October 3, 2024
News
Freedom of Expression | April 9, 2005
Researcher Defends Student First Amendment Rights
Thomas Terry kicked-off his presentation at the 6th International Symposium on Online Journalism with a statement that was anything but subtle: “I think that everyone needs to be spanked with a little media law every now and then to keep them honest.” His presentation “Tinkering with Cyberspace: On-Campus punishment for Off-Campus Expression,” expressed a need … Read More
Women in Media | April 9, 2005
Women Missing In Upper-Level Positions
“I am not being extremely conceited by focusing only on my study,” said Shayla Thiel Ph.D. from DePaul University. “It’s just that there is nothing else out there,” she continued, opening the third and final panel of the International Symposium on Online Journalism. Exploring the state of women in online journalism positions, Thiel found that … Read More
Blogs | April 9, 2005
Newspaper’s Online Forums Go Unused
At a panel Saturday about blogging and online forums, Young-Gil Chae, a doctoral student in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas, showed contrasting panoramas. On the one hand, he showed the audience at the International Online Journalism Symposium a Korean website where news and user reactions shared privileged front-page space. On the other, Chae displayed … Read More
Blogs | April 9, 2005
Blogs: Cheerleading or a Democratic Force?
The influence of bloggers in exposing the flawed story about the military service of George W. Bush raised questions about the power of this media in relation to mainstream news organizations. Bloggers made CBS News retract its story, and the episode ultimately led to Dan Rather’s resignation. Was this combined with a few more publicized … Read More
Advertising | April 9, 2005
Online News Firms Ask “Where’s the Money?”
Advertising income dominates most online newspaper profits, making them vulnerable as classified advertising migrates to non-news sites. “Seventy-nine percent of respondents said in 2005 ‘classifieds are very important to us’,” said Donica Mensing, assistant professor and director of the graduate program at the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno. “If classifieds turn out … Read More
Digital Divide | April 9, 2005
Increased Internet Access Leads to Quick Global Change
Five years ago people devastated by a tsunami would not have received as much aid as quickly as they did in December, 2004. Without the invention of blogging and other modern forms of information dissemination, many victims might still be helpless. So says Gary Chapman, director of the 21st Century Project at the Lyndon B. … Read More
Advertising | April 9, 2005
Online Journalism Must Evolve
What business are we in? This was the question Steve Yelvington, Internet strategist for Morris Digital Works, asked at the 6th International Symposium on Online Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Yelvington was referring to the present state of journalism. “Economics in journalism have changed from a scarcity of news to a surplus,” … Read More
Business Models | April 8, 2005
Paying the Online Rent
During the 6th International Symposium on Online Symposium, beautiful pictures of new innovative ways of conveying information through attractive images, dynamic graphics and interactive packages flashed the projection screen in a room full of hopes for the new future. But Jim Debth, the internet general manager for the Austin American Statesman, brought a reality check … Read More
Advertising | April 8, 2005
Panelists Share Online Advertising Strategies
If online journalism is to survive, it must provide content that is relevant to a broad-based audience, according to members of a panel that addressed advertising’s role in financing online journalism. “Ad revenues from online ads have a lot of growth potential,” said Steve Yelvington, internet strategist for Morris Digital Works. Ad revenues contributed 50 … Read More
Engagement | April 8, 2005
Nora Paul Defines Interactive Multimedia
Nora Paul does not like “squishy” terms such as “interactive multimedia.” She was once told that an interactive multimedia presentation consisted of a story on the Web in which the byline was a hyperlink to the writer’s bio, and there was a link to a video on the same page. She was not pleased with … Read More