links for 2009-08-17

I realise some people may think that Heydon Prowse and people like him are a breath of fresh air. Whereas journalists and politicians often operate in the shadows, Mr Prowse shamelessly uses a secret camera to record things as they are. (By the way, how was he able to circumvent the extremely tight security in the Commons?). I do not say that there are no dangers in the sometimes murky symbiotic relationship between MPs and scribes; and I can even see there is something refreshing about Mr Prowse’s approach. My point is only that if “citizen journalism” involves abusing conventions of privacy and confidentiality, politicians will speak less candidly to fewer people – and that is not in the public interest.

Students at CUNY have delivered their much-awaited New Business Models for journalism – four in total, that aim to answer “What happens to journalism in a top-25 metro market if a newspaper fades away. Can journalism be sustained? And how?”