Category: Blogging

Journalism by Joe WilcoxMar 28, 20147:15 pm

Aggregation is Plagiarism

On March 15, 2011, I started the post you now read with a headline left unanswered: “Is Aggregation Really Just Plagiarism?” Clearly, my answer—too long coming—is “Yes”. Unequivocally, news aggregation is plain, pure plagiarism.

Google enables, no encourages, content thieves, despite recent search engine penalizing strategies. Too often, the big G raps sites because of links to black-listed blogs. The problem is bigger: Mainstream blogs writing synopsis stories that include absolutely no original reporting but take away pageviews from the news site doing the real work.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 25, 20141:23 am

News Gatherers, don’t violate ‘The Prime Directive’

There is a very good reason why in my book Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers that I identify The Prime Directive (yeah, like “Star Trek”): “Write what you know to be true in the moment”. Last night, one of my BetaNews colleagues violated this sacrosanct rule. I berated him privately, now publicly.

The story: “New Mozilla CEO is allegedly anti-gay marriage—Firefox developers boycott“. Had someone consulted me, the story wouldn’t have run (and the reporter did try to reach me). The problem is fundamentally one of sourcing. Four years ago, in post “The Difference between Blogging and Journalism“, I laid out the fundamental sourcing philosophy behind The Prime Directive. Excerpt:

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 24, 201411:29 am

Google News is Narcotic

Over the weekend, during our online chat, someone boasted about another writer taking top placement on Google News. “Once you start looking for Google News ranking you’ve lost your way”, I responded. “I never look. I don’t even look there for stories to read”. It’s true. Nearly three months into the year, I haven’t visited Google News even once.

As a resource for readers, the site can be useful. For writers, Google News is bad news. I know way too many bloggers or journalists who obsesses about placement there too much. They write stories and carefully craft headlines to get lift, knowing that top placement can bring tens of thousands pageviews in just a few hours.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 19, 201410:20 am

Wired smartly curates ‘A Startling Simple Theory’

Someone at Wired deserves credit (and bonus pay) for curated news journalism well-done. Story “A Startlingly Simple Theory About the Missing Malaysia Airlines Jet” is original content that provides fresh perspective about Flight 370. The tech news site plucks this gem from Google+, where aviator Chris Goodfellow posted five days earlier. Wired sources the original, acknowledging authorship and curation: “We’ve copyedited it with his permission”.

The Plus post shows social sharing’s strengths, where the interaction in comments extends the storytelling (as does the broader Reddit thread that captures Chris’ post and many others). It’s unfortunate Google+ limits comments to 500, cutting off the conversation.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 18, 20143:27 pm

Affirmatively Advocate Counterpoints

Earlier today I explained my recent “Chilling Chromebook” writing approach, which seemingly contradicts my more pro position taken throughout 2013. Simply stated: My stance seeks to counterbalance sudden media fan frenzy—bloggers and journalists relating the same points of view because they think it’s vogue. There is too much me-too enthusiasm, rather than real reporting.

The recent rah-rah rash of “Chromebook is better than sliced bread” blog posts and news stories represent two types of contextually-relevant journalisms: advocacy and mob. Both get considerable treatment in my new book Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 18, 20142:15 pm

Chilling Chromebook

Over the weekend, I got email from developer Jeff Nelson with his blog response to my BetaNews story: “Chromebook belongs to computing’s past, not its future“. He is among a majority of responders who disagree with my assessments about the future of PCs depending on keyboard and mouse.

Today’s Android Wear platform announcement foreshadows exactly where computing is headed. For longer perspective, please see my book The Principles of Disruptive Design. But suffice to say that Google champions “Star Trek”-like computing, where you—by sight, sound, touch, and voice—are the user interface.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 16, 20143:01 pm

Pop Trial Balloons, Don’t Float Them

During Amazon’s fourth quarter 2013 earnings conference call, on Jan. 30, 2014, CFO Tom Szkutak said something surprising: “With the increased cost of fuel and transportation as well as the increased usage among Prime members we’re considering increasing the price of Prime between $20 to $40 in the U.S”. The retailer revealed the actual price increase three days ago, effective March 20.

That tip-off is excellent example about the ways companies float trial balloons and how the news media distributes them. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trial balloon as “a project or scheme tentatively announced in order to test public opinion”. The Wikipedia definition, which “needs additional citations” fits with my own: “A trial balloon is information sent out to the media in order to observe the reaction of an audience”.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 12, 201411:36 am

Remember, Everybody Lies

Posting today, JR Raphael review “In depth: What Asus’s $179 Chromebox is actually like to use” is excellent cautionary tale in responsible reporting. Companies exert as much influence as they can get away with when interacting with product reviewers, who should always expect trickery.

The Chromebox supposedly ships with 2GB of RAM, which in my testing is really insufficient for Chrome OS. Users can make-do with so little, but many will want more. Asus gives where it shouldn’t.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 8, 20148:52 pm

Hello, Responsible Reporting

Today, the ebook formally known as Be a Better Blogger published to Amazon, Google, and Smashwords ebook stores. Title—drum roll, please—Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers.

As explained in post “Bye, Bye, Be a Better Blogger“, I launched a 28-day crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money to spend two months researching and writing the book. But the campaign lost money and wasted valuable time. You can always get more money, but time is a commodity never regained.

News Media by Joe WilcoxMar 3, 201412:25 am

What's the BuzzFeed, Tell Me What's Happening

Say, bloggers, journalists, and social sharers, you do want to watch this Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard interview with BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith. For more than a year, I have offhandedly observed the site’s […]

Blogging by Joe WilcoxFeb 21, 20143:10 pm

Michelle Collins melts the Ice

Link love: Olympic Skate Fight! World in Uproar Over Ladies’ Figure Skating Results; Sochi Bear Resigns I’m a big fan of crude-rude writing which wordplay bites your bum. Michelle Collins delivers in this Vanity Fair […]

Aspiration by Joe WilcoxFeb 17, 20147:33 pm

Be a Better Crowdfunder

To date, my Indiegogo campaign for book Be a Better Blogger is a money loser. Costs exceed the pittance of contributions, and I appreciate every one made. Make no mistake, if you contributed—thank you! But with 11 days to go, and the campaign about 1.8 percent funded, absolute failure looms large.

So with little to lose, but more money, I hired one of several crowdfunders that emailed or commented soon after the campaign’s launch. I don’t expect much from the $149 fee, which gets me one hour consultation, press release, PR distribution, journalist outreach, and feed submission (whatever that means). But I did receive important insight, which is more a lesson about interacting with others rather than working alone.