Protecting Your Sources
04 May, 2006
Opening the media to the scrutiny of bloggers, citizen journalists and activists means that members of the public can judge for themselves how a story was uncovered, how it developed and what lessons can be learnt from it. However, one effect of total news transparency would threaten the basis of investigative journalism - protecting anonymous sources.
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Podcasts & The Law
04 May, 2006
New media, new laws: Creative Commons has published a Legal Guide for podcasting. Plenty of advice of copyright and fair use, as well as instructions on how to license your work (and use that of others, trouble-free) under a Creative Commons licence.
In keeping with Web 2.0's collaborative structures, the guide is posted as a Wiki, though a PDF version is also available. The writers stress that the guide applies only to US podcasters, but are keen to hear from overseas collaborators.
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Save The Internet!
24 April, 2006
The US Congress is pushing a law which could signal the end of "net neutrality" - the system that prevents cable companies from deciding which sites their subscribers should be able to download and at which speed. Big companies like AT&T and Verizon have been lobbying Congress to allow them to charge content companies for speedy access - a development which the founders of the Save The Internet campaign say could destroy the Net's level playing field.
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Blogs For Business
19 April, 2006
Businesses are becoming aware of the benefits - and difficulties - that weblogs can create. The Guardian reports on how a new report reveals that a small number of bloggers can have a "disproportionately large influence" on society. Meanwhile the BBC looks at how companies are meeting critical bloggers halfway by taking some of their comments on board.
Some executives see blogs as a good way of getting free market research. Others hope to win critical bloggers over by responding to their concerns. Less principled companies have resorted to attempts to create a roster of supportive bloggers or even to buy some bloggers off. Strategies for bringing bloggers onside have included free samples and trips to company headquarters.
For some businesses, the best way to approach blogging has been to do it yourself: This month saw London's first Blogging4Business conference, where executives could learn how to communicate with customers and the media via weblogs, live event blogs and "Consumer Trend Mining."
Business has become accustomed to having its relations with the public managed by PR firms, who spend much of their time cultivating friendly relations with journalists. The more successful the PR firm, the more suspicious it looks in the eyes of the public: If a firm has a substantial roster of clients, readers begin to suspect that journalists investigating one case can be bought off with the promise of an exclusive on another client.
They're spooked, then, by independent bloggers. With day jobs often unrelated to media, bloggers don't need to observe the rules of PR etiquette in order to stay in work; they're also aware their credibility as consumer champions is a factor of their independence. Horror of horrors, some might even have started blogging as a protest against the corrosive relationship between professional hacks and PRs.
It's early days for blogging - but it's clear that business is a few steps behind the blogs. Watching companies and PR trying to play catch up should be an interesting experience.
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A Question Of Connections
19 April, 2006
The New York Times now requires freelancers to complete a questionnaire on their "affiliations, work history, financial and personal connections and any past instances when questions were raised about the accuracy or originality of their work."
Why only freelancers? Shouldn't all journalists be subject to the same transparency - or does the Times believe that its job interviews vet prospective employees well enough already? Or that tenure somehow bestows principles upon its staff? Some bloggers are pushing for all newspapers to require their journalists to complete the questionnaire. In that spirit, they're suggesting bloggers do the same on their sites.
A mole sent Jeff Jarvis the questionnaire - he's duly completed it. If you're inclined to follow, we've reproduced the questions below.
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It's Mutual
10 April, 2006
Doubtless following on from last week's hack attack on a prominent British PR network, the Independent has tried to "balance the news" by asking public relations executives what they think about journalists.
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Artificial Intelligence
06 April, 2006
The Independent reports that a UK agency designed to bring reporters and PR professionals closer together is coming under strong criticism from journalists.
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