Saturday, June 12, 2010
Get Pumped About the World Cup thru five advs
Fifa world cup is on. Adv persons are also burning midnight oil to make big riding the world cup. I found some ads, you might see over the next 30 days. These are most viewed online vedio ads....
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NYT bans 'tweet', 'tweeting' and 'tweeted' from its pages in new style guide ruling
With paywalls and the row over Google's use of newspaper property, journalism seems to be waging a never-ending war with the internet. In the latest skirmish, the notebook-and-pen brigade took another swipe at the technophiles with the decision of the New York Times to ban the word "tweet" from its pages.
Phil Corbett, the standards editor and pedant-in-chief at the US paper, has decreed that "tweet" – the universally accepted verb-noun derived from Twitter – is to be barred, for the heinous crimes of colloquialism, neologism and jargon. Corbett's thinking is simple:
Of course, new technology terms sprout and spread faster than ever. And we don't want to seem paleolithic. But we favour established usage and ordinary words over the latest jargon or buzzwords.
One test is to ask yourself whether people outside of a target group regularly employ the terms in question. Many people use Twitter, but many don't; my guess is that few in the latter group routinely refer to 'tweets' or 'tweeting'."
(Paleolithic? That's not a term in regular employment either.) His suggestion is to instead employ "deft, English alternatives", such as "write something on twitter" or "post a twitter update". While neatly suggesting that "tweet" is a word from some unknown language, this suggestion throws up a twillion problems of its own.
For starters, it's just simpler to use one word instead of four. How does "post something on Twitter" sit with the Strunk and White's rules of 1918 on succinct and concise sentence construction? Moreover, if your reader knows what Twitter is, they are almost certainly going to be familiar with tweets.
The New York Times uses Twitter, and with close to 2.5 million followers, it surely appreciates the power of its tweets – sorry – messages posted on Twitter – to their followers. It also uses Tweetdeck to post the majority of their updates. "Tweet"deck, eh?
Imagine the headache that re-tweets are going to cause for the paper's journalists too. Imagine "the post on Twitter regarding Obama's new haircut is estimated to have been posted again by followers more than 10,000 times."
The Guardian style guide ruling on the subject of Twitter is more up to date. "Twitter" and "Twittering" are both upper case, while the low case option is preferred when using "tweets" and "tweeting".
"Someday, 'tweet' may be as common as 'email'," notes Corbett. Or another service may elbow Twitter aside next year, and "tweet" may fade into oblivion".
Well let's hope, for Corbett's sake, that the former doesn't come true. The New York Times readers wouldn't have a clue what their writers were twittering on about.
COURTESY : guardian.co.uk
The Times prepares for 20 more job cuts after 40 take voluntary redundancy
Staff told they will know within 48 hours if their posts are at risk, as paper seeks to cut 10% from editorial budget
News International's Wapping offices
Forty editorial staff have taken voluntary redundancy at The Times, with the remaining staff waiting to hear where a further 20 compulsory redundancies will be made.
Staff at the paper have been told that they will know within 48 hours if their posts are at risk. There will then be a 30-day review process.
About 10 new staff will also be hired to fill posts vacated by some of those taking voluntary redundancy.
The Times editor, James Harding, recently declared that the paper is making "unsustainable" losses. Losses at the Times and the Sunday Times are in the region of £240,000 a day and the two papers are looking to cut around 80 staff between them to reduce editorial budgets by 10%.
The Times confirmed it had completed its voluntary redundancy process and will be making approximately 20 compulsory redundancies.
Harding said in an email to staff: "We have now completed the voluntary redundancy process. People have come forward, but, I am afraid, not enough to meet our target of a 10% reduction in annual editorial spending. As a result, we are going to have to make further cost savings including compulsory redundancies."
Both News International titles last week launched new websites, which are in a free trial period before a subscription paywall is introduced.
Courtesy : guardian.co.uk
भोपाल त्रासदी
Pramod Joshi
कि वॉरेन एंडरसन को देश से बाहर किसने जाने दिया?
कि क्या उन्हें हम वापस भारत ला सकते हैं?
कि राजीव गांधी को दिसम्बर 1984 में सलाह देने वाले लोग कौन थे? श्रीमती गांधी की हत्या के बाद प्रधानमंत्री बने उन्हें एक महीना और कुछ दिन हुए थे।
कि क्या हम सच जानना चाहते हैं या इसे या उसे दोषी ठहराना चाहते हैं?
कि हमारी अदालतों में क्या फैसले होते रहे? जस्टिस अहमदी ने कानून की सीमा के बारे में जो बात कही है, क्या हम उससे इत्तफाक रखते हैं? मसलन प्रातिनिधिक दायित्व(विकेरियस लायबिलिटी) क्या है? इस तरह के हादसों से जुड़े कानून बनाने के बारे में क्या हुआ?
कि हमने ऐसे कारखानों की सुरक्षा के बारे में क्या सोचा?
कि भोपाल में वास्तव में हुआ क्या था?
कि 1982 में भोपाल गैस प्लांट के सेफ्टी ऑडिट में जिन 30 बड़ी खामियों को पकड़ा गया, उनका निवारण क्यों नहीं हुआ?
कि कल को कोई और हादसा ऐसा हुआ तो हम क्या करेंगे?
कि भोपाल में मुआबजे का बँटवारा क्या ठीक ढंग से हो पाया?
ऐसे सैकड़ों सवाल हैं, पर आज सारे सवाल बेमानी है। हम सब आपत्तियाँ ठीक उठाते हैं, पर गलत समय से। 1996 में जस्टिस अहमदी ने फैसला किया। 1984 में वॉरेन एंडरसन बचकर अमेरिका गए। हम क्या कर रहे थे? 1996 में तो इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मीडिया आ गया था। फिर यूनियन कार्बाइड के भारतीय प्रतिनिधि तो देश में ही थे। जून 2010 में अदालती फैसला आने के पहले हम कहाँ थे? हमने क्या किया?
आसानी से समझ में आता है कि अमेरिका का दबाव था तो किसी एक व्यक्ति पर नहीं था। और हमारी व्यवस्था किसी एक व्यक्ति के कहने पर चल सकती है तो फिर किसी से शिकायत क्यों? आज भी हर राज्य में मुख्यमंत्री सरकारी अफसरों से वह करा रहे हैं, जो वे चाहते हैं। राजनीति में अपराधियों की खुलेआम आमदरफ्त है। भोपाल में मुआवजे को लेकर कई प्रकार के स्वार्थ समूह बन गए हैं। एक विवाद के बाद दूसरा। शायद भोपाल हादसे की जगह कल-परसों कोई नई बात सामने आएगी तो हम इसे भूल जाएंगे। हमें उत्तेजित होने और शोर मचाने की जगह शांति से और सही मौके पर कार्रवाई करनी चाहिए। हाथी गुज़र जाने के बाद उसके पद चिह्नं पीटने से क्या फायदा?
Bhopal Gas Tragedy : Why don't they talk to arjun, swaraj and moti?
Stop quote and press conference journalism.
barring few, no newspaper felt need to talk to arjun, swaraj and moti. Is it better journalism? Is it even journalism? Where are the plans of editor in chiefs, group editors, national editors, executive editors of big newspapers? Everybody is doing same thing!
If somebody could have accessed arjun, swaraj and moti and just asked them to narrate the memory of the accident, it would have been a great story!
Editors/journos need to be ideating, innovating and this should reflect in their journals.
AND HINDUSTAN TIMES (New Delhi) AHEAD OF TIMES!
HT could not find this news front page worthy!
Friday, June 11, 2010
FIFA WORLD CUP : WHAT ARE WE GIVING TO OUR READERS
These are front pages of India's top english newspapers...
TOI gave a package on fifa world cup...but heading is very poor...will toi editors tell... what they want to communicate to their readers?
Same is the case with HT!
And Hindi newspapers are pathetic...
If one reads Hindustan's (India's number three newspaper readershipwise) masthead package, will find unconfirmed informations and filthy backgrounders and bogus design!
Bhaskar (India's number two newspaper) just put the info.
And number ONE Jagran....number one bogus meaningless headline!!!!
BIG QUESTION....
Is fifa world cup such a big news....editors were forced to sideline the big story of the day. Only Hindu and Bhaskar gave it proper weightage...
Even UK's newspapers did not give such enormous space on front page to fifa world cup....but our newspapers are so aggressive as if indians are still living in 20th century....
न तामझाम, न झाड़झंखाड़, तथ्य का कथ्य
यह ब्रिटेन का द इंडिपेंडेंट (25 मई 2010 का इश्यू) अखबार है। यह प्रजेंटेशन दिखाता है कि कैसे महत्वपूर्ण इश्यू के सार को सीधे पाठकों को बताया जा सकता है।
हमारे भारत में ऐसे संपादकों का अभाव लगता है जो जनमहत्व के मुद्दों को इतनी सरलता से पाठकों के सामने रख सकें और उन्हें सोचने पर मजबूर कर सकें।
हमें समझना पड़ेगा कि तामझाम वाले ग्राफिक नहीं चाहिए जो पाठक को उलझा कर रख देते हैं।
न चाहिए कास्मेटिक ले आउट डिजाइन।
न चाहिए लंबी-चौड़ी विद्वतापूर्ण कापी या टिप्पणी।
संपादक ऐसा चाहिए जैसा सूप सुभाय
सार-सार को गहि रहे थोथा देय उड़ाय
हमारे देश के अखबार खोखला ड्रामा खड़ा करने की कोशिश करते हैं।
डिजाइन और लेआउट से पाठक को चमकृत करने की कोशिश करते हैं।
कंटेंट के नामपर कूड़ा-करकट जो भी मिलता है, बैकग्राउंडर और वैल्यूएडीशन के नाम पर परोसते रहते हैं।
लेकिन असली काम नहीं करते।
यहां दिया गया पहला पेज कितनी सरलता से सरकार की पोल खोल रहा है...न कोई गरिष्ठ शब्दावली, न विद्वान संपादक का गवेषणात्मक भाषण और न मुद्दे को उलझाने वाले झाड़झंखाड़।
हम पत्रकारों को समझना चाहिए कि हमारा काम सीधे-सरल-कम शब्दों में कहानी सुनाना है न कि भारीभरकम डिजाइन व ग्राफिक नाम पर कूड़ाकरकट परोसना।
यह ज्यादा दिन तक नहीं चलने वाला।
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Useful blog or web terminology
These are frequently used terms while blogging....you can also suggest additional terms to complete the list....
BLOG or WEB LOG A “blog” (short for “web log”) is defined by the free encyclopedia Wikipedia as “a user-generated web site where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”
BLOGGER One who writes a blog.
BLOGOSPHERE The world of blogs on the web; refers to blogs and bloggers as a collective whole.
BLOGROLL A compilation of links to recommended blogs.
BLOGSTORM When a large amount of activity, information and opinion erupts around a particular subject or controversy in the blogosphere. It is sometimes called a blog swarm.
BROWSER Software programs that enable you to view web documents. They “translate” HTML-encoded files into the text, images, sounds and other features you see.
CITIZEN JOURNALISM Also known as “participatory journalism,” it is the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. Citizen journalism usually involves empowering ordinary people. Local news written by residents of a community that had previously escaped notice of professionals is an example of citizen journalism.
COLLABORATIVE BLOG A blog usually focused on a single issue or subject on which multiple users enjoy posting permission. Also known as group blog.
COMMENTS Readers of blogs often can post comments to posts. Unless the blog owner chooses to delete them, other readers can read all comments posted. Other readers can post their comments after the first post creating an online conversation on a blog.
HTML Hypertext Markup Language. A standardized language of computer code, imbedded in “source” documents behind all web documents, containing the textual content, images, links to other documents (and possibly other applications such as sound or motion), and formatting instructions for display on the screen. Browsers are programmed to interpret HTML for display.
HYPERTEXT A feature built into HTML that allows a text area, image or other object to become a “link” that retrieves another computer file (another web page, image, sound file or other document) on the web.
LINK The URL (or web address) imbedded in another document, so that if you click on the highlighted text or image referring to the link, you retrieve the outside URL.
MOBLOG A blend of “mobile” and “blog.” A blog featuring posts sent mainly by mobile phone. They are often photoblogs.
PERMALINK A permanent link. The unique URL of a single post. Use this when you want to link to a post somewhere.
PHOTOBLOG A blog mostly containing photos, posted constantly and chronologically.
PODCAST Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcast” (but not for iPods only). Posting audio and video material on a blog and its RSS feed, for digital players.
RSS Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. A computer-language format that presents a summary of a web site for easy syndication. RSS feeds allow you to aggregate content from multiple news sources on your blog. With a news reader, you can download and read the feeds in one place.
SITE or WEB SITE This term is often used to mean “web page,” but there is supposed to be a difference. A web page is a single entity, one URL, one file that you might find on the web. A “site,” properly speaking, is a location or gathering or center for a bunch of related pages linked to from that site.
SPAM An abuse of electronic messaging systems that sends unsolicited, undesired bulk messages. While the most widely recognized form of spam is email spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media, such as instant messaging span and spam in blogs.
TAGGING A term used to describe human indexing of material on the web, which in theory makes content more intuitively found and shared. Del.icio.us (pronounced “delicious”) is a popular tagging site.
TIMESTAMP Indicates the date and/or time content was added to a blog.
TRANSPARENCY Transparency implies openness and accountability. Media is transparent when there are many sources of information, much is known about the method of information delivery, and the funding of production is publicly available.
UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD Uploading and downloading are related terms used to describe the transfer of electronic data between computers. To upload is to send date from a local system to a remote system, such as a web site. To download is to receive data from a remote system.
URL Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents on the web. Also known as the address of a web site. Example: The URL for The New York Times on the web is nytimes.com.
USER-GENERATED CONTENT The web has evolved into a realm where people are not only consuming content, but also participating in creating content. The availability of online connectivity and simple content creation tools are putting media power in the hands of consumers. Blogs and other citizen journalism projects are examples of user-generated content.
VLOG A video blog. Content is streamed or downloaded for viewing on a computer, phone or media player.
WIKI (Pronounced “wee-kee” or “wick-ey.”) A web site or web page that allows the user to add content to the page or edit information already located on the web page. Wikipedia is a well-known online “collaborative” encyclopedia.
XML Extensible Markup Language. A computer metalanguage using tags (much like HTML) to define markup languages. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission and interpretation of data between applications.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
लोकल खबरों का रोचक संसार
प्रमोद जोशी
काफी पहले की बात है। अस्सी का दशक था। तब मैं लखनऊ में रहता था। मेरे पड़ोस में एक सज्जन रहते थे, जो बिजली के दफ्तर में क्लर्क थे। उनकी जीवन शैली बताती थी कि क्लर्क के वेतन के अलावा भी उनकी आय कोई ज़रिया है। उनके घर को देखते ही उनकी हैसियत का पता लग जाता था। उनसे मेरा खास परिचय नहीं था। दूर की दुआ-सलाम थी। एक रोज सबेरे वे मेरे घर चले आए। इधर-उधर की बातें करने के बाद बोले, जोशी जी क्या आप मेरी पत्नी को अपने अखबार का संवाददाता बना सकते हैं? मुझे उनकी बात समझ में नहीं आई। मैने पूछा, क्या भाभी जी को लिखने-पढ़ने का शौक है? बोले ना जी। बात जे है कि मैं घर में टेलीफून लगाना चात्ता था। पता लगा कि पत्रकार कोट्टे से लग सकता है।
उस ज़माने में फोन आसानी से नहीं मिलता था। मेरे घर में भी फोन नहीं था। वह सज्जन बोले,आप रिपोर्टर बनवा दो बाक्की काम मैं कर लूँगा। मेरे पास जवाब नहीं था। उन दिनों मैं नवभारत टाइम्स में काम करता था। लखनऊ में स्ट्रिंगर होते नहीं थे। मेरे हाथ में स्ट्रिंगर बनाने की सामर्थ्य भी नहीं थी। बहरहाल उन्हें किसी तरह समझा कर विदा किया। तब तक टीवी चैनल शुरू नहीं हुए थे। पत्रकार को लोग इज़्ज़त की निगाह से देखते थे। जिलों और तहसीलों में स्ट्रिंगरों को काफी सम्मान मिलता था। इसलिए पत्रकार का कार्ड हासिल करने की होड़ रहती थी। हमारे पड़ोसी को फोन के अलावा घर के दरवाज़े पर पत्रकार का बोर्ड लगाने की इच्छा भी थी। उनकी वह इच्छा बाद में पूरी भी हुई। झाँसी के किसी साप्ताहिक अखबार ने उनकी पत्नी को संवाददाता बना लिया।
सन 1973 में जब मैं लखनऊ के स्वतंत्र भारत में काम करने आया तब रायबरेली, हरदोई, सीतापुर, बाराबंकी, लखीमपुर खीरी वगैरह में जो अंशकालिक संवाददाता काम कर रहे थे, वे बुज़ुर्ग और अपने इलाके में बेहद सम्मानित लोग थे। ज़्यादातर इलाके के प्रसिद्ध वकील थे या अध्यापक। उन्हें किसी कार्ड की ज़रूरत नहीं थी। हिन्दी का हमारा अखबार आठ पेज का था। न्यूज़ प्रिंट का संकट हो गया, तो छह पेज का भी करना पड़ा। आठ पेज के अखबार के डाक संस्करण में एक पेज जिलों की खबरों का होता था। हर रोज़ डाक से खबरें आती थीं। दिन में दो-ढाई बजे फोरमैन शेषनारायण शर्मा जी खबरें भेजने को मना कर देते थे। जो बचीं होल्डओवर में गईं। अगले दिन सुबह होल्डओवर देखकर आगे का काम होता था। अखबार में जगह नहीं होती थी। अलग-अलग जिलों की खबर लग जाएं इसके लिए हफ्ते में एकबार जिले की चिट्ठी छापकर खबरें निपटा देते थे। ज़रूरी खबरें होने पर संवाददाता तार कर देते थे। तार करने का मौका भी हफ्ते-दो हफ्ते में एकबार मिलता था।
26 जून 1975 के बाद हमें पहली बार लगा कि जिलों में कुछ हो रहा है। पहले नसबंदी की खबरें आईं, फिर उसके विरोध की खबरें। शुरू में संवाददाता लिख कर भेज देते थे। वे छपतीं नहीं थीं। फिर वे समझदार हो गए। व्यक्तिगत रूप से लखनऊ आकर बताने लगे कि किस तरह की प्रशासनिक सख्ती हो रही है। अब खबरों के साथ अफबाहें भी आने लगीं। कुछ सच, कुछ कल्पना। छपता कुछ नहीं था। जिला सूचना विभाग की विज्ञप्तियों ने खबरों की जगह ले ली। इस दौरान हमारे अनेक संवाददाताओं ने काम छोड़ दिया। स्वतंत्र भारत देश का अकेला अखबार है, जो ठीक 15 अगस्त 1947 को निकला। उसमें तमाम संवाददाता उसी दौर के थे। इमर्जेंसी के पहले और इमर्जेंसी के बाद के माहौल में ज़मीन-आसमान का फर्क आ गया। खबरों के गठ्ठर के गट्ठर आने लगे। हर जिले में आपत्काल की कथाएं थीं। हिन्दी ब्लिट्ज़ का सर्कुलेशन अंग्रेज़ी ब्लिट्ज का कई गुना ज़्यादा हो गया। हिन्दी के अखबार बढ़ने लगे। जिलों में संवाददाताओं की संख्या दुगुनी-तिगुनी-चौगुनी हो गई। कवरेज बढ़ गई। ग्रामीण क्षेत्र से दलितों पर अत्याचार, सरकारी विभागों के घोटालों और कई तरह की सामंती क्रूरताओं के समाचार आने लगे। इमर्जेंसी खत्म होने के बाद आनन्द बाज़ार पत्रिका ग्रुप ने पहले संडे निकाला, फिर रविवार। रविवार में ज़्यादातर कथाएं हिन्दी क्षेत्र के ग्रामीण इलाकों से थीं।
हिन्दी अखबारों की सफलता स्थानीय खबरों से जुड़ी है। उत्तर प्रदेश, बिहार, मध्य प्रदेश, राजस्थान, पंजाब, हरियाणा के बड़े शहरों ही नहीं दूर-दराज़ इलाकों में आज संस्करण हैं। अभी विस्तार की खासी सम्भावना है। इन जगहों से संवाद संकलन व्यवस्था के बारे में सोचने का मौका नहीं मिल पाया। जैसा था, वह चलता रहा। अखबार आठ से बारह पेज के हुए। नब्बे का दशक खत्म होते-होते 16 पेज के हो गए। अब 20 के हो गए हैं। ज्यादातर हिन्दी अखबारों ने लोकल पेज बढ़े। चार पेज, फिर छह पेज, फिर आठ पेज की लोकल कवरेज हो रही है। जितनी खबरें नहीं हैं, उससे ज्यादा बनाई जा रहीं हैं। तारीफ में या टाँग खिचाई में खबरें लिखीं जा रहीं हैं। निरर्थक सनसनी के लिए भी। मनरेगा, आरटीआई, खेती-बाड़ी, शिक्षा, कमज़ोर वर्गों का उत्थान, नए रोज़गार ऐसे तमाम मसले हैं, जिनपर काफी काम किया जा सकता है। यह वह स्तर है, जहाँ गवर्नेंस का परीक्षण होना है। पर जिलों में पत्रकारों की ट्रेनिंग का इंतज़ाम नहीं है। सिर्फ पत्रकारिता का कार्ड चाहिए।
सेवंती नायनन ने अपनी पुस्तक ‘हैडलाइंस फ्रॉम द हार्टलैंड’ में ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों के संवाद संकलन का रोचक वर्णन किया है। उन्होंने लिखा है कि ग्रामीण क्षेत्र में अखबार से जुड़े कई काम एक जगह पर जुड़ गए। सेल्स, विज्ञापन, समाचार संकलन और रिसर्च सब कोई एक व्यक्ति या परिवार कर रहा है। खबर लिखी नहीं एकत्र की जा रही है। उन्होंने छत्तीसगढ़ के कांकेर-जगदलपुर हाइवे पर पड़ने वाले गाँव बानपुरी की दुकान में लगे साइनबोर्ड का ज़िक्र किया है, जिसमें लिखा है-‘आइए अपनी खबरें यहां जमा कराइए।‘ खबरों के कारोबार से लोग अलग-अलग वजह से जुड़े हैं। इनमें ऐसे लोग हैं, जो तपस्या की तरह कष्ट सहते हुए खबरों को एकत्र करके भेजते हैं। नक्सली खौफ, सामंतों की नाराज़गी, और पुलिस की हिकारत जैसी विपरीत परिस्थितियों का सामना करके खबरें भेजने वाले पत्रकार हैं। ऐसे भी हैं, जो टैक्सी चलाते हैं, रास्ते में कोई सरकारी मुलाजिम परेशान न करे इसलिए प्रेस का कार्ड जेब में रखते हैं।
हिन्दी अखबारों का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण पक्ष लोकल कवरेज है। अखबारों में ऐसी खबरें छप रहीं हैं, जो हैं ही नहीं। जो हुआ ही नहीं। और जो हुआ, वह नहीं छपा। पत्रकारीय निष्ठा और मूल्यबद्ध कर्म की गौरव गाथाएं हैं, तो निहायत गैर-जिम्मेदारी के प्रसंग भी। इनके कार्टल बन गए हैं, जो अपने ढंग से खबरों को संचालित करते हैं। पत्रकारों की यह टीम राष्ट्रीय, प्रादेशिक और स्थानीय अखबारों और चैनलों को सामग्री मुहैया कराती है। इस लेवल के पत्रकारों पर अपने मैनेजमेंट की ओर से विज्ञापन लाने का दबाव भी है। कह नहीं सकते कि यह दबाव रहेगा या खत्म होगा, पर सूचना की ताकत और सूचना संकलन की पद्धति को ऑब्जेक्टिव और फेयर रखना है तो उसके कारोबारी रिश्तों को अच्छी तरह परिभाषित करना होगा। उसके पहले यह तय होना है कि इसका असर किसपर होता है। इसके बाद तय होगा कि इसे कौन परिभाषित करेगा और क्यों करेगा। आज टेलीफोन कनेक्शन पाने के लिए पत्रकार बनने की ज़रूरत नहीं है। पर सम्भव है मेरे पड़ोसी ने पत्रकारिता के कुछ नए संदर्भ खोजे हों।
समाचार फॉर मीडिया डॉट कॉम /http://pramathesh.blogspot.com/
Guardian unveils readers' club and plans for API monetization
Posted by Maria Conde on May 20, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Unlike Murdoch, Guardian's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, has ruled out the idea of erecting a paywall around the newspaper's website. Since paid online content is not going to be a source of revenue anytime soon, Guardian News & Media is launching two new strategies to complement the paper's revenue stream, according to Paid Content.First up, Guardian will be launching a membership club scheme it announced last year, one that will resemble the Times+ initiative.
According to Guardian, the Guardian Extra scheme will provide readers of the Guardian and Observer a wide range of discounts and offers on live debates, films, festivals, and performances.
Although it sounds very much like the readers club the Times launched last year, the program will set iself aside from other membership schemes by linking the program with the newspaper tightly. For one, members will be given special access to the Guardian/Observer's offices in Kings Place, with newsroom visits as well as interviews with journalists.
Richard J. Thompson, head of membership at Guardian, said that another reason why Extra will be different is because it will reflect editorial coverage.
"It will provide us with a unique opportunity to explore many areas of mutual interest. It is about strengthening our most important relationship, our readership, and in turn providing a range of benefits that they wouldn't get elsewhere."
The Extra membership costs £25 per year or comes free with an annual print subscription to the newspaper (this costs £22.43 a month). For those who still are not sure they want the membership, there's a free trial until the end of August.
Paid Content reports that Guardian is also looking for ways to monetize its Open Platform feature. Today, Guardian News Media's commercial director, Adam Freeman, unveiled the idea in front of ad agencies and a number of commercial partners. Guardian's API could help strengthen other brands as part of a cross-media sell.
Open Platform offers a range of services for developing digital products and applications with the Guardian. The newspaper allows application developers to reach and engage audiences to develop advertising campaigns with the software. Recently, Open Platform powered the Enjoy England campaign with a series of interactive maps.
Ad agencies that sign on to participate with Open Platform will receive £50,000 worth of advertising space across GNM. The cost to sign on is a lofty £100,000.
Newspapers can unlock the financial potential of their strong brands through projects like membership clubs. Last September, the Times of London launched Times+, a membership club with free gifts and money-saving opportunities for members. This January, the WSJ created a luxury travel service website aimed at its top-shelf readers.
The Guardian's membership scheme seems to be more about giving value to the subscription than creating a stand-alone item. However, at only £25 per year, Guardian may be attracting more readers to its club. Although it is unclear whether these types of membership clubs represent a substantial amount of profit or revenue, these schemes present the possibility of monetizing a newspaper's readers without turning them away with a paywall.
Richard J. Thompson, head of membership at Guardian, said that another reason why Extra will be different is because it will reflect editorial coverage.
"It will provide us with a unique opportunity to explore many areas of mutual interest. It is about strengthening our most important relationship, our readership, and in turn providing a range of benefits that they wouldn't get elsewhere."
The Extra membership costs £25 per year or comes free with an annual print subscription to the newspaper (this costs £22.43 a month). For those who still are not sure they want the membership, there's a free trial until the end of August.
Paid Content reports that Guardian is also looking for ways to monetize its Open Platform feature. Today, Guardian News Media's commercial director, Adam Freeman, unveiled the idea in front of ad agencies and a number of commercial partners. Guardian's API could help strengthen other brands as part of a cross-media sell.
Open Platform offers a range of services for developing digital products and applications with the Guardian. The newspaper allows application developers to reach and engage audiences to develop advertising campaigns with the software. Recently, Open Platform powered the Enjoy England campaign with a series of interactive maps.
Ad agencies that sign on to participate with Open Platform will receive £50,000 worth of advertising space across GNM. The cost to sign on is a lofty £100,000.
Newspapers can unlock the financial potential of their strong brands through projects like membership clubs. Last September, the Times of London launched Times+, a membership club with free gifts and money-saving opportunities for members. This January, the WSJ created a luxury travel service website aimed at its top-shelf readers.
The Guardian's membership scheme seems to be more about giving value to the subscription than creating a stand-alone item. However, at only £25 per year, Guardian may be attracting more readers to its club. Although it is unclear whether these types of membership clubs represent a substantial amount of profit or revenue, these schemes present the possibility of monetizing a newspaper's readers without turning them away with a paywall.
SOURCED from editorsweblog.org
NYT miffed over WSJ slogan similaries
The latest battle, in possibly "the last great newspaper war", stems from the Wall Street Journal's usage of what appears to be a trademarked New York Times advertising slogan: "Not Just Wall Street. Every Street." In a cease-and-desist letter, an attorney for The NYT sets a deadline of 72 hours for the WSJ to vow never to use the slogan again or"... [The NYT] will have no choice but to pursue all available legal remedies.'
The brouhaha is a product of the antagonism that started when The WSJ launched their 'Greater New York' section in April. According to Komonews, The WSJ's new owner, Rueprt Murdoch, also dramatically lowered advertising rates in New York to undercut the NYT. In a less-than-subtle jab at The NYT (which has won many-times more Pulitzer prizes than any other paper), Murdoch stated in April: "We believe that in its pursuit of journalism prizes and a national reputation, a certain other New York daily has essentially stopped covering the city the way it once did."
In the NYT's C&D letter, attorney Richard Samson writes "[i]t has come to our attention that you deliberately used the identical Slogan in an advertisement for The Wall Street Journal in the May 26th issue of your publication. After an exhausting search of our records, we find no indication that you ever received permission to make use of our unique and proprietary Slogan."
The Dow Jones Company (controlled by Murdoch) has thus far refused to comment publicly on the situation. It is safe to say that war for local dominance in New York City is far from over.
COURTSEY - www.editorsweblog.org
In the NYT's C&D letter, attorney Richard Samson writes "[i]t has come to our attention that you deliberately used the identical Slogan in an advertisement for The Wall Street Journal in the May 26th issue of your publication. After an exhausting search of our records, we find no indication that you ever received permission to make use of our unique and proprietary Slogan."
The Dow Jones Company (controlled by Murdoch) has thus far refused to comment publicly on the situation. It is safe to say that war for local dominance in New York City is far from over.
COURTSEY - www.editorsweblog.org
Le Post : a successful and innovative news site that mixes pro and am content
I got this piece while surfing....it must be interesting for our visiters too....
According to Nielsen, Le Post had, already, an audience of 2 million in November 2008, more than 7 million visits according to the OJD (the equivalent in France of the audit bureau) for January 2009. Pretty impressive for a new site.
Le Post is a news website, covering national news. For many, it leans more towards the "tabloïd side". It is true that its content, its tone, its look and feel are very different than le Monde. But, its main difference comes from the way the content is produced. It is a mix of pro and am.
Benoît Raphaël, the editor in chief of Le Post, gives us some details about a site that I think is one of the most innovative news sites produced by a media company in 2008. It should break-even in 2010. Not bad at all.
The uniqueness of Le Post is that the content is produced by pro and am. How many professional journalists in the team?
BR: We have one editor that manages the newsroom of nine journalists :
- 4 specialized (crime and accidents, politics, media, internet),
- 2 at the desk (in charge of the HP, aggregating content, organizing the news in different formats in order to make things easy for the readers and animating the conversation),
- 1 video journalist in charge of non-stop "zapping", a video "collage" from different sources,
- 1 coach journalist in charge of the community. Among his work is to check the information sent by the citizen-journalists, look for witnesses, etc.
How many amateurs contribute to the site?
Our community has 25,000 members. 1% produces content and a 1,000 are very active. Among the active, you have what we call "guests". They are bloggers and columnists that are paid on a revenue sharing basis. Amateurs send 400 to 500 contributions and write 6,000 comments a day.
What is the rest of the team?
- One editor in chief (me),
- one product manager,
- one marketing director,
- one ad sales representative,
- two developers
- and we are sharing some other team members with lemonde.fr
On average, what is the percentage of content produced by pro versus am?
It is 10% pro, 90% am. In other words, we publish 400 am articles a day versus 40 from pro. But, it does not mean anything because in fact the newsroom really takes advantage of the community, reacts to what they are sending, checks and updates information. The majority of the articles that appear on the HP are a mix of pro and am. In fact, our goal is to co-produce the content, not to have on one side the pro and on the other side the am.
Do you double check am content?
We do double check the am content that we publish. Absolutely.
How do you proceed?
We have put together different processes. All the content is filtered, a posteriori, by a team of moderators. We want to make sure that there is no illegal content, that am follow our guidelines and that they are not propagating rumors. Then, the newsroom also looks at it. The coach goes first, then the specialized journalists. Each journalist manages a small community of am that he trusts. So each interesting content that we receive is checked according to our techniques of "fast fact checking" that we have developed.
What do you mean by "each journalist manages a small community of am"?
Active amateurs help us to collect and add value to information by proposing smart angles, aggregating, finding witnesses, etc. They are also "the eyes of the newsroom". They are following the news for us, on print, tv, radio, news sites, but also blogs. They are sending us valuable links with quotes.
And sometimes, they are helping us on fact checking. It is because of an amateur that we have been able to figure out that a video about Gaza was a fraud. France 2 (the French public television chanel) published the video without fact checking it.
What is the job of a journalist at Le Post?
He is, at the same time, a news producer, an aggregator and a community organizer. Because of the way he approaches information, he is first a network journalist. He checks first what has been said and published in other media. He aggregates the best content from different sources, including blogs, Twitter, You Tube, etc. and traditional medias. Then, on some of them, he brings complementary information, new elements, adds value and fact checks. Even the news published by other journalists.
The newsroom of Le Post looks like the one of a radio station. The information is a permanent conversation that is built step by step by the community of am and the journalists.
Each journalist is also in charge of a small group of active amateurs. He is their coach and teachs them the basics of the journalist job, tries to encourage them and even meets them in person. He understands that information is a conversation. He does not produce an article but more a process.
How much does a journalist make?
They are new and young journalists, so they are making the minimum salary for the job.
How about amateurs?
Only guests make some money. As I said, we have a revenue sharing system (50/50) and we guarantee a minimum of around US$500 (350 euros)/month.
Are you making money?
Not yet, but we should break-even next year.
The rise, and fall, of (new) media
From David Carr's endlessly quotable Media Equation column in last November's New York Times, "The Fall and Rise of Media":
Young men and women are still coming here to remake the world, they just won’t be stopping by the human resources department of Condé Nast to begin their ascent.
For every kid that I bump into who is wandering the media industry looking for an entrance that closed some time ago, I come across another who is a bundle of ideas, energy and technological mastery. The next wave is not just knocking on doors, but seeking to knock them down.
Somewhere down in the Flatiron, out in Brooklyn, over in Queens or up in Harlem, cabals of bright young things are watching all the disruption with more than an academic interest. Their tiny netbooks and iPhones, which serve as portals to the cloud, contain more informational firepower than entire newsrooms possessed just two decades ago. And they are ginning content from their audiences in the form of social media or finding ways of making ambient information more useful. They are jaded in the way youth requires, but have the confidence that is a gift of their age as well.
For them, New York is not an island sinking, but one that is rising on a fresh, ferocious wave.
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