Newspapers are going out of business every day it would seem. The latest in the U.S is the Ann Arbor News based in Michigan. There’s nothing different in this story, dwindling advertising revenues  are the culprit. Whether Google is taking advantage of expensively gathered news at a bargain basement price the news industry itself must buck up and get with the programme.

On one hand there is the altruistic journalist on the other the executive. Many ‘bankrupt’ newspapers have given out massive bonuses to the very executives who took their eyes off the ball. RobertG.Picard’s blog assesses just that.

Rupert Murdoch seems to make sense when he said:

Complacency is the biggest threat to newspapers and that the real foe is not competition from new technology, it is the complacency in our industry among people who have enjoyed monopolies, who have to compete for an audience they once took for granted, who don’t trust their audiences and who have not responded constructively to challenges from readers who no longer think editors are omnipotent oracles.

This story just proves how crucial investigative journalism is. Bloggers could be forgiven for this sort of thing but for reputable newspapers, whose business it is to verify and investigate, it is unforgivable. One small sympathy would be that massive cuts in the industry means less money and time to acquire and disseminate information. This coupled with the web as a platform means time is more of a constraint than money, it would appear.  (small sympathy) Fair play to Shane Fitzgerald, he should get a first for his globalisation module at least! It was also very brave of him to write to all of the newspapers explaining himself, many would not.

Another similar blunder for the media that happened in India.

Sherlock Holmes would be turning in his grave!

Sherlock Holmes

News is very often information people don’t like or find hard to digest. It is not about adding sugar to make a product more marketable or palatable. It is clear that a viable business model is needed for News organisations to continue but by the way Schmidt talks about ‘The future of news’, and ‘what your readers/consumers want’. it is clear that he knows nothing about journalism and plenty about making money and covering his backside with a team of lawyers from school B. When customers become more important than citizens it will be a sad day. If companies like Google start tailoring news to suit ‘consumers’ for profit, then news will die and nothing but gossip, rumour and celebrity rubbish will remain.

Nick Clark wrote an article for The Independent, following the Newspaper Association’s Conference last week.

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google

Mojo

A site that encourages collaboration with citizens for effective newsgathering is Synthetic Jungle.

Video experiment from a Harlem citizen journalist.

What about when the profiteers directly threaten independent reporting, in a world where money rules and well nothing else matters?

Tim Luckhurst’s passionate piece in the Irish Times slams Google for sweatshop churnalism:

“It does not matter greatly if printed newspapers are replaced entirely by web-based products. The only thing that is crucial is that fact-gathering, revelatory journalism must survive and that it must be published by organisations entirely independent of government. Google’s business model is incompatible with this goal.” Tim Luckhurst

Eric Schmidt

If you disagree with Luckhurst,  Silicon Valley CEO and Journalist, Alan Mutter may be speaking your language in his blog.

The first post-mortem of Ian Tomlinson’s death revealed that he died of natural causes. This was challenged by video footage, taken by an investment fund manager from New York who gave it to the Guardian a few days after the riots. The man died from internal bleeding. It is interesting to look back at footage such as this after the evidence begins to mount against the British police.

The camera of the past always told the truth even if finer details were lacking. The Internet and sophisticated technology blows lies such as those from the G20 riots out of the water. The only problem  is that  ‘digital imagery’ cannot be considered as honest as its chemical predecessor due to the availability of software such as Photoshop.

Make up your own mind

The result is that blog authority, measured in the traditional blog-to-blog linkage by Technorati, has gone the way of property prices and Brian Cowen’s approval ratings. markhamnolan

Courtney Love leading the way by being the first member of the twitterati to be caught up in twittigation proceedings.

“oi vey don’t f— with my wardrobe or you will end up in a circle of corched eaeth hunted til your dead. Courtney Love

Love directed the tweet at her fashion designer, Dawn Simorangkir. If she has any sense Love will feign semi-literacy and pretend the message was really intended for her dog, vey, who likes to chew designer clothes. Reuters ran an article on the story.

Digital Rights Ireland is a useful blog which helps decode the basics of libel and defamation in Ireland.

Garry Trudeau tweets as Roland Hedley, the  fictitious Fox News reporter, who debuted in the Doonesbury comic strip in 1973. Trudeau uses satire to take a swipe at TV journalist tweeters.

Roland Hedley

The technology obviously isn’t inherently silly — it’s just a tool. A lot of serious people are using Twitter towards serious ends, especially the geeks who put it on the map. Gary Trudeau

Teenagers use Twitter to recreate history using live updates in this experiment in cultural anthropology

Blogging followed with citizens participating in the news and posting comments and opinion. One criticism of bloggers is that with the immediacy of the web comes less reflective work or comments. Information at one’s fingertips, replies and updates demanding rapid reply times.

Along came Twitter…

A hybrid of micro-blog and social network, now it is possible to post a 140 character  update, in real time, to one’s disciples. Twitter’s growth is a noughties phenomenon. Whether you scorn the inane “I’m stuck in traffic” posts or see the value in live news, there is no doubting its current significance.

The recent Hudson plane crash and the Mumbai attacks were broken by a tweeter. Random punters are breaking news and being interviewed by news channels  for their eye-witness accounts. This has and is changing news as we know it. The video below contains a Nightline report with an  interview with Twitter founders. It also explains how to use the application.

Suzy Byrne’s blog Maman Poulet won for having the best  news & current affairs blog. This also won her the grand prix prize for best blog. Her post The Status of Politics on the Internet in Ireland is worth checking out.  If you haven’t already do click on the Irish Times article on her post.

It is interesting to see Irish politicians embracing online resources to campaign. It’s not as impressive as Obama but I’m sure in a century they’ll get it right when this ‘extremely mountainous’ country of ours gets 100% broadband coverage.  When (or if) this happens, it should be made mandatory for all politicians to utilse the internet for their campaigns.  It would be environmentally friendly and would partially solve the disgraceful litter problem this country has.

The second blog of note is iGaeilge. Being a fan of the Irish language I was drawn to this winner and then discovered the winner was my cousin, Concubhar! Well call me biased, but as we learn in the blogosphere isn’t that what it’s about, subjectivity?!

In fairness, Concubhar Ó Liatháin comes from a long line of native Irish speakers in Cúil Aodha, West Cork. He also worked as an editor for the Irish Newspaper, Lá Nua. The Irish spoken in this part of the country is fíor ghaeilge. It is a small Gaeltacht near Macroom, so if it’s irish authenticity you want check out this blog. The topics covered range from current affairs, culture and news. Bain trial as!