Studying the intersection of journalism, interactive communications and public discourse
From a Hartford Courant story today: “[Newspaper] Editors still block sexually explicit and violent content, deciding how much detail readers and viewers need. But the Internet has blown the gates open, and editors, with their increasingly impotent red pencils, have seen readers rush past them into the wide open Web to find out for themselves …
Much like the library websites described by Brenda Battleson in her 2000 case study, “Usability testing of an academic library web site,” major newspaper websites are evolving into information gateways. Large news websites feature deep collections of stories, archived material, photos, searchable databases and more. But like libraries, the exceedingly large amount of data can …
Every Thursday, I spend the majority of my day putting together a Connecticut entertainment email for nearly 12,000 subscribers. The email is in HTML and the reason it takes so long is because I have to painstakingly hand-code almost 60 urls. This is after I make editorial decisions on which 60 items to promote. Here’s …
After signing up on Wikipedia today, I pondered what entry I would actually be qualified to correct. So I decided to start where I began. I looked up Enfield, Connecticut, the town where I grew up. I was surprised to find a fairly detailed listing, and most of the info seemed correct to me. I …
Happy, confident students do worse in math, apparently, according to an article today by the Associated Press. “Kids who are turned off by math often say they don’t enjoy it, they aren’t good at it and they see little point in it. Who knew that could be a formula for success? The nations with the …
“You know why I like plants? Because they’re so mutable. Adaptation is a profound process. Means you figure out how to thrive in the world.” — John Laroche (Chris Cooper), in the 2002 film, “Adaptation.” Technologies that are highly responsive and adaptable to people’s needs are the ones that will have the greatest impact on …
A bit of advice for new bloggers, written by Vincent J. Maher, lecturer in new media studies, Rhodes Univ., S. Africa: A blog entry is a stub for conversation. Think about the perspectives of your audience. Write tight headlines that encourage interest. Make points or lists and make then scan-friendly. Link to the context. Quote …
An entirely new economic model for the media and entertainment industries is emerging, observes Chris Anderson in his 2004 Wired magazine article, “The Long Tail.” Most of us, Anderson states, want more than just the #1 movie at the box office, the #1 song on the Billboard chart and the #1 book on the New …
The discussion about video games in ICM501 last week helped me spark lots of nostalgic conversations with my family this past weekend. My brother (29), my cousin (31) and I had a great time reminiscing about playing our favorite video games as kids. Here are a few, in no particular order: Bubble Bobble – My …
Are we getting too wired? A recent story by the Associated Press: “As the novelty of their wired lives wears off, young people are getting more sophisticated about the way they use such tools as social networking and text and instant messaging – not just constantly using them because they’re there. “I think we’re at …