Andrew Hart

@SeaTimesPhoto's @ErikaJSchultz in NPPA Awards

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:22:17 -0700

Seattle Times staff reporter Erika Schultz has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association for her extraordinary project covering coffee farmers in Costa Rica.

[NPPA]

The Winner of SPJ's Weekly Quiz

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:54:00 -0700

Each week, the Society of Professional Journalists sends out a member email detailing upcoming events, industry news, and calls to action. It is one of the form email newsletters that I read to completion, because at the end of each one there is a question. Concerning some current issue in the field, recipients are asked to submit their answer to the SPJ’s communications coordinator Abby Henkel.

Screen capture of email newsletter header.

After weeks of failure, victory has come for Andrew Hart. I am the winner of the SPJ Weekly Email Newsletter Quiz for 23 May 2012.

The question that I fielded was, “Who announced this week that he will step down as editor-in-chief of a national non-profit news outlet?”

My answer: Paul Steiger will step down as editor of ProPublica.

Quiz section of SPJ weekly newsletter

And the winner is… Andrew Hart, a post-grad member and recent graduate of the University of Washington. Congratulations, Andrew! The fabulous SPJ Leads Quiz Prize™ is finally yours! (Oh, and Andrew: Go Cougs!)

There I am, sitting pretty at the tail end of a email newsletter. On the up and up!

Surveying the Inquirers of the #WHChat

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:59:00 -0700

On Thursday, President Barack Obama hosted a discussion covering his “Congressional To-Do List” on Twitter, using the #WHchat hashtag.

Over 21 minutes, President Obama fielded questions covering energy policy to student loan rates. Ethan Klapper has full coverage of the event at the Huffington Post.

The response was large, but only seven questions were answered by President Obama. Worth noting is that Thursday’s event was a much more open forum than the Twitter Town Hall Obama hosted last July. Selected questions were topical and appropriate. Further examination of the inquirers reveals them to have diverse persuasions not evident in their submitted question. Despite fears over the reinforcement of views and the “silo effect” that can occur through social media, President Obama and his digital team seem to have resisted the tendency by extending across the digital aisle.

Below are characterizations of several inquirers.

@asturtz asked, “What are we doing to curb, better yet avoid, dependency on oil? #WHChat.” Her Twitter activity indicates that she is not a heavy user. At the time of writing she had 1,154 tweets, following 118 and 98 followers.

Similarly, @augustmuster is a private account, 28 tweets (none visible), following 68 with 6 followers. @augustmuster asked Obama “@whitehouse #WHChat what about mortgage re-finance options for homeowners trapped by underwater home prices?”

@mixnmunch of Pasadena bills itself as “the world’s first Cereal Bar & Grilled Cheese Cafe.” @mixnmunch’s 978 tweets seem to largely be self-promotional, save for its submitted question, “@whitehouse #whchat We <3 bein a #smallbiz & employing the peeps in R community. What plans do u have to keep us & our fellow smlbiz afloat?” The account follows 60 and has 192 followers.

@tkeel identifies as a “Lifelong educator and active conservative. #LNYHBT Army #teaparty #tcot.” Many of her 2,612 tweets are right-leaning, and in criticism of President Obama. A recent tweet read, “@Spectricide @mrscorie If they go over seas, it’s because @BarackObama wants to tax them to death here. He hates successful capitalists!” Her question selected for President Obama was “#WHChat What will you deregulate to make owning a #smallbiz easier? #LNYHBT.” #LNYHBT meaning “Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled,” the Twitter hash tag of Sean Hannity’s following.

Similar sentiments are found in ‏@jwarner180’s activity (4,637 tweets, 236 following, 141 followers). His question to the president was “#WHChat Fossil fuels are much much much cheaper and our economy is based on cheap energy. Why push Algae?” Earlier tweets are less congenial: “@BarackObama ‘Game’ Really, Barack is now defining investing as a game? Like when he ‘invested’ in Solyndra?”

For all the submitted questions and answers during #WHChat, see Ethan Klapper’s coverage at the Huffington Post

[UPDATED: 19:46 PST 27 May 2012]

Left, Right, & Center on Social Media

Sun, 20 May 2012 10:04:00 -0700

Facebook and social media was the topic of discussion on KCRW’s Left, Right and Center. Robert Scheer, a journalist with Truthdig, expressed concern over the rise of social media, asking “What happens to journalism?” Scheer suggested social media is barring advertising revenue from sustaining legacy media, threatening his livelihood and that of other journalists.

Let’s be clear, journalism is not a substitute for journalism. It is a tool for communication, thus an asset to journalism. I believe Scheer is vexed by a changing media market, not kids sharing his article over Faceplace or whatever.

Indeed, readers are getting journalism content through their social networks, which means that they do not have to buy a paper or view the banner ads on a news site. This creates a challenge, but one that journalists should be excited to take on: how to present critical news in a format that motivates further pursuit? Can’t journalists construct a lede that will draw readers deeper than their busy social feeds? Can’t journalists learn much of their audience through their social activity? Doesn’t the reciprocal relationship readers have with content and content creators inspire them to pursue and support journalism that matters?

As an aside, you can follow Scheer’s Truthdig on Twitter.

[UPDATED: 19:56 PST, 27 May 2012]

Collected Thoughts

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:26:00 -0700

Rather than hunt for free parking, I paid for an on-campus space, thus putting bounds on the time I spent at my alma mater. Wandering amongst classically-styled halls and weathered cherry trees doesn’t prompt a magical feeling of youth and excitement like I think it should. The courtyards contain regret, hallways misdirection, and classrooms hold impatience. This is not a salvo against higher ed, just my experience today, and most times I visit campus.

Exploring the new business school, I made small chat with some MBA students who were having a brunch social. I wanted a free coffee, but was also curious to see whether interaction would recall my time in college. Remarking on the day’s big event, Facebook’s IPO, I had to assure myself that it had indeed happened earlier that morning. It had, and these students had no idea what I was talking about.

Of course, my sample size was just four MBA students. But I will add them to the growing sentiment that my generation, the Millennials, are strikingly blind to the world around them. I will not claim dispensation from this generalization, but I am certainly not thrilled about my membership.

What can be done? How can we encourage younger generations to be more aware of current affairs, the world around them and their fellow man? Give them newspapers? Pipe cable news into classrooms? Required curriculum? All have been attempted, and nothing sticks.

I am not sure that we can change the motivation or interests of a society. But as long as they care, there is potential for connection and for reaction.

What do people care about?

At I Want Media’s “Future of Media” forum, Greg Clayman—a forum panelist and publisher of The Daily—spoke on this subject. A selection from the article follows.

Clayman argued that important news wasn’t unshareable, just that the focus had to be tweaked. “You’re writing for an emotional response versus writing for a robot,” he said. Peretti offered one example: given two stories, identical in conceit, except that one is about the rising price of oil and other about the rising price of gas, the gas story will be stickier, because readers identify with it, he said.

[SOURCE: CJR]

@elanazak asks, "What's your preferred way of interviewing, voice or email?"

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:54:00 -0700

LOLcats and Journalists

Thu, 10 May 2012 21:19:00 -0700

Ben Huh, the CEO of Cheezburger and meme maestro, spoke at the ROFL Conference on his experience and perspectives on internet culture. Speaking to Nieman Lab at the event, Huh expressed opinions on the state of journalism—in which he holds a degree—stating “This thing called objectivity is B.S.”

His comments were met with digital nods and arms thrown in the air. Below the jump, some thoughts from journalists that I respect curated with Storify.

More on @BarackObama, #SSM, and Twitter @gov

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:17:53 -0700

Twitter’s political division, Twitter Government (@gov), has provided a graph illustrating the media hysteria that ensued after President Obama endorsed same-sex marriage on Wednesday, May 9th.

[SOURCE: @gov]

Close up of the graph. Note @ProducerMatthew’s position on the timeline just before the surge in conversation.

Obama and #SSM, @ProducerMatthew scoops, and Twitter goes nuts

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:26:00 -0700

What a day. I heard about ABC’s exclusive interview with President Obama through Twitter mid-morning (PST).

Predictions bounced from mediaite to mediaite, most suspecting the POTUS to discuss same-sex marriage. In a moving interview, President Obama expressed his support for same-sex marriages. This move, while divisive, is seen as a gesture for the issue to be handed back to the states.

Unfortunately, the ABC clips were to go live at 3 p.m. EST, during which I had a lunch engagement. I am ashamed of checking my phone incessantly during the meal, but I feel fortunate to have witnessed such a historic event.

From ABC’s Rick Klein:

President Obama today announced that he now supports same-sex marriage, reversing his longstanding opposition amid growing pressure from the Democratic base and even his own vice president.

In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this decision, based on conversations with his staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and his wife and daughters.

Around the momentous interview, there were some exciting corollaries. ABC’s monopoly on the event—a rare opportunity for a network in such a frantic media ecosystem—was scooped by Matthew Keys (@ProducerMatthew), Reuters Deputy Social Media Editor.

AdWeek reports:

Keys noticed a At 2:50 p.m. EST, roughly eight minutes before ABC was to break into daytime programming with a special report, Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys noticed and tweeted a URL slug essentially leaking the Obama announcement.

Minutes later, at 2:55 p.m. EST Keys tweeted a screengrab of the ABC News video, to prove the legitimacy.

So how does one catch this kind of thing? Keys responded to Adweek just after he broke the news via direct message on Twitter: “I was filtering Google results by date for site “abcnews.go.com,” came across that, noticed the URL structure was the same to what we used at KGO, which is an ABC owned-and-operated station [in San Francisco]. I put two and two together.”

This is why this guy is my hero. He puts two and two together, very well.

Also worth noting is the ensuing Twitter noise from the event. The following graph shows mentions of “Obama” on May 9, 2012.

[SOURCE: Topsy]

@TPM axes anonymity. Discuss.

Wed, 02 May 2012 16:18:00 -0700

At 4:22 p.m. EST, Talking Points Memo announced that they will begin using Facebook as their core commenting system. TPM’s presents two reasons behind the switch: First, it is easier to have Facebook manage the commenting system than build and maintain one in house; second, eliminating anonymity will hopefully encourage accountability from their community.

Response was immediate and fervent, as indicated by Jared Keller, Mathew Ingram, and Matthew Keys.

@mathewi: Faustian bargain — MT @cschweitz: @TPM is moving entirely to Facebook comments. @joshtpm’s explanation here: http://bit.ly/Kv9sRg
@jaredbkeller: @mathewi @joshtpm its not about anonymity, its about real world consequences. People beat each other up in bars, too lazy to stalk offline.

@jaredbkeller: Repeat after me: real-name commenting does not a good comments section make. Actual consequences do.

@ProducerMatthew: RT @jaredbkeller: Repeat after me: real-name commenting does not a good comments section make. Actual consequences do.

@jaredbkeller: @ProducerMatthew I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a good start, but not a silver bullet.

@mathewi:@jaredbkeller @joshtpm: agreed — it isn’t about which system you use, it’s about how much time you take to moderate.

@jaredbkeller: @mathewi @joshtpm incentives help, but why use carrots when you’ve got a banhammer?

@ProducerMatthew: @jaredbkeller @mathewi @joshtpm Essentially, what’s being said here is “Comments are not worth taking the time to focus on.”

@jaredbkeller: @ProducerMatthew @mathewi @joshtpm more like “technology can fix what is inherently a people problem. “

@mathewi: @jaredbkeller @ProducerMatthew: I think it says both — the sad reality is that algorithms and real names can’t fix human behavior

@ProducerMatthew: @jaredbkeller @mathewi @joshtpm We’re really dissecting something that hasn’t happened yet. Will be interesting to see what happens.

@jaredbkeller: @mathewi @ProducerMatthew Nailed it. Giving people an incentive to change their behavior can help, but not if that incentive is, er, dumb.

@ProducerMatthew: @jaredbkeller @mathewi Thinking Reddit as an example?

@jaredbkeller: @ProducerMatthew @mathewi Don’t tell me what I can’t do! Didn’t you hear? Social media can predict the future!

@jaredbkeller: @ProducerMatthew @mathewi Reddit works because people care about the community and the reddiquette that comes with it.

Many solid points: tangible consequences for dishonoring community expectations, community management being about people not algorithms, and the time and effort it takes to cultivate a rich and responsible community.

Is excluding anonymous rogues the solution to a healthy community? Can you bar these antagonists without killing the community? I am not so sure.

As was said by @mathewi, community management takes time. Not just in wielding the “banhammer,” but in creating excellent content. Let’s look at some examples around the web. As @jaredbkeller stated, the Reddit community cares about the content and network that Reddit provides. You practically have to audition and continually offer supreme stuff to make it in MetaFilter. If you are posting junk on Facebook or Twitter, I won’t even take the time to ask you to clean it up; I will simply turn you off. Create content that people care deeply about, and the community will fight for the sanctity of the conversation around it.

Our country, if you read the Federalist Papers, is about disagreement. It’s about pitting faction against faction, divided government, checks and balances. The hero in the American political tradition is the man who stands up to the mob — not the mob itself.” [SOURCE: Jonah Goldberg on NPR]

@SocialMia Facebook Subscribe Suggestions, on Twitter

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:31:00 -0700

Mia Aquino (Twitter or Facebook) recently posted a gallery of 50 people in the media worth subscribing to on Facebook. The new subscribe feature allows one to follow another’s public posts without friend status. Aquino’s list includes journalists, hosts, and thought leaders.

Facebook Subscribe Suggestions: 50 People In Media To Follow via @HuffPostMedia

I am currently amidst a Facebook fast, and cannot enjoy the well curated list. But I have come up with a work around, something like allowing myself to break from my fast if it is a birthday.

I took the Facebook recommendations, found their corresponding Twitter accounts and added them to a public Twitter list. The only person I could not find to have a Twitter account was Don Graham, Chairman of the board and CEO of The Washington Post.

View the list and subscribe here. Profiles and bios (in no particular order) below the jump. Thank you to Ms. Aquino for the inspiration and resource.

Don Lemon ‏  @donlemoncnn CNN Anchor & Twitter King

david carr ‏  @carr2n David Carr, Media Equation column, blogs @ Decoder, covers pop culture at NYTimes. Tweets hi-low, news, whatnot. Author: Night of the Gun.http://amzn.to/lhYAP5

Romenesko ‏ @romenesko Visit JimRomenesko.com

Jay Rosen ‏ @jayrosen_nyu I teach journalism at NYU, direct the Studio 20 program there, critique the press and study new media. I don’t do lifecasting but mindcasting on Twitter.

Chuck Todd ‏  @chucktodd Political junkie; Reporter and analyst for@NBCNews; host of @msnbctv’s@dailyrundown; Covering politics since ‘92; And, yes, I tweet about sports too.

Chris Cuomo ‏  @ChrisCuomo @ABC2020 Anchor and Chief of ABC News’ Legal Unit. I bring you @realdealtv. Married, three angels.

Jennifer Preston ‏  @NYT_JenPreston Staff writer @nytimes. Interested in stories about use of technology, social media in politics, government - and real life. Tips? jepresto@nytimes.com

GeorgeStephanopoulos ‏ @GStephanopoulos Good Morning America Anchor, @ThisWeekABCAnchor and ABC News Chief Political Correspondent

Jake Tapper ‏  @jaketapper ABC News’ Sr White House Correspondent. Dissecting my tweets with Talmudic meticulousness will result in wrong conclusions. RTs do not = endorsement.

Nicholas Kristof ‏  @NickKristof New York Times columnist, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, co-author @Half the Sky,http://www.facebook.com/kristof

Katie Couric ‏  @katiecouricSingle Mom and soon-to-be Talk-Show Host. Katie begins September 10th!

Brian Ries Verified! ‏ @moneyries Brian is a former associate at Mail Boxes Etc. He now plays social media keys for @newsweek &@thedailybeast. [e:moneyries@gmail.com]

Elizabeth Spiers ‏ @espiers Editor-in-chief, The New York Observer

Neal Mann ‏ @fieldproducer Journalist, breaking news on Twitter since 2009. Any views expressed on here are my own

Ben Smith ‏  @BuzzFeedBen Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed.com. Email or gchat me at ben@buzzfeed.com. AIM benobserver.

Fareed Zakaria ‏  @FareedZakaria Editor at TIME Magazine. Host of CNN’s GPS: Sunday @ 10am and 1pm ET in the U.S. Blogger at CNN.com/GPS.

Ann Curry ‏  @AnnCurry Journalism is an act of faith in the future.

Ali Velshi ‏  @AliVelshi CNN Chief Business Correspondent, Anchor, CNN-I World Business Today (M-F 9-10aET), host, CNN Your Money (Sat 1p/Sun 3pET) & Ali V Podcast on iTunes

Jared Keller ‏ @jaredbkeller Associate editor, social media editor at@TheAtlantic and @TheAtlanticWire. Amateur toxophilite. Tweets are my opinions. Contact: jkeller @ theatlantic dot com.

Zach Seward ‏ @zseward Working to launch a business news outlet from Atlantic Media. Previously did social at @WSJand helped start @NiemanLab. Notes: zach dot seward at gmail dot com

Jeff Jarvis ‏ @jeffjarvis blogger and j-school prof

Andy Carvin ‏  @acarvin Senior strategist at NPR. Online community organizer since 1994. Former director of the Digital Divide Network. Writer. Photographer. Dad.

Brian Stelter ‏  @brianstelter I report on TV & media for The New York Times. I’m working on a book about morning TV. For Q’s and news tips: bstelter@gmail.com | 212-556-4668 | 240-793-2483

Kelly Ripa ‏  @KellyRipa Wife. Mother. Dragon slayer. Shoe lover.

Arianna Huffington ‏  @ariannahuff president and editor-in-chief of the huffington post media group. mother. sister. flat shoe advocate. sleep evangelist.

Cory Bergman ‏ @corybe GM @breakingnews and BreakingNews.com, a real-time social news service. Also, founder@lostremote. #breakingnews#socialtv

Patrick Witty ‏ @patrickwitty Patrick Witty is the International Picture Editor at TIME. Formerly of The New York Times.

Kate Gardiner ‏ @KateGardiner Journalist. Photog. Medillian. Web, social execution/strategy for media. Passion in SF / Stuff in NY / Horse in Wisconsin / Body on a plane. Think big.

Anna M. Gonzalez ‏ @webanna Live broadcast of curated news, life, art & new media | @HLNtv Social Media Producer | Writer | Former @CNN er | Texan | Casual Blogger @http://everzalez.com

Miles Doran ‏ @MilesDoran Associate Producer, @CBSEveningNews / On The Road with Steve Hartman / Florida Gator / retweets and links are not endorsements

Charles Ornstein ‏ @charlesornstein Senior reporter at @ProPublica, president of Assn. of Health Care Journalists, hopeful Detroit Lions fan. charles.ornstein@propublica.org

Ryan Osborn ‏ @rozzy Digital media at @NBCNews. Links and retweets aren’t endorsements. Opinions are my own. Email: ryan.osborn[at]nbcuni.com Phone: (212)664-2730

RICHELLE CAREY ‏  @RichelleCarey HLN Anchor 3pm (EST) M-F, member@menstopviolence & @gsgatl, voice for empowering women, girls, #Baylor

Ayman Mohyeldin ‏ @AymanM Ayman is Foreign Correspondent for NBC News based in Egypt. Tweets and RTs are not endorsements.

Poppy Harlow ‏  @PoppyHarlowCNN @CNNMoney anchor, Minnesota native, loyal Vikings fan, love to travel but hate to fly…multitask way too much!

Ari Shapiro ‏ @Ari_Shapiro NPR White House Correspondent & occasional guest-singer with Pink Martini

John Dickerson ‏  @jdickerson Political correspondent Slate magazine/Political Director CBS News

Piers Morgan ‏  @piersmorgan ’One day you’re the cock of the walk, the next a feather duster.’

Jeff Sonderman ✎ ‏ @jeffsonderman Work: Digital Media Fellow at The Poynter Institute. I tweet mobile/social journalism, technology.

Martin Beck ‏ @latimesbeck @latimes social media and reader engagement editor. Part-time bike commuter, full-time chilehead. martin.beck@latimes.com

Azmat Khan ‏ @AzmatZahra Digital journalist @FrontlinePBS, where I report on conflict zones, nat sec, politics, the econ, social issues & more — in video & print.

HowardKurtz ‏ @HowardKurtz Media Guy, Beast boy

David Muir ‏  @DavidMuir Weekend Anchor,ABC World News with David Muir Correspondent, ABC News

Diane Sawyer ‏  @DianeSawyer I like my news 24/7, my food spicy, my drinks caffeinated, my music Tom Waits-y.

@Memeorandum on @BarackObama's new "Forward" campaign video

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:28:06 -0700

I finally got around to experimenting with Memeorandum, a web extension that aggregates popular news items and contextualize their bias. Created by Andy Baio and Delicious/Tasty Labs founder Joshua Schachter, Memeorandum uses singular value decomposition to graph the web of blogger-to-article relationships on a single spectrum.

The idea is to see how conservative or liberal a blog is without clicking through to every article. The colors (red for conservative, blue for liberal) don’t necessarily represent each blogger’s bias, but instead a representation of their linking activity. “The algorithm looks at the stories that bloggers linked to before, relative to all other bloggers, and groups them accordingly.”

For a simple demo, consider President Obama’s newly released “Forward” campaign slogan and video. (For more on the campaign see The New York Times article)

For this story, most of the bloggers linking to the Washington Times “New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism” are deemed conservative based on the history and nature of their linking.

Certainly not the best means of determining bias, but an interesting tool. Kudos to Andy and Joshua.

For more on Memeorandum, one, two.

@ProducerMatthew #FF

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:03:08 -0700

Matthew Keys (@ProducerMatthew), Deputy Social Media Editor at @Reuters, exemplifies reciprocity in social media. In addition to his tireless and timely news updates, he is a Rolodex for valuable media sources

On Friday, he shared a torrent of first-rate accounts in his Follow Friday (#FF) digest. Following are selections covering topics covering a range of topics. Get after it. Thanks @ProducerMatthew for the referrals.

Ethan Klapper (@EthanKlapper), social media editor at @HuffPostPol,for politics.

Jake Beckman (@jakebeckman), assignment editor at BloombergTV, for business.

Ryan Broderick (@ryanhatesthis), community moderator at Buzzfeed, for awesomeness.

Ernie Smith (@ShortFormErnie), the news editor of @ShortFormBlog for quick news.

Alex Ogle (@Alex_Ogle), for great photos, press a journalist with AFP.

Mike Hayes (@_mikehayes), the social media editor at @Buzzfeed.

Colin Jones (@colin_jones), associate media producer at @NYDailyNews.

Paul Balcerak (@PaulBalcerak) whose station @KIRO7Seattle broke big news this week, expanding the Secret Service scandal to El Salvador.

Of course, you are already following @ProducerMatthew.

Klouchebag Conditioning

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:38:09 -0700

As of 7:15 a.m., my Klouchebag rating was an embarrassing 40 - “Quite Noisy” on the service that assesses social media asshatery.

Klouchebag uses the ARSE rating system. Anger: profanity and rage. Retweets: “please RT”s, no or constant retweeting, and old-style. Social Apps: every useless checkin on foursquare or its horrible brethren. And English Usage: if you use EXCLAMATION MARKS OMG!!! or no capitals at all, this’ll be quite high.

I posted high on RTs and English Usage. This stung, like a friend criticizing your fashion choice. I didn’t know. I thought it was okay. Is it that bad? Does my mom know about my poor command of english on social media platforms?

As an aside, I scored a 49 on Klout, the service that inspired Klouchebag. According to this metric of online influence, “[I] may not be a celebrity, but within your area of expertise your opinion is second to none. Your content is likely focused around a specific topic or industry with a focused, highly-engaged audience.”

Whatever. Klouchebag has dealt the blow, making “second to none” dubious. Klouchebag’s cold truth is the kind of feedback I need. There is a lot of rubbish out there, and I certainly don’t want to be contributing to the dump. So rather than wallow in my online redundancy, I take it as a call for self improvement. Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is on my desk, right next to my cup of coffee. I will pump up my keystrokes, put in the time and thought, to break free of the tempting RT button. The gauntlet has hit the ground, and I will not shy from the challenge. I will reduce my Klouchebaggery.

Africa Comes Online

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:56:28 -0700

There over 500 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa. In 2008, there were 246 million, over a 100 percent increase. But only 3 percent of those are smartphones. [Afrographique]

There is a wealth of fascinating data on Afrographique, covering subjects from telecommunications to GDP growth rates.

Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for 12 percent of the world’s population, and is projected to account for more than a third by 2100. [New York Times]

A mushrooming continent with an appetite for development and technology. It is difficult to fathom what the next century will bring for Africa and the world.

What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News | State of the Media

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:56:48 -0700

What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News | State of the Media:

Overall, as noted in the companion report, the survey confirms that Facebook and Twitter are now pathways to news, but their role may not be as large as some have suggested. The population that uses these networks for news at all is still relatively small, especially the part that does so very often. Moreover, these social media news consumers have not given up other methods of getting news, such going directly to websites, using apps or through search. In other words, social media are additional paths to news, not replacements for more traditional ones.

The survey also finds that Twitter and Facebook function differently from each other, both in terms of where the news links come from and the degree to which people believe they are encountering different news than they would have encountered elsewhere. Each also draws a different population of users, with Twitter users standing out most. Facebook news users get more news from friends and family and see it as news they might well have gotten someplace else if Facebook did not exist. For Twitter users, though, the news links come from a more even mix of family and friends and news organizations. Most of these users also feel that without Twitter, they would have missed this kind of news.

I came across this incredible photograph of John F. Kennedy...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:07:47 -0700

I came across this incredible photograph of John F. Kennedy campaigning at the UW-Madison Field House on the

shortformblog: Pulitzer roundup: A year full of changing ground...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:06:01 -0700

shortformblog:

Pulitzer roundup: A year full of changing ground and big surprises

HuffPo won a Pulitzer! And so did Politico! 2011 may become a watershed year for online journalism, as for-profit online news organizations finally took a bite out of the news industry’s most prestigious prize. The Huffington Post, known as the kings of aggregation, won for a fairly traditional piece for them — reporter David Wood’s ten-part story discussing the struggles of returning veterans. (Wood is shown above, trying to open up a Nattie Light, which clearly is the only beer HuffPo had on hand to celebrate his feat.) Politico, on the other hand, won for Matt Wuerker’s mad editorial cartooning skillz. The wins tell the journalism world what many already knew — the folks on the Web are at the same level as traditional newspapers. Anyway, here’s a round-up of a few newspaper winners of note:

one At age 24 and just out of college, the Harrisburg Patriot-News’ Sara Ganim won a Pulitzer for local reporting — she was the first to report details on the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State.

two The Stranger, a snarky Seattle weekly known for advice columnist Dan Savage, won a Pulitzer for Eli Sanders’ story about a woman who survived a brutal rape.

three Despite a tough time for the paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer won a public service Pulitzer for its “Assault on Learning” series, which tackled school violence.

four The Tuscaloosa News kept readers informed online, despite a tornado which stopped their presses and destroyed homes. For that, they won a Breaking News Pulitzer. source

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#ACES2012 Headline Contest Winners, distilled

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:15:57 -0700

The American Copy Editors Society announced the winners of its 2011 national headline contest on April 12, 2012, at the organization’s 16th national conference in New Orleans.

To download Thursday’s presentation with headlines and more as a PDF, click here. Below I have posted a smattering of my favorites, with the Nirvana reference on top.

“Spells like team spirit.” Becca Clemons
“Bridge over tribal water.” Damen Clow.
“Maybe he should have gone with a driver: Lawyer, disoriented after drinking, says he broke into the pro shop to warm up.” Rich Mills
“What’s their age again? After 8-year-hiatus, Blink-182’s stab at more mature, experimental sound backfires.” Daily Orange
“World doesn’t end.” Omaha-World Herald
“If you’re happy and you know it, must I too?” New York Times

[Source: ACES]

@PewInternet releases "Digital Differences"

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:46:19 -0700

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released it’s “Digital Differences” report examining digital differences among income groups, age groups, racial and ethic groups, and educational attainment. It covers internet, broadband, mobile, and social networks. tracking survey. Since the survey was first conducted in 2000, differences in internet access persist among different demographic groups, especially when it comes to access to high-speed broadband at home.

The whole report can be downloaded at the Pew Internet website.

Striking data:

One in five American adults does not use the internet. The main reason given for not going online is because respondents don’t think the internet is relevant to them.
88% of American adults have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-book reader, and 19% have a tablet computer; about six in ten adults (63%) go online wirelessly with one of those devices.
Both African Americans and English-speaking Latinos are as likely as whites to own any sort of mobile phone.
Notable correlation between education attainment and internet use: in 2011, 71% of high school grads use the internet, while 94% of those with beyond college education.
In 2000, 47% of adults (age 18 and up) used the Internet. In 2011, 78%.
87% of internet users under 30 use social networking sites, compared with less than a third (29%) of those 65 and older.
Access to internet improving? In 2000, 16% of those with less than a high school diploma used the internet. In 2011, this group has increased to 43%

[Source: ”Digital Differences”, The Pew Internet & American Life Project]