SensibleTalk.com

Perhaps someone's spending too much time online?

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: I had a dream last night. (No, not that I would begin an entry with a wretched cliche - just indulge me on that, okay?) Laurie and I were going to throw a dinner party with another family, and Laurie had just left for the store to pick up a few final items.

Our guests arrived early, but they weren't the close friends I'd expected. Instead, they were college friends of Laurie's, who just happened to be in town, I guessed. Then the doorbell rang again. It was a high school friend of mine, with her children. But where were my kids? Were they upstairs with their friends? I realized that I didn't know where they were, only that they were not at the party.

More people arrived: People who worked with former colleagues, but whom I hadn't met. High-school classmates of Laurie's, whom I'd met at a reunion. Someone who'd been reading my website and wanted to say hi.

No point in waiting to eat now, I thought. I told folks to dig into the food set up in the kitchen. But the crowd had spilled out of the kitchen now and into the living room. I sent a few guests down to the garage to bring up extra tables. As I was setting them up, I wondered: why wasn't I getting any updates from Laurie? Where was she?

A former girlfriend arrived, one with whom I hadn't communicated in years. We said nothing ourselves or about why we'd made no attempt to contact each other for more than 20 years, only small talk about other people we barely knew, in and out of the room. The her sister showed up, someone I'd not spoken to once in my life.

By this time, the entire house was packed. Hundreds of people from the periphery of our lives had crowded our home, but still there was no word from Laurie and no sign of my kids. No sign, either, of the family friends we'd expected.

I awoke, and wondered just what the heck that dream could have been about. Then I realized, oh my Lord, I just had a dream about Facebook.

Just make the call

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: Here's the long version of an essay that I wrote for the American Youth Soccer Association, which appeared it is Whistle Stop national e-mail newsletter for youth soccer referees.

It's got some good stuff in it for youth sports officials, I hope.

Two weeks ago, I ran center ref for my son's BU10 [boys under 10 league] game. The day was cool and rain began to fall during the match, but we played on. (The games after ours would be cancelled.) My son's team fell behind 2-0, and with a couple players not at the game, at halftime coach put my son in goal.

(This is my son's first year in AYSO and he'd never played keeper before. And this is my first year as a ref, in any sport.)

In the second half, a player from my son's team tripped an opponent. It wasn't intentional, in my opinion, just a missed kick on a rutted field. But it was a hard kick, and the opponent fell to the pitch, hurt. I blew the whistle immediately, waved over the coach and ran to the boy.

The boy would be okay and play on, but I needed to call the foul. And at that moment, my brain was putting everything together: We were in the penalty box. It would be a penalty kick. And my son is in goal.

At that point, I had a vision of my son, sitting on a therapist's coach, 10 years in the future, blaming everything that had gone wrong with life on that day when his dad hung him out to dry at an AYSO game. But fair is fair, and I couldn't not make the call because my son would have to defend the penalty kick.

So we lined up, I signaled the kick, and (you can see where this story is going, can't you?)... my son saved it.

His side erupted in cheers, with chants of his name. With a steeled look, he played the rest of the half, making several impressive saves.

My son's team lost, 3-0. After the game, my son climbed into the back seat of the car, mud encasing his shoes, rain dripping from his chin, his teeth chattering from the chill. And he said, "This was the best day of my life."

If I hadn't made that call, I would have denied my son the opportunity to rise to the challenge of this game. That wouldn't have been fair. That wouldn't have been fun. And, frankly, it wouldn't have been safe for any of the players on that pitch.

Even if my son isn't directly involved, if I, or any other ref, chooses not to call a substantial foul, we deny others' sons and daughters the opportunity to rise to the challenges of this game. That's not fair, fun or safe for any of them.

Yeah, I had a knot the size of a soccer ball when I realized I'd called a PK my son would have to defend. But I'm proud I didn't back away from the call. Almost as proud as I am of my son for standing on that line and facing that kick.

How two newspapers followed Laurie's scoop from yesterday

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: FWIW, This is how you follow a story.

And this is not.

It's the gambling, stupid: American families sick of economy that values gambling over work

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: I think many journalists and analysts are missing the core story underlying the populist revolt over the Bush administration's proposed Wall Street bailout.

People aren't merely upset with the idea of their tax money going to prop up rich Wall Street businesses and investors. They're disgusted with an American economy that increasingly values gambling over work. Not only that, many of these Americans are perfectly willing, even eager, to watch this gamblers' economy fail.

In many neighborhoods across the country, families can no longer afford to buy a home and anticipate a comfortable retirement on the money that they make working. Salaries and wages just don't provide enough cash.

According to National Association of Realtors, the median home price in the United States in July 2008 was $212,400. (That means half the homes sold in the U.S. that month cost more, half cost less.) However, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median family income was just $50,233. Using a traditional (pre-housing bubble) standards, a typical American family, earning that median income, could not afford to buy that median-priced home. And that's after housing prices have dropped 10%-40% from their peak prices, depending on the city. That typical family, earning the median income, likely would qualify only to by a home in the $125,000-$175,000 range.

If you wanted to buy your first home anytime during the past six years, you had to gamble. I know that buying a first home always has required a bit of a leap of faith. Will you keep your job? Will the economy hold up? But even keeping your job in a flush economy wouldn't have given you enough money to get to a home during the bubble, as the above number show. Instead, you had to gamble, borrowing way more than you could ever hope to pay back on your salary alone, hoping that housing prices would rise, so you could borrow against the increasing value of your home in order to pay for it.

Sounds crazy, huh? But that's what millions of Americans did over the past six years.

What about retirement? Smart Americans long have put aside part of their earnings to have enough money to live after they leave their jobs. Maybe you'd invest a little of that in blue-chip companies, ones built for the long-term and that offered slow, but steady, increases in their stocks' value.

Today, there are no blue chip companies anymore. When the Reagan administration slashed tax rates on the rich, no one cared about deferring income anymore. Instead, the Wall Street mantra became, "get it now." So companies started playing to the short-term. In the newspaper industry (where I worked for 15 years), for example, profitable newspapers laid off employees to satisfy investors who demanded ever-greater short-term growth.

Without blue chip stocks to buy, investors gambled. Forget buying a stock and holding on to it for years; which company's stock can I ride up for a few months, weeks, days or even, hours?

For professional investors, even short-term trades weren't enough. They started gambling on others' investments, buy "derivatives," whose value was based upon what would happen to the value of other investments, such as stocks and mortgages.

In a gambler's economy, people who want to play it safe can't play at all. Families that refused to gamble on ever-rising home values couldn't afford to buy any home. Mortgage lenders that wanted to enforce traditional lending standards saw their stock prices tank, forcing managers to "play along" and fuel the bubble. Investors who wanted to buy stock in other companies with a long-term view saw their investments tank, as Wall Street punished any business that didn't sell out its future for immediate gain.

And taxpayers, who played by the rules and sent their money to the IRS, now may be left holding the bag for Wall Street gamblers who bet billions on derivatives based on fraudulent mortgages, short-sighted lenders and fishy investment schemes.

This is sick. Americans want an economy that's based on people getting paid for building things and providing services that people actually need. Not on derivatives, investment schemes and money management that's less stable than walking into a Las Vegas casino.

When you gamble in Vegas, at least you know what the odds are. The house edge, the odds against winning -- they're all public record. Smart gamblers can watch the cards at the poker table, look up the odds on the slots, and make informed decisions about risking their money.

On Wall Street, though, the average American is lost, as Wall Street sharps cook their books to leave customers in the dark, and work Washington to stick taxpayers with the tab for any investments gone wrong.

We're sick off this economy. Let it fail. And let's spend our tax money instead on building a new economy, one that values and rewards real work instead of Wall Street gambling.

Scammers scraping phone numbers, street addresses for spam call and postal mail campaigns

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: Laurie and I have put our home and cell phone numbers on the U.S. federal Do-Not-Call list, but that hasn't stopped solicitors from calling. Curiously, though, the sales calls we've been getting tend to come in clumps (more pronounced that your typical Poisson distribution) and often ask for the same wrong name.

Clearly, our numbers have gotten on some list, associated with a variety of wrong names. Given that we tend to get a new string of calls every month, we figured this isn't random chance resulting from someone writing down a wrong number on an application someplace. Furthermore, the folks who call us rarely have any idea what the do-not-call list is (tipping us that they don't work for large, established call center firms), and often will keep going with their pitch even after we tell them that there's no one by that name here.

What's up? By talking with some of these callers, combined with some online sleuthing and a little deduction, here's what we've figured out.

In an effort to get around the federal Do-Not-Call list, scammers are scraping telephone numbers from the Internet and selling those lists to marketers, telling would-be buyers that these are "clean" lists of people who have agreed to take business calls. (Presumably, because they've published their numbers online, though the buyers aren't told that's where the numbers came from.)

The "better" lists associate the numbers with names found elsewhere on the same website; other lists don't bother even with that effort. The buyer doesn't realize that the names and numbers don't match until they've bought the list and started making calls. The lists aren't just pitched to telemarketers, either. Every month, we get pitches from a no-name phone company in our postal mailbox, addressed to people registered on my wife's violin website, but using our office street address.

It's the same principle behind e-mail spam, but this time applied to phone numbers and street addresses.

Of course, making phone calls and sending snail mail costs much more than sending out electronic messages. Who pays for those calls, then? Again, not folks working for brick-and-mortar call centers, where numbers can be traced and owners fined for Do-Not-Call violations. The callers tend to be people who have signed up for "work at home" scams, where the scam is that they've paid money for a "lead list" that turns out to be a bunch of random names and numbers scraped from the Web. The callers figure out within a few calls that the names and numbers never match, so that's why they don't stop when you say "I'm sorry; you must have the wrong number. No one by that name lives here." They already know that; they've paid for the list, so they're plowing ahead with the pitch hoping that you'll bite anyway.

My favorite callers have been those selling work-at-home schemes. (Like, oh, say, the one you just bought, buddy?) Other callers have claimed to represent collection agencies, which can be fronts for phishing scams. ("Oh, I'm sorry for bothering, to confirm that you are not so-and-so, could I have your Social Security number?" No, you may not. FWIW, I never tell these callers my real name, either.) Still, though, I wouldn't rule out that some failed e-tailer isn't out there trying to make a few bucks selling "bad debt" to would-be collectors that consists of nothing more than scraped phone numbers and phony accounts.

So... scammers scrape phone numbers (and sometimes street addresses) from the Internet, creating bogus lead lists that end up fueling phishing scams, work-at-home scams, and fly-by-night marketing campaigns. It's scammers scamming scammers. I'd say that they're all just getting what they deserve, if they weren't annoying me in the process.

More new sites coming soon from Robert

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: I've been a bit quiet on the blog in recent weeks, as I have been working on launching several new projects.

I will announce each one here, as it launches. After that flurry, though, I will continue to blog here, from time on time, on topics that do not fit well into any of these other projects. So sub the RSS feed to keep up with the new posts, when they happen.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you will follow me over to some of these new sites, as I am quite excited about each one of them. Details TK

Not a great week to be a Republican

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: So, let's sum it up....

John McCain's pick for Vice President is someone who:

Used of the office of governor to carry out a personal vendetta, fired a high level state official for legally and appropriately standing up to her, then lied about it.

Is a social conservative whose 17-year-old, unmarried daughter is pregnant.

Wants creationism taught in the public schools.

Thinks the Pledge of Allegiance was written in the late 1700s.

Is connected to a political party in Alaska that wants that state to secede from the United States.

Hey, Republicans, don't forget that, technically, she isn't the VP nominee yet. It's not too late to give Mitt a call.

On the subject of the GOP convention, let's not let this fall down the memory hole:

That's Stuart Shepard of James Dobson's Focus on the Family urging Christians to pray for "torrential" rain during Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last week.

Now that Hurricane Gustav is leading the Republicans to cancel part of their convention, should we file this under "Irony"? Or, perhaps, Christians who fell for this ought to mark this as a lesson in humility and keep their mouths shut next time an evangelical preacher tells them what to pray. Read Matthew 6:5-15.

Print and Online Newspapers: Working Together, Becoming Stronger

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Lorraine Lee:

Summary

Over the course of this year, my research has examined the current state of the news industry, delved into readership trends for both print and online newspapers, and assessed technology�s effect on journalism. I have interacted with many industry experts and read countless articles on the transforming world of journalism. Under the mentorship of Professor Mary Nesbitt at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, I have learned more than I could have imagined this year and am that much more prepared to enter the industry as a productive and effective journalist.

To put this fourth paper in perspective, it is necessary to recap briefly what was discussed in my first three papers. My first research paper focused primarily on the current state of the news industry and the Internet�s rapidly growing and significant role in getting people news when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it. As reported in my first paper, more readers prefer to get their news online, now that �more than two-thirds of Americans (68.1 percent) use the Internet at home, a substantial increase from the 46.9 percent of users who reported home Internet use in 2000,� according to University of Southern California�s Center for the Digital Future (2007). Even so, overall interest in news has declined, especially amongst the younger generation.

My second paper examined how important story content and presentation are in sustaining and gaining readership. My research showed the importance of a paper�s audience and how news can be presented in different ways to better appeal to its audience while not being �dumbed down.� My research further highlighted the importance of community and local news to readers.

My third paper examined multimedia journalism and its effect on journalists and readers. I looked at how the relationship between reporter and reader has changed significantly, as they are now able to communicate directly and more immediately as well. Facilitated by technological advances, stories can now invite and encourage reader comments to be placed easily online, allowing the audience to react immediately if they so choose right after they read the story. Further, blogs have created a new, still-evolving forum for discussion. This increased form of interactivity has greatly helped reader engagement.

Culminating in this fourth paper, my research presents how print and online newspapers are able to not only coexist in the future, but make each other stronger by adopting changes that respond to reader behavior and preferences, while maintaining journalistic integrity.

Pros and Cons

One way to determine how to improve print and online newspapers is to identify the pros and cons of both media. From there, journalists and media organizations need to keep and improve upon the pros while eliminating or mitigating the cons. Below in chart form is a summary of my research of pros/cons of both media from my past three papers.

The following is a pro/con list of different features and qualities that make print and online newspapers more or less desirable:

Print ~ PRO

Readership Behavioral Changes

To determine how print and online newspapers can improve in the future and work together, newspapers need to look at readership preferences based on societal, cultural and technological changes. By addressing and responding to these behavioral changes and preferences, enhancing the pros of each type of medium, while mitigating or eliminating their respective cons, my research seeks to establish a more effective model for delivery of news.

The recommendations embodied in this model are designed to improve print and online papers individually, as well as collectively, resulting in more effective news delivery and a more informed society in the future. My research has identified a symbiotic relationship between print and online newspapers; by supplementing each other, the two media working in concert and adopting the recommendations in this paper have the potential to create a combination that is greater than the sum of the individual components.

The following is an inventory of readership behavior changes:

Fast-paced society which wants news now

Timeliness and convenience have become extremely important based on fast-paced society

Busier and more unpredictable schedules call for more flexible ways to receive news

Usually prefer shorter stories or things like pull-out boxes that get to the point more quickly when in a rush

Multitaskers

Changing interest in news

More skeptical of what is reliable news

Want better service

The following is an inventory of content readers want in stories:

Interactivity and multimedia

More feature-styled stories, particularly in print newspapers, to replace �dry� stories

More community/local news

Complicated topics written in more simplistic ways

Articles that:
- Give the reader something to talk about
- Make the reader smarter
- Look out for the reader�s civic or personal interest

�Go and do� information

Shorter stories online

Recommended Improvements

To ensure that both print and online newspapers survive in the future and work together to make each other stronger, improvements have to be made to both content and presentation � the two main driving forces behind increasing readership. Media organizations should try to enhance the pros and eliminate as many of the cons as possible for each medium.

In addition to making individual changes to each medium, having both print and online newspapers work together can help supplement what each lacks by itself. Stronger connections between print newspapers and their online counterparts need to be established; neither alone is adequate. This development has started happening at newspapers like the �Los Angeles Times.�

When asked in an email interview whether she had any suggestions for ways print and online newspapers could most effectively work together in the future, Diana Day, creator of the blogs inSierra Madre and BeTwinned, wrote:

�I don't know whether I have any clever suggestions. The only thing I know for sure is that print and online versions of the newspaper are going to have to work together to survive,� Day wrote. �Online is having trouble figuring out how to make money, and print papers are circling the drain, to use a phrase I heard recently from a hardworking print reporter I know.�

That said, Day does prefer print newspapers, although she also sees the benefit of online newspapers:

�I like print newspapers because I have an easier time directing my attention to stories that I consider important,� Day wrote. �For me, this is a balance between what catches my eye and what the newspaper editors & [sic] the layout staff think is important. Additionally, a newspaper is more portable for people who don't like portable electronic devices like PDAs. I do not think that these features came about due to readers' behavioral changes; I think that these are longstanding features of a print newspaper.�

�Online newspapers are often free and convenient for many people to access. Still, though, I don't like any of the available portable electronic gadgets for newspaper reading. If I want to read the paper on a train, then I'll choose the print paper. I have always really enjoyed excellent slide shows (like those on the NY Times site) as a feature of online news, and more and more, I'm enjoying video too. Obviously, these are online-only features. Yes, I do think that changes to online newspapers come about as a result of readers' behavioral changes. Or, the changes come about simply because that's what employers will allow. I know folks in online newsrooms, and sometimes they are faced with ignorant bosses who only let certain changes go through, and they might not be the changes that readers most desire.�

Content improvements

1. Print newspapers should provide stories with �go and do� information that require readers to go to the paper�s online site.

a. For a print newspaper to feel worth the cost, stories should have more �go and do� information at the end of each article. Online stories have a multitude of sources that link articles to various videos, links, blogs, etc. that contribute to their popularity. Print newspapers do not have this, so they need to include something that will allow the reader to do more than just read the paper.

2. Print newspapers should provide stories that have multimedia versions of the story on the paper�s online site.

a. In light of the previous suggestion, to create a symbiotic link between print and online newspapers, print newspapers should have information as to where readers can see the video or hear the audio clip that accompanies a related story online. This is particularly significant for stories of tragedy � being �in the moment� after receiving the facts from the newspaper would allow the reader to feel more connected to what they�re reading and thus invest more in the stories.

3. Online newspapers usually include national stories � there should be links to the more �localized� story that is found in print newspapers.

a. One of the changes readers want from print newspapers is more community news. While of course not every national story can have a more �hometown angle,� having a story with this angle would allow newspapers to better differentiate themselves. Many major newspapers cover the same national news. To become more �competitive� and be successful, a �hometown angle� would help them move towards increasing readership and interest in news. While it is true that generally people do not have as much time to read print news stories, which are usually more in-depth, having a more human interest angle could entice people to pick up a print newspaper during free time and instead use online newspapers for the quick facts. Both include the information, and each is working to help the other.

4. Online pages should have one or two print stories that they �push.�

a. On almost any online news site, there is often a large section of the page taken up by one story or a clearly predominant image or story. These are stories that online newspapers seem to want to �push� on its readers based on its prominence and importance. If the story is bigger and more colorful, readers will be drawn to it and think that the story is more significant. Whether these stories are actually important is debatable, but this technique of �pushing� or subtly suggesting stories of importance is a good one. Online newspapers should push one or two stories they consider significant in their respective print publications.

5. Print stories should direct people to related blogs.

a. A negative aspect of print newspapers is their lack of immediate interactivity with their readers. If print stories were to indicate where to find related blogs for immediate discussion after reading the article, this would help link interactivity to print newspapers. Also, by having print newspapers direct readers to specific blogs, this would potentially eliminate skeptics who may wonder whether a blog is legitimate.

6. Letters to the Editor for print stories should be submitted online.

a. Letters to the Editor for print newspapers are a slow way of communicating with a paper�s writers and editors. However, if they are done electronically, readers feel a sense of having taken initiative in a way that seems more immediate than writing a letter. By having a �Letters to the Editor� section online for print stories, this also allows print newspapers to publish much more recent letters, in particular, if they are daily publications.

7. For each article that covers a complicated topic or issue, like war or finance, have a separate link that will explain in basic terms the background of the issue, important terms, etc. � this �reference sheet� will be applicable to all stories related to that issue.

a. This would help alleviate the complaint readers have that journalists assume the readers know too much about an issue, which can be a contributing factor to the declining interest in news. This would be most effective for online newspapers, although again, links can be provided at the end of print articles for readers to follow if they want more information.

8. Newspapers should include more in-content promotion.

a. If newspapers don�t include more in-content promotion, readers are less likely to see the improvements or changes newspapers make to gain more readers. Interest in news is declining � so newspapers need to do something that draws readers in. Newspapers need to show what sets them apart from other papers.

Presentation improvements

1. To avoid clutter on online sites, scroll over headlines to get summary of article.

a. Newspaper real estate is valuable. And although online newspapers can fit much more on one page than a print newspaper can, sometimes it can be overwhelming or not visually appealing. On various news sites, if users scroll over a headline, they receive a summary of the article instead of having a short description placed right beneath the headline. It saves space and presents a cleaner page.

2. Online sites should keep articles short on the homepage.

a. A Poynteronline study (2004) conducted a test to see what worked best in attracting readers amongst 46 participants in San Francisco, and it discovered that online stories that were shorter received more views, suggesting that when readers go online, they�re not looking for in-depth stories, but rather the quick facts.

3. Be clearer with section headings in print newspapers so people don�t have to search for the article they want, and have dedicated sections to news that readers have specifically requested they want (probably more community news for print newspapers).

a. Consistency is important in gaining loyal readers. This can be done especially well in print newspapers, since layout is usually less distracting than in an online newspaper. If newspapers gain more loyal readers based on a small regular section that is of importance to the reader, then it will have benefitted the entire paper. The reader will subscribe to that paper if only for that section.

b. Readers want community and local news. The argument that journalists are the gatekeepers of information and should decide what to write about, versus the argument that journalists should write about what readers want to read, will always be an issue. However, there is a way to compromise between the two. Journalists need to cover certain news that may not be popular among readers but also be responsive to readers� preferences and behavior � after all, that�s the only way newspapers can �improve� in the future. Readers are the ultimate audience which the paper is informing; readers are also the target of ad dollars that as a practical matter support the operations of the paper and all its staff.

4. Just like with print newspapers, online newspapers should have grouped stories � for each new headline that appears, related or past stories should be grouped underneath that headline as hyperlinks.

a. Readers, if they so choose, can read the other links in more depth for context, background, more detail or learn about related news and topics. Grouping the stories makes it more convenient for readers, which is an important consideration in readership satisfaction.

5. Within print stories, there should be pull-out boxes and summaries of articles for quick scanning.

a. Even if readers don�t end up reading the whole article, if they can at least read the information in pull-out boxes or any type of summary, they will become that much more knowledgeable about the topic and will have at least spent some time with a paper. At the very least it draws the readers� eye into the story � instead of seeing a huge block of text, they may see text along with interesting visuals that break the story apart in a more visually attractive way.

Newspapers all over the country have begun taking steps, some bigger than others, to ensure their survival and continued relevance. Many have turned to the Readership Institute at Northwestern University for guidance, and they have become increasingly cognizant of the significance of reader behavior and preferences in the rapidly transforming media world of print and online newspapers. My research has culminated in a series of feasible and practical recommendations that both respond to such behavior and preferences, and maintain journalistic integrity. If print and online newspapers listen to their readers and adapt to the changing technological multimedia world, the future looks hopeful for them.

Works Cited

Balgobin, Shera. (2007). Marketing in the Newsroom. (Unpublished research paper).

Glaser, Mark. (2008). IndyMoms Draws Busy Parents with Discussion, Niche Content. Growing Audience: A Toolkit for Change. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Layton, Charles. (2008). The Video Explosion. American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Lenhart, Amanda and Macgill Alexandra Rankin and Madden, Mary and and Smith, Aaron. (2007). Teens and Social Media: The use of social media gains a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

Jost, Kenneth. (2006). Future of newspapers. CQ Researcher Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.

Macgill, Alexandra Rankin. (2008). Parent and Teen Internet Use. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

Madden, Mary. (2007). Online Video: 57% of internet users have watched videos online and most of them share what they find with others. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

McCauley, Todd and Nesbitt, Mary. (2004). The Effects of Childhood Exposure to Newspapers on Adult Readership. The Readership Institute. Retrieved September 5, 2007.

2007. Audience. The State of the News Media 2007: An Annual Report on American Journalism. Retrieved September 8, 2007.

Outing, Steve. (2004). Eyetrack III: What News Websites Look Like Through Readers� Eyes. Poynter Online. Retrieved December 2, 2007.

Small, Jay. (2004). When It Comes to Homepages, It is Polite to Stare. Poynter Online. Retrieved December 2, 2007.

Stepp, Carl Sessions. (2007). Transforming the Architecture. American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Stepp, Carl Sessions. (2003-2004). Why Do People Read Newspapers? American Journalism Review. Retrieved October 26, 2007.

Teeling, Erin. (2007). American Newspapers and the Internet: Threat or Opportunity? The Bivings Report. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

2008. Innovations in Online Storytelling. Poynteronline. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

2007. Digital. The State of the News Media 2007: An Annual Report on American Journalism. Retrieved September 8, 2007.

2007. Inside Newspaper Culture. The Readership Institute. Retrieved September 5, 2007.

Online World as Important to Internet Users as Real World? University of Southern California Center for the Digital Future. Retrieved September 18, 2007.

2006. Online Public Attitudes � 2006 Annual Report: Young Americans and their Attitudes Toward the Web. Project for Excellence in Journalism. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

2006. The Appeal of the Internet. Project for Excellence. Retrieved September 9, 2007.

2006. Trust in the Internet. Project for Excellence. Retrieved September 13, 2007.

2004. Annual Report � Online Public Attitudes. Project for Excellence. Retrieved September 13, 2007.

2005. The Value of Feature-style Writing. The Readership Institute. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

2005. Understanding and Improving �Easy to Read� Content. The Readership Institute. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

2005. Why Don�t Newspapers Promote More? The Readership Institute. Retrieved December 2, 2007.

2004. Public Attitudes. The State of the News Media 2004: An Annual Report on American Journalism. Retrieved September 13, 2007.

2002. Public�s News Habits Little Changed by September 11. The Pew Research Center. Retrieved September 18, 2007.

2001. Newspaper Content: What Makes Readers More Satisfied. The Readership Institute. Retrieved September 9, 2007.

1998. Internet News Takes Off. The Pew Research Center. Retrieved September 18, 2007.

Advice for the newspaper industry

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Robert Niles: If you call your readers stupid for reading the content in your newspaper, don't be surprised when they quit reading your paper altogether.

Multimedia Journalism: The Age of New Technology and New Opportunities

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 MST

By Lorraine Lee: Part one: The Future of Print Readership: Following Cultural Trends
Part two: The Future of Print Readership: The Role of Story Content/Presentation

A. INTRODUCTION

For my third research paper I will focus on how new technology has paved the way for �multimedia journalism,� and examine the changing relationship between reporters and readers resulting from this development. This topic naturally follows the subject of my second paper � story content/presentation. My second paper analyzed the effect which story content and presentation have on readership, and looked at how to draw in readers with the way in which a story is written or presented. My third paper takes my research one step further, by exploring how multimedia journalism (through enhanced content and presentation) can increase readership and reader engagement by appealing to their visual as well as auditory senses. I further discuss what technology has done not only for journalism, but also for reporters and readers.

Multimedia journalism � which often includes a print or online story supplemented by some other form of media that is more interactive than just text � is becoming a prevalent way to �do� journalism. New technologies will solidify this trend. Multimedia stories require additional skills from journalists, but provide readers with more choices to interact and be informed. If they choose to do so, readers can only read the article; however, they can also watch the supplemental video and be �on-the-scene� with the reporter, or listen to sound clips taken at the scene. The stories become more enjoyable and may help some readers better understand an issue if they are aural learners, for example. In addition, readers may save time by watching a two-minute video clip instead of taking five minutes to read an article.

Multimedia journalism, enabled by new technologies, has provided readers and journalists alike with new opportunities, as well as transformed how they interact with each other.

B. CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS

Multimedia journalism holds great promise in helping journalists do their job more effectively and in engaging readers. This potential partly lies in multimedia journalism�s ability to generate more direct interaction, discussion, exploration and analysis of issues among journalists and readers. According to the �Future of Newspapers� (2006, p. 5), �Today, more and more online newspapers are offering distinctive features that are not � and could not be � published in print editions.� The same source reported that newspapers sites usually include interactive features that �allow readers to comment on issues from the serious to the mundane and � unlike letters to the editor � to participate in ongoing dialogues with other readers, and perhaps reporters and editors as well� (2006, p. 5) This is a highly significant development, highlighting the fact that online journalism is not simply a more timely supplement to print, but offers independent value to readers in its ability to present content that cannot be conveyed in print.

Online interactions based on articles published on the Internet have become instant, paving the way for a changing relationship between journalists and readers, and offering opportunities for readers to be more engaged with what they are reading. Print journalists used to have very little interaction with readers. Journalists would write the story, and readers would read it and then move on to another article, as did the journalists. If a reader had something to say, she would write a �letter to the editor� and hope to get her comment published.

Today many reporters have their contact information at the end of online articles, opening up the lines of communication. It is no longer just a one-way conversation, but a dialogue. The ability to more easily communicate with editors and reporters is important to online users, according to Online Public Attitudes (2006) � 47 percent said it�s �very important for news sites to provide readers with e-mail addresses to contact the site�s editorial staff,� (2006, p. 1) an increase from 36 percent in 2002. Readers don�t want to feel like they�re being �force fed� information, but they want to give their input and share ideas. They also like the feeling of instant gratification, or rather, feeling good about doing something on the spot, knowing their voices will be heard.

Informing versus Marketing

The newspaper industry�s need to stabilize the decline in print and grow online readership has intensified the focus on readership behavior and preferences, changing the relationship between reporters and newspapers. The transition to multimedia journalism, like most significant transformations, poses its share of potential problems. For example, unresolved tension exists between those journalists who think they should be the gatekeeper of information and arbiters of what is �newsworthy,� and those journalists who think readers should to a large extent define what is to be reported, while staying true to immutable journalistic principles of integrity, accuracy and fairness.
According to an unpublished research paper written by Shera Balgobin, a Medill graduate student, journalists differ in how they think this tension should be resolved and fall into three general groups.

The first group of journalists is called �critical skeptics.� These include the journalists who think focusing on marketing newspapers to increase revenue has lowered the quality of journalism and has not improved newspapers. They also believe that �journalism should lead public opinion rather than follow it� (2007, p. 3).

The second group, which consists of �resigned pragmatists,� believes that some sort of change in the news industry is necessary, but �are wary of marketing�s impact on good journalism� (2007, p. 3). Despite this, they �actively solicit reader feedback,� (2007, p. 3) although they are cautious when reviewing the results.

The last group, the �change agents,� is completely behind the idea of marketing newspapers and allowing it to �inform� content to better serve newspapers� readers.

This is one of the ways in which multimedia journalism has presented challenges as well as opportunities. Journalists must now find the balance between keeping up with the changing industry while maintaining journalistic values and enhancing journalism through multimedia. Stories are now being written differently, perhaps using a �feature style� or being written shorter, and the journalists and designers need to work together to find a way to report the news while making it interesting.

Multimedia journalism poses another challenge for journalists. Diana Day, who created the blogs BeTwinned and inSierra Madre, wrote in an email interview about the challenges and the ways in which multimedia journalism can be counterproductive:

�The worst quality of multimedia journalism is when the multimedia aspect is trivial or is done just to fit a trend or just to �go multimedia� for its own sake. When the story is primary and when the storytelling medium chosen fits the story that is being told, that's when multimedia is at its best,� Day wrote.

C. NEW TECHNOLOGY

Blogs

Blogs have been around for about ten years and become more popular over time, becoming almost an expected presence in many newspapers. Blogs present another opportunity for increased reader engagement and satisfaction, giving reporters another outlet for reporting the news or expressing their informed opinion on a topic, while allowing readers to comment and read others� comments. Most online newspapers have �official� blogs, but blogs can be created by anyone who has Internet access. In The New York Times, blogs range from �The Caucus,� in which the Times� politics staff covers the latest news in the presidential election, to �The Pour,� in which Eric Asimov discusses �the pleasure, culture and business of wine, beer and spirits.�

The following 2007 Bivings Report graph shows the percentage of newspapers that have various online features, including reporter blogs and reporter blog comments:

Monitoring blogs

There are difficult issues though regarding the most effective way to monitor blogs. The opportunities offered by blogs are severely limited by the bookend problems of too much or inappropriate censorship, on the one end, and senseless ranting, on the other end. Even with blogs on news sites there is usually some sort of comment filtering system to avoid people breaking out into fights and to maintain a level of civility. When dealing with blogs, newspapers are facing three main problems: 1) how to make sure the most opinionated people commenting aren�t turning off more moderately opinionated people; 2) how to most effectively filter comments; and 3) whether comments should be filtered at all. The major problem, according to Mark Glaser in the article �Traditional Media Ready to Elevate the Conversation Online � with Moderation� (2008), is: �How do you harness the audience�s knowledge and participation without the forums devolving into a messy online brawl that requires time-intensive moderation?�

Currently there is no set or uniform way in which newspapers are dealing with this issue, although some have come up with various techniques. The New York Times, for example, has a feature in which readers can recommend other readers� comments. There are also �Editor�s Selections,� which allow editors to choose which comments they think are �worthy� of being profiled in some way. By doing this, the New York Times is letting readers decide what they think are the �best� comments. If readers are skeptical about allowing other readers decide what is �good,� they can also look at �Editor�s Selections� or just look through all the comments themselves.

In the same article, Jonathan Landman, deputy managing editor for digital journalism at the New York Times, said positive and negative reinforcement is the way to make blog-commenting successful. This suggestion makes much sense, as it is human nature for people to want to feel �special� or feel that they may be more knowledgeable about certain subjects than another person. People � and in this case it becomes especially true for readers � like to be rewarded for their hard work and the time they took to comment.

�Blog comments should absolutely be monitored using technological tools and also human intervention. Trash (i.e. slander, hatred, etc.) should not be published,� Day wrote. �For my blogs, I generally do not allow comments to run until I have moderated them. Obviously I do not edit comments. They either run or they don't.�

Newspapers need to work towards having comments of quality. Although newspapers are seeking high-quality comments, who has the right to decide which comments are appropriate or �of high quality�? The �who� usually consists of editors or readers who provide rating feedback. However, when deciding what is �high quality,� there is always the risk of too much censorship. Readers may rate others� comments poorly because they disagree with others� views, or the readers themselves don�t understand the issue and thus can�t �grade� appropriately. On the other hand, the potential for inappropriate censorship existed even with print. Readers never knew how many comments may have been submitted but not published.

Chances are that if a comment shows understanding of the issue at hand and is written in a logical, balanced and convincing manner, then it will be viewed that way by other readers. If a standard is set, then a majority of those who comment will match that standard. If someone doesn�t adhere to the standards, readers will be able to notice them right away. Also, readers have to have some faith in editors� ability to view the comments in a balanced way (or objectively) and that any comments they�re filtering are probably best for the reader, either because the comment is illogical, the person doesn�t understand the issue, or there is unnecessary profanity.

An example of �high quality commenting� is seen with the blog IndyMoms, which targets moms in Indiana. According to the article �IndyMoms Draws Busy Parents with Discussion, Niche Content� by Rich Gordon, 10 �discussion leaders� were hired, or rather, moms who were paid $25 a week to �initiate and participate in discussions on the site� (p. 2). In the article, Jennifer Gombach, a brand manager in the Indianapolis Star�s marketing department, was quoted on the role of these discussion leaders:

�They often start discussions that are at a higher sophistication level than some other posters. They kind of set the tone from the get-go.�

In addition, Elpha Riche, who was hired by the Star, was quoted in the article saying that knowing which topics are heated or controversial helps beforehand. She said in the article:

�Sometimes I�ll go in and say, �OK, everyone, let�s take a breather. Step away from the computer and think before you type.� If it�s not something you would say to a room full of people you just met, you should twice about posting it to our forum.�

This mindset needs to become the norm among bloggers. By having this mindset, readers can present more logical comments that don�t yell out �you have to believe what I believe, and I�m going to keep arguing until you do.�

However, some blogs are not worth monitoring. Cher� Coen, who was Readership Editor at The Bakersfield Californian and whose job was to make the newspaper more reader-friendly, wrote in an email interview about unofficial blogs:

�Now, blogs are another story. As a journalist, I cringe when I hear about people accepting things like blogs and unofficial stories as news,� she wrote. �One big difference is you know you're getting some form of professionalism with print as opposed to sites that aren't part of the mainstream media.�

Videos

Videos have become an important storytelling tool of multimedia journalism and have potential for growing readership. They are visually stimulating and bring people in a story to life. Use of news videos has grown significantly over the past 12 to 18 months, according to the American Journalism Review (2008). In addition, video consumers � which can include those who visit sites like YouTube � generally tend to be younger than the overall population. According to �The Video Explosion� (2008) in the American Journalism Review, the audiences attracted to videos �have higher incomes and more education� (2008, p. 5). The article reported that the Nielsen Co. reported that 129 million Americans have access to broadband, and that a report made by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in July shows that 57 percent of all online viewers watch or download videos. The number increases to 74 percent for broadband users. Based on these numbers, it seems that having videos accompanying articles is bound to attract more readers, especially the younger generation, which is crucial in contributing to increased newspaper readership.

In the same article, an author named Gene Weingarten (Washington Post) wrote a story about Joshua Bell, �one of the world's most esteemed classical violinists� (2008), impersonating a street performer, whom the public ignored. The article ran in the print version of the paper with photos, but video clips were added to the online version of the story. Weingarten was quoted in the article saying that his story was more effective online with the video, although this isn�t necessarily always the case. His definition of effective seemed to stem from the fact that the story reached more people than it would have without the video, including those in Beijing.

Frame grabs are also a new part of journalism and have arisen from video. Frame grabs are still shots taken from a video camera, able to be put on print as seen with the San Jose Mercury News or the Detroit Free Press, or online. They serve as a new, creative way to display information and add to multimedia journalism. David Leeson, who was interviewed in �The Video Explosion� (2008), started shooting video for the Dallas Morning News in 2000, and said in the article that he believes a journalist will soon win a Pulitzer Prize in photography from frame grabs. Videos play an important role in journalism, in particular online journalism, and are becoming a form of interactivity that is continually gaining popularity.

Other interactive features

Although videos are one of the most prominent forms of multimedia, others include sound clips, timelines, maps, and whatever else newspapers can create. Interactive features like maps are another way to attract readers to a story � while having readers read the actual story is ideal, as researched in my first two papers, they often don�t have the time. Interactive features accompanying articles allow the reader to get quick information about what happened and help grab their attention. A good example of an interactive map was seen in the New York Times regarding the Virginia Tech tragedy; the map had 16 slides that showed different areas of campus and the killer�s path, as well as descriptions of different scenes and facts.

D. JOURNALISTS� CHANGING ROLE

These new ways of storytelling are pushing journalists beyond reporting the story in the conventional way. They now must add whatever supplemental material they can gather, as well as present the story in such a way that all the multimedia aspects of the story mesh together well. Also, stories do not have to be just an article anymore � they can be things like graphics or slideshows that stand alone. Integration of multimedia features requires tighter integration and smoother transition from text to multimedia features to sidebars to pull-out boxes, and more. This is all very taxing on the people who have to layout and design the online page, as well as gather the information, and journalists have to coordinate more closely to enable this.

Multimedia journalism has created opportunity for journalists, but it requires them, no matter what age, to learn new skills.

�Not everyone is adept with all the new storytelling tools, so sending reporters out into the field with videocameras [sic], for example, may or may not be helpful if the reporter is not a visual person,� Day wrote in an email interview. �Reporters have to want to use new tools and have to understand how these many new tools can add to a story. It's challenging to use multimedia tools in an additive fashion rather than in a subtractive fashion. It takes practice to shoot good video, to record compelling sound.�

If you asked a journalist ten years ago what their job was, they could respond with �I�m a print journalist� or �I do broadcast.� Today, though, a journalist has to be multi-skilled to keep up with the changing world. They need to know how to write the story and also supplement it and perhaps take video or record sound clips. Not only that, but once the story has been uploaded or printed, they now have a responsibility to lead discussion and to actively engage in it. Journalists can no longer sit idly after reporting a story, expecting readers to read it and then move on. Readers want to talk about what they read and engage with people all over the world. Journalists need to embrace this new movement and serve as leaders and role models.

A BRIEF PREVIEW OF MY FOURTH PAPER

In my fourth paper I will prove my thesis that print and online newspapers can survive in the future while making each other stronger. Based on my research I will propose suggestions as to how this partnership would best work while ensuring that journalism and reporters live up to journalistic standards and ethics.

Works Cited
Balgobin, Shera. (2007). Marketing in the Newsroom. (Unpublished research paper).

Glaser, Mark. (2008). Traditional Media Ready to Elevate the Conversation Online � with Moderation. Media Shift. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Gordon, Rich. IndyMoms Draws Busy Parents with Discussion, Niche Content. Growing Audience: A Toolkit for Change. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Layton, Charles. (2008). The Video Explosion. American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Lenhart, Amanda and Macgill Alexandra Rankin and Madden, Mary and and Smith, Aaron. (2007). Teens and Social Media: The use of social media gains a greater foothold in teen lifeas they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

Macgill, Alexandra Rankin. (2008). Parent and Teen Internet Use. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

Stepp, Carl Sessions. (2007). Transforming the Architecture. American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

Teeling, Erin. (2007). American Newspapers and the Internet: Threat or Opportunity? The Bivings Report. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

2008. Innovations in Online Storytelling. Poynter Online. Retrieved February 7, 2008.

2006. Online Public Attitudes � 2006 Annual Report: Young Americans and their Attitudes Toward the Web. Project for Excellence in Journalism. Retrieved September 10, 200.

2006. Online Public Attitudes � 2006 Annual Report: Trust in the Internet. Project for Excellence in Journalism. Retrieved September 10, 2007.