Information Policy

New Web-based media service launched in South Africa

A new Web-based media service, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com, has just launched. According to biz-community, the Web-based media service offers journalists and other communication practitioners free access to content on the country and its development, including a comprehensive image library. The site was designed to offer information for all who want to track the country's progress and achievement in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond.

http://ijnet.org/Director.aspx?P=Article&ID=307703&LID=1

Social news aggregator Reddit launches TV show - Yourweek

Conde Nast-owned social news website Reddit has launched a weekly TV news programme in the US based on recommendations made by users of its bookmarking service. Reddit and US public service broadcaster PBS have developed the Yourweek show to focus on popular stories bookmarked on the Reddit front page each week. The TV programme will take recommendations from users of the site to cover politics, arts, international events, science, technology, social, sports, and pop culture. ‘Whereas traditional television new stories end once the show airs, YourWeek - like Reddit - will just be the beginning,’ wrote Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit on the aggregator's blog. ‘Throughout the week you'll be able to share your thoughts on yourweek.reddit and follow up with content you think was missed or corrections that should be made.’

http://www.journalism.co.uk/2/articles/531629.php

YouTube launches Citizen News channel

Google's YouTube is launching a Citizen News channel, highlighting the best news video on the site from around the world. ‘News on YouTube is huge,’ says Olivia Ma, YouTube's new news manager. ‘No longer do you have to be a seasoned journalist to make waves in the news.’

http://youtube.com/profile?user=citizennews

Central Asia: RFE/RL Accuses Kazakhstan Of Blocking Website

In a "very disturbing" case that smacks of "deliberate interference" by the Kazakh government, Internet users in Kazakhstan have been prevented for more than five weeks from accessing the Kazakh-language website of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin has said in a statement.

Access to the Kazakh site was interrupted on April 11, the statement said, and has continued despite RFE/RL's repeated requests to the Kazakh government and KazTelecom, the state-run telecom operator, to restore service. Because KazTelecom is the main Internet service provider for Central Asia, access to RFE/RL websites in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan has also been blocked.

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/05/7a7978b7-9534-4c3a-944c-953da14f32d3.html

DIY Communications – tools and tactics for communicating your cause

Do you want to use multimedia, online or offline tools to advance your cause? Creatively and effectively? To reach the broadest possible audience?

Do you want to create and distribute audio programmes, comic books, posters and newsletters? Set up a website or a blog to champion your issue?

The DIY Communications toolkit from Tactical Tech offers a collection of tried and tested, accessible free and open source tools. The toolkit is designed for small and medium-sized NGOs, advocates, and citizen journalists to help them create and distribute content for their advocacy efforts while exploring the constantly evolving world of campaigning and communications.It contains a series of how-to's, hands-on-guides and tutorials that walk you through the processes of creating and distributing content for awareness raising and online activism.

DIY Communications for Citizen Journalists is divided in to four core sections

• Audio
• Website and blogs
• Images
• Print

http://cjt-site.tacticaltech.org/

Online publishers upbeat despite economic downturn

Online publishers are doing well despite an economic downturn, and the ones who are best positioned to succeed are strong brands with quality content, the head of the Online Publishers Association said on Friday. Web sites have an edge over traditional media by offering advertisers the ability to target consumers in a cost-efficient and highly focused way, the association's president, Pam Horan, told Reuters during the OPA's ‘Forum for the Future’ in London. The expected growth rate for online advertising spending in the U.S. this year is a still robust 23 percent, down from 25 percent last year, according to data from eMarketer. While both global media brands and local online publishers should be able to weather the storm, the ones with the strongest brands and quality content are likely to be most successful in attracting advertisers, Horan said. In an ever-expanding global economy, foreign readers are becoming increasingly important for publishers, Horan said. Advertising categories such as travel and financial news are particularly well placed to make money from foreign visitors. The continuous evolution of digital publishing platforms is another reason why the prospects for online advertising revenue are brighter than for traditional media. The mobile Web, video and social media are seen as key growth areas for advertising revenue.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/online_publishers_upbeat_despite_economic_downturn/

Polish President vetoes media reform bill

Pollish President Lech Kaczynski has vetoed the bill on reforming public radio and television. He said it could lead to ‘the further commercialization of the important area if public media and to the curtailing of ordinary citizens’ influence on these media.’ Under the new bill, proposed by the government, the role of the National Broadcasting Council would be reduced. Its members are now appointed by both houses of parliament and the president for six-year terms. The new regulations would allow Council members to be recalled before the end of the their terms and would limit the powers of this regulatory body, transferring some of them to the Office of Electronic Communication, subordinate to the government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was not surprised with the presidential veto. Talking to reporters in Lima, where he was attending the EU-Latin American summit, he said that the president’s decision is a defense of the dominant position of the opposition Law and Justice in the public media. Mr Tusk added he is not emotionally attached to the broadcasting bill. More important for him is the bill on abolishing license fees. The vetoed legislation now returns to parliament, in which a three-fifths majority is needed to override a presidential veto. (Polskie Radio via Media Network Weblog)

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/polish_president_vetoes_media_reform_bill/

Hackers shut down Zimbabwe state newspaper website

Hackers attacked the Web site of Zimbabwe's state-owned Herald newspaper and shut it down for three days. The Herald is widely seen as the official mouthpiece of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and has been critical of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which won the country's disputed March 29 elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051201287.html

Making Online News: The Ethnography of New Media Production

Little has been published about the daily work of online journalists, how it differs from traditional media production, and what consequences it has for the character and quality of online news. We aim to fill this void. Research has tended to stay outside the doors of online newsrooms, and there is a lot to learn from entering.

http://www.makingonlinenews.net/the-book/

Now showing online

An article from the NY Times discusses how within the last few months, television distributors have opened up their libraries of classic content online, making thousands of episodes of programs like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" available free. In putting old episodes online, broadcasters are tapping into the "long tail" of niche content that the Internet has monetized.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_9167596?nclick_check=1