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dna 2008: live streaming video coverage from my mobile

I used my camera phone, and a free service called qik, to stream live video of a panel discussion titled "God is a VJ". The panel included:

    •    Pat Loughrey, Director, BBC Nations and Regions
    •    Tone Kunst, Editor-in-Chief, NRK Nordland
    •    Christian Trippe, Brussels Bureau Chief, Deutsche Welle
    •    Michael Rosenblum, President, Rosenblum TV
    •    Prof. Adrian Monck, Head of Journalism, City University (UK)

It's a bit shaky, and I had to use the lowest quality setting to keep streaming costs down, but it's still sort of watchable. Or at least listenable. Ok, so I'm no VJ, nor am I God, but at a higher quality, and with the phone steadied properly, the results could be much better.

dna 2008: michael rosenblum kicks things off

  Michael Rosenblum 
  Originally uploaded by robinhamman

It took a whole 3 or 4 minutes for Michael Rosenblum, the first keynote speaker at DNA2008, to get to that now quite tired cliche

"if you don't wrap your head around the change your gonna die..."

And the way most newspaper and media companies have adapted to that change?

"I'll have these three fuck ups in the corner to do the internet and it will be fine"

Rosenblum says three things are converging to make an almost perfect storm: video cameras that "cost 800 bucks and any idiot can use", low cost laptops and the internet. He describes that storm:

"In the world of meteorology they talk about storms. There's the 50 year storm and the 100 year storm.... in the world of journalism and technology, there's the 500 year storm.... a giant tidal wave... Guttenberg thought the printing press was about making cheaper bibles... but the invention of the printing press... brought about a whole new world of a free press. We don't live in a world of print anymore, we live in a world of video and online... this technological storm is going to wash away most of what we understand today and replace it with something different. Whether you participate in it is entirely in your hands."

Rosenblum's talk was interesting, well delivered and entertaining but I can't help but think that he's maybe spent too much time whipping up his perfect storm and not enough actually out there in the real world. There's a vast gulf between the media landscape he describes, where media companies put little effort into "the fuck ups" in the corner who run online, and the massive investment and talent being thrown at new media by the BBC (my employer) and many others.

losing sleep over dna2008 in brussels

I'm in Brussels for DNA2008 (Digital News Affairs... the year is fairly self explanatory).

I hate to sound like an advertisement, but for those who haven't been on it, Eurostar is cool, very very cool. Or so I told my twitter friends on my way over as I streamed video live from my mobile, whilst traveling at over 100 mph, to the web using qik.

I've also uploaded a few photos, including the one below that I took on my way out for a nice dinner with John and Laura from Journalism.co.uk. Unfortunately, I missed Abdu from Al Jazeera  and only just bumped into Andy Dickinson from UCLAN.

Monday is mostly high level stuff about the future of mainstream media and I expect lots of presentations along the lines of:

"Things are changing because of, you know, the interweb, and we've got to act fast..."

I don't mean to sound cynical before the conference even gets underway - the first day should provide ample time to sort out the last few details of my presentation, which takes place on the second, much more practically focused, day.

I've got free broadband in my room and access to the executive lounge but haven't yet found out whether there's wifi in the venue. If so, expect the usual onslaught of live blogging coverage here. If not, watch out for the dna2008 tag on flickr, technorati and icerocket. Ok ok, and if you're really stuck in a rut, google blog search too.

PS. New conference friends go here...

dallas morning news asks readers to sift lost jfk assassination docs

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins recently made public documents and relics relating to the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.

The existence of the materials, stored in a 6ft x 6ft safe, had been kept secret until now.

The Dallas Morning News has put the documents online and is asking readers to help sift through the content which they say includes "transcripts, personal and official letters, newspaper clippings, lists of jurors, police reports, rap sheets, autopsy reports, trial notes, police notebooks, photographs and much more."     

The problem, according to the paper, is that the documents are, "...neither cataloged nor indexed, and they are in no apparent order. Given the volume, we haven't been able to review most of the files. That's why were calling on you. Here's your chance to review never-seen-before materials related to the JFK assassination." 

Asking readers to help sift through the massive amount of material released is, of course, a great way to use the audience to help find interesting details that will generate stories. At the moment, it looks like the only way users can do this is to send messages to the paper or post on a discussion board - neither of which really harnesses the full potential of the network.

I think the paper is missing a trick by not creating an editorial framework around how people can help with the project. For example, the paper could ask users to use a social bookmarking tool, such as del.icio.us, to bookmark, tag and share. This way they'd be able to more quickly index the documents, making it easier for those with specialist skills or knowledge to get to the documents where their skills can be put to best use.

Simply putting the materials online, and asking audiences to help sift through them, is a good first step but so much more could be gained by applying the newspaper's editorial skills to creating a framework for participation.

turning processes into content - 2 new ideas and a request for help

I'm working on a presentation about turning processes into content for the DNA 2008 conference in Brussels next week - and could use your help. First, here's how the conference website describes my one hour slot - the text in bold is the key bit:

Many news and media organisations are now using reporter, programme and editor blogs to reach out to their audiences. Most of these are add-ons to existing output, creating a further burden upon often overstretched production teams, but that need not be the case. Robin Hamman, a Senior Broadcast Journalist for BBC English Regions, is the man behind the scenes of the BBC's Blogs Network. Part of his role is to inform journalists and programme-makers about the usefulness of social media tools such as RSS, social bookmarking, blogging, social networking and photosharing. In adopting such tools, they not only make productivity gains, but can start to more easily turn many of their existing processes into compelling content which, potentially, will help them reach new audiences. Likewise, blogging need not be an additional burden on production teams - if integrated well into a programme it can be an essential driver of content both to and from audiences. In this session, Robin will outline the amazing potential and opportunity that arises when your news teams understand and use social media and blogs in the way enthusiasts do.

As I put together my slides over the next few days, I'm also going to blog it in the hopes that you'll be able to come up with some other ways that content producers and journalists can create content out of their processes.

The classic example, of course, is the behind the scenes video footage you get with many DVDs but in my original post on this subject I suggested that journalists and other content producers could do the following:

1. make your RSS subscriptions publicly visible (example: BBC Manchester Blog)
2. use del.icio.us or another social bookmarking service to store and share links to your background research (example: Jemima Kiss / Guardian PDA Newsbucket)
3. share your rough notes, meeting minutes and preliminary results as soon as you can (example: iPM)
4. post photos, audio and video as and of your work (example: Reuters Mobile Reporting Kit photo)
5. don't just reply privately to emails and comments, quote from them and respond publicly (example: BBC Internet Blog)
6. spread your content around automatically using the import feature of the different blogging and social media services you use
7.  use your downtime to microblog, giving audiences a sense of immediacy (example: twitter feed for the BBC Rugby World Cup Blog)
8. blog site statistics (ranging from user numbers to social network friends - I'll probably use TechPresident as my example)

Now for some new ideas to add to the list...

I've been thinking alot recently about how various services that track behaviour or movement could generate content that, in some contexts, could be interesting:

9. Tracking listening: I'd love to see the last.fm profile of a favourite DJ or artist - it would be a great way for me to feel closer to them and, possibly, to find new music.

It would also be interesting, I think, to see what a journalist embedded with American soldiers in Iraq was listening to as they camped between missions involving heavy firefights. Metallica? Zero 7? Hendrix? Knowing would give audience members a new link to the mindset of that reporter. I don't have a real working example of this from mainstream media (???).

10. Tracking Movement: I've already suggested, in my earlier post, that, within many editorial propositions, there are opportunities for travel or movement to be of interest to the audience. You could give a sense of this via microblogging on services such as twitter, or by inputting the cities you'll visit on dopplr, or setting your current position via Plazes or Zonetag + Flickr. But let's take that further.

nike + ipod uses a small transmitter inserted into a running shoe which sends speed, distance covered and other data to an iPod. When the ipod is synched with itunes, it sends this data to a website where users can track and compare their statistics with those of others.

We often talk of the beat journalist yet a common criticism aimed at journalism today is that much of it is done whilst sitting behind a desk, staring at a computer screen. Why not use nike + ipod to show how much ground a journalist has physically covered whilst covering the story? I'm thinking this would make particularly compelling add-on content for those reporters and journalists on the campaign trail, perhaps a sports photographer or cameraman covering a sports match from the sidelines, or a DJ performing a live show. Again, I don't have a real working example of this from mainstream media but would love to see one.

That's ten ways that journalists and content producers can turn their processes - things they'd be doing anyway - into content without any real additional burden. What others things are you doing? Have you spotted any useful examples or inspiring implementations of any of the above? What do you think of the ten ideas I've outlined already - are they workable? are they compelling for audiences?

I plan to post the final presentation slides, and perhaps of video of it's delivery, for all to share and will credit those who provide tips, links and ideas that make it in. Thanks for your help.

 

press complaints commission to investigate media scraping of social media content

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Chris Vallance, Tim Toulmin, the Director of the Press Complaints Commission, revealed that the PCC is embarking on a major consultative investigation of how news and media organisations are reusing content found online, primarily from social networks such as Facebook and Bebo. Vallance writes on the iPM Blog:

"In the interview Toulmin indicates the matter is one of degree: journalists do have a rights to use publicly accessible content and the public have responsibilities when they post it, but there is value in establishing boundaries which can guide the press in the ethical use of this content..."

Add IPM Radio4's channel to your page

should news orgs use images scraped from social networking sites?

Late last month, the Editor of the BBC News website, Steve Herrmann, wrote a post asking,

"When is it acceptable for us to make use of personal pictures and video available on the internet? In the past, personal pictures of members of the public who become the subject of news stories (particularly tragic events) have usually only been available if supplied by family or friends."

Each month, the BBC holds an editorial policy meeting to discuss emerging editorial issues, tricky editorial situations that have arisen, and to circulate any new guidelines that have been issued. This month the meeting discussed the use of photos found online - on social networking sites, photosharing sites, etc - and a briefing note was subsequently issued, giving advice, although not setting out an official policy.

It's not unusual for the BBC to provide staff with editorial guidance like this but what is quite extraordinary (and will probably the topic of another post here later this week) is that, in this instance, Herrmann has posted that guidance verbatim in a follow-up post on the Editors Blog. Here's the bit of that guidance that readers will find most interesting:

"The ease of availability of a picture does not remove our responsibility to assess the sensitivities in using it. Simply because material may have been put into the public domain may not always give the media the right to exploit its existence.

The use of a picture by the BBC brings material to a much wider public than a personal website that would only be found with very specific search criteria. Consideration should be given to the context in which it was originally published including the intended audience, the impact of re-use on those who may be grieving or distressed, and the legal issues of privacy and copyright. In the interests of accuracy, care should also be taken to verify the picture."

Let's pick this apart a bit.

Many readers will recall the three models of blogs I like to use to help people understand the types of blogs, and different motivations their authors might have. Most blogs, I suggest in that model, are "closed" - that is, they are blogs intended for a small, closed audience consisting of family or friends, not for mass consumption. To demonstrate this model in presentations, I show screen-shots from a blog that carefully documented the planning of a couple's wedding and a baby blog. In both instances the blog is essentially private, even if they aren't password protected. The authors have done nothing to promote their blogs to a wider audience nor do they want or expect people they don't know personally to encounter their blogs. The same is true of the profiles that many people create on social networking services such as facebook and myspace.

A news or media organisation could link to or show my facebook profile or baby blog or twitter feed on screen or in print, but I'd be pretty pissed off if they did without first asking to do so. These are intended for friends, for people I choose to allow to see them, not for mass audiences. I also own the copyright to this material, something that shouldn't be forgotten by those who may wish to use it without permission.

The Guardian too has been grappling, in public, with the issue of using photos mined from social networking and photosharing sites. The Guardian's Readers' Editor Siobhain Butterworth recently wrote on Comment is Free: 

"The fact that information is more or less publicly available may not be a complete answer to all arguments about privacy. Privacy is about intrusion rather than secrecy and the question is whether you have a reasonable expectation that something is private, rather than whether you have done or said something in public. These concepts are not easy to apply to social networking sites where the point of the exercise is to share information with others.

In this case Bilawal Bhutto turned himself into a public figure when he became joint leader of the PPP and there's an obvious public interest argument for finding out more about him. The writer and the editors on the day thought carefully about what should be disclosed to readers and what should be left out of the story. The material was of a relatively trivial nature - it was not especially personal and did not reveal much about his private life. There's no call, in these circumstances, for a heavyweight public interest argument to justify publication."

What if the photos had shown Bhutto with a child, or perhaps holding a beer and cigarette at a party whilst surrounded by gorgeous models? Or carrying a kalashnikov or handheld RPG? I'm not suggesting that such photos do exist but, if they did, would news and media organisations be entitled to bring them to the attention of their audiences? Applying the guidance recently supplied to BBC journalists, I'd suggest that unless the photo of Bhutto holding a child was the story itself then no, that image probably shouldn't be shown. A photo of him at a party, beer and women in hand might be usable because it would show he was living a more Western life than many of his party, and it's potential voters, might feel comfortable with. And certainly if a photo emerged of a party leader just about anywhere in the world posing with a weapon a news organisation could justifiably say using it is in the public interest. Those judgement calls, based on an entirely fictional scenarios, are based on my own opinions - and I'd love to hear what you think. Did I make the right calls?

The debate over the of photos and other material scraped by news organisations from social networking sites has been going since at least the time of the Virginia Tech shootings, when I helped various BBC News outlets find such material but, later, second guessed the way we and other news organisations had handled that.

In the UK at this very moment, many people are starting to ask if newspapers and others should continue to show photographs and other material taken from the online profiles of the seventeen teenagers who have tragically, and so far police think in un-coordinated acts (one MP is actually blaming social networking sites), taken their own lives.

With more and more journalists and researchers using the internet to find first hand accounts and background material for stories, indeed with some journalists starting to consider social networking sites and blogs part of their reporting patch, it's an issue that's unlikely to go away - and which should continue to be the subject of much scrutiny and debate.

google local news and local blog search

David Brain writes,

"in this years’ Edelman Trust Barometer we asked opinion leaders in 18 countries about the news sources they rely on most for information on companies. Not surprisingly, local sources dominated, but three global brands appeared regularly among the local names. Most of us could probably have guessed the BBC and CNN would be mentioned, but the number of respondents ticking the box marked Google confirms that the concept of ‘search engine’ and ‘news source’ are becoming less distinct. Last I looked, Google did not employ a single reporter."

[The graph on the original post proves interesting and is certainly worth a look.]

Google, Brain points out, has recently launched a local news service. The post announcing the new service explains how Google does it:

"We’re not simply looking at the byline or the source, but instead we analyze every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located."

A look at the Google News Local page for St. Albans, a small City in the county of Hertfordshire, England, pulls up some relevant content but is also quite noisy, with the algorithm also pulling in headlines from West Virginia and Vermont USA and Australia. Useful then, I suppose, if you happen to be searching for news on a location with a unique place name but otherwise not so great.

There's also, hiding over on the left side of the page, a new location specific blog search. The top results for St. Albans were spot on but further down there's the same problem - the algorythm seems unable to distinguish between multiple cities named St. Albans and, worse, picks up lots of classified advertisements, newspaper articles and other non-blog content.

It's a good idea but, for me at least, not good enough to be very useful for locality specific searches - and serves as a reminder that fancy algorithms can't yet match human editorial judgement.

social networking: opportunity, not threat, to "old media"

Yesterday a student from the University of Westminster sent me a message via facebook, asking whether I thought social networking sites are a threat to "old media". I'm posting the response here:

Last month I was speaking with Glen Drury, the Vice President of Yahoo Northern Europe, and he told me that Yahoo's view is that tv audiences are spending increasing amounts of time away from the television and on the internet instead. That may very well be true, although I don't have any specific statistics to point to. But radio listening is, I'm told, on the increase, in part because people can and do listen to the radio while they use the internet. And as readership of print newspapers stagnates or goes into decline, at least according to some, the number of people visiting newspaper websites continues to increase.

So are social networking sites a threat to so called old media? I don't think so. I actually see them as opportunities to interact with our audiences in new ways, and to tap into new audiences. I'll explain.

When a radio or tv programme sets up a website or blog, it's audience tends to be a subset of the existing audience of listeners. You could argue that it super-serves that audience and does little, if anything, to create new audiences. Now audience retention IS important, but as anyone working in media will tell you, growth in audiences is, just like growth in the economy or growth in corporate income, a key metric of success.

Media and news organisations therefore need to get their content out in front of new audiences and social networks are one way to do this. Already, people like me find the majority of their new web based content through their social networks - for me, that means via del.icio.us, twitter and facebook. I also find a lot of new music through last.fm and, to a lesser extent, online radio.

When a friend or contact tells you about something, or even recommends something or someone to you, it's much more powerful than a PR or advertising message. By going out and participating in online social spaces, by putting content in front of audiences that are searching for social objects around which to build discussions and community, media companies can do exactly this - they can tap into a network of people who will see and share and hopefully recommend our content to their own social networks.

There are millions of people looking for photographic content on flickr. By uploading photos and tagging them appropriately, then linking back to a BBC page, we're able to get our content in front of those people and they may very well follow the link back to source. That same is true with content posted on facebook or youtube or blip.tv or wherever.

And social networking sites give us even greater opportunities than this - they let us actually know who our audiences are and to interact with them. So a flickr group or facebook group created by a BBC person on behalf of a BBC programme can be a useful way to get the audience involved in critiquing the programme, building community around it (and generating buzz in doing so) and perhaps even getting them involved in creating the programme (eg. Networked Journalism).

So are social networks a threat to so called old media? I don't think so. I think they are an opportunity for us to learn more about, and get closer to, our audiences and also a useful tool for getting our content in front of new audiences who, potentially, will discover us for the first time on the social media site of their choice rather than a TV channel or radio station.

npr's on the media on networked journalism

At the Networked Journalism Summit last week I was interviewed by NPR's Bob Garfield. That interview, or at least about three seconds of it, appeared yesterday in On The Media.

But don't listen to hear me - you'll learn a lot more about crowdsourced journalism from   Jeff Howe, the Wired journalist who coined the term; Kate Marymount from News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida; Brian Lehrer who asked his NY radio audience to compile data on price disparities on common products such as milk and beer; Jay Rosen on AssignmentZero; Jeff Jarvis who organised the day; and others.