Category: Online Journalism
How the #theafghanistanyouneversee hashtag proves the worth of crowdsourcing
Heartwarming, a little Afghani girl hi5 a soldier. #TheAfghanistanYouNeverSee http://t.co/cVGCmw7N—
Victoria (@VixxyLix) May 07, 2012
It started as a hashtag attached to several photos by a journalist. By the weekend, it had become a huge sharing of images from people who had been to Afghanistan, and showed us another side to a country rarely away from the headlines.
The idea behind #theAfghanistanYouNeverSee came from journalist Antony Loveless, who specialises in defence for the London Press Service. The first hashtag appeared late last week, and by the bank holiday weekend had become a steady flow of images:
Like this:
Back to the Future: A reminder why journalists shouldn’t forget about forums
A report by pollsters YouGov last week gave some insights into the use of social media in the UK. The headline figure was that two in five people are getting bored of social media and want sites to do more – ie be useful.
Whether that’s a surprise or not, I’m not sure. Certainly many of the other stats, including the pecking order of popularity of sites – 1) Facebook, 2) Twitter), 3) Windows Live, 4) LikedIn, 5) Google +, 6) Spotify – won’t be a shock.
But the fact that moneysavingexpert.com now has as many active users in the UK as Twitter, did generate a lot of attention, and seemed to back up the point that people want their social media experience to be a useful one.
This feels like a Back to the Future moment. I would probably argue that it’s not a case of moneysavingexpert.com having as many active users as Twitter so much as Twitter catching up with MSE – it has been around for much longer.
Top 10 most read journalism posts of 2011 on this blog
When I first started this blog, I was determined that it wouldn’t just be my opinion on stuff, or rants about stuff, either. I’m not sure how well I’ve done in achieving that aim – but going through the most read posts of 2011 (I’ve done a separate list of FOI posts here):
1. Is this the most jaw-dropping CCTV still ever?
Do you remember the days when a police call which involved a promise of CCTV was pretty much always guaranteed to end up with a long battle with technology or a trip to the cop shop to pick up a grainy image which had more in common with Magic Eye pictures than it did with 20:20 sharp focus?
Friday’s first edition front page of the Manchester Evening News carries what I think is probably the most striking, and shocking CCTV still I’ve ever seen on a newspaper.
2. 10 Social Network search engines for journalists
Google Realtime, the search engine which was intended to integrate social network updates into Google, has been suspended, the company announced at the weekend.
Whether it returns at all remains to be seen – in my opinion, it’s the sort of tool Google can’t afford to be without.
It was a very useful tool for journalists too, especially as the ‘say what you see’ culture on Twitter exploded, providing excellent first-hand accounts and sources for reporters, especially local ones.
But there are plenty of other social network search engines worth checking out. Here are 10 of the best.
3. Council spending data: 10 tips for journalists looking for stories
Today marks the deadline for councils to start publishing details of all spending over £500. Local government minister Eric Pickles says he expects all councils to be as open as possible. Some, such as Liverpool, have admitted they’ll miss that deadline, and final details of exactly how all councils should produce the information has yet to be issued.
So how should journalists deal with the data? Here are ten points which I hope might help…
10 Social Network search engines for journalists
Google Realtime, the search engine which was intended to integrate social network updates into Google, has been suspended, the company announced at the weekend.
Whether it returns at all remains to be seen – in my opinion, it’s the sort of tool Google can’t afford to be without.
It was a very useful tool for journalists too, especially as the ‘say what you see’ culture on Twitter exploded, providing excellent first-hand accounts and sources for reporters, especially local ones.
But there are plenty of other social network search engines worth checking out. Here are 10 of the best.
#walsall24: How a council overcame the ‘no-one understands what we do’ dilemma
Just a quick mention for #walsall24, a 24-hour tweeting project from Walsall Council.
A bit like Greater Manchester Police’s tweetathon last year, the 24 hour tweeting operation from Walsall Council aimed to show people just what the council does.
Unlike the GMP live tweet, Walsall Council appears to have encouraged staff to use their own Twitter accounts to send updates, using the hashtag of #walsall24. This removes the risk of one account being suspended for issuing too many tweets at one time.
The array of things the council deals with during the course of 24 hours is fascinating, and the tweets can be viewed on the Express and Star site’s widget here.
One of the complaints I’ve often heard from council officers is that the complaining public ‘don’t realise everything we do.’
That’s certainly probably the case when it comes to discussing council cuts – the impact is likely to be felt in places way beyond what most people would consider the reach of councils.
As it is, it’s good to see a council do something to act on the complaint that the public don’t know what they do – so hats off to Walsall for doing this so well.
A Storify wrap of key tweets from the day has been put together by Sarah Hartley of The Guardian. It makes the point that some have asked just how many people in Walsall will have seen the tweets.
To me, that’s where the mainstream media comes into its own. As with GMP’s 24-hour tweetathon, while those of us on Twitter will have watched it live, many more will have seen it through the coverage of the Manchester Evening News and the BBC. If the council can provide the material, then the media should be able to do a lot with it.
The top 10 most read posts on this blog in 2010
I write about all sorts of stuff on this blog, but try to stay focussed on the stuff I think people would want to read about, so check the top posts stats quite a lot.
I’m always amazed that so many people read my blog, and thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my posts and comment on them.
With the clock ticking down to 2011, I thought it might be worth seeing which posts were the most-read in 2010. Happy New Year everybody.
Tweeting in court: What the interim guidance could mean for journalists
There was a lot of interested generated last week when a district judge at one of the Julian Assange hearings permitted people to tweet proceedings. Live reporting of courts in other words. As I discussed last week, it’s not the first time that live court reporting has taken place, but it’s certainly not common.
The Lord Chief Justice has now confirmed that there is to be a review into the use of live, text-based forms of communication – with Twitter specifically mentioned – for the purpose of fair and accurate reporting.
In the meantime, interim guidance has been issued for courts – which can be found here.
Potentially, this is a quite exciting development, and here are some interesting points I’ve found in the interim guidance:
Tweeting from court? 140 characters which will spell trouble for journalists
Liverpool ECHO's late final on the night Rhys Jones's killer was convicted
The trial of those involved in the murder of Rhys Jones, the 11-year-old boy shot dead as he walked home from football practice in Liverpool understandably gripped the city.
As media scrums at court go, it was up there with some of the biggest court cases of recent memory. TV reporters worked in relay between the court which housed the press and their respective satellite trucks, while dozens of print reporters covered the case on a daily basis.
The guilty verdict against Sean Mercer was reported within seconds of the final verdict being delivered. Thousands of people had followed the case via a liveblog on the Liverpool ECHO website. They read the verdict on the ECHO’s liveblog roughly a minute and a half before it began running on Sky News and the BBC News Channel.
The coverage the ECHO was able to provide via the liveblog was unrivalled. Of course, the print editions of the ECHO - including the special late final on the day of the verdict – also provided the best coverage possible for those wanting a daily digest of what had happened, but for the sizeable audience which wanted to follow the case live, or dip in several times a day, the live blog was essential viewing.
Crime reporter Ben Rossington was even able to push for the release of key bits of evidence once they had been shown to the jury – including audio, stills and video clips.
The only negative comment the liveblog drew from users was that they didn’t like the fact they couldn’t comment on events as they went on. Legally, that just wasn’t something which could be allowed by the Echo – but in an age where people know they can go and talk about anything they want on forums, it was sometimes hard to make that point.
The reason I refer to this tonight isn’t because I fancied bringing up, for the sake of it, but because of the interest in ‘live’ court reporting prompted by a judge’s decision to allow people to tweet from one of the Julian Assange extradition appeal hearings.
It prompted the question: When will we be allowed to Tweet from every court? I suspect the answer is still: Not for a long time.
There is already a groundswell of opinion – largely on Twitter – supporting the notion that we be able to tweet from every court case. I’d certainly support the ability to report live from court cases, but I’m not sure Twitter is the right way to do it.
A festive example of entrepreneurial journalism in action
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
There’s been a lot of conversation this year about entrepreneurial journalism – basically how to make money from the trade without relying on just one employer.
And here’s an example of that. Journalist Garry Cook – for whom photography is one string to his bow – has launched a range of documentary Christmas cards.
For anyone who is fed up of robin on a postbox Christmas cards, then these are probably for you.
Multimedia journalism: 1938 style
To anyone who thought multimedia news was new thing, or newspaper newsrooms producing video something we’ve only come up with in the last few years … think again.
Here’s a film of local news shot by the Rossendale Free Press, a weekly newspaper in Lancashire … in 1938.
Back in ’38, as the country prepared to war, it appears the Free Press produced regular silent video footage which were shown in local cinemas.
It’s fascinating to watch – even if you’re not from the area – and was discovered in the local library by the North West Film Archive. You can read the Free Press’s story on the find here.
More proof that, as far as journalism is concerned at least, there’s very little new under the sun?
