Getting Twitter to tell the tale

Social media offers instant news platforms

• By Douglas Okasaki Designer
• Published: 11:43 December 26, 2012
• 

  There has been nothing like social media to transform anyone into an information provider. In fact, since Twitter, some of the most important news breaks were reported first by citizens and then picked up by news media.
  Paul Lewis is an award-winning journalist from The Guardian. He was ‘Reporter of the Year’ at the British Press Awards 2010 and won the 2009 Bevins Prize for outstanding investigative journalism. One of the reasons for his success is the fact he uses Twitter as a tool to get deeper into the news story.
  People on the spot are already doing journalism without noticing it. Lewis cites the classic instance of Shoaib — the man in Abbottabad, Pakistan — who put up Twitter feeds just as the assassination of Osama Bin Laden was unfolding. “Uh, oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it,” tweeted Athar.

Liu: Down-to-earth journalist

Liu Yunshan chats with members of the Puncog family in Lunang town, Linzhi county, the Tibet autonomous region, on July 17, 2010. Photos by Xinhua

One lesson Liu Yunshan learned more than 30 years ago remains as he is elevated to the top leadership of the Communist Party of China.

"Get down to earth," Liu, 65, often tells his colleagues. "Only in this way can we become people of confidence and intelligence."

Following the same principle, his pragmatic approach has impressed people during his work as a journalist for Xinhua News Agency or supervising cultural and ideological work, and while he lived in the border areas in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region or in Beijing, the Chinese capital.

Along with Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, Liu was elected on Nov 15 into the seven-member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

Since the new CPC leadership

Journalists: Prime target

Khawaja Umer Farooq

Wednesday, December 26, 2012 -

In third world countries media and journalists are still paying a high price to expose truth in front of modern world. According to organization Reporters Without A Border 88 journalists lost their lives in 2012 while covering wars and gang battles in different countries. Recent killing of Journalists and media persons Increased 33 percent compare to last year’s statistics. The reason for the large number of journalists killed in 2012 is mainly wars in Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Libya and drugs and gangs wars in Mexico. Syria again proved deadliest country for journalist in 2012, Twenty eight journalists lost their lives in Syria while coveringstreet fights between Free Syrian Army and Assad forces.

Predictions for digital journalism in 2013

Posted: 20 December 2012 By: Sarah Marshall, http://www.journalism.co.uk
Seven industry experts – from local, national and international news outlets – share their predictions for digital journalism

We asked seven industry experts to share their predictions for digital journalism in 2013.

They are key figures from the New York Times, WSJ.com, FT.com, the Daily Post, plus an academic, the founder social news agency Storyful, and a leader in B2B who is also chair of the Association of Online Publishers.

There are predictions around mobile, paywalls, social media platforms and more.

If you would prefer to hear them explain their predictions, you can listen to them speaking in this podcast. Here they are listed in alphabetical order of first name.

Alison Gow, editor of the Daily Post and DailyPost.co.uk, North WalesSocial tools
Alison Gow predicts there will be a need for journalists to "work smarter not harder" in 2013, using digital tools to help "do the job more efficiently".

Her team currently uses a range of tools "to try and bring the news to people in the event of a news break".

They include Geofeedia, Spundge, Twitter Search,Instagram* and RSS feeds, for example, to find out what people are talking about when a story breaks, and "potentially tap into users who are on the scene".

When covering the story of floods in North Wales, Gow's team used the above social tools "to spot where things were happening, who was there talking or tweeting or posting video, and to get in contact and start the conversation."

It is all about "helping people tell the story", she says.

Aron Pilhofer, editor of interactive news, New York Times 

Aron Pilhofer runs a team that spans data journalism, social media and community. One of the areas the New York Times will be focussing on in 2013 is community.

Going deeper

"We are focussing a lot on community and going from having a sort of comments-based community to more of an engaged community where maybe you are blurring the lines a little bit between UGC [user-generated content] and social media and comments – to the point where you are creating, in some cases, new forms of journalism."

The New York Times has experimented with this technique on the Well blog. The 'Picture your life after cancer' project, which started in 2010 and was updated this year, encouraged cancer survivors to share photographs of themselves.

"It was entirely reader-driven," Pilhofer said. "Although it was curated and edited by us, the content came from readers and it was a really striking and pretty incredible piece of journalism. I would expect to see a whole lot more of that."
New skills

Pilhofer also predicts that we will see specialists from outside journalism being brought into the newsroom.

"You are really seeing a re-definition of who is a journalist and the kinds of skills necessary to move into the digital world."

You are really seeing a re-definition of who is a journalist and the kinds of skills necessary to move into the digital worldAron Pilhofer, New York Times

"This isn't particularly surprising as these are skills that most startups have, these are skills that most web startups consider essential to their business, to understanding their readers, to understanding their customers.

"I think you are just starting to see that happen in newsrooms, that realisation that data analysis, coding skills, having people like Mike Bostock, a brilliant data visualisation expert, who suddenly is a graphic artist, he's on the graphics desk although he doesn't have journalism background.

"That's the trend you are starting to see and to me it is a very exciting trend and I'm enthusiastic to see this happening."

François Nel, Journalism Leaders' Programme at the University of Central Lancashire
Responsibility

François Nel believes "one of the key words that will feature in digital journalism circles in 2013 is 'responsibility'".

"There's been a lot of talk lately about the responsibilities – and even irresponsibilities – of news organisations, and I think that will continue in 2013, but I think we will also see a lot more discussion about the responsibilities of digital news users.

"It's clearly not responsible, I believe, or sustainable for users of any goods or services to expect something for nothing. I think as we see traditional media's share of advertising spend remain under pressure in 2013, and I don't think that will change, I think that responsible digital news consumers will start to realise that contributing directly towards the cost of the news and information they rely on is simply the right thing to do."
Responsiveness

Nel believes that 'responsiveness' is another word that will "loom large in 2013".

"It's likely that a lot of people will be predicting that for news organisations 2013 will be the year that they ramp up their mobile activities. We've already seen occasions when news sites like the Guardian have more traffic via mobile than desktop at some times of the day.

"I think Santa will probably by stuffing thousands of smartphones and tablets into Christmas stockings this year, and the challenges for news organisations are not only about how to shift their content onto an increasing variety of mobile devices, but also how to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that high-speed, affordable mobile connectivity brings.

Talent

Forward-thinking executives will not only be focusing on how to work smarter in 2013, bit also how to get the smartest people to work for them or with themFrançois Nel, academic

"There will also be a lot more talk about talent," Nel predicts.

"After several years of reorganisation – and I think right-sizing of news operations – news organisations that I deal with across the globe are increasingly recognising that their future must depend not only on cutting costs and investing in new digital technologies, but also on attracting and nurturing talent.

"Forward-thinking executives will not only be focusing on how to work smarter in 2013, bit also how to get the smartest people to work for them or with them."

John Barnes, managing director of digital and tech at Incisive Media and chair of the AOP

  
John Barnes says one of the huge challenges for publishers is around sustainability. "Advertisers want premium-quality content and premium-quality content sites want advertisers."

He says there is "danger with the way the market is going" in that "big advertising units interrupt the reading experience and we are increasingly endangering that value creation that premium publishers have".

Native advertising

Barnes predicts the rise of so-called native advertising. "Native advertising is basically advertising messages that are presented in a friendly and useful way," Barnes explained.

"A good example of native advertising is putting advertising components intoCAPTCHA code boxes. So rather than typing a piece of gobbledygook you often can't read, you might be typing an advertising message which is 'I love Volvos', or something like that.

"You are making an advertising proposition out of something that lives on the page already that doesn't actually damage the value of the site and actually is potentially quite useful; it's easier to type 'I love Volvos' than it is to try and interpret some weird and wacky CAPTCHA code."

Viewable ads

Barnes also predicts the rise in the adoption of viewable ads, which are already being used by Forbes.com.

In-view ads come in and out of view as the user scrolls, meaning there are fewer advertisements on the page at any one time.

"Viewable ads are really critical because if they are working well, what they actually mean is rather than being faced with a page with lots of ads on it, what you are seeing is a page with very few ads on it, and depending on how far down you get, they will serve a reasonable amount of advertising."

AOP research has found that the viewability of ads towards the bottom of the page is significantly higher than the viewability at the top of the page.

"That is because people are reading articles and they are getting to the bottom of the page, so that's a really interesting justification for long-form journalism."

Mark Little, founder and chief executive of social news agency Storyful


The 'industrialisation' of verification

Social news agency Storyful sources and verifies stories, images and videos for news outlets. Founder and chief executive Mark Little says 2012 has been the "year of verification".

Another trend of 2012, particularly around Hurricane Sandy, has been that the journalist's role has moved to sometimes stopping the spread of information.

"It is very counter-intuitive for journalists as we don't like to kill a story, we like to spread a story, but this year we have seen a lot more journalists, people like Storyful, like Craig Silverman in the US, the efforts of The Atlantic during Hurricane Sandy, dedicated to debunking, calling bullshit on the hoaxes, making sure that they stop the picture of the five foot shark in a flooded garden in New Jersey".

"We are starting to see verification processes scale," Little added. "Simple tools from Google Maps all the way to TinEye, which helps detect false imagery, are becoming more and more a staple of the journalist's tool box.

I think next year will be the year we are really going to start to scale these verification processes, which at the moment are very labour intensive, but I think we will see them become more industrialisedMark Little, Storyful

"And I think next year will be the year we are really going to start to scale these verification processes, which at the moment are very labour intensive, but I think we will see them become more industrialised."

YouTube and Instagram for breaking news

Little also feels that 2013 will see journalists checking Instagram and YouTube when a story breaks and not just Twitter. (It is worth noting that I spoke to Little before the controversy over the new Instagram terms of service.)

"At the beginning of the year I would have said that Twitter was the dominant platform in the first hours hours of a breaking story. But what's interesting now is the way in which platforms like Instagram, and to an extent YouTube, are trying to become the first port of call for people looking for newsworthy content in times of crisis.

"Hurricane Sandy is the stand-out story of the year when it comes to the rise of Instagram. You saw it acting as a social network, not just a place you post photographs but a place where people were talking around content, where people were coming together, testing out the voracity of content, communicating with uploaders. You saw more journalists sitting in the comments box on Instagram asking for permission to use imagery.

"We were starting to see Instagram becoming almost like a photo version of Twitter.

"I think Twitter's dominance will be maintained, but I think Instagram will be one of your tabs in your browser next year when times of crisis hit or a big story breaks."

Little thinks we will also go to YouTube when a story breaks next year. He predicts the platform will become more social and that it "will mimic the features of Facebook".

Little believes "2012 was the year that 'social media' disappeared, when all of the people in established journalism realised that they now are dependent on social platforms".

"Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are no longer added extras; they are central to news practices in journalism going forward.

"We can takeaway the inverted commas around the word 'social media' and just call it media. And thankfully that's one of the greatest positive outcomes of 2012."

Raju Narisetti, managing editor, WSJ Digital Network, Wall Street Journal

US paywalls

Raju Narisetti predicts the rise of more US paywalls. "I think free content from newspapers in the US will become more scarce as more paywalls will go up," he said, "But it is my belief is that most metered paywalls will fail to save the business models of most newspapers."

"The good news will be that a lot of newsrooms will focus on the business of journalism than ever before."

Advertising

I think free content from newspapers in the US will become more scarce as more paywalls will go upRaju Narisetti, WSJ.com

Narisetti also thinks there will not be a positive turnaround in ad revenues. "Print and digital display advertising revenues will continue to be under pressure, so US newsrooms will again continue to shrink despite the introduction of paywalls."

Ones to watch

Narisetti will be keeping an eye on several companies in 2013."Companies to watch in 2013 beyond Twitter and Apple in the media space will be Cisco, Adobe, Microsoft; plus smaller companies Tout, Spreecast and Storify. Products that will occupy more of our mind share in 2013 will be YouTube, Google Glass and Square." 

Stephen Pinches, group product manager for emerging platforms, FT.com


Tablet Christmas

Stephen Pinches that there will be a shift in the tablet market in 2013.

"News organisations are going to have to be very, very good at adapting their content to different screen sizes. There's going to be a lot more thinking, a lot more creativity around the display of content next year."

Paywalls

He also thinks we will see more paywalls put up.

"We have seen a lot of rumours about newspapers in the US putting in paywalls and also all around the world, in Germany and in many other countries, so I think next year we are really going to see people re-evaluating their business models and thinking very carefully about how they can best make money out of their content."

COMMENT : The tree of grief — Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq

Friday, December 21, 2012, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/

How can a parent not weep for the loss of a child, just because the child was not his? How can a parent talk about keeping his children safe yet kill those of others?

It was the year 2004 and the first day of September; the site was School Number One, located in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, in the Russian Federation. It was the start of the new school year and hundreds of children accompanied by their parents were present on the grounds when a group of terrorists arrived allegedly in a police van and a military truck shortly after 9:00 am, shooting in the air. The children and their relatives were forced into the school gymnasium while around eight people were killed as a brief gunfight ensued between the terrorists and police. More than 1,100 persons were taken hostage, nearly 800 of them were children. The terrorists prevented the hostages, including children, from eating or drinking, shot and blasted strong adults with remote controlled bombs. The Russian troops stormed the building on the third day of the siege: 326 people died, 186 of them were children.

The price of freedom : MEDIA

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk ,Friday, December 21, 2012

According to figures published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 2012 has been the deadliest year for journalists the world over. Around 88 journalists have been killed so far. This includes the new breed of citizen journalists who have been reporting from conflict zones such as Syria, Egypt and other places, giving on location details of the events they encounter, at times including video footage. Three countries have been singled out by the Paris-based media monitoring group as most dangerous to journalists, cameramen and photographers: Syria, Somalia and Pakistan. The death toll for this year is a third more than the previous year and the highest since figures began to be compiled 17 years ago. The reason for this increase, as told by Christophe Deloire, the head of RSF, is that those responsible for crimes against journalists are never punished. Because there is no follow up in nearly all cases, the criminals carry on fearlessly. The absence of the fear factor that the long arm of the law will nail any perpetrator is making every passing year more dreadful for journalists.

It’s your fault

Masud Alam; http://dawn.com/2012/12/20/

Pakistani media is trashy because people – that would be consumers of media, or simply put, you – demand and happily receive trash. That was the only explanation offered at an event that measured atmospheric pressure of the media environment and found it low enough to predict that stormy weather is only getting worse.

The Asian Media Barometer first conducted home-grown analysis of the media landscape in Pakistan and India in 2009, in which India scored 2.4 and Pakistan a slightly better 2.5 out of a maximum score of 5. The 2012 Barometer found Pakistan sliding down to 2.4. Beating India by one decimal point was the source of pride then, and being where India was three years ago, is the saving grace now. But is it?

OVER A COFFEE : When journalists can become assassins: Dr Haider Shah

Saturday, December 15, 2012,  Dr Haider Shah

Nowhere in the world has one seen TV stations running malicious campaigns against national politicians on a round the clock basis

She was found dead in her room at staff accommodation near the Edward VII Hospital in Central London where she had worked as a nurse for four years. Jacintha Saldanha, a loving mother of two, is believed to have committed suicide by hanging herself after the Indian-born nurse was duped by Aussie radio stars pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles. What the radio pranksters believed to be their journalistic scoop ended up as a shot that put a working woman down. The case is still under investigation and the questionable role of the hospital administration after the incident may have contributed to the fatal decision by the wretched health worker. The incident, however, has renewed the calls for greater scrutiny of the conduct of journalists. The unfettered obsession to improve their radio station’s ratings by faking a call to get confidential and private information about the health of pregnant Princess Kate Middleton has caused so much anguish that the two radio presenters are now put in a safe house for their own security.

How the Taliban Turned Against Pakistan's Right-Wing Journalists

Malik Siraj Akbar

Editor in Chief, 'The Baloch Hal'; Author; Contributing Writer

Pakistan has announced a reward of 50 million rupees (approximately $520,000) for anyone with information about people involved in a failed plot to assassinate a renowned television journalist last week in Islamabad, the nation's capital.

Geo Television, Pakistan's first 24/7 private news channel, said Hamid Mir, the host of popular talk-show Capital Talk was the prime target of a car bomb plot. The attackers had fixed a bag with a half kilogram of explosive material below the senior journalist's car seat, which was immediately removed by the bomb disposal squad after Mr. Mir's neighbors spotted the suspicious bag.

Pakistan's National Assembly passes controversial ‘fair trial’ bill

National Assembly passed a controversial ‘fair trial’ legislative bill on Thursday while authorising the state to intercept private communications in order to catch terrorists, may also pose a threat to people’s privacy.

The bill was tabled by Law Minister Farooq Naek despite opposition from the MQM and PML-N.

The bill has formally paved the way for the government to tap phones and use e-mails and text messages as proof in trials.

The legislation provides the authority to the government that it can access “data, information or material in any documented form … through audio visual device, CCTV, still photography, bugging, observation or any mode of modern devices or techniques obtained under the Act … documents, papers, pamphlets, booklets” for surveillance.

Is Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year Still Relevant?

BY Christopher Zara | December 19 2012 2:34 PM

When Time magazine named Charles Lindbergh its first Man of the Year in 1927, superlative journalism was still a fresh concept. 

The Oscars weren’t born yet. And the notion of “Best Of” still promised to serve an untapped niche.

But at a time when media consumers are inundated with listicles at every turn (a quick look on BuzzFeed’s homepage yielded “10 Faces You Make When You’re Stuck In A Bad Relationship”), it’s fair to question the relevance of Time magazine’s time-honored practice. 

A deadly year for journalists: 2012

By Terry Glavin, Ottawa Citizen December 19, 2012

You could say it was the one bright spot Reporters Without Borders managed to find in 2012, a year that has turned out to be the deadliest for journalists since the press freedom organization released its first global year-end roundup, in 1995. Afghanistan’s pioneering liberal daily, Hasht-e Sobh (8 AM), is still alive.

Sanjar Sohail, the newspaper’s fearless 31-year-old Afghan-Canadian publisher, was in Paris Tuesday to collect the organization’s annual media prize. I spoke with Sohail, who I’m proud to say is a friend, just as he was about to head from his hotel to the prize banquet at the Le Monde auditorium.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “After six or seven years working with Hasht-e-Sobh and 10 years as a journalist, I feel my work is being recognized by people in the field, even outside Afghanistan.”

Sohail deserves all the recognition and honour he can get. In awarding him the 2012 prize, Reporters Without Borders director general Christophe Deloire said Hasht-e Sobh’s vigilance and professionalism prove that “freely-reported quality journalism can develop in the most difficult corners of the planet.”

Two Pakistani Writers Honored for Commitment to Free Expression

41 Facing Persecution Win Hellman/Hammett Grants

(New York) - Forty-one writers from 19 countries have received 2012 Hellman/Hammett grants for their commitment to free expression and their courage in the face of persecution.

The award-winners have faced persecution for their work, generally by government authorities seeking to prevent them from publishing information and opinions.  Those honored include journalists, bloggers, essayists, novelists, poets, and playwrights. They also represent numerous other writers worldwide whose personal and professional lives are disrupted by repressive policies to control speech and publications.

EU builds bridges among media, flood-affected people and government: EU Envoy EU builds bridges among media, flood-affected people and government: EU Envoy

Wednesday, 19 December 2012 20:58

Posted by Shoaib-ur-Rehman Siddiqui

ISLAMABAD: The EU ambassador to Pakistan Lars- Gunnar Wigemark Wednesday said media played important role in early rehabilitation and recovery of the flood affected people.

He was addressing a function held at Pakistan National Council of the Arts to celebrate the success of a useful cooperation between EU and journalism to highlight the important issues following 2010 and 2012 floods in Pakistan.

The EU Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark commended the achievements of the 'Media for Early Recovery' project and reiterated EU's commitment to support Pakistan.