using SL as a means to preview student projects and obtain tutor feedback.

SL in journalism teaching - any use?

SL offers the possibility to stage 'virtual news events'. We do a number of these mock exercises in "first life" already. But these can be expensive to run, take considerable planning and we would like to do more of them.

Students also study 'virtual communities' from a theoretical perspective. So SL gives students real experience of this, outside the normal Facebook arena which most students seem to use.

CNN is also still asking its iReporters to submit citizen stories, many of which can be found on the CNN iReporters site here. Although other large media brands seem to be scaling back their efforts and I'm not sure whether the CNN experiment has been particularly successful.

SL is very bandwidth-intensive and this has presented networking problems. Only a few IT rooms have the software installed (the other university PCs are just not up to the job). So the 'business case' for teaching SL is starting to look shaky already.

SL also needs to be made easier to use. Philip Rosedale said in a .Net Magazine interview (February 2007) said that it took around four hours to learn the basics, which could be described as quite a 'barrier to entry'. This need to change before it gets any sort of mainstream acceptance.

That said, I still think that virtual worlds are a key to the Web 3.0 model. And whilst it may not be SL that wins the race, we are fulfilling our duty in getting students' pointing their heads in the right direction.

End of teaching for Xmas

2008-12-16T01:21:05+00:00

This semester has been absurdly and stupidly busy. And I've not even looked at the marking yet. Thankfully, the new and converged journalism degree seems to have gone down very well with the students. .

Just one problem:
A new degree structure x new units x increased teaching hours

= zero time to reflect or do anything else ..like write, for instance.

We're also taking the students to New York in January, which is very exciting for all concerned.We hope to get them to NYU. So if I can take this opportunity to make a rather cheeky public appeal to Dean Olsher and Jay Rosen .....it would wonderful to meet up! (hint!, hint!).

(Lets hope, with some careful tagging, my appeal will make it on to Google!)

Why do lecturers blog? And what do they talk about?

2008-12-16T01:00:33+00:00

This is old news, but Zoe Corbyn wrote an excellent feature on academics who blog in the Times Higher - By the blog: academics tread carefully (October 2008).

Scroll down the article, stop about halfway and stuck between Zoe Brigley of Northampton University and David Petley of Durham, you can read about this blog!

Zoe's article outlines the key reasons why academics blog, which I have roughly summarised here (based on the main article and comments beneath it):

Test area - float ideas or reflect when preparing papers and lectures etc.
Obtain Feedback - from students, colleagues and others.
Enhance reputation -People use blogs for a bit of personal online marketing, although that can also help their university or college.
'A day in the life' / diary - explain what it is like to work as a scientist in a lab - if that's what you do.
Accessibility - open up a subject / specialism. Some departments do this in a formal way to engage with A Level students and hopefully recruit.
Personal reminder - to record key events in the blogger's day or life.
Feeds directly into teaching - many universities encourage students to blog /reflect online.

This list could apply to just about anyone who has ever blogged, if you just remove the educational stuff. But there is an interesting debate about how much you reveal in the public space, particularly when it comes to scientific research. Research in the arts tends not to be so lucrative or competitive - so nobody seems to give a toss if academics in the arts give away all the great 'secrets' for free (not that there are many!).

The article also states that there isn't really a community of 'academic bloggers' , as people seem to stick to their own subject fields. Most academics read blogs written by those in industry, as well as those in their field of education.

My ever-increasingly-long list of articles that I have starred in my Google Reader using my phone reflects this. It tells me I read a wide mix of journalism academics such as Paul Bradshaw and Andy Dickinson.net in the UK (these have both set the standard in academic blogging and really should have made it into the THE feature), those written by full-time hacks like Martin Stabe, Charles Arthur and Neil McIntosh and those about IT and gadgets in general. These blogs (and, of course, many others) remind me of interesting developments that I really MUST discuss with the students.