Citizen and community news
From Chicago: A snapshot of online news experiments
I interviewed operators of three Chicago online news sites — Gapers Block, Windy Citizen, and Chicago Talks — recently and found the mix of content and revenue ideas worth following. I’m adding several Chicago sites to my list of promising online news sites. Gapers Block Led by Andrew Huff, this site is aggregates and offers … Continued
My criteria for promising online news sites
As a fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute this year, I am working on a list of promising sites. The idea is to identify and work with the best – to learn from them and to figure out ways RJI might help them. Here are my criteria: Content: The site is devoted primarily to original … Continued
Exploring Government 2.0
I’m excited about the potential of Government 2.0, a growing movement to use the Internet to improve government practices and make government more transparent and participatory. Here’s what organizers of last fall’s Gov 2.0 summit say: “Over the past fifteen years, the rise of the World Wide Web has resulted in remarkable new possibilities and … Continued
Michele McLellan: Mid-year report
I’ve learned a lot about online civic engagement in fields other than journalism (social causes, politics, even marketing) through conferences, interviews and looking at Web sites. I’ve also connected with numerous community news startups and learned that many of them put civic engagement and community building at the top of their agenda. I think established … Continued
In new news orgs, a glimpse at journalism founded on value, not mass
A few weeks back, John Thornton invited me to Austin, Tex., to take a look at his news organization in-the-making, a team of powerhouse journalists from all over the state who are assembling the ambitious effort that will be the Texas Tribune. Before coming to RJI, I worked in for-profit newsrooms, where the constant primary … Continued
In his own words: A selection of Matt Thompson’s blog entries Part 2
The W-bomb Sept. 22, 2008 You can’t tell from my blogging, but I’ve gotten rather sensitive about the word “Wikipedia.” Earlier this year, after I’d written my research proposal, I was casting about for a title to communicate the core concept I hoped to pursue. I recalled a whitepaper by Shayne Bowman, Ellen Kampinsky and … Continued
In his own words: A selection of Matt Thompson’s blog entries Part 1
The timing of local news cycles May 13, 2009 Howard Weaver writes a sweet, short paean to the dailyness of the newspaper: I’ve been arguing for years that newspapers — yes, printed, daily newspapers — have a good long horizon on the value curve if they shift their focus to the value they already do … Continued
JurnosWiki
The JurnoWiki site was created by Jane Stevens, Amy Gahran, Adam Glenn, and Bill Mitchell in Spring 2009 as a resource for journalists. For more information contact Jane Stevens or RJI Who are Jurnos? Jurnos are entrepreneurs. Jurnos come from all walks of life. Jurnos are community managers. Jurnos are community organizers. Jurnos are catalysts … Continued
Web shells
Background Web shells are the essential structure, the main building blocks of Webcentric journalism. In newspaper-speak, that’s the four- or six-column 13.5- by 22-inch nested pages of newsprint. In TV-speak, it’s the 30-minute news-weather-sports lineup. Jane Stevens came up with the term “shell” because the other names that people were using in 2002 — evergreen … Continued
Wikipedia-ing the news
Matt Thompson’s RJI research proposal Five years ago, blogger Dave Winer and New York Times executive Martin Nisenholtz made a bet. “In a Google search of five keywords or phrases representing the top five news stories of 2007,” Winer wagered, “weblogs will rank higher than the New York Times Web site.” But what fascinates me … Continued