I receive a NY Times e-mail each morning listing the day's headlines. After the top three stories, there is a section featuring the "Quotation of the Day." Most of the time it is pretty interesting - at least enough for me to link to the story and read a little bit of it.
Today's quote was something I've never seen before: a Twitter post. The post wasn't anything that crazy, the story even less so. Apparently Twitter can "change the face of ballet." (I didn't finish the story, so I may have missed the bigger picture.) I guess it's cool that Twitter can be an outlet for this group, but I'm positive that Twitter is used by someone else who is doing more significant things with it than doing injury updates. Nothing against ballet, but the NY Times must be hurting for stories involving new media.
3.29.2010
3.28.2010
How Can I Invest in Fat Cat Photography?
As we have been talking about financing blogs and their revenue streams, there are some things that I can't seem to wrap my head around.
Josh Marshall commented that when he started Talking Points Memo, he was struggling to feed himself and certainly did not have enough money to fund his site on his own. Kudos to him for creating something that was respected by so many that they would answer the call for help and give Marshall what he needed to launch. The work he has done is extremely important and has had a great impact on the future of journalism. At the end of it all, it was worth the risk.
Not that I'm putting TPM and "lolcats" on the same level of sophistication, but I don't understand what Eric Nakagawa was thinking when he invested in a site that features pictures of cats with grammatically incorrect captions and expected a response. He may not have been pinching pennies like Marshall, but I would never have thought that cats could bring in an ad worth $4,000. If it were me, I would have completely missed the opportunity to cash in on something that obviously has a great deal of appeal. Again, the investment paid off and the "I Can Has Cheezburger" has filled a large niche in cyberspace.
That said, if I were to create my own (serious) blog, the biggest obstacle, aside from getting the money, would be taking the risk and investing into something that may not be successful enough to bring any kind of return. I guess I'd try to play it safe with a job that promised a paycheck.
Josh Marshall commented that when he started Talking Points Memo, he was struggling to feed himself and certainly did not have enough money to fund his site on his own. Kudos to him for creating something that was respected by so many that they would answer the call for help and give Marshall what he needed to launch. The work he has done is extremely important and has had a great impact on the future of journalism. At the end of it all, it was worth the risk.
Not that I'm putting TPM and "lolcats" on the same level of sophistication, but I don't understand what Eric Nakagawa was thinking when he invested in a site that features pictures of cats with grammatically incorrect captions and expected a response. He may not have been pinching pennies like Marshall, but I would never have thought that cats could bring in an ad worth $4,000. If it were me, I would have completely missed the opportunity to cash in on something that obviously has a great deal of appeal. Again, the investment paid off and the "I Can Has Cheezburger" has filled a large niche in cyberspace.
That said, if I were to create my own (serious) blog, the biggest obstacle, aside from getting the money, would be taking the risk and investing into something that may not be successful enough to bring any kind of return. I guess I'd try to play it safe with a job that promised a paycheck.
3.23.2010
Resurgence of Obamania
(Screenshots do not do these huge headlines justice)
With President Obama signing the health care reform bill this morning, it's a no-brainer that news sites (mainstream and indy) would have it plastered all over their homepages. Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo have easily outdone everyone else. Drudge wasn't far behind, but his site featured a laughing Nancy Pelosi under an ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee calling for donations in support of her resignation.
3.02.2010
ST: International Journalism meets ST: Independent Media
During the Spring 2009 semester, I took International Journalism with Vadim Isakov. A few of the required readings in the class can tie in with what we have been discussing as far as international indy media.
*Unfortunately you need an Ithaca College username/password to access a couple of them.
First, PBS Frontline featured an interview with Vladimir Pozner, Russia's most influential political TV talk-show host. He discussed the impacts of government controlled media in Russia and explains why free speech is not a high priority for the young country. Watch the video (or read) here.
Second, an article published in the International Communication Gazette addresses the use of blogging during the 'tulip revolution' in Kyrgyzstan. "The authors found that the blog did indeed become a unique and rich source of information not available from other local sources or the world press. They suggest that samizdat blogs can serve to incite or sustain democratization in Third World countries, even those undergoing uneven economic development." (Excerpt from abstract.) The entire article can be found here.*
Finally, Columbia Journalism Review published "Musharraf's Monster: In Pakistan, independent TV is young, powerful, and biting the hand that fed it." Read it here.*
*Unfortunately you need an Ithaca College username/password to access a couple of them.
First, PBS Frontline featured an interview with Vladimir Pozner, Russia's most influential political TV talk-show host. He discussed the impacts of government controlled media in Russia and explains why free speech is not a high priority for the young country. Watch the video (or read) here.
Second, an article published in the International Communication Gazette addresses the use of blogging during the 'tulip revolution' in Kyrgyzstan. "The authors found that the blog did indeed become a unique and rich source of information not available from other local sources or the world press. They suggest that samizdat blogs can serve to incite or sustain democratization in Third World countries, even those undergoing uneven economic development." (Excerpt from abstract.) The entire article can be found here.*
Finally, Columbia Journalism Review published "Musharraf's Monster: In Pakistan, independent TV is young, powerful, and biting the hand that fed it." Read it here.*
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