Category Archives: technology

What would make the best news Web site CMS platform?

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content-management system

Right now newspapers use a variety of tools to update their Web sites. Some use proprietary content-management systems similar to WordPress or MoveableType, while others maintain simple, yet highly customizable HTML pages. Different sized organizations are still getting their online legs and figuring out what works best for them.

None of these systems have been perfected and most continue to evolve as technology increases. Eventually, however, most major news organizations are going to have to either have in-house developers in their technology department or hire contract Web developers create a CMS platform so they can stay competitive and relevant in an increasingly malleable online world.

Here’s a quick list of what I think would make the best news Web site CMS and/or what should be included in any news Web site CMS platform. It should be noted that some of these might be more wants than needs, some might already be in use by news organizations and some might not even be technologically possible, yet.

List below the jump.

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Facebook chat makes FB even more useful for journalists

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Facebook Chat

You may or may not have noticed that social networking site Facebook recently launched its online, real-time chat service. The beauty of it is, much like Gmail chat, it is integrated into your Facebook front end with nothing to install and no changes to make. You can disable it, but it’s an opt-out feature rather than an opt-in.

Your “buddy list” is populated by your friends as they sign in and out of Facebook. You send them messages just like a third-party chatting client and they respond. Easy as cake (though it is a lie).

What can this do for (online) journalists?

While not having a drastic effect, it does open yet another door for quickly sourcing or touching base with anyone on your friends list. If you want to forgo a Twitter message or e-mail, spotting one of your friends, or sources, on Facebook can be a quick way to grab their attention. With the plethora of chatting clients and different services people have, there may be people on your friends list that aren’t on any of your chatting buddy lists (and who you may not want there either). This could serve to keep you connected without having to make a full-time buddy connection.

The real functionality will be if Facebook integrates a chat room function where people can either chat within groups, events or organizations without actually being friends with the other members. Or, being able to set up temporary, ad-hoc, password-protected and invite-only chat rooms for quick and secure Facebook “conference calls”. That would really make the chatting a robust and useful connection tool for anyone, but for journalists especially.

This of course would open the doors to all of the chat room problems of the old days such as trolls, spammers and guerrilla marketers. I’m sure the Facebook developers could find a way around that though, they’re a smart bunch.

Facebook chat, yay or nay?

MSNBC launches Election 2008 MySpace site

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MSNBC MySpace page

In an effort to tap into that ever volatile youth demographic, MSNBC has launched a MySpace page called Decision 08. Showing their age and how behind the times they are, doesn’t MSNBC know that MySpace is sooo yesterday’s news. Everyone knows that Facebook is the where it’s at with kids today.

Though I do have to hand it to them for being able to mask as much as possible that it is, in fact, a MySpace page. It almost looks like a standalone Web site, save for the always brilliant, exclamation point-laden comments at the bottom that are typical of MySpace groupies.

I wonder if MSNBC realizes that MySpace is owned by rival media conglomerate News Corp. Kind of sleeping with the enemy aren’t they?

Twitter + ChaCha = the new Magic 8-Ball

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Twitter/ChaCha

It seems that Twitter has coupled with mobile answer service ChaCha to bring your…TwitterChas! OK, maybe not.

But, Twitter users can now follow ChaCha and, when they send a question @ChaCha, a few minutes later you get an answer back. Interesting, to say the least. I tested it out with these gems.

ME: Who is the governor of Florida?

ChaCha (about 20 seconds later): Florida’s 44th Governor is Republican Charlie Crist.

ME: What is the capital of Wisconsin?

ChaCha (it took a while longer, no one cares about Wisconsin): The capital of Wisconsin is Madison pop. 208054 (2000 US census). — And it pointed me here, which gives additional info and their source site.

Then I tried to get a little tricky on the Mr. ChaCha and his Latin-dancing ways with this question.

ME: Who won the best actor oscar in 1988?

ChaCha (processing…processing…processing…): Dustin Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for Rain Man (1988). — It returned this about a minute later.

So, what use would this have to the intrepid mobile journalist? Well, if you set your cellphone up to send and receive Twitter updates, you could easily check simple facts or get an answer to simple questions while out in the field, even if you are sans laptop and/or Wi-Fi connection. Seems pretty useful as long as you can sift through ChaCha’s possibly ambiguous answers.

Or, you could just use it to cheat at Trivial Pursuit, it’s your choice. I think it’s pretty cool though, so check it out.

CoverItLive, live blogging for journalists; Is it too much too soon?

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CoverItLive is a , free (sort of) Web-based live blogging platform that can allow news organizations or bloggers to update, in real time, an event or breaking news story. It has been used and touted by both Newsweek and Seattle’s The Stranger. From the creators:

CoveritLive’s web based software takes your next live blog to a new level. Your commentary publishes in real time like an instant message. Our ‘one-click’ publishing lets you drop polls, videos, pictures, ads and audio clips as soon as they come to mind. Comments and questions from your readers instantly appear but you control what gets published. Try our software for your next live blog. Your readers will love it.

I think this might be a little before its time. Live blogging, in theory, works. Through blogs at the Orlando Sentinel, we’ve done live blogging of golf tournaments, NASCAR races, football games and even of the 2008 CES Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nev. All of those worked well with sporadic, well-written updates to their respective blogs.

Having a scrolling, streaming update log, including reader interaction, would seem too easy a thing to spiral out of control and turn into nothing more than a glorified chat session. Live blogging via the traditional method (if you can call something created a few years ago ‘traditional’) still allows you to moderate comments from trolls and put a little thought before posting. Not only that, CIL ties the reader to the page, chaining them to one spot. People don’t have time for that. I think the average reader looks at a news Web site less than five minutes a day. They aren’t going to stick around just to read chatty updates about a sporting event. In this battle, quality will always win out over quantity.

The quicker we post, the more prone to mistakes, errors and lapses in judgment we become. Would journalists live blogging an event in such an instant format be responsible for off-the-cuff remarks or perhaps responding to commenter with a curt response? What about issues of libel? As great as technology is, we can’t let it overshadow that journalistic integrity and those ethics we are supposed to hold so dear.

Admittedly, I have not used this software so I should not be so quick to judge. From a bloggers standpoint, especially if you are one with an established audience, this is a great idea. A blogger is not bound by many of the rules and forces that journalists must hold to, even in the changing technological landscape. From a journalism standpoint I think this would be a dangerous product to implement, even in the most benign of scenarios such as live blogging a parade or charity event.

We put up the walls of copy-editors, senior editors and other checks and balances to not only protect us from ourselves, but to protect our readers from having to sort through the drivel. Breaking down those walls opens us up to more criticism, more liability and a lessening of our credibility as news organizations. All of the information is already out there for the public to find, we are meant to help filter that content into a coherent and cogent conversation. If that conversation is something they can get from an instant message chat room or Web forum, what good are we?

Like I said, great idea, but probably not yet ready to be adopted by a major news organization, even those that are pioneering and championing the online journalism movement. This is related to something I mentioned earlier about “understanding technology before implementing technology.” With each technological step, organizations need to make sure they don’t slough off their journalistic ideals, ethics and mission of truth in order to jump on board with the next new thing.

I’m a geek for sure, but I am also a journalist, and those two things are sometimes difficult to compromise.

Find sounds with FindSounds for your Soundslides or Flash projects

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Find-sounds

Via Lifehacker:

For YouTube videos, presentations, or even just system sounds, having the right sound effect file can make all the difference. FindSounds, a search engine focused on audio files, is a heck of a lot more convenient than typing “.wav” into Google and wading through inconsistent results. Type in what you’re looking for and specify parameters, and the results are offered in playable previews and waveform diagrams. I almost always found relevant results in the 10 or so test searches I performed, and being able to see how long the sound helps winnow down results when you’re hunting just the right sound to fit into a project. Got your own sound clip search methods? Share ‘em in the comments.

This is perfect for those hunting for that perfect bird chirp, child laughing or alligator growl they need to complete their Soundslides, Flash piece or any other project requiring sound. Great tool.

Entry-level cameras for the online journalist or mojo

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DSLR-cameras

Gizmodo has an excellent review of four, entry-level DSLR cameras that are hitting the market soon. The four models are from Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus, the current digital camera heavyweights. Having at least a modicum of camera skills is essential for an online journalist, so these sub-$1000 cameras are a great addition to any arsenal.

I currently use a Canon Digital Rebel-XT, which is about as entry level as it gets, though I do need to upgrade my lens. If I ever get to the point where I need go bigger I’ll probably go with one of the upper-level Canon EOS cameras or one in the Nikon D-series. Regardless, none of that matters if you don’t know what you’re doing looking through the viewfinder.

Also recommended, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 for quick, high-quality video. They recently started issuing these to the reporters at the Orlando Sentinel and it has worked out well. The cameras are easy to use, have a long battery life, start up very quickly and shoot very good quality video.

I used one recently to shoot a post-game press conference at UCF. The only problem is MPEG4-only format and the $700 price tag. If, however, you want to be the next Kevin Sites (one of my personal idols), having something like this is also an essential.

What’s in your bag?