links for 2009-10-15

I've also learned why sites that we're calling "hyperlocal" are difficult, and why I failed to get the site to grow the way I hoped it would. Permalink to this paragraph

I thought we could apply the same approach that worked in bootstrapping weblogs, RSS and podcasting for a local site. One or two people start writing about their personal experiences. A small audience develops. Debates, discussions follow. More perspectives. At every step you invite people to participate. You always ask for the people who used to be called the audience to become full participants. That's how the idea scales. As I said, it worked for blogging and related technologies. Permalink to this paragraph

Instead, what happened at InBerkeley.com is that the people thought we were running a news organization, and they did stories the way reporters do them. That can't possibly work, imho — for the same reason the news industry is in crisis. Permalink to this paragraph

As a public interest service, I am including links below to any articles and resources I come across relating to the press gag injunction made by Carter Ruck in the interests of their client, Trafigura.

But what about the 55% who said no? The BBC says they will try to 'redeploy' them where possible, but if that fails they will be made redundant when the move finally happens.

Successful organisations will be willing to empower their audiences to contribute, to
create and to share media. Will cede power to audiences to gain engagement and respect.
They will be willing to let other voices to be heard. They will learn how to protect brand
integrity whilst entrusting their brand to others.
To a degree everyone is doing this, but the greatest success will come when an audience, long
treated with an oligipolist’s disdain, is treated with real respect and the contribution is seen
as a valued contribution. The simple fact is that young audiences – the future of every media
organisation, including the ABC – have the tools and now the experience and the expectation
to create and share media.

All editorial content produced by journalists on its 12 papers will be automatically plotted on a Google map alongside advertising from that area.

The company believes the system is the first of its kind in the UK.

News-papers need to identify their true jobs — corruption watchdog? community calendar? — and innovate around them.